The launch party for Les Sorciers de la Patisserie

Warner Bros. France and TLC pulled out all the stops for the launch of the new show “ Harry Potter: Wizards of Pastry“!” On the occasion of the broadcast of the first episode of the culinary show, around fifteen content creator fans were brought together to The Gourmet Tablein Paris. On the program: chocolate decoration workshop, discovery of the show, and good atmosphere.

La Gazette was there, the opportunity for us to give ourselves an opinion on this rather unexpected entertainment program. A look back at this old-fashioned evening: in the first person.

A party atmosphere

The meeting was at the restaurant The Gourmet Tablesin the Café des Halles, in Paris, early in the evening, on a Friday. It's already dark. The invitation, received a few days earlier, was not very precise as to the nature of the event: who will be present? How many will we be? What surprises do TLC and Warner Bros. have in store for us? ?

Arriving in front of the establishment, which really doesn't look like much, I found a group of around fifteen people deep in conversation. All content creators, most of whom know each other. The world of influence Harry Potter in France is small. Camélia The World of Harry Potter, Once Upon a Muggle, Papageekendébardeur, Nini 9 3/4 and, of course, the official ambassador, Jarry Potdefleur, are notably there. It already promises a good atmosphere!

It's cold, but impossible to go inside. Apparently, a slight plumbing problem decided to delay the preparations. Probably a Peeves move. Never mind, we all get lost in various conversations, ranging from the latest official merchandise to the evening's program, including Taylor Swift's tour.

And then finally comes the time to go home. In the small hall of the restaurant, a gigantic banner of the show is flanked by several trees. Christmas decorations Harry Potter hang in each of them. Artificial snow escapes from a huge bag of “ flour“, and covers part of the ground; books and products derived from the saga are placed everywhere. The evening promises to be magical.

Everyone in the kitchen!

Before going any further, we all put on an apron in the colors of the show. Some also receive a hat; but mine must be lying around under an invisibility cloak, because I don't have one. Time for one (two, three…) group photo, we go down the stairs that lead to the basement. And therenew surprise: we arrive in a superb vaulted room made of old stones, reminiscent of the Hogwarts kitchens. Or the potions room. Or another underground room at Hogwarts; it's up to you.

Banners in the colors of the four houses hang on the wall, along a long table covered with surprise sugared almonds. In the center of it, a huge chocolate sorting hat is waiting to divide us up. No, of course, he waits until we pulverize him before eating him; but we will come back to that. At the end of the table, a tree of approximately 3m, topped with a real sorting hat and numerous Potterian decorations, dominates the room to its full height.

Two master chocolatiers from Copo Chocolat explain to us the day's entertainment. We all receive a chocolate medallion that we can decorate as we wish… with more chocolate! For this, we have chocolate faces available, in various shades; chocolate wizard hats; and nozzles filled with white, dark, milk or even red liquid chocolate, to serve as glue and draw the details.

Practice before theory

Everyone gets started with enthusiasm. Of course, we crunch one or two hats along the way. What catches my eye are the little golden snitches that decorate the table. I learn that they are also made of chocolate; so I can't help but replay the scene of Harry's first capture. And, suddenly, I say to myself… “ what if I made a golden snitch on my medallion, rather than a wizard, like everyone else?«

I take a head and break off the ears to round it off. Two golden hats will be used to imitate the movement of the wings, on top of which I glue the wings of another snitch recovered from the table. A few dashes of white chocolate, and that’s it. The quaffle and bludger designs were probably too much…

Once our works are finished, it's time to confront the creations of true professionals! A few minutes ahead of the official broadcast, we are entitled to the first episode of Harry Potter: Wizards of Pastry.

Installed in large beanbags, facing a good-sized TV, we watch the show, a drink in hand. Each cake is commented on, as is the kitchen decor; what really stands out to me is the good humor and general camaraderie. But, before giving you my full opinion on the show…

On passe table !

