General De Gaulle

"Early in the morning, the pies and coleslaw arrive by truck, directly from the Pont-Viau kitchens where an army of kitchen hands has been working all night at a hellish pace. Everything is stacked on shelves that line the walls from floor to ceiling. By evening, it’s all gone. And it all has to be done again… André Verreault, 16 years old, spends his summer of 1967, and his nights, making heaps of coleslaw with three colleagues specially assigned to the task. Beside them, an army of pastry chefs produces thousands of apple pies and sugar pies. Amazed, the young man and his colleagues discover another way of doing restaurant business: fast food. Thousands of hot meals are served every day between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. But it was with General De Gaulle’s visit to Expo, on July 25, 1967, that the true kickoff occurred. On Labor Day, St-Hubert Bar-B-Q will break all sales records: in one day, 910 chicken spits are served. At five chickens per spit, that makes 18,000 meals… In the process, another restaurant is opened on the La Ronde site, which Jean-Pierre will manage. It will meet with the same success. In a single day, an average of 4,000 chocolate mokas, 4,000 vanilla mokas, 5,600 slices of apple pie, and 4,000 whole chickens are served there."