AT closing time last night, the front door of Le Bistro Chez Michel was locked behind the last customers for the final time.
Today, the dismantling of a dozen years' worth of first dates, family celebrations, engagement dinners, office lunches and high school reunions begins. Tables and chairs, dishes, glassware, linens; it will all be packed up and stored. The second storey Lower Lonsdale space with the tree-framed view of the harbor and city skyline will soon become offices.
It was a combination of factors that convinced him to close the doors, says owner Philippe Segur.
"The last few years have been really challenging for this business," said Segur, pointing to the combined effect of the recession, the HST, new drinking and driving legislation, even the months-long, business depleting effect that the Olympics had on restaurants outside the downtown core. In isolation, each was manageable. All together, they were adding up to one big headache for restaurant owners.
The final and most devastating straw to be laid atop the heap of troubling issues for Segur, was the August 2010 cancer diagnosis handed to his older brother (and namesake of both family restaurants), Michel Segur.
After having already endured six months of chemotherapy, Michel underwent an autologous bone marrow transplant last Monday. Now confined to an eight-week quarantine period while his immune system recovers, he isn't currently able to run his own restaurant in Ambleside, Chez Michel.
"When we put everything on the table, and we looked at 2012; when we looked at what we were facing here and in West Van, it was too much risk to take on," explained Philippe. For now, he'll be heading to West Vancouver for a few months to help Michel's son Julian run that restaurant, and he is taking his chef, Gilles Deroff, with him. After that, he doesn't know what is in the cards for him, but does plan to spend more time with his wife and three children.
"When you're in this industry, family life takes a beating." He has catching up to do, and he looks forward to it.
Though he isn't sure about what the future holds for him and for the Segur families, he certainly values the past.
Michel was the first of the brothers to immigrate in 1973, leaving his parents and four brothers behind in Toulouse, France. After stints working at The Teahouse in Stanley Park, Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, Chez Joel and La Côte d'Azur, he opened Chez Michel in Ambleside in 1979, serving classic French cuisine to locals who were hungry for it.
Philippe followed his older brother in 1985, when he was 19, and started out cooking and bussing in the restaurant while he learned to speak English.
The two paired up to open Le Bistro in March 2000 - a much bigger, 175-seat space that soon became the go-to spot for functions and group events on the North Shore.
Now, a month shy of the eatery's 12th anniversary, the chapter has come to a close.
"There are a lot of fond memories," said Philippe. "It was good to get into an area that was growing and changing so much. We've seen Lower Lonsdale develop, seen the growing pains and challenges." And Le Bistro Chez Michel became a gathering place for those in the community.
The Segurs are happy they got a chance to be part of it.
Restaurant Chez Michel is at 1373 Marine Dr., West Vancouver; call 604926-4913 for reservations.
