Restaurant manager Sepia, opened in 2019 in the Feydeau district of Nantes, Lucie Berthier-Gembara is one of the 15 candidates for the new season of “Top Chef” to discover from this Wednesday evening on M6. A year after the fine career of her compatriot Sarah Mainguy, the 32-year-old from Nantes confides in 20 minutes.
Unlike the majority of candidates, cooking was not obvious to you…
When I was younger, I wanted to turn to the visual arts, but my mother didn’t really agree! After my baccalaureate, I studied marketing and communication for five years and left to live in the United States. I started working in big clubs but I was bored… On the other hand, I cooked food all the time! For my roommates, the guests… I was a bit like the Frenchwoman who cooked and I really liked that. When my father died, which shook me a bit, I said to myself “life is short, so if you want to get into something else, it’s now”. So I turned to the kitchen, at 23 years old.
Ten years later, you are the chef of your own restaurant in Nantes. It went very quickly!
I have a fairly independent and autonomous character, I was destined to have my own business. But when I became a mother, my son became my priority, I did not see myself rejoining a brigade so I launched my restaurant to have control over my schedule. Today, I realize that I need more staff to be really free, because I’m alone in the kitchen and it’s a lot of work! But I manage to offer myself a certain flexibility, like those few times when I had to close to run to take care of my son. The opening of the restaurant, I did it with him, in a baby carrier…
What do we eat there?
I work a lot with vegetables, I prefer fish to meat. I like spices, roasting. I lived several years in Marseille, so I have Mediterranean influences. At the restaurant, I work all organic, directly from the producers with whom we have great relationships. The restaurant is called Sepia, in reference to my grandfather who taught me how to properly treat cuttlefish and remove the ink pouch [appelée la sépia] who is inside. We used it to color the rice in the risotto, I thought it was extraordinary to be able to reuse the product like that. My grandfather lived in the countryside, we ate vegetables from his garden, the meat came from the neighbor’s. Eating well has long been a family tradition.
“What I can bring to young people like that is my greatest reward”#Top chefWednesday at 21.10 pic.twitter.com/2kwoGRuyJs
— M6 (@M6) February 14, 2022
What does “Top Chef” represent for you?
When I was approached on social networks, I got into the game. I don’t watch TV but Top Chef is a competition recognized in the profession. It’s a great opportunity for young cooks to be put in touch with great French or international chefs. I took it as if someone had told me “come measure yourself, come and see what you are worth”, a great challenge for someone like me who is not afraid of anything, but who, at the same time, don’t trust her. The chefs are super impressive, you can feel the stars behind them and the weight of experience. So when I was given the opportunity to let them taste what I do, I went there with the desire to hit them, show them what I have in my stomach.
In this Wednesday evening’s episode, you talk about a missed opportunity to evolve with a big name in the kitchen…
I worked for Chef Mazzia a few years ago, and at the time I had a completely different life, I partied a lot. He gave me the opportunity to be promoted within the restaurant, but I got scared and left, and not in the best way… I had regrets, guilt over that. It was time to say it, and perhaps an opportunity to meet the chef again.
Why do you think there are few women in the world of cooking?
Managing a restaurant, a woman’s life, a family life, it’s not easy. Between the hobby and the reality of the job, it’s not the same anymore, we work 15 to 17 hours a day, we live in shifts, we carry loads, it’s quite ungrateful… When I started, I discovered a hyper-masculine universe that didn’t leave me with the best memories. It was due to my position as a girl but also to this very hierarchical side, which makes it very difficult when you are at the bottom of the ladder, whether you are a boy or a girl.
If you were an ingredient, utensil, etc. of your kitchen, which would you choose?
I would be a spice called sumac. It is a small berry, burgundy red in colour, magnificent, which is dried and ground. The taste is very citric, a little acidic, and when you put it on something quite sweet, like a carrot or a sweet potato, it completely enhances the ingredient. It goes with everything, even desserts.