She had just landed in Paris from Lisbon this Wednesday at 8 p.m. when called for this interview.
It's hot where you are, ”she whispers on the phone from her taxi.
Still a few hours of relative tranquility before the announcement of her victory in this 13th season of "Top Chef" which ended this Wednesday on M 6. The end of an adventure and the beginning of another for the young woman with a white wick.
You are Top Chef 2022, do you realize?
Louise Bourrat
.
Absolutely not.
I think as soon as the news broke I had a phase of euphoria and then I went into a phase of denial until today actually I didn't think it would last this long… Now we see how tomorrow will be.
Now that it's known...
Yes, and then it's a simple round trip this knife ceremony, like a flash, you live an absolutely incredible moment, completely outside the world, and the next day you are thrown back into your everyday life, like if nothing had happened.
When you remove the steel knife, what goes through your head?
At first I say to myself
put the knife on the ground, be careful, safety first
(laughs).
No, I think the first reaction is:
It's not possible
.
But how did I find myself here
?
I had a kind of detachment just before drawing the blade, we make all the plans, it lasts for ages, there is my family, my friends, Hélène Darroze and after a while, my mind is a little escaped, I imagined myself as a little fly flying around the room and watching this scene that I found unreal… When I draw the blade, I say to myself,
but how did you find yourself embarked on such a magical thing.
Two years ago you watched it in front of your TV and there it is you...
I never would have imagined that in my life.
Immediately, you rush to the other candidates…
I don't have too much of a reaction, I'm stunned and I hear screaming behind me, I turn around and see all the candidates jumping in all directions, so happy.
It galvanized me to see how happy it made them too, those who were with me in the final, it's completely their victory, they held me tight throughout the day.
It was really very hard for me [
She was sick that day
], they were absolutely magical, without them I would never have made it.
You go to see your loved ones, what do they tell you?
I don't remember, I just remember what I said to my brother
(with whom she runs a restaurant in Lisbon
).
I told him,
we got there
... Look where we were two years ago, the pandemic was so hard, it was him and me against the rest of the world, it's a bit of his victory too, a hell of a revenge.
Did you speak with Arnaud (the other finalist) immediately after the result?
We ended up with all the other candidates, but he was gone.
So I didn't see him, I called him… It was a strange call, but he immediately reassured me, he told me that he had preferred to leave, that he was hyperfier from me, and happy for me, that he wasn't mad at me or jealous, but a little mad at himself because he wanted to do better… He was great, cool, it was a call easy.
Read alsoLouise and Arnaud, finalists of "Top Chef", it's instinct versus emotion
Hélène Darroze is going to get a tattoo thanks to you.
It is done ?
Are you going to take care of it?
No, it's not done yet, and yes I would like to.
But I have to buy myself a machine, I do it with a needle, by hand, but I have a little more the will to tattoo Hélène Darroze than to tattoo the other candidates (laughs), the stake is not the same.
With the machine it will be faster, I know that Hélène Darroze has a pretty busy schedule, I don't think she has five hours to devote to me just for a little tattoo.
What does this victory mean to you?
It is a symbol for women.
For me, it echoes those women who believed in their dream against all odds, who knew they could be independent and that their only limits were those they imposed on themselves.
I am thinking of explorers, astronauts, chefs, artists.
Yes, women can do anything, it can be difficult, but we deserve to succeed too.
I think it's a symbol that will do good.
Women's ?
To men ?
To all those who have dreams and who are sometimes a little afraid, like to retrain in such and such a field and say to themselves that it is too late.
But it's never too late, you have to go, you have to believe in your dreams.
I receive a lot of messages in this sense on the networks, from people telling me that they had let go a little bit and that it gave them a boost to accomplish what makes them dream.
That is a phenomenal gift.
You, the kitchen, you almost stopped...
I almost quit, just before the pandemic I had a big burnout.
Even if cooking is and will remain my first love, I said to myself, all this world of stress, lack of respect, violence, aggression, it was too much for me and I didn't want to start. to hate the kitchen.
I have other passions in life, yoga in particular, I wanted to reorient myself in that, I took my backpack and I left for India to follow a teacher training and when I returned , bim, pandemic.
And suddenly I put it off… In fact, it's a good thing that the pandemic has arrived, it made me stay.
What does this victory change for you?
Me, I'm not changing, maybe more people in the profession will be interested in my work, I hope it will give a little more visibility to the female presence within the gastronomic scene in Portugal.
It will bring me a kind of serenity, I know that the restaurant will be full for the months, even years to come, that I don't have to worry too much about that, that I don't have to worry too much about finding staff, a lot of people want to come and work for me, which is amazing, it's great!
Afterwards, I'm going to have lots of opportunities, it's going to make things easier...
The rest, is that it, trying to open a new address, in the countryside as you were talking about?
Already open a restaurant in Lisbon, you have to fill it, so in the countryside when we don't know you, it's a crazy bet.
Now I know that people are likely to travel specifically for me, I think the bet will be a little less crazy.
