He was one of the favorite faces of viewers of Top chef but his career in the M6 culinary competition ended on the eve of the final. After thirteen weeks of competition, Lilian was eliminated against Sébastien in a hotly contested last chance, “the best of the season” according to Paul Pairet. At the end of the program, the brigade leader offered his foal to help him open his restaurant. “I spoke for several tens of minutes with him, he was very sad because we had promised to go to the end together”, confides the candidate to 20 minutes.
You lose to Sébastien in “the best last chance of the season” according to Paul Pairet. Is that a small consolation?
No, that’s no small consolation. I’m very glad they liked my dessert but when you lose, you lose. It’s better not to have disappointed and not to have flopped, but it’s over. There is no consolation prize but the words of the chefs towards me have been quite extraordinary. Glenn Viel tells me that I am already a great chef, Hélène Darroze tells me that it would be a waste to stop cooking, she tells me that I absolutely have to go back. We also feel the emotion through the eyes of my boss, I spoke for several tens of minutes with him, he was very sad because we had promised to go to the end together.
Even Hélène Darroze says she’s not sure she’ll be able to take out such a plate in an hour!
It’s a very nice compliment. I gave it my all on this plate. I think I need five minutes to win. I don’t have time to caramelize my tuiles and my pears may not be cooking for a few minutes. The defeat comes from there and I am not surprised at the time of the announcement.
You apologize to Paul Pairet, telling him that you wanted to win for him. Why ?
Very quickly, after a few weeks, Paul Pairet put a lot of trust and hope in me. For me, the jurors are only great chefs but Paul Pairet is the best, even if the others are eggs too! There are three or four chefs that I take as an example, Paul Pairet is one of them. It was close to my heart to win for him who has never won Top chef.
“If we can help you, we will help you” for the opening of your restaurant, promises Paul Pairet. Was that the case?
They all offered it to me but I don’t want to bother, I tell myself that they already have very busy schedules. I didn’t want to bother them so they didn’t help me but I’m sure they would have if they could. I will invite them for the opening of my gourmet restaurant. There, I open two atmospheric restaurants [Lil’Home à Bordeaux et Dame Augustine à Paris], places where you feel at home. Normally, by the end of the week, I sign my third restaurant, my first gourmet in Paris.
During filming, you didn’t have a restaurant and there you are going to sign the opening of the third. It’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?
Yes, I know I’m a little crazy but that’s how I am. I go to excess, I do everything thoroughly. Currently, I already work from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. and I know I can do it because I am well surrounded. Alone, I wouldn’t be able to do it.
Why two restaurant openings in quick succession? It is to take advantage of the media visibility of Top chef ?
Not even. When I was eliminated from Top chef, I took a week of reflection. I finished in sixth place… Am I going to have an impact on the season? Am I going to be transparent? Am I going back to my original profession? I settled down, and after a week, I decided to go all out. My partner in Bordeaux contacted me, I went there, we visited about twenty places. We fell in love with a living space where we can all enjoy together. After Top chefI wanted as many people as possible to taste this version of my cuisine.
Your abandonment in episode 9 had touched the fans of the show a lot. Did you expect it?
I did not expect to see such a community around me. I was afraid of having haters but in the end, I only had kind people and extraordinary messages. People told me that they had stopped their passion and that they had returned to it thanks to me. After my elimination yesterday, I received between 200 and 300 messages telling me to smash everything. That’s why on my two openings, I let these people benefit first. I have a special opening for my subscribers to thank them. They supported me and I want them to be the first to come to Lil’Home and Dame Augustine, and also to my future gourmet restaurant. I will try to share with them all the stages of this restaurant because it is very important to me.
Without Top chefwould you still have returned to the kitchen?
It is sure and certain that I will be back in the kitchen. It was just a parenthesis because I was waiting for the Covid to be put aside. This is not really the case yet but thanks to Top chef, I leave fully. It’s an unforgettable adventure that will change the rest of my life.