Add
Private Notes
Raymond Blanc begins the search to find another couple to go into business with. The couples are shocked to find out there is a tough challenge before the real contest begins.
The couples discover which restaurants they have chosen through the random key selection and are given a week to decide on the decor and ambience of the eateries, along with the menu they plan to serve. As always, Raymond Blanc has dispatched his inspectors Sarah Willingham and David Moore to keep a watchful eye on proceedings.
Raymond Blanc asks the couples to let their customers pay only what they decide their meals are worth, creating a need to encourage them all to give generously. Chef James rests his hopes on haute cuisine at the Gallery, while Stephen and Helen try to ensure a full house as they cater for families. Raymond then enlists David Moore and Sarah Willingham's help to select his losing contestants.
The three less successful couples after the opening night challenge are set another one. Each couple are sent to a different motorway service station where they have to prepare a breakfast menu. The least successful couple find their time on the show over.
The remaining teams have to create a meal using every part of a Sea Bream. The three teams who have been considered to have done the worst job learn that they will face the elimination challenge this week.
The couples facing elimination have to create a formal dinner at three prestigious Oxford colleges. At the end of the show one team is eliminated from the competition.
The remaining couples have to change their menus so that it will include a national dish from overseas. People from each country are sent to the restaurants to try out the dishes. For one couple not everything goes as planned.
The three couples facing elimination have to prepare meals aboard an airliner. At the end of the show one of the couples is eliminated.
The remaining couples start their own takeaway service in an effort to reach out to the local community by offering restaurant meals that customers can eat at home. Raymond Blanc, assisted by inspectors on the ground, questions the couples and decides who has made a success of their business and which ones need to prove their restaurant is worth keeping open.
The three couples facing elimination have to host a dinner party for some very demanding guests. At the end of the show one of the couples is eliminated from the show.
The couples are challenged by Raymond to show the public their cookery skills but not everyone is up to the challenge though.
Raymond Blanc challenges the remaining couples to produce books to promote their restaurant concepts. As well as making sure they have cooked their dishes to perfection, they must present them for some of Britain's leading food photographers to shoot, before their finished products are judged by some of the country's most influential book buyers.
Raymond Blanc invites back customers who weren't happy with their eating experience, in an effort to see if the remaining couples can get it right the second time around. The chef also invites diners who require special dietary care, but doesn't reveal this to the teams until the last possible moment. The inspectors then arrive to find out how the couples have fared and who will make it through.
In the penultimate episode, Raymond Blanc puts the chefs through their paces in his own kitchen, while the front-of-house staff are scrutinised by David Moore in one of his Michelin-starred eateries. The teams face a grilling from businesswoman Sarah Willingham before opening their restaurants to renowned figures from the food industry. Raymond then decides which two couples will make it through to the final.
The two remaining couples go head-to-head in the final challenge, to cook for 40 guests on board a luxury train, for a chance to join Raymond Blanc in a new business venture. The chefs have to devise and cook a lavish five-course menu to passengers expecting othing but the very best. Raymond and the inspectors also climb aboard to share the passengers' experience and evaluate the ontestants' work, before deciding the overall winner. Last in the series
