On Wednesday, May 13th, M6 broadcasted a new episode with the look of a fake quarter-final of Top Chef. Indeed, Alexy, Viviana, Nicolas, and Victor believed they had reached this level in the competition, but they didn’t count on the return of Antoine and Aboubakar, the winners of the parallel contest. And that was not the only surprise in store for them.
Amid the amused and surprised looks of the remaining candidates, the two former contestants reclaimed their precious place in the competition. For this unification evening, they all faced off in the Halles des Docks in Saint-Ouen to revolutionize street food. On the menu: miso-mussel and oyster-miso ice cream cones, hot dog and Catalonian cream broth, and fried bite of paella and churros.
Spoiler alert. If you haven’t watched the episode of Top Chef season 15 on May 13th, do not continue reading.
With this departure, the candidates are now down to 5. And it is precisely at this moment that the brigades make their grand comeback. Each chef will now be able to coach a candidate and accompany them until the finale. A return to the fundamentals of Top Chef, which pleases fans of the program and was sorely missed in this 17th season, as evidenced by the various mentions of this absence on social media.
If the chef Helene Darroze did not have to fight with her colleagues to choose Viviana and her “generous, heartfelt, and tasty cuisine,” Alexy and Nicolas were at the heart of the discussions. Catalan candidate Alexy impressed Glenn Viel and Paul Pairet. After a battle of speeches between the two gastronomy heavyweights, described as “campaigning,” Alexy chose the gray sleeves of Glenn Viel’s brigade. As for Nicolas, a demanding, rigorous candidate, and Louise’s sweetheart, he caught the attention of Stephanie Le Quellec and Philippe Etchebest. Both praised his “very good journey,” and Nicolas ultimately chose to join Stephanie Le Quellec’s orange brigade.
Next, Victor and Aboubakar took turns finding out their future brigade. Philippe Etchebest decided to bet on Aboubakar, nicknamed “the phoenix,” whose “atypical journey” and “amazing progress” impressed the Bordeaux chef. Finally, Victor joined Paul Pairet’s purple brigade, who sees in him “someone who listens to go as far as possible, and if possible, to the final.” Will this return of the chefs to the competition be followed by the viewers? One thing is for sure, this change will please more than one.
