Mood, laughter and emotion… With the restaurant war, we find the “Top chef” we love

Last week, we woke up (a little) with the MOF test. Things were finally moving in this somewhat diesel 17th season of “Top Chef”. Here it is well underway with the legendary restaurant war, an event awaited every year and which keeps all its promises this Wednesday April 8 on M 6. There are only nine candidates left in play, three teams of three for three ephemeral restaurants to be set up in 48 hours in Villeneuve-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne). Only two will open during the tasting. This is the hard law of the genre.

Additional difficulty, in addition to the critics François-Régis Gaudry and Charles Patin O’Coohoon, four of the five jurors – Hélène Darroze is absent – four adults will come to dine with… four children. It will be about creating a menu for the little ones with the same ingredients, the kind that they don’t necessarily appreciate… This is sure to spice things up!

First the places and the concepts. Léa, Louise and Nicolas imagine with their “Capsule” as a leap into the future, when meat will be lacking and vegetables will be the basis of the diet. Alexy, Aboubakar and Victor, the cheerful contestants of the competition, offer a stroll in an “enchanted undergrowth”. As for Viviana, Dylan and Antoine, they are launching their “Gare aux délices”, a restaurant with a 1950s railway atmosphere.

Within the three trios, people paint and install decorations

Hop, the races! At a restaurant furnishing pro for some, at a Swedish home giant for others. Aboubakar finds a unicorn, he is like a madman, names it Hélène, a tribute to the chef Darroze. Alexy finds a pixie with a long beard. It will be “fifi”, alias Philippe Etchebest. It’s a size. Watching the sequence, the chefs laugh, Etchebest first. It’s fair game. When Abou gets annoyed with the decor, everyone has a good laugh. “He’s a little exhausted,” Paul Pairet chuckles. “He’s out of breath,” adds Glenn Viel. Come on !

For now, Antoine lets loose, robs the store, taking 27 old suitcases and trunks, but also a bench, a Wallace fountain… He plans to transform the narrow terrace into a station platform. Viviana likes it. Sometimes a little rough around the edges, the Italian doesn’t stop pestering him – “Antoine is the one who breaks the candy a bit” – but this is a good point for Tonio.

As for the dishes, Louise and Nicolas, alias “Loulou” and “Ninou” seem to be doing the shopping as if they were settling in together. Too cute. Within the three trios, things are going well. It paints and installs. Once the decor is in place, the criticisms pass. At the entrance to the “Sous-bois”, a cupboard acts as a door, it’s amusing, it’s intriguing. The station platform has its effect. The capsule attracts.

In reality, everything will be played out in the kitchen

It will come down to the kitchen. In this game, the capsule will not take off. The problem is that they added a little anchovy to their plant-based cuisine of the future… A lack of consistency pointed out by the chefs, which Léa, Louise and Nicolas did not rectify. Hard to swallow for Nicolas who isolates himself. Their adversaries will have been more able to provoke desire.

The taste travelers focused on the classic, in line with their theme: turned artichokes and foie gras – too much artichoke for Paul Pairet – then a square sole with a variation of carrots which freaks out the adults. For children, they create a kind of croquette lollipop with artichoke foie gras as a starter – a hit! – and sole and carrot ravioli as a dish – a failure!

For their walk in the woods, the boys and their Hélène plan mushrooms, venison, chestnuts and squash. A royal mushroom and a pomme… which Alexy starts by spilling on Stéphanie Le Quellec’s jacket. Ouch! “It looks like mush,” slips a perplexed customer. “It’s a bit of a mess,” notes Gaudry. Ouch again. “I don’t like mushrooms,” grimaces one kid. “A fiasco,” admits Alexy.

Game, on the other hand, is a huge hit. “The sauce is velvet,” notes a mother. “Mamma mia I love it so much, I love it!” », says a boy. For the kids, it’s cordon bleu meat. Clever. And very good! The squash before midnight – well done the name! – pleases adults as a dessert, but also children, as a crème brûlée. Except maybe one.

Alexy, Victor and Aboubakar win

Opposite, the white chocolate, pear and verbena pesto dessert seduces adults with this last element… Which disappears for the little ones. The latter are reluctant. “The same dessert without the verbena is a little short,” judges Gaudry. And it’s not by trying to coax – buy? – the toddlers by offering them stuffed animals at the end of the meal so that they will get through it… In the end, the score is very close, 9 to 11 for the trip to the forest. Alexy, Victor and Aboubakar win.

In an elimination challenge, Viviana, Antoine and Dylan find Léa, Louise and Nicolas. A shellfish starter in 30 minutes. Louise falls in love. With an unbalanced proposal, Léa stops there. “It was either a rebound or an end,” she says with emotion, “but in itself, I remain aligned with what I did.”