The Restaurant 2009

But that was my point, under the pressure, he misread the instructions. But rather than go outside and have a little cry, he stood there and came up with an idea that went down very well and saved the day. He can't cook, but at least they never gave up.
 
This series started off badly with the new format and astonishingly poor choice of contestants, and just gets worse every week.

None of this final 3 would have made the top 5 in either of the previous series, and they've effectively changed the whole premise of the programme from (mostly) cooking, into just finding a concept & front of house (though to be fair, this was telegraphed in episode 1 when they ditched the couple who could cook but had no concept.)

I don't quite have the willpower to drop out this close to the end, but unless they get back to basics, certainly won't be watching any further series, even if there are any!

CAVEAT: judging by the "I will be opening a restaurant wiz you" teaser from next week's show there won't be a surprise twist, but I might reconsider my stance if they decide not to go with either of the finalists!
 
Had to stifle the laughs whilst reading Buck's comments in the office.
Every time I think about the knives, and Harry Hill's take on it at the weekend, I want to crease up.

Looking forward to more of the same tonight
 
Is that it? Is that really the best you can do?

A patronising straw man argument that no one has ever said or claimed.

Why can't you see that it's only you who refuses to see what everyone else who have been watching the show for years can see?

And if your only comeback is a straw man, put worRAB in people's mouths that where never said then I'll let you get on with your isolation.
 
That's Nouvelle Cuisine dear. Le Raymon didn't get rich by giving you a whole bowl of beans!

Is he going to have those same two miserable assistants this series or have they found two people with vague occasional fun in their lives to help him judge?
 
Nobody should be surprised at this outcome.
The third series of The Restaurant has positioned itself at the opposite end of a similar cultural spectrum to where the X-factor sits, in order to justify licence fee payers' expectation of the BBC's 'point of difference'.

X-factor:
Oustanding female singer (Lucy Jones) is eliminated and talented, working-class but totally bland boy is engineered to win by TV-created music mogul with sharp suit and perfectly-enunciated neo-cockney vowels.

Restaurant:
Outstanding working-class chef is humoured into the final, then hammered by talentless toRAB and TV-created cocktail bar-botherer with equally sharp suit and poorly-enunciated neo-franglais vowels.

The chef from the runner-up team was cool, calm, collected and totally professional.
In the final, he delivered almost exactly to his aristocratic client's specification and clearly impressed this amiable but necessarily quite demanding woman.

In any real-life (i.e. non-televised) situation, substituting a pre-booked course with cocktails masquerading as dessert would be both irresponsible and a breach of contract.

As you may have noticed, many of the guests were drivers.

I myself have evenings when I have pre-decided to get very drunk indeed, and others when I remain as sober as a Cistercian monk.

Put simply, the only place you'd find a drawing room full of decision makers spontaneously getting off on a couple of college wags' improvised party poison would be in a comedy farce like Ronnie Barker's 'Futtocks End'.

As for our decision maker's female 'advisor' suddenly showing her true colours and 'voting for the boys', I will now admit to a very politically incorrect thought.
However, assuming that Sarah Willingham's late-term pregnancy has not produced a hormonal imbalance that assumes responsibility for her wholesale support of the pretty boys in the final hour, I can only lay the blame at Blanc.

Here's another unpopular, reactionary point:
Whilst I relish regular trips to Brittany, and would actually consider re-locating there in later years, I remain unconvinced that there's any such thing as a decent French restaurant and Raymond Blanc's wholesale endorsement of the Cocktail-Cookie-Crew has only endorsed this prejudiced view.
I would actually go further than that; if eating at a celebrity chef's establishment were a compulsory pass-time, then I'd sooner suffer the wholesale irritation that comes as an occupational hazard with consuming Jamie Oliver's cuisine than risk any piece of useless art d'assiette that this exiled Frenchman might throw at me.
 
Remember the blonde twins, Laura and Jess, from the first series with their healthy eating concept that made it all the way to the final? Well here
 
This notion of "concept" is meaningless. Alan Sugar doesnt take someone on for them to do what they want - they do what Sugar tells them. Equally Blanc & Co will lay down what they want any restaurant that they invest in is going to do. So would you if you were putting up real money.

If concept was really important then only those with something acceptable to Blanc would have been chosen by the production company - clearly they selected people to enhance the ratings. Just as the Apprentice chose people who will come across strongly on tele, regardless of whether they are the best to head up Sugar's property division or whatever.

So RB & minions will choose the people they feel they can most easily work with. And we can't tell who they are because of the way the programme is edited.
 
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