- Philippe Etchebest gives us his big crush on Adrien Cachot, a candidate to whom he is very attached.
- Confinement requires, the star chef from Bordeaux was able to watch the show for the first time, from his home in Dordogne with his family.
- It is nonetheless extremely mobilized to save restaurateurs in difficulty in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.
As the eleventh season of the M6 Top Chef show draws to a close, 20 Minutes interviewed chef Philippe Etchebest, returning to Bordeaux after several weeks in the Dordogne. He gives us his first impressions of the season, in a context of crisis which mobilizes him to save the restaurateurs.
Have you been blown away by some candidates this season?
We are amazed by the candidates every year! This is what makes you want to do this program, in addition to sharing good moments with my colleagues, Michel (Sarran), Hélène (Darroze) and Paul (Pairet), the latest comer: it is to see how these candidates , when they are cornered in front of certain difficulties, manage to get out of it, because that is Top Chef . It is our job to get them out of their comfort zone, to make them progress, and them to amaze us in their achievements.
Some do not stand out anyway, like Adrien Cachot?
Adrien, it is huge, it is a UFO… I wanted to take it so much, because it is the opposite of what I am and that is really interesting. He's very calm, very laid back, I love this boy, and he has a very interesting way of thinking about cooking, which I also really like. But we get attached to all the candidates, especially as it progresses, in whatever brigade they are even if there is this little fight between us.
However, are there not, every season, three or four candidates who stand out quickly enough?
Yes, it's true. It has happened that we have to quickly define the one who potentially had the ability to win Top Chef . But this year, it was a little more complicated, I think, because there were a lot of levels. Potentially there were several who could go very far. It was more homogeneous, and suddenly more complicated to determine.
And there was the arrival of a new chef, Paul Pairet, did the integration go well?
Paul, it's a joy. We met last year on a test of Top Chef that he came to see, and we immediately hooked. He's a Catalan, he's a guy from the South too, he has a culture and a state of mind that suits me, especially rugby. I also like her way of cooking, which is very different from mine. These are the differences that interest me, this is what makes it possible to complement and exchange. If we were all the same, we'd be pissed off, would we agree? And then he was clever: he arrived in a very modest, very humble way, sometimes he approached us when we spoke to the candidates… In short, he learned a lot at the start, and then he got started.
What marked this season was also its diffusion during confinement. What has this changed for you?
It changed things since even I could watch Top Chef ! I never watch TV, and I don't need to watch my shows, but there was an opportunity, and we did it with the family, we made our comments, it was funny. I think it's really well transcribed, the global atmosphere is there, and yet to synthesize in one and a half hours of shooting days, it's complicated.
How did you experience this period of confinement?
I returned to Bordeaux today, for three days, after I return to my house in Dordogne where I spent confinement, among other things to take care of my animals. We have been going to this house for twelve years, every weekend, but there it was longer. The containment passed very quickly because our days were full, to try to move forward and find solutions to help the restaurants to be able to support this closure which lasts. For me, it is a priority, I make it a personal matter, because there is real distress among professionals.
Will this crisis impact the filming of the next Top Chef , and will you be yourself?
Today, I don't know. But I don't think about it, I don't think about TV shoots. I have a YouTube channel where I make cooking recipes, I don't even want to do it anymore, I cut it short… I am focused, and all my energy, I will give it to fight , to leave in the best possible conditions and help those in difficulty. We'll see after.
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- Aquitaine
- M6
- Philippe Etchebest
- Top chef
- Television
- Bordeaux