Passers-by stop, surprised, in front of the Goa facade. The curtains are closed, the room is empty… For forty years, this institution has been delighting tastes in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme). On October 30, the Auvergne capital’s most famous Indian restaurant served its last tandoori. Presence at half mast, cessation of payments, judicial liquidation. “It’s a pillar, a landmark for many people,” said Alain, a loyal customer.
And Goa is not an isolated case. In Puy-de-Dôme, almost 200 restaurants went out of business in one year, according to figures from the commercial court: a sad record. “This is an unprecedented disaster,” said Grégory Faverdin, president of Umih 63, a local hotel and catering workers union. According to him, the tipping point will come in 2023, when restaurant owners will have to start paying back state-guaranteed loans (PGE).
