Chef Philippe Etchebest travels to Périgueux, to the restaurant that Fabien, chef de cuisine, has been running for a year and a half with the help of Fred, his waiter. But as soon as he arrives, the chef has to fasten his seatbelt, as he's about to embark on a real world tour! With a frontage that announces a Vietnamese restaurant, a Franco-Japanese menu, Italian products... the chef is going to be confronted with numerous culinary inconsistencies! And that's without taking into account a waiter who doesn't know what's on his menu and makes a host of mistakes, to the point of breaking down in the dining room in front of the customers, and a chef with a strong personality... It's not easy for Chef Etchebest to understand what's going on and take up the challenge of saving this restaurant!
Chef Philippe Etchebest will be working in Mimose and Georget's restaurant in Saint-Gervais, Gard. The Réunionese couple took over this establishment 4 years ago, and Georget is far from a novice, having worked for Maison Troisgros (3 stars), and his mentor is none other than Serge Chenet, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France! An exceptional CV never before seen on Cauchemar en cuisine! So why did Mimose call on Philippe Etchebest to help out such an experienced chef? The chef soon finds out, and goes from surprise to surprise. Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures: the chef will use a new stratagem to try and help the restaurateurs, even if it means completely destabilizing them! Will this new shock tactic bear fruit? Will Chef Etchebest succeed in saving Mimose and Georget's restaurant?
Philippe Etchebest travels to Saint-Berthevin-la-Tannière, a small village in Mayenne, to try and help Isabelle and her son Jeffrey, who took over a restaurant just 8 months ago... Their situation is so critical that the family's financial difficulties force them to turn to Restos du Cœur for food. At Isabelle and Jeffrey's, the chef quickly felt at home, but Isabelle may be wearing her "best mom" apron, but she seems to be having great difficulty managing her establishment: recipes found on the Internet, no vouchers to manage the service, disorganization in the dining room, the chef found himself faced with a restaurateur of good will but totally overwhelmed. And Philippe Etchebest is not at the end of his surprises: for the first time, an event will make him doubt whether he can succeed in his mission...
Philippe Etchebest travels to Bon-Encontre in Lot-et-Garonne to help Levana and Olivier. For once, it's not the restaurant owners who have appealed to the chef, but the villagers. They are desperate to help the couple, who took over the commune's only restaurant only 2 years ago, because apart from a few regulars, most of the customers have deserted the establishment... As soon as he arrived, the chef was put in the mood: the owners gave him the feeling that they had completely given up, and the restaurant is a real mess! Despite all the problems that Levana and Olivier may encounter, the chef is faced with a close-knit couple, who get through everything, for better or for worse! But behind this bond that unites them, the chef soon realizes that there's a huge problem that's plunging Levana and Olivier into bankruptcy...
Philippe Etchebest travels to Villefranche-de-Lauragais in Haute-Garonne to help Cindy, Tony and Christopher. These three siblings invested all their savings 3 years ago to take over a restaurant to fulfill Tony's dream as a catering chef. Unfortunately, they are now on the verge of bankruptcy... However, as soon as he arrived, the chef was surprised by their concept: here, everything is all-you-can-eat, starters, main courses and desserts! And, to his great surprise, even meat, an expensive product, is available in abundance! Behind this concept, which may appeal to a wide audience, quality is sometimes lacking and, during service, the chef noted a few shortcomings in the dining room. Despite this, Philippe Etchebest is faced with a mystery: there's no explanation for the situation in which the siblings find themselves today. Unless there's something they're not telling him... One thing's for sure, though, and that's that the chef won't be long before the truth comes out!
Philippe Etchebest arrives in Brittany, in the heart of the Côtes-d'Armor region of France, at Jean-François' restaurant in Plaintel. Retraining after a career on the road, Jean-François has been running a roadside restaurant for the past 4 years, and is apparently in such a difficult situation that he can hardly hold back his tears... And yet, for once, on his arrival, the chef discovered a restaurant packed with people! On the spot, he fell under the spell of Jean-François' wife "Darling", a super-hospitable boss who knows how to manage a well-oiled, professional team! Ironically, the chef even had a good lunch, to the point of wondering why the owner of this restaurant had asked for his help. But things soon took a completely different turn, and Chef Etchebest finally got to the bottom of it...