Last Restaurant Standing

[halogenic]

I just wanted to hear some opinions on the new show on BBC. There are teams of two "restauranteurs" getting a space to start a small restaurant, competing to be contracted by Raymond Blanc (sp?) of Maison fame. However, the contestants are mainly home cooks, not professionals and aren't familiar with volume cooking or business management (except for the young hotel manager and his mom, I think that's an advantage). I thought it was a good premise for a show and look forward to the actual season to start.

[JudyB]

I just wanted to hear some opinions on the new show on BBC.  There are teams of two "restauranteurs" getting a space to start a small restaurant, competing to be contracted by Raymond Blanc (sp?) of Maison fame.  However, the contestants are mainly home cooks, not professionals and aren't familiar with volume cooking or business management (except for the young hotel manager and his mom, I think that's an advantage). I thought it was a good premise for a show and look forward to the actual season to start.

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Am I right to assume that you are in America? If so, this is the programme which was shown last year in the UK as "The Restaurant", so be very careful in browsing the web as you will find out who won. There was a thread about this programme (originally in the UK forum) since one of the restaurants used is owned by one of the regulars in the UK forum.

Also, be aware that you will soon find references to the second series of this since they are currently advertising for new contestants.

We went to one of the restaurants during the filming and I can assure you that it was at least as bad as it looked on TV, if not worse...

Edit: Raymond Blanc owns "Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons" these days. The "Maison Blanc" was one of his early ventures, if that was what you meant by "Maison fame".

Edited February 8, 2008 by JudyB (log)

[Darcie B]

Also, be aware that you will soon find references to the second series of this since they are currently advertising for new contestants.

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I see that the BBC Two site says "apply now" but can't find any links for applying. Have they finished taking applicants for Season Two?

[halogenic]

Thank you for the warning, I'll just watch the show and stay away from internet searches. Also, thank you for the correction.

[JudyB]

I see that the BBC Two site says "apply now" but can't find any links for applying. Have they finished taking applicants for Season Two?

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No, if you find "The Restaurant" website here then there is an "Apply Now" button (unless they are blocking this for non-UK IP addresses). For those in the US who don't want to be "spoiled" about the outcome of the first series this is what it says about entering:

To take part in The Restaurant you will need to confirm that you are able to:

  i) Attend auditions during March and April 2008

  ii) Attend filming for up to three months in Summer 08

  iii) Relocate in order to take part in the above activities

  iv) If you are the successful winner of The Restaurant you will have to relocate to a new location

Applications close on the 12th March 2008.

[tino27]

Has anyone else here in the states been watching this on BBC America?

It feels like Hell's Kitchen (in terms of visual presentation / editing) without all of the yelling.

[pax]

Yes, I've been watching it here, in D.C. I missed the first twenty mins of last week but I saw the preview.

I can't believe this is the best the Brits have to offer in terms of aspiring, non-professional cooks. It's painful to watch some of these people. The just-turned-from-bubbly-to-hysterical American, the wanker who thinks he's a gift to the music world, the prat who pouts constantly.

If it doesn't turn more into real cooking and honest effort instead of whingers and shirkers, I'm just going to shut it off. The premise is great, (btw, there are 9 couples in the one I'm watching, not 2) but the producers or directors or whoever cheated themselves of a real race in favour of individuals most people would love to hate.

Edited February 20, 2008 by pax (log)

[tino27]

It's already starting to emerge which restaurants will be consistently be at the top and which ones should be shut down immediately.

**** POSSIBLE SPOILER -- DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE ****

If I was the business partner of the chef/drummer guy, I would've flipped if I'd found he out he fired the sous chef. And if I were the sous chef, I probably would've used a lot fouler language. Then again, through clever editing, WE got to see what a complete nincompoop the co-owner is. His business partner at the time of shooting might not have caught on yet.

[pax]

If I was the business partner of the chef/drummer guy, I would've flipped if I'd found he out he fired the sous chef. And if I were the sous chef, I probably would've used a lot fouler language. Then again, through clever editing, WE got to see what a complete nincompoop the co-owner is. His business partner at the time of shooting might not have caught on yet.

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I once got a job especially because I HAD been fired by someone. I'd say to the sous chef that it's a blessing in disguise not to be associated.

[JudyB]

It's already starting to emerge which restaurants will be consistently be at the top and which ones should be shut down immediately.

**** POSSIBLE SPOILER -- DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE ****

If I was the business partner of the chef/drummer guy, I would've flipped if I'd found he out he fired the sous chef. And if I were the sous chef, I probably would've used a lot fouler language. Then again, through clever editing, WE got to see what a complete nincompoop the co-owner is. His business partner at the time of shooting might not have caught on yet.

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I'm not sure exactly which episode you are on, so I'll try not to say too much!

However, the restaurant used as "The Ostrich" is fairly close to us (and the real owner posts on eGullet), so we went along to see what it would be like. I can assure you that it was at least as bad in reality as it looks on TV. We knew that it was bad news when it was clear that the chef was busy setting things up for live music instead of being in the kitchen....

