Clotaire Poirier is not your typical chef. A globetrotter and polyglot, he rose to prominence with French audiences as a finalist on “Top Chef”, embodying a new generation of cooks for whom performance no longer comes at the expense of people.

“Don’t Call Me Chef” offers an intimate immersion into his world, following three exceptional pop-up events between London and Paris, including a striking collaboration with Pierre Gagnaire. Amid the pressure of service, bursts of creativity, and openly embraced doubts, Clotaire Poirier champions a radical vision: a horizontal kitchen, where listening, trust, and collective intelligence replace traditional hierarchy.

Through preparations and services, the film captures the emergence of a new way of building a brigade—freer, more contemporary—and subtly questions the dominant models of haute cuisine. A moving portrait of a chef breaking away, striving to reconcile excellence with humanity.