# Ici tout commence (2020)

> A French soap opera following students and staff at a prestigious culinary school run by chef Auguste Armand, where rivalries and secrets simmer.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/93797

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 1557
- Episode runtime: 28 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Othman Mahfoud, Eric Fuhrer, Coline Assous
- Network: TF1
- Cast: Aurélie Pons, Julie Sassoust, Rébecca Benhamour, Nicolas Anselmo, Catherine Davydzenka, Alizée Bochet, Sidney Cadot-Sambosi, Marvin Pellegrino
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13392064/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: melodramatic, gossipy, emotional, competitive

## What critics say

Audiences are split on the series, with an early season rated low and a later season rated highly, giving an overall mixed reception.

## Synopsis

Ici tout commence (2020-present) is a French daily soap opera series created by Othman Mahfoud, Eric Fuhrer and Coline Assous for TF1. Set in the present day at a prestigious culinary school headed by renowned chef Auguste Armand, the series follows a large ensemble of students and staff. Salomé Dekens (Aurélie Pons) and Anaïs Grimbert (Julie Sassoust) anchor the drama alongside Célia Gaissac (Rébecca Benhamour) and Eliott Prevost (Nicolas Anselmo), while Hortense Rochemont (Catherine Davydzenka), Ludivine Rivière (Alizée Bochet) and Mehdi Mabsoute (Marvin Pellegrino) add further tangled ties. The engine is a steady stream of pressure in the kitchen and beyond it, where ambitions collide, rivalries flare and buried secrets surface between personal and professional lives. Each episode is a brisk, melodramatic slice of workplace and family intrigue, and the show has run for three seasons so far as a continuing serialized soap. Its tone is emotional and gossipy, with a competitive atmosphere shaped by the demands of the culinary world. Fans of Plus belle la vie, Un si grand soleil and Dynasty will find familiar pleasures in its sprawling relationships and cliffhanging romance.

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- [Stalk (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/84492)
- [The Collapse (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/80487)
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- [SKAM France (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/66536)
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