ManicMammy’s Blog

The Apprentice meets Hell’s Kitchen, this series started slowly but gaining pace with 9 couples competing to win a restaurant with Raymond Blanc

This latest reality TV offering started a couple of weeks ago. Everyone thinks they can run their own restaurant so the prospect of watching amateurs give it a go should be interesting. Initially I wasn’t too impressed. Too many people, not enough expertise, fundamental mistakes and some lazy and annoying contestants. But its definitely growing on me.

There are 9 couples from all over the UK: married couples, engaged couples,  mother and son, twin sisters. All come to the series with a huge variety of experience. Home cooks, prison chefs, party entertainers, an actress, jazz musican,  caterers, ex marine, marketeers are all given their own restaurant to run, one partner in the kitchen and one front of house. Each restaurant’s theme and style of food is completely up to them. Each week one restaurant is closed and one couple eliminated.

Raymond Blanc is the main judge and he has 3 “helpers”, all reputed restaurant industry experts who visit each of the restaurants each week. The programme is on twice a week. In the first programme, each couple competes in the weekly challenge and and aspect of restaurant running is tested. One week it was introducing money spinners such as cocktails and specials, another week it was having an additional early evening service focussed on getting families with children in to eat.

In the second programme of the week, the 3 worst performing restaurants of that week are given an elimination challenge in which they are helped by the couples who have succeeded in getting through that week. These challenges have included providing mass catering to a local canteen to running a private party/function.  

It’s getting entertaining now as you begin to get to know the contestants and empathise with them. Some are completely out of their depth and are floundering. You pity their customers, waiting for hours for food, being served below par meals. Tempers are lost and you can see the stress and strain the experience is having on relationships.

Some couples are thriving and you can see improvement in their restaurant weekly. The Ghanaian couple, Lloyd and Adwoa initially did dreadfully, serving up raw chicken to one of the judges. Since then they’ve improved enormously, Adwoa’s food looks great and by all accounts tastes good too. I reckon they are definitely the ones to watch in the winning stakes.

It definitely does give an insight into the hardship involved in opening and running a restaurant. I’ll never be tempted to do so but am happy to watch others give it a go!

Rated 4/5 on Sep 14 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: bbc, food, gameshow, reality, reality tv, restaurant tv, series, tv
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