[mcohen]

Does anybody else think Jacqui will end up divorcing Sam when she sees the show?

I can't believe this is the best the Brits have to offer in terms of aspiring, non-professional cooks. It's painful to watch some of these people. The just-turned-from-bubbly-to-hysterical American, the wanker who thinks he's a gift to the music world, the prat who pouts constantly.

If it doesn't turn more into real cooking and honest effort instead of whingers and shirkers, I'm just going to shut it off. The premise is great, (btw, there are 9 couples in the one I'm watching, not 2) but the producers or directors or whoever cheated themselves of a real race in favour of individuals most people would love to hate.

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I don't know.

There's no manufactured drama like other reality shows, and I think the show is fairly honest in that you do get people like that who go out and open restaurants.

[Lisa Shock]

Looks like BBC America will be airing the new season of this show starting Tuesday 1/27 2009. I can't wait!

[Claudia Greco]

Excellent! My husband, who usually hates these kinds of shows, was asking about it the other day - glad it's back!

[Lisa Shock]

So far, this season is off to a pretty good start, IMO.

I couldn't believe that Michele & Russell argued with Raymond at the end of the most recent episode, and I suspect that they will not last very much longer. I expect to see them in the next challenge.

[Claudia Greco]

Well, Seasons & Sorbet managed to hang on through three eps without ever once having cooked seasonally, or produced a sorbet - until last night! Too bad it apparently was vile! No decent sorbet, no market research? Oy! And how much longer do we give Harriet and Mike? They both keep having clever ideas that keep blowing up in their faces.

Fish pie, anyone?

[Lisa Shock]

Hehehe...

I made sorbet at home several times a year, because I love it. I was astounded by Richard & Scott's lack of insight in naming their place Sorbet & Seasons. I mean, I occasionally dream of being able to make a living off my sorbets, and a seasonal, vegetable and fruit based menu restaurant in a well-to-do european town would be simply a dream come true. I think their issues really boil down their inability to articulate a viewpoint about food. I never got a sense that they had any sort vision for their place, they just dreamed up a name they thought was cool without trying to put any real meaning into it.

Mike & Harriet will probably be blindsided by some common restaurant custom and taken out because they lack the flexibility to roll with the punches and make a good night out of a disaster. Mike seems fairly brittle to really handle front of house, and Harriet seems clueless about the kitchen. I keep wondering if they have done any research at all in how to run a restaurant...

Laura & Peter's premise is really weak. I mean, honestly, Chinese cuisine covers a huge amount of geography and ingredients. I'd expect any decent Chinese chef to find ingredients he recognized in a Welsh market, and he could make fabulous Chinese food from it. Just because you use fresh items grown in Wales doesn't make it fusion food. Neither does having a few recipes from your Welsh grandmother on the menu. Unless they can suddenly come up with fusion dishes as good as the Chinese curries I've had, they simply don't have a chance as a middle to fine dining place.

I don't expect Stephen & Helen to win, either. The comments keep coming in about her cooking being average for a home cook and not up to par for restaurant food.

As I said before, I am not fond of Michele & Russell's attitude, and their lack of organization will probably get them into serious trouble fairly soon. Honestly, after what Michele said at the end of the last episode, after the first challenge, I would not want to work with her on a long term basis.

Of the remaining three couples, I think they each have strengths and weaknesses I don't see a clear winner right now. But, that's what makes the show fun!

[Lisa Shock]

Well, well, well, the season is over and I really did not expect this result.

Actually, I didn't expect so many contestants to make so many mistakes. Towards the end, I had suspected that Lindsey and Tim might pull out and win, but their food costs killed their chances. I kept wondering what Tim was thinking.

Alasdair and James kept messing things up, and, I can't believe that they didn't choose a better menu for the finale. (cold lobster salad anyone?) If they had just made good food, they could have won. But, then, so many times, if they had just taken things a bit more seriously, they could have really pulled out ahead.

Michele and Russell benefited from other people's mistakes and managed to stay at the middle of the pack long enough to avoid elimination. I agree completely with Sara's remarks about the FOH being weak in the last challenge the week prior to the finale. Having uncleared dishes and empty bottles on customers' tables when several courses have been served is not a good sign at all. The biggest problem I see with this couple is that they never seemed to get into gear and really hustle. They always just take their time, oblivious to what's going on. I found Michele annoying in every episode.

Anyway, looks like submissions were being accepted for a third season in Feb-March 2009. Look for it to air in the UK this fall, and probably early 2010 for the US.

[Claudia Greco]

Michelle and Russell kept wafting to the top, but deep in my heart, I've been rooting for the talented but undisciplined James and the hapless and clueless Alisdair. I felt James was the best cook in the bunch, although inexperienced, and that he got shot in the foot a lot by his mate Ali. Then again, I think James shot Ali in the foot a few times, too. I thought both James and Ali were trainable, though, if Raymond was willing to invest the time to do so. I thought Russell was a good cook with hidden abilities, if only Michelle could stay the course and not get too emotional or weepy. (Her and Lindsie - Jesus!) I knew Lindsie and Tim were in trouble when the 10 vegans showed up. Michelle and Russell would've thought ahead and coped with that, but not Linds and Tims. Oy. And he's managed a group of restaurants? Really? How is that possible, when he's so dismissive of food costs? 92% margin? OY!

