The teams of a famous program from the M6 group set up their camera in the Agenais this week. A look back at the first day of filming in the presence of Philipe Etchebest.
The media-starred chef landed in Bon-Encontre to help the owners of a restaurant as part of the television program “Cauchemar en cuisine”. A 78th show in the heart of Lot-et-Garonne that we were able to follow live. For this first day, the chef landed by surprise in the establishment. This stove expert, preceded by his reputation, had lunch in the establishment to make an initial inventory. A palpable stress for his guests of the day who go to the grill under the eye of the cameras. He decided to continue the adventure the same evening by organizing a meal “under pressure” with around fifty guests. An effective way to highlight the problems encountered by the establishment. Around 7 p.m., the guests, mainly neighbors and residents of the town, reached the filming site and were taken care of by the production team. Entries are made gradually at each start of the assistant to allow the cameras not to miss anything.
“We want the rendering to be as close as possible to reality. We film in live conditions. Nothing is scripted or re-enacted. There is a team of cameramen equipped with 4 cameras of 12.5 kg each which simultaneously film the chef, the customers, the room, the kitchens, etc. There are also the sound engineers, the assistants and myself,” explains Pierre-François, the production manager. For four hours that evening, the chef navigated between the dining room and the kitchens to understand how this restaurant operates and better understand the difficulties it encounters.
You had to be patient!
For customers, the wait was (very) long but the good mood was there. This is the case for Jérémy and his companion. “We waited a long time before taking the order. Quickly the starters arrived. We were among the first served. On the other hand, the dish took more than an hour and a half to arrive”, explains this customer of the first evening before continuing: “I made a sign to the journalist who had told us to call her in the event of a problem. Dishes arrived in the dining room but it was never for us. We even laughed about it with the teams that were rooming us because we thought it was for us each time and in the end it was always another table. We were served in the last and we didn’t have time to have dessert”.
A great experience for these customers despite the culinary disappointment. Fortunately for them, the production takes care of all the additions so as not to penalize anyone. Neither customers nor restaurateurs. Filming ended around 11 p.m. with the chef’s exit to the camera after this long day of filming. We won’t say more to save the suspense.
End of filming of the first day for chef Etchebest in the Agenese area.
The next day, the technical teams took possession of the premises for the redevelopment work. These are craftsmen and partner equipment manufacturers who follow production filming (8 to 10 shows per year) year-round. “We forge real partnerships with them throughout the season,” says the production manager. “They will work to prepare for the arrival of Mallory Gasbi, another chef of the show who will take over from chef Etchebest”.
A different mode of operation from the first seasons during which the best worker in France and jury of “Top Chef” was present throughout the filming. A modification made in 2021 which gives additional dynamism to the format. At the end of the week, except surprise, a second dinner will take place to validate, in a life-size test, if the advice of the chefs of the show has borne fruit. After that, customers will be able to invest the premises again. The broadcast of the show will take place in several months but the exact date is not yet known.
