People looking to eat a home-cooked meal within view of Mansfield’s historic red bridge will now be able to do so at the town’s newest restaurant, Terrace du Pont Rouge, which opened its doors on Saturday.
Owners Laurette Vaillancourt, Jean-Guy Duval, Fidele Karangura and Micheline Tabaro said the restaurant has been in the works for over three years and is the first restaurant in the building, located at 304 Highway 148, since the previous one closed about 10 years ago.
Karangura and Tabaro, who own the Motel du Vieux Pont directly behind the restaurant, say guests have been asking for a restaurant for a while since the motel does not offer breakfast.
“Many guests are seasonal workers and they would like breakfast and lunch to take with them,” said Tabaro, who added that they also want the restaurant to be the place to go for people seeking an evening out.
“Here in Mansfield, there’s nowhere to go if you want to go out. You have to go to Gatineau, Pembroke,” she said.
Tabaro said they built a second floor to accommodate groups and events. “This is going to be a new thing for us,” she said. “If you want to hang out, [and] you don’t want to cook.”
They hope to offer typical Québécois and Canadian fare while also mixing in some other cuisines, including delights from Karangura and Tabaro’s home country of Burundi, in East Africa.
“One weekend is going to be African meals, and then one or two weekends after we might have a Chinese buffet,” said Vaillancourt.
Duval said people in the community have been saying they would like to try something different. “If they want different, we’re going to try to satisfy most of the people who want to try out something different.”
The group said the menu is going to evolve as they determine what people want to eat and are interested in trying.
“We’ll see how it’s going to go and how we’ll eventually try out other things to make it different,” said Duval.
The restaurant is selling beer from Brauwerk Hoffman and is trying to get produce from Serres Paul Amyotte in Mansfield, and is open to buying from other local businesses if it is feasible.
Vaillancourt said the restaurant was packed for its opening on Saturday and had numerous reservations for that day’s dinner and for Mother’s Day the next day. “It’s a relief,” she said of finally being open.