[tino27]

Having watched my fair share of Top Chef, I know that how the episode is cut can keep the suspense up until that final moment when the reveal happens. However, in this episode, I overwhelmingly felt that Russel and Michele had won even before Raymond made the announcement. Especially right at the end of service after Russel's cookies(?) fell out of the oven aboard the train and it looked as though Raymond offered, if not assistance, certainly empathy for unexpected disasters in the kitchen.

Besides, just based on how the found sounded, eating James' gummy risotto, cold lobster, and bitter turnips would've turned me away right then and there.

[WK2]

Does anyone think this show would be more entertaining if the contestants were a *little* more talented? The early part of the season is so bad in terms of performances that it seems ridiculous that anyone would open any kind of business with these people.

[Claudia Greco]

I do! I was raised in Hong Kong and while British food has improved tremendously since my childhood, I am still occasionally aghast at how clueless a lot of Brits can still be about food. That, and the fact that some of the LRS contestants were CLEARLY out of their depths even when they weren't cooking (poor Alasdair, for a start).

Before I get some hate mail from our British brethren, let me point out that we've seen some equally ghastly contestants on the American Hell's Kitchen. For a start, Colleen, the cooking instructor who couldn't cook her way out of a brown paper bag - OMG!

[JudyB]

... I thought both James and Ali were trainable, though, if Raymond was willing to invest the time to do so.  ...

Obviously Raymond Blanc thought that they were trainable too. I can't find a more definitive link, but it was reported on the Digital Spy forum in the uk (here) that they were to spend 3 months training at Le Manoir, although I haven't heard anything about them since.

In the UK the finale of the series was broadcast in October, but the last that I heard RB was still searching with Michelle and Russell for a suitable place to open a restaurant. In the meantime they have spent the time training at both Le Manoir and at RB's "Brasserie Blanc" restaurants around the country. (We live near Oxford so the local radio and TV interview Raymond Blanc and the contestants from time to time).

[WK2]

I do!  I was raised in Hong Kong and while British food has improved tremendously since my childhood, I am still occasionally aghast at how clueless a lot of Brits can still  be about food.  That, and the fact that some of the LRS contestants were CLEARLY out of their depths even when they weren't cooking (poor Alasdair, for a start).

Before I get some hate mail from our British brethren, let me point out that we've seen some equally ghastly contestants on the American Hell's Kitchen.  For a start, Colleen, the cooking instructor who couldn't cook her way out of a brown paper bag - OMG!

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I haven't really seen Hell's kitchen, but the thing that stuck in my mind in LRS as the most abominable was the "ethnic cuisine" episode. I'm being a little tongue in cheek, but some of the efforts were so bad that I think they would have elicited accusations of racism on American tv.

[tino27]

... I thought both James and Ali were trainable, though, if Raymond was willing to invest the time to do so.  ...

Obviously Raymond Blanc thought that they were trainable too. I can't find a more definitive link, but it was reported on the Digital Spy forum in the uk (here) that they were to spend 3 months training at Le Manoir, although I haven't heard anything about them since.

In the UK the finale of the series was broadcast in October, but the last that I heard RB was still searching with Michelle and Russell for a suitable place to open a restaurant. In the meantime they have spent the time training at both Le Manoir and at RB's "Brasserie Blanc" restaurants around the country. (We live near Oxford so the local radio and TV interview Raymond Blanc and the contestants from time to time).

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You are correct. A link I found on another food site linked directly to Raymond Blanc's blog and in a February 3rd, 2009 post, he basically said what you posted. I think the issue was two-fold: giving Russell and Michele as much overall training as possible as well as the fact that right now just isn't the best time to be opening a new restaurant, especially with neophytes running it.

Ah, look, it was still in my browser's cache. The link is here.

[Lisa Shock]

Does anyone think this show would be more entertaining if the contestants were a *little* more talented?  The early part of the season is so bad in terms of performances that it seems ridiculous that anyone would open any kind of business with these people.

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Oh yes, indeed!

I was wondering what was going on with the graduates of the UK's culinary schools (catering colleges?) and other starting professionals. -And chefs working hard but unable to afford to start their own place. Not to mention talented foodies who might have cracked open the Larousse Gastronomique on occasion....

I know that here in the US, the Hell's Kitchen people cast contestants based upon potential for causing conflict. (I made it through two rounds of auditions and failed to make the cut for HK season 2 in the US.) I always admired this show for bringing forth people with ideas, dreams and vision and really examining their ideas in depth. I think the casting people did not choose strong candidates this time around. I found myself cringing at beginner-level basic mistakes in every episode.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the show. I enjoy its thoughtful nature, and the pacing. I just think they could step it up a bit.