We had met her in her restaurant Sepia, in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), a small table of 25 seats indoors (and 50 on the terrace), where you have to book two weeks in advance.
Eliminated during the 10th episode of season 13 broadcast this Thursday, April 21 on M 6, Lucie Berthier Gembara has excellent memories of her time at “Top Chef” which gave her the wings of audacity.
What did you miss in the citrus variation that cost your departure?
LUCIE BERTHIER GEMBARA.
I took risks that were not mastered.
It's hard on the spot, we say to ourselves what a pity!
I have, like Louise, a strong character, but it's over and I'm moving forward.
“Top Chef” gave me incredible visibility.
What people see on TV, they can come and eat in my restaurant.
It is complete in two to three weeks.
How has "Top Chef" influenced the cuisine of your restaurant?
I included in my blind menu the condensed chicken from Mamé, which had seduced the starred chef Alexandre Gauthier.
The show gave me a sense of legitimacy.
I dare more, I am more creative, without fear of going all out with an idea.
It's the season for cockles, so I keep them, empty, to fill them with fish caramel to lick like roudoudous.
I wouldn't have dared to suggest this before “Top Chef”.
I was also contacted to open an ephemeral street food restaurant for six months in the city center of Nantes.
With good homemade products, of course!
Read also“Top Chef”, season 13, episode 10: potato and citrus fruits in the spotlight, Lucie eliminated
What highlights from the show do you remember?
Giving Massimo Bottura chills with my stale bread!
(laughs)
I didn't think he would like it so much and his beautiful words touched me.
I was also relieved to apologize to Alexandre Mazzia
(guest conductor in episode 3)
, whom I had left on a whim.
I feel lighter to have deposited this baggage.
He had no negative judgment, it did me a lot of good to apologize.
There is only one woman left, Louise.
Do you think the show should recruit more?
Not necessarily.
“Top Chef” reflects what happens in kitchens which remain very masculine.
It is a reflection of reality.
In all the brigades that I have known, there were few women.
Me, I wanted to open a restaurant that looks like me.
Perhaps, for us, it is natural to take risks, given the workload we have on a daily basis.
But I never sought to recruit women specifically.
Above all, I care about skills, a profile.
Read also“Top Chef” season 13: where are the women?
Do you keep in contact with other candidates?
Yes, we have a WhatsApp group for jokes, and we call each other for the serious.
I contacted Thibaut to advise me before the possible passage of a guide in my restaurant.
We are in a positive movement, full of benevolence between us.
I tasted the sausage menu at the Philo Saucisse restaurant by Arnaud, Mickaël and Wilfried (winners of the "restaurant war").
I couldn't go, but I had it delivered to me when I was passing through Paris.
Their concept is brilliant, very strong and completely in their image.
Do you have other projects than the ephemeral restaurant?
I am going to organize dinners in the greenhouses of my market gardener, Alice Ménard.
We will pick the vegetables and we will prepare the dinner under the eyes of the guests.
Customers will book without knowing what they will be eating.
We will place between fifteen and twenty tables in the middle of the tomato plants, edible flowers, in this marvelous exploitation.
We have three dates planned in June at the moment.