The mission was certainly not impossible, but it was not very simple to accomplish either, and it was ultimately with flying colors that the three chefs and the students of Ipag Nice delighted the large crowd that came to attend the festive and charitable Téléthon day this Saturday at Place Pierre Gautier.
It was 7 am when the stand took shape with the setup of the equipment and the delivery of 180 kilos of food items donated by the many partners of the operation (see list at the end of the article). The cold was quickly forgotten after a few minutes of setup, and the chefs could get into action with Noémie Honiat, already hard at work on her financiers, madeleines and other sweets, Norbert Tarayre preparing his Soup Bar which offered pumpkin veloutes, truffled mushroom soup, and the traditional market vegetable soup, while Franck Viano was immersed in his brioches and fruits to create his famous sweet Pan Bagnats.
The festivities and activities could restart around 10 am and the first culinary aromas were already attracting the first gourmets and foodies as well as the curious who wanted to meet the two participants of the last edition of Top Chef. “We came as a family to kill two birds with one stone by meeting the chefs while tasting their dishes. The truffled pumpkin soup is a real delight,” confided Barbara, who came from Villefranche-sur-Mer with her husband and children to participate in the great Téléthon party in Nice. The stand then turned into a real brigade around midday for the first rush of the day with “Nono,” loud both in words and colors, and Noémie transformed into a little pastry ant chaining various doughs and sweet preparations. “We are very happy with the outcome of this project. It wasn’t easy to find all the partners, and until yesterday, we were still looking for a few items. We would also like to sincerely thank our most generous donors: Sodimats company, Leclerc Saint Isidore, and the central kitchen of the city of Nice, not to mention Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, Françoise Monier, and Lauriano Azinheirinha for their involvement in this project,” explains Vanessa Négri, one of the two event organizers alongside Héloïse Schwab.
At 3 pm, there was just time to catch a breath before snack time came around and the “pitchouns” assailed the stand in search of some treats after piloting miniature Ferraris, engaging in a Sumo battle, or climbing the wall installed at Quai des États-Unis. “We may offer them soup, but to no avail, it’s Mimi’s pastries that are a hit!” Norbert, in great spirits, continues to enliven the stand with loud voice bursts, as only he knows how.
Night begins to fall over Cours Saleya and, consequently, the temperature too, and it’s the soup enthusiasts who once again besiege the culinary stand as pots bubble away with the ever-growing demand. “We warm up and it’s delicious, what more could one ask for,” says Pierre, who traveled from Cannes to meet the two Top Chef participants whose performance he didn’t miss last winter.
8 pm! A final group belts out the weekend’s last pieces on stage and it’s now time for the chefs and students to clear the area by donating all remaining food items (more than 70 kg) to the Community Social Action Center of the City of Nice, and by distributing the remaining cooked dishes to the homeless in the old town. It’s time now to count up, and more than €800 will ultimately be donated to the Téléthon, as Norbert Tarayre declined to have his return train ticket reimbursed… When you have a big heart!
The place is nearly empty, it is 9 pm and everyone can once again go their own way with beautiful images of this superb day in mind and, most importantly, with the pleasure of having contributed to a truly deserving cause.
