{"id":978,"date":"2020-07-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-new2022.chezcora.com\/?p=978"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:27:18","slug":"mon-bebe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/mon-bebe\/","title":{"rendered":"My amazing baby!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Autumn had just arrived, encumbering customers with heavier clothing, who now entered the diner looking for a wall hook or rack to hang their coats. We had opened the doors to our first small establishment at the end of May and no one had stopped to think that summer itself might stop. June, July, August and September were hot in the restaurant. Hotter than the inside of the old Garland stove in which I had to cook baked beans for hours. We had begged the owner several times to allow us to install an air conditioner in the window at our own expense, but to no avail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cI\u2019ve worked in this restaurant for a long time,\u201d chanted the owner, \u201cI never had to take apart a window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cBut please sir,\u201d I replied, \u201cwe promise not to make a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time he\u2019d toss back, \u201cIf you\u2019re not happy, I\u2019ll just take the restaurant back,\u201d which landed like a blow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poor man had worked from morning to night for 30 years before he developed a bad cough and was persuaded by his daughter and wife to finally sell the business. A few months of rest, however, he was back on his feet, circling our tiny restaurant like a lion who was ready to pounce on a gazelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later I learned from his own daughter\u2019s mouth that he bitterly regretted selling his livelihood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cYou see, he has always earned his bread, Mme Cora,\u201d she confided. \u201cThe building is paid for; we collect four rents and I\u2019d much rather attend university than work myself sick in a diner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we became used to the infernal heat and were even more attentive to our customers, who had to wipe away the sweat from their faces ten times before enjoying their breakfasts. We didn\u2019t need many coffee warmers, but we did purchase carafes that we filled with cold water and placed on the tables. The pegs we punctured the walls with were removed as soon as the snow began to melt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One October morning in 1987, I had to slip on a wool top under my cook\u2019s jacket to keep me from shivering as I emptied my bowl of batter into 3 big empty jars lined up on the counter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air was chilly when a customer called Mike came in wearing a light brown windbreaker of the same material as his Esso gas station overalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting down at the counter, like he did each morning around 10 a.m., Mike greeted me, lowering his eyelids slightly like a bashful admirer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cMme Cora, you are definitely going to need some business cards!\u201d he told me firmly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cI\u2019m not a lawyer, dear Mike, or a doctor, or anyone important enough to require a business card.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the affable gas attendant would try to convince me in this way each morning while drinking his coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cNo, Mike, business cards are for very important people who do big business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cBut Cora, you\u2019re important to me,\u201d he insisted. \u201cAnd it won\u2019t cost you anything because four evenings a week I work at print shop owned by a Lebanese fellow who owes me a small favour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cUh-uh, Mike,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cYes, Cora, I\u2019ll bring you some blank cards tomorrow and you can practise drawing on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cMike, I\u2019ve never done anything like that before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cWhat about these signs all over the walls?\u201d insisted the gas attendant, \u201cdidn\u2019t you do them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cYes, but\u2026they aren\u2019t business cards\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, Mike arrived with some 50 small blank cards and a lovely pencil with the word \u201cEsso\u201d marked on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cIf you make a mistake, just erase it,\u201d the gas attendant urged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the following day, to make Mike happy, I took the Esso pencil and I wrote CHEZ CORA RESTAURANT in big letters in the centre of a card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cYou see, it\u2019s easy, now write the address underneath.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote down \u201c605 C\u00f4te-Vertu Road\u201d in small letters, plus a discreet \u201cHomemade cooking\u201d\u00a0to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cThat\u2019s not enough,\u201d insisted Mike. \u201cYou need to have a logo like the big M of McDO, the old KFC photo or Shell\u2019s yellow seashell. Draw a chicken, a cr\u00eape plate or a nice cup of hot coffee. I don\u2019t know, something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then suddenly \u2013 don\u2019t ask me how \u2013 I picked up the pencil again and drew in the left corner of the card a beautiful face, round like the sun. I added a few rays of light, eyelids happily closed halfway and a big smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proud of my drawing, I asked Mike to bring me a yellow pencil the next day so I could give my sun some colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Cora. The printer is very nice. He\u2019s going to help me finish your card, and in a few days, you\u2019re gonna be blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I am still to this day \u2013 amazed and dumbfounded thinking that my own hand drew such an illustrious logo. A logo that so perfectly captures my heart\u2019s desire to constantly delight our customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cThis sun has a kingly look to it,\u201d exclaimed Mike as he handed me the attractively finished business card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– \u201cHmm,\u201d I answered, \u201cthis sun will be the king of my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With your lovely, bright yellow, your plump, warm face, your knowing eyelids and your great, big happy smile, it\u2019s clear you knew, my dear Sun, what was in store for us. You knew that you would become a brand that would shine far and wide, and that I, your humble mom, would serve you unfailingly until I could no longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cora<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psst: Bringing this logo into the world was akin to bringing my own life into this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(To be continued\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And many thanks, dearest Mike, for helping me create such a wonderful logo for our brand.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Autumn had just arrived, encumbering customers with heavier clothing, who now entered the diner looking for a wall hook or rack to hang their coats. We had opened the doors to our first small establishment at the end of May and no one had stopped to think that summer itself might stop. June, July, August and September were hot in the restaurant. Hotter than the inside of the old Garland stove in which I had to cook baked beans for hours. We had begged the owner several times to allow us to install an air conditioner in the window at our own expense, but to no avail. – \u201cI\u2019ve worked in this restaurant for a long time,\u201d chanted the owner, \u201cI never had to take apart a window.\u201d – \u201cBut please sir,\u201d I replied, \u201cwe promise not to make a mess.\u201d Each time he\u2019d toss back, \u201cIf you\u2019re not happy, I\u2019ll just take the restaurant back,\u201d which landed like a blow. The poor man had worked from morning to night for 30 years before he developed a bad cough and was persuaded by his daughter and wife to finally sell the business. A few months of rest, however, he was back on his feet, circling our tiny restaurant like a lion who was ready to pounce on a gazelle. Later I learned from his own daughter\u2019s mouth that he bitterly regretted selling his livelihood. – \u201cYou see, he has always earned his bread, Mme Cora,\u201d she confided. \u201cThe building is paid for; we collect four rents and I\u2019d much rather attend university than work myself sick in a diner.\u201d So we became used to the infernal heat and were even more attentive to our customers, who had to wipe away the sweat from their faces ten times before enjoying their\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Une histoire du premier petit resto Cora, \u00e0 l'arriv\u00e9e de l'automne, quand les clients cherchaient un clou pour accrocher leur manteau.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}