Cooking, television, family, sport: chef Philippe Etchebest reveals himself a little more during a documentary broadcast this Wednesday on M6. The best worker in France is told from every angle in the documentary "Philippe Etchebest, the destiny of an extraordinary chef", rich in anecdotes and new videos. 

INTERVIEW

Michelin-starred chef, best worker in France, jury for the Top Chef competition, presenter of the Cauchemar en cuisine program , chef Philippe Etchebest is everywhere. It is a singular and successful journey that M6 tells this Wednesday in the second half of the evening, after an unprecedented episode of Nightmare in the kitchen , with the documentary, "Philippe Etchebest, the destiny of an extraordinary chef". A three year old project. "It started with the idea of ​​making a small document on the Fête de la Musique, you understood that it deviated a little bit," he jokes.

>> READ ALSO:  "From the crêperie to the 3 stars", Philippe Etchebest calls for insurance to help restaurants

"It is true that I am exposed, but that does not prevent me from doing my job properly. My main job is cooking, this is what I have always done and this is what I I'll do it again afterwards. I try to do everything I can to do my best, "says the chef. 

New videos on his journey 

In the documentary, several personalities bear witness to the chef's journey. In particular Fabrice Lascaux, trained almost thirty years ago, with Philippe Etchebest at Le Méridien Etoilé in Paris, now a wine-growing owner, who praises his qualities as a team leader. "Fabrice, you should know that at the start he was an apprentice at Chipiron, my father's restaurant when I worked, and I took him with me to finish his apprenticeship in Paris. He followed me on this journey." Modest about his private life, his wife and son do not appear on the screen: "I do not want to show everything, I keep a little secret garden," says Philippe Etchebest.  

>> Find all of Philippe Vandel's programs in replay and podcast here

Cooking, music, sport: the chef reveals his passions a little more with new videos. In particular, his boxing career with fights in public and in parallel with his position as second in a star restaurant in Toulouse, Les Jardins de l'Opéra, of chef Dominique Toulousy. "I was in the light heavyweight category at the time, I was 82 kilos. I boxed until the Midi-Pyrénées championship". A title he won in 1993. "I asked to go first in boxing galas to be available afterwards for the service," recalls Philippe Etchebest. At the time, his schedule was overloaded between sport and the stove: "at 8 am I was at the market, at 9 am in the kitchen, at 3 pm I left the kitchen, at 3.30 pm I was at room until 5.30pm, and at 6pm I was in the kitchen until midnight, "he says in the documentary. 

A chef on M6

In 2011, he was called by the M6 ​​channel for the program "Cauchemar en cuisine", where he tried to save routed establishments with a method of his own. "Psychologically, it's still a little hard, I don't go with a dead hand. But it is also part of my strategy: to be effective because I don't have much time". 

>> READ ALSO - "Nightmare in the kitchen": 70% of restaurants saved, according to Philippe Etchebest

His personality and his qualities as a cook allow him to become one of the emblematic jurors of the Top Chef cooking show , a real success during the confinement period. A test is even associated with the chef: "Who can beat Philippe Etchebest?" "It allows me to confront the candidates and bring them a kind of carrot, an additional motivation to fight. Once again, I am a competitor, I like that, I like to take this risk there", smiles the head chef.