Black hair in shambles and a look sometimes lost elsewhere, a universe of his own, a touching and amusing sincerity, a claimed affection for Jacques, his little brother also candidate of the contest eliminated for a few weeks already, Mathieu Lagarde, the last protégé of Glenn Viel was released this Wednesday evening at the gates of the finale of season 14 of "Top Chef". His onion darkness hailed as a three-star dish, a lollipop in beef tongue or a crucified quail on a board, the candidate will have marked the spirits with strong and sometimes radical proposals. From New Zealand, where he has returned to work, he shares his impressions.
First qualified for the semi-final, you are eliminated. We can imagine your disappointment...
MATHIEU LAGARDE. Yes. I would have loved to bring victory to Chief Glenn Viel, it would have been the ultimate tribute. I gave it my all for him, my number one source of motivation was really Chef Viel and my brother Jacques.
What is your reaction when you understand that this final escapes you?
I had a little hatred, it must be said, but it was very easy because Jacques was by my side. I hadn't seen him for a long time, he was eliminated quite early, and in the end, I was very happy because I wasn't going alone. Afterwards, I was with him every day, it was much easier than for other candidates. I think I had the easiest loss of the season. The only thing was in relation to Chief Viel.
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What kind of relationship did you form with him?
Very honest and sincere, when it was going well, we told each other, when it was not going too. We weren't pretending, that's what I loved. Humanly, he is really a good person, and in cooking, he has a perception, visions of techniques or flavors different from mine that he shared with me. I learned a lot and I will always be grateful to him.
When you are eliminated, what did he tell you?
He told me something quite poetic, like it's not necessarily the winner who wins, to tell me that I didn't necessarily lose everything. I loved it because it showed me that he wasn't disappointed in me. All I cared about was having his respect and still being proud of me. And it did, I was happy.
What did you gain?
I would say an instinctive cuisine. I have always had a thoughtful cuisine, thought because cooking on instinct is not at all my style. And that's an extra strength for me as a cook. In all the tests, there is not a dish that I have already made, and it is thanks to the imposed themes.
Yet, at first, "Top Chef", you did not want to do it...
No. I had just shot an episode of "MasterChef" in New Zealand when I was contacted to offer it, I said no. I worked a lot and didn't have the mind to come back to France. I talked to friends who stuffed my head, telling me it was a golden opportunity, they persuaded me. Jacques didn't want to either, he also ended up accepting. On my own, I would never have applied, competition was never really my thing.
This competitor, did you discover it in you?
More than telling myself I'm going to beat so-and-so, what made me want to fight every day was to make Chef Glenn Viel proud and stay so I could learn more, have more opportunities to meet chefs than I would have met otherwise. I saw "Top Chef" as a second apprenticeship, it taught me a lot.
During the competition, you made an impression by expressing your dark side, let's say, there was this crucified quail...
More on the end I would say, from the onion darkness yes... One of my proudest creations, here in New Zealand, I hunt pheasant that I completely bone. With the flesh, I make a stuffing that I put back inside and sew it back together. I keep my head, wings and legs attached. A year later, it seems whole and yet once cut, it's charcuterie. For some it is shocking, for me it is a way to honor the animal, the fact of showing it in its entirety is to be even more sincere, it is to give a pure and hard representation of what nature offers us. It may sound macabre, and I've had a lot of negative comments on the networks, but it doesn't affect me because that's what I like. I'd rather be myself than pretend.
It is precisely the pheasant that put you in it a little, on the air you say that you have self-beaten with your own ordeal... Any regrets about that?
I think they did something better in terms of flavors and taste... If I'm not in the final, maybe it's more that I didn't review molecular cuisine, I should have anticipated by telling myself that Dany would give something on it, in my head I was going to improvise, as usual. It went very well with Hugo's ordeal, not at all with Danny's... What I can say is hats off to Danny because the goal was to destabilize to win. And he succeeded.
Is the show watched in New Zealand?
You can find it, but everyone tells me the same thing: the subtitles are missing. That's the only criticism I would make of "Top Chef." I'm sure a lot of people would be watching, the French are very famous for cooking. Friends don't speak a word of French but look, I imagine how frustrating it can be...
You lived the adventure with Jacques, who left quite early and now settled in Spain. Did meeting each other make you want to get closer?
That's the plan: in September I join Jacquouille in his restaurant to upgrade him even more, as we did here, work hard, laugh and have fun in the kitchen. Regarding the France, to see if we have any proposals, if we have challenged people enough to ask us for collaborations or events. We'll be super interested...
In the episode, you say you lost 6 kg during filming, you took them back?
Yes of course. During the competition, I was stressed, I didn't eat much because I thought too much. Now I work a lot but I pay more attention.
