The Restaurant – grand final
Twins Laura and Jess, children’s entertainers from London, and Royal Marine chef Jeremy and his wife Jane, a trainee teacher from Devon, have made it to the grand final of BBC Two’s The Restaurant (Wednesday 17 October, 8pm).
The two remaining couples will now battle it out for the unique opportunity to go into business with legendary chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc.
Says Raymond: “I have been enormously impressed by how much effort all nine couples have put in to the competition – their determination to make it work has been obvious. In this final challenge I wanted to test the couples’ flexibility and resilience.
“When I opened my first restaurant in Oxfordshire I brought a little bit of France to the UK, so I wanted the couples to take a little bit of Britain to France and see how they fared. It is all credit to them that they made a good impression. They had to create something at the drop of a hat and they all did really well.
“Our final couples have shown fantastic teamwork, winning restaurant of the week more than once along the way. They have excellent concepts and they have shown strength together, becoming driven teams who are able to pass on their knowledge.”
Nine couples started out in the competition and to test their skills all the couples had to run their own restaurants for the very first time. But to help him make this week’s ultimate decision, Raymond tells the finalists to take their restaurants to his home town of Besançon in France – the place where he grew up and started his own career.
The two couples, however, are shocked to learn that they have less than 48 hours to reopen their own restaurant there for one night, and introduce the French to their British cuisine.
This proves to be the toughest of all the challenges the couples have been given during the series. They must come up with a menu that will appeal to the French, negotiate for ingredients in Raymond Blanc’s hometown market, and train their new French team.
There are tears and tantrums as the kitchen and front of house struggle to cope with the packed restaurants, as well as pleasing Raymond, his family and, most of all, the woman who taught him to cook … his mother Anne Marie.
Will she like her first whole-food burger served by the twins’ Brown And Green restaurant, or will she prefer Jeremy and Jane’s taster menu extravaganza served from Eight In The Country?
Laughs Raymond: “My maman tasted her first lamb burger and she asked for the recipe – an accolade indeed.”
At stake this week is the chance of a lifetime – a restaurant in partnership with and backed by Raymond Blanc.
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October 17th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Congratulations to Jeremy and Jane, and commiserations to Jess and Laura.
I have to admit I’m chuffed Jeremy and Jane won. Not that necessarily I think they were the best couple over the entire series, but they were so passionate and for me displayed enormous resilience throughout. Jeremy’s final speech on his eight course menu when he was unable to pick any course that he way happy with, even though it had received praise from Raymond Blanc and more importantly Raymond’s Mum, for me just illustrates his passionate approach to his food.
But I just want to advocate for each and every couple that entered this competition. The thing that made The Restaurant such compelling, entertaining viewing, is where other reality TV shows failed, it was exactly that: Reality. As an ex restaurant owner I know this from bitter experience. Every customer complaint and every messed up order, each mistake, each badly cooked dish, each accident and every single stressful teardrop I have experienced previously and have shared again week in and week out.
I know this show is all about someone winning a fantastic opportunity to win a restaurant backed by the fabulous Raymond Blanc, but I also truly hope that it will serve to highlight to people just how much passion and hard work goes into running a restaurant, and just maybe people will stop for a moment and consider this the next time they complain that their food is a ‘little bland’ in a futile attempt to make themselves look big and clever.
Just think for a moment if you cooked for someone and they didn’t enjoy it, how would you feel? Or indeed if you received criticism about anything that you had put pride and effort into, be that drawing, music, or whatever you were passionate about? Of course you’d feel hurt and saddened and your confidence would be knocked, and that’s exactly how chefs, restaurant owners feel. When I was cooking in our restaurant, each and every time I sent out a plate of food, my heart and soul went with it as garnish. And when the plates came back I found myself obsessively inspecting them for leftovers. An empty plate ensured a good night’s sleep, too much waste, and I was heart broken. And this is the same for all chefs, kitchen staff, waiters and restaurant owners. Regardless that you are ‘paying good money’, Please spare a thought and think is your complaint really justified, or are you just being an arse?
Good luck for the future to every contestant. If after this experience you decide not to open a restaurant after all; well I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised, but if you do, please drop me a line. I’d love to visit. I will spend an obscene amount of money on wine. And I will never, EVER complain.
Running a restaurant: It’s a stressful and emotional ride. I’m glad that this time, I was just a spectator.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:08 am
As an ex restaurant owner myself, I have been avidly watching this series. Initially I wasn’t sure (as I don’t believe even Grant and Laura were) of their concept, but over the weeks I think I got it. Or at least I think they finally did. The Scottish-French fusion was very confusing but once they went with just the Scottish idea I think they were on to something (especially considering I am huge fan of Scotland, Loch Lomond and the West Highland Way).
I have followed and commented the series on my own blog, and the one thing I have advocated for throughout is the contestant’s food that has excited me the most. Grant and Laura’s were one of the few that did. If they go on to open a restaurant – well that’s a table for two for me please.