The amazing story of restaurants
The Amazing Story – a new TV series hosted by Stéphane Bern, airing on France 2 and produced by CAPA – leads viewers back in time to give them a better understanding of… our modern lives.
France’s history isn’t only about our kings and queens, nor the nation’s great battles and milestones. It’s also a story about our way of life and what makes up our daily existence: our clothes, our pastimes, our schools, and our health. In the first episode of a brand-new show, part entertainment and part history lesson, we tell the amazing story of restaurants.
France has more than 780,000 culinary establishments, the highest number of restaurants per capita in the world. Over the centuries, the French have developed a true passion for restaurants.
Stéphane Bern will embark viewers upon a one-of-a-kind journey, literally taking them back in time for a first-hand glimpse of the key chapters of our culinary history, looking at how restaurants were born and have since evolved. Great efforts will be taken to recreate authentic period costumes and decors, for this enlightening trip back in time.
This fascinating story starts in the Middle Ages, when the first inns opened. It moves forward to the French Revolution, when the first modern restaurants popped up around the Royal Palace. As this adventure unfolds, viewers will see that the birth of French cuisine goes hand-in-hand with the democratization of restaurants, symbolized by the rowdy “guinguettes” that became so popular with the working classes at the start of the 20th century.
Stéphane Bern decided to bring along two culinary rising stars on this journey. Nathalie Nguyen and Grégory Cuilleron became household names after competing in cooking contest shows. These young chefs represent the next generation of 21st-century cuisine, in its most modern and bounteous form. Along with viewers, they discover the history of their profession.
As they plunge back into the past, our two cooking wiz-kids will have to start fresh. Working without electricity or refrigeration changes everything: from tools, to ingredients as well as culinary practices. They will have to take on surprising challenges, such as cooking supper at a medieval inn, or making ice cream the way it was done during the French Revolution… without a freezer.
The Amazing Story is a journey back in time that takes viewers on an adventure teeming with surprises, laughter and thrills! This one-of-a-kind family-friendly show is not only educational, but also highly entertaining!
A TV show hosted by Stéphane BERN | Delegate Producer: CAPA Presse | Director: Fabrice MICHELIN | Producers: Philippe LEVASSEUR, Nicolas VALODE | Artistic Director: Yoan ZERBIT | Executive Producer: Justine MARTIN CHAUFFIER | Head Writer: Emilie LANÇON
A CAPA production | Based on an original idea by the NEWEN Development Department | With the participation of FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS |Program Advisors: Nathalie Denise, Héloïse Martin Saint Léon | Deputy Head of the Entertainment Division: Nicolas Marinos | Head of the Entertainment and Gameshow Division at France 2: Marie Genest
