“You’re going to have a plate that’s going to come with a spray bottle. Don’t hesitate to put some on to reveal the chef’s surprise,” explains Clara, the director of operations on set, to the volunteers of the Red Cross, present on December 12, at the Four Seasons George V, in Paris, to the finale of season 14 of “Top Chef”.
At this stage of the competition, the identities of the finalists of the M6 show were still a mystery. But six months later, it is Danny Khezzar, the lucky chosen one from Hélène Darroze’s hidden brigade – who made a good comeback after his elimination in the second week – and Hugo Riboulet, youngest of the competition and revelation of the brigade blue of Philippe Etchebest who are preparing to take up the ultimate challenge: to create an exceptional gastronomic menu for 100 people from the Red Cross and the four members of the jury.
A taste of deja vu
Back to the plate. The vinegar magic trick must sublimate the starter of menu A concocted by one of the two super chefs. A beautiful “promise kept” which delighted one of the guests, seeing the dark sauce in her dish lighten up, but made other participants in the tasting more skeptical.
Like every year, the staging is well-honed to offer viewers a bewildering finale, but this question comes back to taste like deja-vu: should it be simple or sophisticated to delight the palate and the voices of the greatest number of people? “The chefs are very happy with the level this year. It was a great promotion, ”says Stéphane Rotenberg, in charge of the presentation of the show.
To impress their guests, Hugo and Danny each did their own thing, “even if the themes had some similarities”, judge Sixtine, Red Cross volunteer and juror of the evening. On one side, a rather technical A menu with demonstrations. After the vinegar trick will come that of steaming nitrogen for a dessert. On the other, a B menu with reassuring tastes and a fairly iodized theme. “There is a risky stake on the dessert. There is one who has ensured more than the other, says Stéphane Rotenberg. So much the better for undecided guests. *SPOILERS* Moreover, the two final sweet proposals are chocolate, a blow for my colleague from Télé-Loisirs who can’t stand the smell of melted chocolate.
“We value the risk”
“Before the candidates didn’t take too many risks, because they were afraid of the tasters. Today, there are very inflated things, which are welcomed by people. We value the risk”, observes Stéphane Rotenberg. A cheeky bet that had succeeded for Louise Bourrat, winner of season 13. Her very daring menu, with unexpected combinations of flavors, had won out over Arnaud who had bet on simple and comforting dishes.
But we know that tastes and colors are not discussed. For Adriana Karembeu, the sponsor of the Red Cross, “menu A is very sophisticated. Sometimes simplicity is the best choice. She will give more points to menu B, even if she particularly liked menu A.
In addition, without instructions for tasting the dishes, there were a few misses. On the Sixtine table, for example, we tasted seaweed that served as decoration for a dish from menu A. For the young woman, “one menu was still more bland than another”. So sophisticated or simplicity? On the journalists’ table, it is the “simplest” menu that garners the most votes.
But no matter, because as Stéphane Rotenberg reminds us: “It is rare for the public to vote like the chefs. “And then, as Gérard, volunteer of La Croix-Rouge, to whom we leave the final word, says, “the evening was very nice”.