Top Chef’s 13th season is in the starting blocks. While the filming of this new season began last October and has just ended, the broadcast has been announced for the beginning of 2022. The precise kickoff date of this new edition is still unknown, but here is what will book Top Chef 2022.
Between new events, great classics, prestigious chefs and a new jury, the 2022 edition promises to be colorful.
A partly renewed jury
After the ouster of chef Michel Sarran at the end of last season, a partly renewed jury took over the kitchens of Top Chef. While Hélène Darroze, Philippe Etchebest and Paul Pairet are back, Glenn Viel grabs a new title on his rich record and becomes a juror. The youngest 3-star chef in France, elected “chef of the year 2020” by his peers, he is joining the fine team this season to coach the candidates of his brigade. “Welcome to the ‘new kid’ – not that small in every sense of the word – @glennviel who has joined the troop of gays and has the heavy task of replacing @michel_sarran”, shared Hélène Darroze at the beginning of October.
While Mohamed Cheikh, of Hélène Darroze’s brigade, won the title last year, the chef intends, again this year, to beat the pawn to her cronies. “You will notice that the decor has already chosen the colors of the red brigade … as a precursor,” she laughed. It remains to be seen whether this new season, which could start in February, will prove him right.
A candidate already known
M6 has not yet revealed the identity of the fifteen candidates competing this year. But a name is already known. This is Pascal Barandoni, a chef from the Var, who won the Objectif Top Chef title last December. Elected best apprentice in France in 2020, the 20-year-old young man who graduated from the Anne-Sophie Pic hotel school, as reported by Var Matin, has already won his ticket for Top Chef 2022. After having cut his teeth in several starred houses, he now competes in the Top Chef competition in Philippe Etchebest’s brigade. In total, thirteen men and three women will compete this year, reports the Parisian, who also mentions the name of Thibaut Spiwack, chef of Anona, committed to sustainable cuisine.
New and crazier events
Top Chef has no equal when it comes to imagining spectacular events. This season is no exception to the rule. Among the novelties, the candidates vying for the title will have, once again this year, to show an overflowing imagination, in particular by making a living dish, that is to say that is transformed into the plate, the chef’s specialty. Dominique Ansel. They will also be confronted with the conceptual cuisine of chef Mike Bagale. Another challenge for cooks, they will have to tackle the cooking of a fruit by proposing an unexpected technique, notes the Huffington Post for its part. These new events will thus follow the challenge of food pairing, a marriage of two foods which is a priori improbable, or even the first ecological event, launched last year by chef Mauro Colagreco.
Adrien Cachot and Jean Imbert back on the set
Two former candidates are back in the kitchens of Top Chef. After Stéphanie Le Quellec last season, it is the turn of Adrien Cachot, darling of viewers and unfortunate finalist of the eleventh edition, to return to the stage this season as guest chef. Jean Imbert, candidate and winner of the third season, now at the head of the kitchens of the Plaza Athénée, is also on the list and will challenge the candidates around one of his signature dishes, vol-au-vent. Pierre Gagnaire, who always creates a sensation with fans of the program, will be loyal to the post, like Yannick Alléno, Alain Ducasse, Anne-Sophie Pic or Mauro Colagreco, who also responded again.
Among the newcomers, the best chef in the world in 2021, the Peruvian Pia Léon and the Danish Rasmus Munk, two-starred chef adept at spectacular staging in his restaurant in Copenhagen L’Alchemist, also made the trip, according to the Parisian.
The unmissable events at the rendezvous
Because we do not completely change the ingredients of a winning recipe, the events that made the success of the show will obviously be on the program. Always eagerly awaited, the iconic challenge of The Black Box will torment the candidates once again this year.
The inevitable Restaurant War will take place, not to mention that Philippe Etchebest will wet the jersey again in his event Who can beat Philippe Etchebest?