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Video length: 4 min
Hospital: a former chef at the Élysée cooks for cancer patients
Hospital: a former chef at the Élysée cooks for cancer patients – (France 2)
In Lyon, starred chef Christian Têtedoie regularly cooks in hospitals to bring smiles to the faces of the sick. The 13 Hours followed this former chef of the Élysée, from the kitchen to the patients.
When he is not in his Michelin-starred restaurant, Christian Têtedoie cooks at the cancer center in Lyon (Rhône) at least twice a month. This former chef at the Élysée has reworked more than 380 of the establishment’s recipes. The adventure was born more than 5 years ago from a painful episode. Christian Têtedoie was very close to a patient. The center made him a proposal: “Wouldn’t you be interested in making a lunch? I said why not, but I would prefer that we get to work to improve people’s daily lives”he remembers.
Care assistance
With 6 euros per person for three meals a day, we had to adapt. 550 trays are distributed to each service. On the menu: celery remoulade, veal paupiettes with curry sauce, homemade crème brûlée. The patients are won over. A healing factor, when illness and chemo alter taste and appetite. “A patient who eats well is a patient who will be able to receive oncological treatment and who will go well”, explains Bénédicte Mastroianni, oncologist. Christian Têtedoie has also developed jars served on demand. Patients regularly leave little notes on the trays.