He鈥檚 a dream in the kitchen 鈥� and elsewhere in the house. He makes a mean cream-puff tower. And he鈥檚 got moves like Jagger.
Alas, Antonin Car锚me has been dead since the 1830s, but nobody鈥檚 perfect, right?
Most people have heard of Napoleon, but not many are familiar 鈥� even in France 鈥� with the story of this chef who cooked for him and his contemporaries, rising from a poor kitchen boy to become a standard-bearer of French cuisine. Now a new 鈥淐ar锚me,鈥� argues that he was the very first celebrity chef. There's even a 鈥淭op Chef鈥� style cooking contest in front of a panel of judges.
But for the vibe, think 鈥淭he Bear,鈥� set in post-revolutionary Paris. Car锚me even directs his staff at one point to say 鈥淥ui, chef.鈥� (And we could totally imagine him, like in a Calvin Klein underwear ad, if those had existed back then.)
The series, which drops its first two episodes Wednesday, also shows how Car锚me wasn鈥檛 just a cook, or master pastry maker, or, well, sex god. We watch as he's pulled into political intrigue by his boss, the cunning diplomat Talleyrand, and used as a spy.
Still, his goal was to be the best chef in the world. The show鈥檚 first season ends with an extraordinary outdoor coronation banquet that Car锚me creates for thousands of people. When he places, in triumph, a tall white chef鈥檚 hat on his head for the first time, it's as if he's crowning himself 鈥� and marking his ascent to celebrity.
A Jagger vibe
Benjamin Voisin, who's in virtually every scene, plays Car锚me with a scruffy head of hair, a gold earring and a bad-boy swagger that's consciously based on Mick Jagger, circa 鈥�70s.
Director Martin Bourboulon says the choice for the role was obvious once Voisin walked into the audition room.
鈥淲hen you find the right actor for the right part, 80% of the job is done,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e were very impressed with his youthful attitude but also his rock 鈥榥鈥� roll attitude. He is absolutely Car锚me in real life 鈥� very attractive for everyone, a young man who is maybe sometimes a bit insouciant, or careless. 鈥�
Perhaps not surprisingly, the show plays up the sex factor. The first scene sets the tone with Car锚me and his lover, Henriette, in a food-tasting session that morphs immediately into sex, but then duty calls: Napoleon鈥檚 soldiers are coming for dinner.
Bourboulon says that first scene was very intentional, establishing in a few minutes the three main themes of the series: food, sex and politics. Did we mention sex?
Learning how to cook
Of course, he wasn鈥檛 an accomplished chef, so Voisin was given intensive lessons.
鈥淚 spent two months in the kitchen to learn the customs of the great French tradition,鈥� the actor says. He focused on learning how to realistically convey what Car锚me did best: invent dishes of wild whimsy, especially flamboyant dessert creations like a huge pyramid, or the 鈥渃roquembouche鈥� tower 鈥� a cascade of cream puffs. Car锚me is also known for inventing the vol-au-vent, an airy French pastry shell.
But even so, this master pastry maker can't even chop an onion correctly when he arrives for work at his first big kitchen job. The job of teaching him falls to the talented sous-chef in Talleyrand's kitchen, Agathe (Alice Da Luz).
Da Luz trained alongside Voisin on the kitchen brigade at the Ferrandi culinary school in Paris 鈥� and vastly improved her skill set. 鈥淲e really learned the choreography of a kitchen, we really learned technique,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd today I can boast that I cut onions at a crazy speed.鈥�
The actors had a dream workspace: The production spent six weeks building a huge, airy kitchen where they work for Talleyrand 鈥� unlike the cramped, smoky kitchens that would be more historically accurate.
Learning history, too
Viewers may feel the need to brush up on their history. The show takes place shortly after Napoleon seized political power in 1799 and became first consul, on his way to later declaring himself emperor.
The actors had to brush up, too.
Voisin says he knew about 鈥渢he victories and defeats of Bonaparte,鈥� but had to learn from scratch the story of Car锚me.
Lyna Khoudri, who plays mysterious Henriette 鈥� who may or may not be on her lover鈥檚 side 鈥� notes: 鈥淲e鈥檙e making a series about the heritage of French culinary art, a story I didn鈥檛 know. I found out why we鈥檙e so famous for our cuisine in France.鈥�
Da Luz had studied the period at school but dove into it more deeply once she was cast. There was not a lot to read about Agathe, but she read everything she could find. And then, she says, 鈥淚 let my imagination go,鈥� inspired to bring a woman out of the shadows of history.
J茅r茅mie Renier, who plays Talleyrand (actual name Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-P茅rigord), also engaged in extensive research. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a character who has led a thousand lives,鈥� he said, 鈥渨ho lived through almost a century of history, at a time when people were guillotined for not much. So ... he must have been very clever.鈥�
The show, for Renier, is in large part about ambition. 鈥淎ll these characters have a goal, a dream to achieve,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he question is, what are we ready to win or lose to achieve this dream?鈥�
That crazy banquet
The production is lush throughout the whole season, beginning with the gorgeous country homes 鈥� filmmakers scouted 60 of them, and chose 12. They created new dinner services to dress the tables, and made 3,000 candles to light all the candelabras 鈥� different hues for different rooms. There were 96 vases of fresh flowers at all times in Talleyrand鈥檚 home, according to production notes.
As for costumes, some 1,000 of them were made from scratch, because the filmmakers had a specific vision of clothing that was not period-accurate but also not completely modern.
Then there was that crazy banquet that ends the season. Filming at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, which boasts dramatic fountains, the production created a giant tent covered with 鈥渁n extraordinary amount of velvet,鈥� and loaded down the tables with food, including a 60 kilo (132 pound) leg of lamb and a 50 kilo (110-pound) tuna.
They also made 5,000 cream puffs, which were assembled into grand, towering structures 鈥� befitting not only a new emperor but the world鈥檚 first celebrity chef.
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
