Television. "Top Chef": The restaurant wars return tonight, and you won't be bored.

It's one of the challenges that viewers... and Top Chef contestants are eagerly awaiting: this Wednesday, May 21, the iconic restaurant war returns! Two trios will embark on a veritable 48-hour culinary marathon to design a restaurant from A to Z, imagine the concept, fit out the space, develop a coherent menu, and ensure service.

And for this 16th season, M6 has a little surprise in store for the cooks , since six of them (Claudio, Esteban and Margaux on one side, Charles, Charlie and Quentin on the other) will have to face a third team made up of... former iconic semi-finalists of Top Chef : Norbert Tarayre (season 3), Mallory Gabsi (season 11) and Matthias Marc (season 12). If the last two had won this event (while the kitchen of Matthias Marc and Mohamed Cheikh had caught fire!), Norbert Tarayre has revenge to take, since in 2012, his restaurant with a plant-based concept had not won over the judges. The establishment had not even opened...

"This ordeal still sticks in my craw," admits the chef, now at the helm of 19.20 , the restaurant at the Parisian palace Prince de Galles. He will therefore return with all the energy necessary to try, this time, to be able to present his concept to the brigade chefs , but also to the culinary critic François-Régis Gaudry, who will be accompanied by the gastronomic journalist Valentine Oudard and some fans of the show. They will judge the experience in the dining room, the coherence of the concept and of course, the content of the plate. And they will be uncompromising! "It also allows us to see if we are still in the game, it's a challenge, because nothing is ever taken for granted, especially in the kitchen," adds Norbert Tarayre.

In addition, the semi-finalist of season 3 of Top Chef will be facing his executive chef Claudio Semedo Borges, with whom he works at 19.20 . "I'm also coming back because my chef is here, we have a different cuisine, me brutal and him more technical, we are 10 years apart and have different techniques," admits the chef.

As every year, among the three competing teams, only two will be able to open their restaurants. The chefs will therefore have to impress the jury with their concept, their menu, and their decor. The least convincing establishment will not serve. A difficult task, but for Norbert Tarayre, this challenge is the one "that best reflects reality, the restaurant business, and what we experience every day, including increased competition."

The three returning chefs will therefore be working extra hard to continue the challenge. "Even if it's easier to do it when you know you're not going back into the competition afterward, as soon as you put on your jacket, you get back into the competition, it's very absorbing," says Matthias Marc. And the three friends have learned from their mistakes. This year, they were very careful with the clock. "This time, we tried to get into it from the start to get ahead. Even though we have 48 hours, it goes by very quickly, the goal was to get to the point, and thanks to that, we even managed to get a half-hour head start, which is precious in this challenge," explains the Michelin-starred chef.

Without giving you more away, the three former Top Chef candidates have chosen a "slightly provocative concept centered around meat and vegetables," explains Mallory Gabsi. We'll have to wait until Wednesday evening to find out if this idea won over the jury... or not! The candidates in the trio in danger will have to cook again in an individual challenge, judged by the brigade chefs, at the end of which one candidate will be eliminated.

Top Chef , the restaurant war, this Wednesday, May 21, at 9:10 p.m., on M6.