To everyone’s surprise, Mickaël, though considered one of the favorites of this thirteenth season of Top Chef, left the culinary competition on Monday evening. His chef de brigade, Philippe Etchebest, was very moved to see him leave, to the point of shedding a few tears, which is however not in the habits of the cook. “You’re a great guy in addition to being a great cook”he told her, upset.
Mickaël, whom many already saw winning the adventure, lost to Sébastien (again) as a last chance. The two candidates had to sublimate the lamb and the audacity of Mickaël, who had chosen to cook it as a tartare with squid ink, did not pay off. Sébastien, more classic in his kitchen, has returned to the adventure, not in the team of Glenn Viel but in that of Paul Pairet who, until now, had no candidate to coach.
Arnaud, crush
Arnaud, for his part, remains in the orange team and qualifies for the quarter-finals alongside Louise, Pascal and Sébastien. The Belgian candidate has, once again, shone in the competition since he won the second event of the evening, thanks to a plate around the tomato, judged by the four chefs of the competition. Unable to both judge and coach this event, three other chefs, Alexandre Gauthier, Alexandre Mazzia and Dominique Crenn, gave their advice to the candidates.
Arnaud, guided by Dominique Crenn, had chosen to play on textures and temperatures by offering tomato ice cream, temperate tomato water and a heart of hot tomato. A proposal that unanimously won over. It is a blow of heart for the Belgian who manages with difficulty to hide his emotion.
Pascal, with his barbecued tomato, finished second and qualified for the rest of the competition. Louise, the only candidate still in the running, distinguished herself by winning the first event for the third consecutive week. This time, it was Jean Imbert, winner of the third season of the competition, who was won over by the cuisine of the Franco-Portuguese chef. With her modern version of vol-au-vent with veal and smoked eel, the candidate managed to impress the chef of the Plaza Athénée (former kitchens of Alain Ducasse).
Next week, the last four participants will try to secure their place for the semi-final.