On a Saturday night in early February, the dining room at Bistro La Franquette uncharacteristically smelled of tandoori-rubbed chicken. Omar Zabuair watched as plates went out and diners took their first bites. He was looking for a nodding head, a pause after a bite, that would let him know the food was landing. It was the same reaction he used to see in his own dining room, three years and one bankruptcy ago.
Ninety-five covers came through that night, flipping the dining room twice. Families drove in from Tétreaultville, the East End neighbourhood where Zabuair's restaurant Le Coq de l'Est had operated for seven years before closing in 2022. By the end of service, messages were already coming in asking when he'd do it again.
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