A restaurant like no other

Monday morning. Behind its glass facade overlooking Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Le Robin des Bois is waking up. We're immediately charmed by its inviting decor, its 125 seats, its elaborate menu, and its attractive prices. A restaurant like no other! But it must be said that here, we're in a very special establishment...

Le Robin des Bois is a "for-profit social restaurant," which aims to combat isolation and poverty.

One only needs to take a stroll through the large kitchen located at the back of the restaurant to understand what this means. It's impossible not to notice the laughter of the employees and volunteers working together. Among them, we see chef Amélie, who learned the restaurant business on the job, peeling potatoes between calls to suppliers. Next to her is Antoine, a French doctor on sabbatical who is fulfilling his dream of working in the kitchen. Then we notice Céline and Dominique, two retirees who come once a week to lend a hand before heading to the movies.

It's this joyful and unusual mix of genres that defines Robin des Bois. And we owe this idea to Judy Servay. A former television and film producer, she returned one day from a trip to Africa with the idea of ​​a restaurant that would operate on a volunteer basis and give back to society. "I'd never worked in a restaurant," she explains. "And I would never have opened one, except for this one!"

On June 22, 2006, the doors of Robin des Bois opened, with employees and a volunteer pool created through the organization's website, where people can sign up to offer their time in a very flexible way. "I thought recruiting volunteers would be the hardest part of the project," explains the founder. "But I realized that people love to give and help others."

And this help is tangible, on several levels. Le Robin des Bois collaborates with a dozen organizations that support people in need by donating its profits to them each year.

"Le Robin also helps the people who come to volunteer," says Judy proudly. In fact, among the "helping hands" who work here, we find a wide range of profiles: isolated people, immigrants, young bums, autistic people, celebrities, retirees, children in day camp... "We don't judge anyone based on their pedigree, age, or appearance. Only at Le Robin des Bois is this way of putting everyone on an equal footing possible." »

"That's also what makes our experience so meaningful," adds Céline, the volunteer who has been coming to Robin des Bois since it opened. "When I first came here, I wasn't expecting anything, but I made friends while chopping carrots! And I still enjoy getting involved."

This unique spirit of openness and adaptability guides all of the organization's activities. Lunches and dinners are usually served there—which, in the context of COVID, are usually delivered. Press conferences, weddings, and parties of all kinds are held there. Visitors attend concerts, launches, talks, and conferences, break plates in the "déflation" room (in exchange for a five-dollar donation), shop for homemade or local products and affordable wines...

This is a glimpse of everything that awaits those who walk through the doors of Robin des Bois. With the added bonus of a large bowl of smiles, friendship, and altruism. As Dominique, the other volunteer, so aptly puts it, "Robin des Bois is a restaurant, but above all, it's a community."

This article appeared in the Communities issue of Caribou magazine.