In what mood did you approach this finale? Were you sure of yourself?
No, obviously no. Because actually, it’s not really an easy exercise. I serve 40 people, usually about fifteen people in the kitchen. I’ve never served a banquet for 100 people. So no, I didn’t trust myself because we don’t know the kitchen, we don’t know the working conditions. We’re going into the unknown and that’s the hardest part, but then we have to tell ourselves we’re going to give it our all because we didn’t do the fifteen weeks of competition for nothing.
How did it go? Wasn’t it hard to cook for so many people?
It is difficult because we are thinking about the menus, we say it would be better to make 20 covers, but when you multiply by 5 to make 100 covers, it does not become the same as before and suddenly increases the time. all apps. You have to manage the arrival of the cooks when they talk to us for an hour, I didn’t take that into account because I actually said ‘I’ll wear it at work’ in my own organization. pastry, lots of little technical stuff but hey, it can do it on its own. I didn’t count for a long time that the chefs would come and talk to us every time. So it’s true that it’s not easy. But we did our best, that’s what mattered to me.
Four months pass between the shooting of the finale and the ceremony of the knives. An endless wait?
Even if it’s five months, we finished it in mid-December and got the result on April 27. It is a professional project rather than a complex one, and in terms of preparing for the future because we are in a state of complete uncertainty. It’s true that later on, when you’re a finalist, you get a lot of exposure whether you win or not, but I was waiting for the outcome of the competition. When we do a competition, we want to know if we won and it was indeed a long wait.
Before discovering the result, we saw that you were very emotional after the words of your loved ones and your chef Laurent Petit…
This is rare, you need to save it, frame it. I cry but never, never, never, never (laughs). Even my mom and dad were surprised to see me cry. It was very emotional because I was surrounded by professionals, my family, my friends, everyone. Seeing them all there at the same time for the same purpose, drawing knives for a cooking competition that is very close to my heart… Especially since I started thanking my former chefs for their trust. He admitted I was cracking up because it was touching to see them so moving.
What will you do with what you earn?
I’ll buy myself a Porsche (laughs). No, I’m kidding, I’ll still keep a good portion of it so I can see the future in peace. Then I will invest in a creation with Albane. We will join forces to co-create a new street food concept that is not available in France and almost abroad. It will be in Paris, in the 2nd arrondissement, near rue Saint-Sauveur. I’ll put some money into it. It will be out in November. The goal is to open something stable, we buy a business and if it works well we want to replicate it elsewhere in France. We will take a traditional thing from French gastronomy that we often see at starry tables and adapt it for takeaway on the street. I can’t say more about the concept right now. You should keep this a little secret.
Looks like you made a financial deal with the other finalist, Dany. Can you tell us more? did you respect
Yes, that’s right, Dany and I said to ourselves before the final that whoever wins, the winner will give the loser 5,000 Euros because we didn’t want to go home empty-handed either. That’s the deal we made. I haven’t touched Top Chef’s money yet, but as soon as I do, the deal will of course be respected.
You let Philippe Etchebest take his first victory since 2019. Were you happy for him too?
Yes, actually, I think the fact that it’s been 3 years since I won gave me a great motivation. He trusted me with a singular selection in the first event, and I wanted to return the favor to say to him in the Final, ‘you already trusted him and I’m giving it back to you while I’m trying to get the victory’. It’s over and frankly I’m really happy to be able to present him this victory. I didn’t win alone, we won with Chief Etchebest.
Can you tell us about your relationship with him during and after the competition?
It wasn’t easy at first. When he understands my culinary universe and I understand his. But as the competition progressed, we got to know each other. When we were over six years old in competition, we were in competition mode. He and I are also huge rivals, so it’s really well matched. We were all there, we had the final goal, nothing else. True, it was interesting afterwards because it intervened more on the technical side and allowed me to be creative and all of a sudden things went so well.
What do you remember from this experience?
It’s a crazy experience. It grows us. I also love human relations in this competition. The candidates became friends. It also allows us to gain our confidence in our kitchen. Now we know that people like it. Creating projects and growing in this direction gave me confidence.
Some former candidates, such as Mory Sacko, continued on television. Is this a career that inspires you or do you just want to devote yourself to cooking now?
If there are offers on TV, it may interest me. I loved it, I was more comfortable in the end. So why don’t you redo some things on TV according to what I was offered?
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Source: Programme Television
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
