Julien THEUIL / M6 / Julien THEUIL / M6
César Lewandowski, the candidate eliminated from the Top Chef competition reacts
TELEVISION – Belgium is no longer represented. This Wednesday, April 5, César Lewandowski left the kitchens of “Top Chef 2023”. The only Belgian candidate for this fourteenth season has made his headlines orange after an evening under the sign of childhood.
In this new bonus, the candidates took part in the traditional test of “Who can beat Philippe Etchebest”. In addition to being better ranked than the Bordeaux chef, the participants had to seduce a demanding jury of children, before presenting their dish to starred chef Régis Marcon. And the theme was big: green vegetables.
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For this first challenge, César and his partner Sarika, the winner of Objectif Top Chef, worked on zucchini. Arriving in last place, the duo took part in the second challenge of the evening imposed by the starred chef Pierre Gagnaire: childhood desserts. Both started on the soufflé pancake, the latter did not allow them to qualify. Each was then decided blindly on a single bite by Paul Pairet at the time of the rebalancing of the brigades.
Unfortunately for Caesar, the main contest has come to an end. But thanks to the hidden brigade of Hélène Darroze, he could rejoin Top Chef. He then faced Danny, winner of the last four duels, in a test around a crunchy savory dish. His beef tartare covered with butterfly-shaped tiles did not allow him to win the red headlines.
At 26, César has already lived several lives. Diagnosed with leukemia as a child, he finds a way to escape in the kitchen. This passion transmitted by his father-in-law has not let him go since. Born in Marseille, he traveled around the world after his baccalaureate, before settling in Bali and opening his own restaurant. But pandemic obliges, he returns to Europe and settles in Belgium where his relatives now live. The opportunity for him to launch himself as an independent chef.
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After his elimination, he agreed to answer a few questions posed by Le HuffPost:
You are leaving the kitchens of Top Chef tonight, do you have any regrets?
I would have liked to stay longer in the competition but I don’t regret the tests I did. I’m quite proud of my journey. I had a lot of fun with the savory tests, a little less with the sweet ones.
For what ?
I’m not very comfortable with desserts. I try to appreciate them but I’m less creative on that side. I knew that was what was going to fish for me in the contest.
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This year, the test “Who Can Beat” imposed not one but three challenges. What was the most complicated?
Honestly, I can’t say because all three are difficult. Making children love a hated food is a difficult task. Especially since during the tasting, we learned that one of them couldn’t stand cheese and that another was a vegetarian. Then, beating the chef Philippe Etchebest is always quite a challenge so if on top of that we add to please a starred chef, the test becomes quite tough.
Precisely, do you understand this 5th place in the ranking despite the positive comments of chef Régis Marcon?
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The idea was good and well done for children, but perhaps it lacked completion and originality for a starred restaurant. Neither we nor the chefs really understood that this dish had to be part of this dynamic. So I think we could have worked on the tastes more, for them to be even more impactful.
“I was disturbed to return to the kitchens of Top Chef”
In the second test on the desserts of childhood, you snatch a sign from Hugo. Tell us.
In fact, when I saw that Hugo had the two signs, I said to myself that I was not going to leave him the choice of the king. In one hand I see he has the floating island and in the other I don’t know yet. Since I didn’t really want the floating island, I snatched the other one from it. In the end, it didn’t bring me luck but in any case, we had a good laugh.
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So you fall on the pancakes but you do not qualify at that time. In your opinion, why ?
I think we made a technical error on the caramel. Personally I liked the plate we took out and I think it’s a great recipe.
Your fate rested on the shoulders of Paul Pairet who blindly tasted your individual bites with Sarika. What could you have missed in yours?
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We made almost the same bite with Sarika and for both of us, we lacked a bit of time to be able to finish it properly. We’re caught in the rush and given the quantity, it’s difficult to reach the end of our dish. I know that chef Pairet was destabilized by this tasting. For him, it’s the worst way to eliminate someone.
After your elimination, you discover the existence of Hélène Darroze’s hidden contest. Were you surprised?
Completely. I’m a little naive and I really thought there would be no draft this year. When we are eliminated, several weeks pass before Hélène Darroze calls us back. I had regained a normal dynamic of life. I admit that I was quite disturbed to return to the kitchens of Top Chef. I had lost my bearings a bit, I had to start from scratch. I think it didn’t help me for the duel against Danny who is a great cook and a great technician. I was happy to find him because we didn’t have time to cook against each other. I hope to be able to take my revenge one day, that we make the beautiful.
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“Glenn Viel gave us nicknames of warriors”
During your six weeks of competition, you evolved within the orange brigade. What was your relationship with Glenn Viel like?
I wanted to be in his brigade so I was very happy. He is a brilliant chef who really accompanied us as much as possible. He motivated us and gave us valuable advice: be proud to be in this competition, take advantage of it, have no regrets about our preparations, and the importance of asserting ourselves in what we wanted to do. We have our ideas and the chefs also have theirs. Depending on when they will pass during the development of the recipe, understanding can be difficult.
We also saw during the test of the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France that he did not understand why you did not raise an omelet.
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You should know that this test was very short. At the moment, there are a lot of things going on in my head and I don’t know how much time I have left. There are reflexes that I no longer have and suddenly I preferred to keep my plate. I knew it had taste and could pass. I won this event and I do not regret my choice.
Tell us about your brigade’s battle cry that intrigued more than one on the networks.
It was chef Viel who had the idea. He had given us each a warrior nickname: the gladiator, the fighter, etc. He wanted us to have something like a dance or a haka. Finally, he found this idea and we followed him.
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In one of the first episodes of this season, the production had fun counting the number of times you combed your hair. Is it a tick?
I had never had hair so long. The more we advance in the contest, the more our hair grows. With stress and perspiration, they tended to fall back and it was unpleasant. I couldn’t go to the hairdresser between two weeks of ordeals (laughs).
“I will offer a street-food offer”
What were your motivations for participating in the competition?
I wanted people to discover my cuisine, discover this universe and see what I was capable of.
And what do you remember from this experience?
Top Chef gave me a lot of self-confidence. It reminded me of what a cook I was and what a cook I wanted to be. It is a catalyst for career and visibility, but also for emotions.
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What are your future plans?
A new food market will open at the Royale Belge in Brussels. It’s going to be called the Fox and I’ll have a corner there. I will offer a street-food offer, still little known to the general public. Afterwards, I have events planned in France during the summer. For now, I can’t talk too much about it yet. The only thing I can tell you is that it’s going to be very nice and I can’t wait to show you my cooking.
A little prediction for the final?
I don’t want to judge the quality of the cooks or anything but I want to see an orange go to the final this year. So Jérémie, Alexandre or Mathieu. All three have the ability to do it and I think they can go far in the competition.
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