Wednesday May 27, 2026, the octagon set up at L’Orfèvrerie was transformed into a culinary ring for the quarter-finals of . On M6, the last four candidates, Alexy Algar-Denos, Victor Kuntz, Viviana Pisacane and Aboubakar Bamba, experienced an episode 13 where every gesture counted.
In this octagon-shaped kitchen, there is nothing to breathe: mono-texture, stale bread to transform and mackerel to enhance all follow one another. Mental endurance becomes as decisive as technique after eleven weeks of competition.
: a quarter-final in the octagon
Broadcast at 9:10 p.m. on M6, this 13th episode opens the decisive phase of the competition. At L’Orfèvrerie, the candidates cook in the center of the octagon, surrounded by the stations of their brigade leaders and under the eye of Stéphane Rotenberg.
Viviana Pisacane cooks with Hélène Darroze, Alexy Algar-Denos with Glenn Viel, Aboubakar Bamba with Philippe Etchebest and Victor Kuntz with Paul Pairet. Mono-texture judged by Alan Taudon and Michaël Bartocetti, stale bread in a gourmet version against Marcel Ravin and Dimitri Droisneau, then an eliminatory test around mackerel make up a sequence from which Aboubakar loses.
Mono-texture and stale bread, two subjects that can change everything
Mono-texture requires building a dish around a single sensation, from crispy to soft. Victor chooses the crunchy, Alexy and Viviana bet on the soft, already revealing their instincts and their risk-taking.
Stale bread, an everyday product, must then become a noble material. Viviana signs a bread steak, Victor an almost meaty bread tartare, while Alexy and Viviana take a short lead on these two challenges.
Decisive pimp: the fall of Aboubakar Bamba, the phoenix of the show
The mackerel serves as a justice of the peace. The product must remain at the center: Alexy manages two clean preparations in forty-five minutes, when Victor defends a mackerel-broccoli where the vegetable supports the fish without stealing the spotlight.
For Aboubakar Bamba, nicknamed the phoenix after his returns to the show, this final test comes down to details. He sums it up like this: , he explained to HuffPost. Close to Philippe Etchebest, whom he sees as a coach and a mentor, the Parisian chef finally reminds us that a chef is defined neither by the palaces listed on his CV, nor by his academic results.
When was episode 13 aired?
Episode 13, dedicated to the quarter-finals, was broadcast on Wednesday May 27, 2026 at 9:10 p.m. on M6.
Who was eliminated in the quarter-finals?
The candidate eliminated at the gates of the semi-final is the resident Parisian chef Aboubakar Bamba.
What events marked the quarter-finals of?
The candidates followed a single-texture plate, an anti-waste dish around stale bread and a final decisive challenge with mackerel.
