Nightmare in the kitchen: owners and restaurateurs clash after the broadcast of the March 11 show!

Monday March 11, the public was able to discover a new episode of Nightmare in the Kitchen. In total, more than 2 million viewers were in front of their screens and were able to discover the restaurant “Le Cygne de l’Espérance” in Dordogne, run by Christian and Béatrice Baietto. Caught financially, the couple struggled to get by.

“I’m Philippe Etchebest, eh!”
Your captain is him: @Chef_Etchebest !

This Monday, #Kitchen nightmare at 9:10 p.m. followed by the documentary “Un chef au bout du Monde” at 11:00 p.m. pic.twitter.com/IlGwJf66DK

— M6 (@M6) March 9, 2024

Faced with their dismay and their painful experience, the broadcast of the program caused a lot of reaction on the networks, notably the owners of the walls of the establishment, Sylvie and Robert Besse.

According to them, the current managers have not paid their rent since May 2023 and today have a debt of 20,000 euros as they explain to the media Sud Ouest: “ We bought the business and the premises in 1987. We worked until 2016, when we sold the business for the first time. We are in the process. It is under deliberation, we should have a response between April 18 and 20. We would like to break the lease.”

Apparently, this wouldn’t be the first time that Christian and Béatrice found themselves in a situation like this: “When we saw that they were not paying the rent, we inquired,” points out Sylvie Besse. In their previous affair, they never really opened up. Same thing here. Since filming in December, they haven’t opened a single day, even though, in fact, that’s what was highlighted in the show. In ten months, they made 16,000 euros in revenue. They are heavily in debt, around 170,000 euros. We don’t blame them, they’re poor people.”

On social networks, the owners’ son also wanted to explain the problem facing his parents: “You were able to see the relatively very rapid outcome of tonight’s show, without too many details, because M6 learned at the end of filming the real situation of the couple, who were not paying their rent or their suppliers.”

Faced with these accusations, Christian and Béatrice were keen to respond in an interview with Télé-Loisirs, Wednesday March 13, 2024. They then specified that the problem comes from the restaurant and the establishment: “There are problems at this restaurant that predate our purchase. […] The former managers of the restaurant took the owners to court because they never responded about work on the heating. Today, the heating still doesn’t work!

They also decided to appeal to justice: “I sent a registered letter through a bailiff to provide an inventory of the work carried out and those planned in the three years to come. Still no response… A legal expert from the Court came to his report”.

In order to get back on track, on the advice of the film crew, the couple of restaurateurs opened an online fundraiser on March 11. The objective: to collect 10,000 euros in order to relaunch their activity.