the notes of episode 14 / TV / Top Chef / Episode 14 / SOFOOT.com

Event 1: fly to the wind

School trip: the five remaining candidates are invited to visit their former colleague from Top chef Jean Imbert at the Plaza Athénée to kill him in a test. Jean Imbert, king of the friendly chat and friend of the stars, is divisive like coriander within the community of foodies. Those who love him took great pleasure in hearing his banter gastrocool, those who don’t like it too much threw their TV out the window (internal poll). The event, around the vol-au-vent, invited us to revisit this classic, but obviously the thirteen previous episodes have so distorted the candidates with pork ice cream and off-piste skiing that this slalom exercise around the fundamental markers of he dish was, let’s say it, a fiasco.

MickaëlMickaël has prepared an inverted vol-au-vent, topped with a veal sweetbread sautéed in veal juice, containing a heart of raw langoustines and bisque that should have spilled out once cut into mushroom duxelles on the base. We say who should have, because it was not the case, and this precise moment when the heart did not sink changed the whole beautiful idea of ​​​​this dish into a flop: it was just a vol-au -wind placed upside down on the plate, finally. The technique was there, the puff pastry was superb, but it all came down to this heart of langoustine. The whole cascade of shit that will follow for Mickaël rested on the viscosity of this heart, on these microscopic factors, on the binding of proteins, on its probable cooling between sending and tasting on the tray. It all started from there and we are very little.

Ah, and the sweetbread was overcooked, too.

Michael

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Second in the race, heading to race 2.

PascalLe Varois organizes a real brothel, pigeon à la Saint-Jacques, pigeon juice, cream of shellfish, mushrooms, red fruits and carrots. On paper, already, we are not boiling hot, but along the way, Pascal even abandons the slipper to lay the dough in pieces. Dressage looks like the end of a corporate aperitif, we don’t like anything about this thing, Jean Imbert salutes the rock’n’roll approach.

Pascal

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Third place, heading to race 2.

ArnaudArnaud may not have the best idea of ​​the century, but he has the merit of carrying it to the end, by combining chicken sauce and a well-bodied Asian poultry juice around mushrooms, poultry and cockles, with fried puff pastry matches. There is cooking, but when you think that the puff pastry is too much, it’s because the vol-au-vent constraint must not have been completely respected.

Arnaud

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Fourth in the race, heading to race 2.

SébastienSeb presents the second episode of his Gulli series around animals: after the bunny in carrot powder design, the berlingot snail is in the spotlight. In a stew, garlic butter, parsley and bone marrow, mushroom cream, very herbaceous vinaigrette with fennel, coriander, anise. He embellishes this garnish with a snail kromeugnon in sesame-Espelette pepper puff pastry which in the oven turns into a treble clef which he uses anyway. Missing an average idea does not forgive: last chance.

Sebastian

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Last place and sent directly as a last chance.

The puff pastry is slammed, but the spoons are impeccable.

LouiseLouise is served by her disadvantage on the test: her partial ignorance of gastronomic leases gives her a certain humility in the realization. Which leads to a beautiful vol-au-vent with an academic structure in which she can put a little of her universe: pink veal with foaming butter, foie gras sauce, sorrel oil, smoked eel, chanterelles, porcini mushrooms, leaf of ‘Oyster. This low profile he succeeds and, associated with his palate and a certain resilience, makes him deserve at least first or second place.

Louisa

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First in the event, Louise is in the quarter-finals.

From there to call the bite in Skype, it’s a bit too much.

Test 2: tomato to the tomato

Single-product test with pure line: the tomato, to be carried out by three candidates exceptionally accompanied by major chefs, to avoid a scandal in the vote by the usual coaches. Generally speaking, scandals are good to avoid in a room full of knives (and tomatoes).

Mickaël coached by Alexandre GauthierIt’s a new plant monoproduct kryptonite for Mickaël, who knew how to take advantage of this handicap during previous episodes. With his legs still a little cut off, he encloses a slice of black Crimean in a tomato water jelly, then lays on top a small garden of stuffed cherry tomatoes, crushed lemon verbena, brunoise of green tomato skins. At the tasting, the judges find the jelly a little too present.

Mickaël feat. Alexandre Gauthier

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Mickaël leaves as a last chance, but no regrets about the tomato water: we are very strict about the rules, and Alexandre Gauthier clearly helped him by opening the cell door for him. Mega-forbidden.

Photograph transmitted to the authorities.

Pascal coached by Alexandre MazziaPascal organizes the 12^and International Tomato Show, in a plate. As stands, the cells of a large slice of black Crimean barbecue, filled with lots of small taste representatives (marmalade, candied condiment and so on) which welcome badged visitors and offer sweets in a bowl. We come back with a bag full of brochures, rather happy, but wondering if it’s worth going back next year.

Pascal feat. Alexandre Mazzia

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Second place out of three candidates, qualified directly for the quarter-finals! While Mickaël, who came second out of five candidates, had to stuff himself with all the tests until he was completely tired. Couldn’t they have simply taken the first two of the first event (more difficult because five participants), and the first of the second event with three participants? Are we clear or not? Mickaël would have been qualified and we would have been in a better mood to write these notes.

Arnaud coached by Dominique CrennThe candidate/coach duo is working well, and Arnaud, boosted by Crenn’s positive Breizho-Californian attitude, serves us an American-style dish in three nice and harmless little modules, cold tomato water, tomato heart hot, tomato ketchup with chilli, brunoise of bread croutons with tomato powder and for the fat, buttermilk ice cream and tomato powder. A dish finally more readable and without headache that the jury, tired, chooses as one would choose an American comedy on Netflix at the end of the day.

Arnaud feat. Dominique Crenn

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First place in this event and qualification for the quarters!

Last chance: Mickaël vs Sébastien on the lamb

No fight: Mickaël is completely cooked, finite, krawa, nothing left in his legs, tries a purely cosmetic dish (tartar in ink) which, beyond the effect of surprise, does not take the risk of cooking, whereas he is so gifted in this field . Seb, on the other hand, came back like a cuckoo clock, made a daunting rise in glucose and unrolled a magnificent land-sea lamb cooked to perfection. He wins the race and steps on the still smoking body of Mickaël without any particular homage.

Sébastien in the quarter-finals, Mickaël Braure eliminated from Top chef !

We’re sad, he was one of our favourites, this Mickaël, gone in a fake meat nag costume to develop techniques and dishes of unsuspected finesse, both on his favorite products and on the ingredients more exotic to his universe. . He was one of the most stable mood contenders of the season, and something tells us we’ll miss that balance quite a bit in the rest of the contest. Come and discover the cuisine of Mickaël Braure in his restaurant Le Witloof in Ennevelin, in a pretty little residential area with brick houses, and disconnect a little. Ah, and also Philo Saucisses, in Paris. Good luck to him!

By Henry Michael