Lyon. His restaurant closed, Toto cries scandal: “They are ruining 40 years of career”

The Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP) of the Rhône department has been increasing its operations for several months in the metropolis of Lyon, now with the help of a private company. What scald restaurateurs.

Among the recent administrative closures, that of the Italian restaurant Toto Li Vigni, located in the heart of the Montchat district in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon. An establishment that is a member of the renowned Toques Blanches Lyonnaises association, which for its part has remained silent in the face of the crisis.

“If they close me for that, they must close all the restaurants in Lyon”

The hygiene services had noted in particular the presence of cockroaches, the “diluteness of the preparation premises” or even the “non-compliance with food storage temperatures” and “the possession of expired foods” and their “lack of traceability” .

This Tuesday, April 30, Actu Lyon went to meet boss Toto Li Vigni. The latter defends himself, while acknowledging wrongdoing: “We had a cockroach problem which was dealt with last summer. There, when the DDPP came, a single dead cockroach was found at the bottom of a plate warmer, in an inaccessible place. If they shut me down for that, they have to close all the restaurants in Lyon! »

30,000 euros of turnover lost in 15 days

The boss deplores having lost 30,000 euros in turnover in 15 days, while having to throw “more than 1,500 worth of food” in the trash.

Toto is also very upset with the authorities’ way of doing things, which requires people to display the closure order on the front of the restaurant. And the acidic comments from Internet users on social networks which follow one another.

It’s scandalous. Psychologically, you feel like shit. Also, what hurts me is being compared with other closed establishments. I have nothing to do with the others. We’re not all white, but we’ve never poisoned anyone!

A demand, partly shared by Thierry Fontaine, president of the Union of Rhone Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih), who calls for “an end to name and shame, but rather to do it properly, without giving the names of restaurants, to avoid throwing names out into the open on social networks, bordering on harassment.”

Toto Li Vigni, for his part, has in any case planned to reopen this Thursday, May 2 in the evening, and counts in particular on the presence of its usual customers.

The private sector gets involved

For Thierry Fontaine, the wave of controls in the Rhône is linked to two things: “First the Olympic Games, and the desire to clear the way for restaurateurs before the arrival of tourists, but also the public service delegation which allows the State to call for tenders to carry out the controls.”

In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Bureau Veritas Exploitation was chosen “to carry out inspections in the direct-to-consumer sector, as well as for checks on the effectiveness of withdrawals and recalls continued health alert”.

The boss of the department’s hoteliers takes a dim view of this agreement given to a private enterprise : “They have, among the people they control, some of their clients. In fact, they also carry out electrical and acoustic checks, as well as everything relating to emergency means (smoke extraction, fire, etc.). And it is the establishments which pay for these checks. So Veritas will sometimes go and control establishments which pay them for other services. It’s a bit of a conflict of interest.”

The figures of the profession

The Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP), thanks to this partnership, has therefore increased the checks on restaurateurs in recent months.

According to Thierry Fontaine, 900 inspections had been carried out in 2023, compared to “around 560 checks since the start of 2024. In total, “8% of establishments were closed””.

A significant figure, again justified by Thierry Fontaine: “These are places which have been targeted. If these were random checks the rate would be much lower, so I think we are at the peak of closures. It’s a bit like a firefighter telling you “I put out 10 fires out of 20 calls.” »

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