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The Chef’s Brigade review – a cookery challenge worthy of Willy Wonka

With contestants selected by a random lottery and dazzled by gin-infused cuttlefish, Jason Atherton’s attempt to assemble a crack team of chefs is far from ‘reality’ TV

Jason Atherton has the intense air of a man who rarely has to raise his voice before his wishes are accommodated. He radiates an iron calm, but you get the feeling you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. And that he really, really wouldn’t like you.

With four Michelin stars and 18 restaurants, Atherton relies on strong kitchen teams for the success of his empire. In The Chefs’ Brigade (BBC Two), he attempts to build such a team from scratch, out of cooks with only basic skills, cherrypicked from the pubs, cafes and bistros of the land. Once the brigade is assembled, he takes it on a tour of Europe, training his charges to compete against the finest restaurants on the continent. First stop: Puglia in south-east Italy.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2SPQMaK
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