“For the first and last time in my life, I was peroxide blond, it was awful! Yves Hecker still laughs. The founder of “Papa’s Burgers” took part in “Patron incognito”, which will be broadcast this Monday, January 10 on M6. Not without a few weeks of preparation …
In order to infiltrate his teams as discreetly as possible and see how they work, the principle of the show is a complete makeover that has been proposed to him. “Even my wife didn’t know about the project. I must have let my beard grow. For me who am always clean shaven, it has earned me a lot of thoughts! », Continues the native of Saverne and native of Lichtenberg (Bas-Rhin), always with a smile. “So they dyed my hair. In a city where I know the staff well, I even had to put on a magnifying suit. “
Having become Emmanuel, he was then able to be hired as an extra in three of the forty-five restaurants in his chain. In Metz, Besançon and Lyon. Where the good surprises have not always been there. “Since then, we have launched a program to return to fundamentals,” admits the 39-year-old boss. “For example, none of them made fries the same and none was to my liking. We got lost in sometimes too complex processes. “
But that is for the slightly negative aspect. Yves Hecker does not regret his time on the show. “It was awesome, I loved it! It helped pinpoint things that executives couldn’t see. It’s important to come back to the field from time to time. “
The Alsatian knows what he is talking about, he who worked in the kitchens and in the dining room of his first restaurants. At the very beginning of the adventure, from 2013 and the opening of the first, in Lyon. “Until 2015, I had a series of services in the three of the city,” he recalls. “I was not a great cook, but I always liked to cook. “
And eat burgers! This is precisely how the idea of his current success came to him in 2003. Yves Hecker was then a student in Strasbourg. “And I often went to Made In France, in the Krutenau district near the universities. I ate pounds of it there! Each time, I told myself that it was nice but that the concept of the “premium French burger” should be pushed even further. “
“Several bankers laughed at me”
Ten years later, he therefore abandoned his career as a radio host in Lyon overnight to get started. “I saw ‘Big Fernand’ grow and I said to myself that I had to pass the second. Several bankers laughed at me, but not the Crédit Mutuel d’Oberhausbergen (Bas-Rhin), I would like to quote them. “
Papa’s Burgers were born and, with them, a question mark. Why such a name ? “Because there were a lot of mothers, like mother Richard or Brazier, in Lyon,” replies the founder. I wanted to take the opposite view and francize the brand thoroughly. Dad’s cooking is generous. »And attracts. For three years, he has opened “one restaurant per month” of the brand with 33 million euros in turnover.
A success story of which Yves Hecker is obviously proud, never tired of it. “I want to have fun every day,” he proclaims. “Patron incognito” is further proof of this.