Although we were able to enjoy an ad-free version, our projection is not interruption-free. While our eyes are glued to the screen, the restaurant teams set up the buffet on the table where we had decorated our chocolate medallions. Small treats, mini-burgers, and smoking cocktails are on the program. In the latter, I find the same broom-shaped dry ice spoons that are used at the Studio Tour to make the glasses smoke; It's funny to see that their use has spread at Warner Bros.

However, it is of course the dessert which holds the most surprises. First of all, it's chocolate galore, since Jarry has been given the terrible task of pulverizing the sorting hat into chocolate. A bit like the executioner of Nearly Headless Nick, he had to try several times before delivering the fatal blow. Then, there are macaroons and mini-cupcakes galore…

But the highlight of the show is of course the edible replica of the birthday cake that Hagrid gives Harry. Several layers of incredibly soft cake (chocolate, of course), coated with a thick cream topping. Everything lighter! A real festive feast, inspired by the official cookbooks of the saga.

What is the show “Harry Potter: Wizards of Pastry” worth?

I'm not a big fan of cooking shows. I happened to occasionally watch one or another episode of Top Chef, Masterchef, The best pastry chef…but I don’t follow every season diligently.

What immediately struck and pleased me in the first episode of Harry Potter: Wizards of PastryIt is the staggered presentation of each teamor almost. This operation makes it possible to present all the participants by devoting approximately the same time to them, which maintains the suspense regarding the eliminations. Many competition shows fall into the trap of devoting different amounts of time to the teams, which inevitably skews our perception of their work. Here, the teams did not all arrive at the same time, which allowed them to be treated equally.

Of course, each piece assembled was relatively incredible. Although some were more successful than others, not a single one was disappointing. This is also the case for the 6 episodes of the season. Despite similar instructions throughout the show (2 elements to taste; a “magical” effect; and an increasingly important height), the imposed themes are renewed enough so that the results are never too close.

Each episode takes place in a different setting, and the creations are related to it. The pastry chef duos are also assigned a more specific subject to avoid repetition between teams.

Episode breakdown

• Episode 1 : platform 9 3/4 – free inspiration
• Episode 2 : Gringotts – spell revelio – guest: Warwick Davis (Gripsec)
• Episode 3 : Diagon Alley – treats – guests: fans
• Episode 4 : The Forbidden Forest – black magic – guest: Evanna Lynch (Luna)
• Episode 5 : Dumbledore's Office – metamorphosis – guest: Bonnie Wright (Ginny)
• Episode 6 : The Great Hall – memorable scene – guests: all the previous guests.

Furthermore, if the first episode lasts 1h20, the following ones do not exceed 40min. We therefore do not have no feeling of seeing the creations drag on. We are shown just what we need, and the time spent discovering the work, as well as tasting it, does not seem short in comparison.

Jury's verdict: deliciously nostalgic

The show Harry Potter: Wizards of Pastry is good family entertainment, through its format, its theme and the quality of the creations proposed by the candidates. Even more: it is excellent entertainment to spend time with fans of the sagaas the evening organized by Warner Bros. showed. France. I might not have been as hooked on the show if I hadn't been surrounded by other fans, ready to throw comments at every wind; pushing “ wow » and disappointed sighs in unison.

I'm not the show's core target audience, but I still watched the following episodes to discover the set pieces, each more dizzying (and magical) than the other. It's easy to get into the game, especially thanks to the short format which doesn't take up an entire evening (unless you string together the episodes and make it a real event between potterheads). That being said, again, this is precisely how the show will undoubtedly be the most enjoyable: enjoyed over two evenings, with fellow fans.

Harry Potter: Wizards of PastryEast available on Maxthe video-on-demand platform from Warner Bros. Potterheads will also find all the films, the show Return to Hogwarts and the Tournament of Houses. Canal+ subscribers can also access the replay of this content, originally broadcast on TLC in France.

Thanks again to TLC and Warner Bros. France for the invitation, as well as to the other participants for this true moment of magic! We would like to experience evenings like this every month.
I leave you with a little souvenir video: