For almost twenty years, Philippe Etchebest
is the leader of culinary shows broadcast on the small screen. With Top Chef and Cauchemar en cuisine, this starred chef with the look of a rugby player has imposed his style on M6.
And more generally in the PAF. He is known for his teaching but, also and above all, for his bloodshots and other rants. It is also the high concept
of Nightmare in the kitchen where he acts as a righter of wrongs.
In TPMP, Philippe Etchebest is very angry about a very specific situation…
Philippe Etchebest, failed rugby player but starred chef
The chef looks like a pillar of a rugby team.
Normal, younger, Philippe Etchebest dreams of teasing the oval ball on the grass. He is even considering entering a sports-study course to pursue a career in ovals. But life – and his father's legacy – decides otherwise. His father has been a chef since the age of 16.
Obviously, the tradition continues in the Etchebest family. Young Philippe abandoned rugby and became interested in traditional cuisine.
He is starting a BTS in hotel and catering, undertaking internships in two-star establishments. He is making his mark in the profession. In 1990, at the age of 23, he made his
first TV as a set cook.
The cash cook with amateur restaurateurs
Philippe Etchebest cooks for the guest of Télé Caroline, the gypsy musician Manitas de Platas. Not necessarily comfortable, the chef returned to television more than a decade later. From 2011, he presented the French version of Cauchemar en cuisine. A reality entertainment in which he helps restaurants in difficulty.
In this program, sort of Intimate confessions
culinary, he plays as much a teacher as a schoolmaster.
He helps those who want to get by, boosts those who are dragging their feet. The show is particularly known for its first half hour during which the chef-host scatters in a puzzle style the catering services that leave something to be desired.
The cold anger of Philippe Etchebest in TPMP
Thus, Philippe Etchebest is what we call a television character. A media figure whose television aura precedes the man behind the mask of host.
That's what I tried to make him understand Gilles Verdezcolumnist at TPMP, during a lively exchange. Five years later, in 2020, during the pandemicEtchebest returns to the set.
Or rather, makes an appearance remotely,
COVID-19 oblige. The chef comes to discuss the difficult situation of restaurateurs during the Coronavirus and the various confinements. “It's the story of a lifetime for many people […]”, launches Philippe Etchebest in cold anger. “This is a death sentence for our profession. […]” When Philou speaks, we listen to him.
