VER-INT009 — Patrick Leblanc

Second-round ("verification") interview, conducted to test whether the Quebec French-localisation theme surfaced by Marc Bélanger (BB-INT002) generalises beyond a single Montreal operator. Patrick was recruited through the franchisee panel and specifically flagged after HQ credited him for catching a translation error in a French menu description... Before we get into the day-to-day — what made you join BorderBlend in the first place? The food, honestly. I'd done other things — I managed a restaurant kitchen for a long time, so I know the difference between a concept that's a costume and a concept that's real. When I tried the brisket, I thought, okay — this is real. They actually smoke it. It's not a marketing story with a smoker emoji on it. [pause] And the model made sense to me. I...