No-one wants a floppy souffle.
Take three restaurants... Cheers. Sante.
..cooking up their finest fare.
We're jamming over here.
Woo!
Throw in three fabulous courses...
It's quacking.
..and get them to score in secret.
On today's show...
So tragic.
..clumsy comments...
If I were to do a dating profile for you, Becky,
I think you would be slightly unfit.
Has anybody got a shovel so he can keep digging?
..and a passionate pony...
Whoa, yeah, whoa.
He kissed a horse in a pub this evening.
And he liked it.
..as three local restaurants lock horns for a load of lolly.
What's he doing there?
Today our Professionals competition is in and around Nottingham
where in 1776, angry locals started a riot
over the soaring price of cheese.
And one team hoping to be feta than all the rest
are tonight's hosts, front of house manager Becky and chef patron Mark
of the Plough restaurant and pub.
The Plough is a classic English pub serving great food.
When you come in, you're going to be shocked
by just how amazing his food is.
High praise.
He's paid me to say this.
Ah.
Mark, how long for the chickens on table two?
I'll go and catch it and then I'll cook it.
We work as a great team. You know, we're here all day,
it's long days and our banter is important.
Table three, it's actually two scallops, not three.
Cocked it up again, have we?
I've not cocked the order up, thank you.
I see more of you than I see of my family.
I am your family.
So what's the plan to win over your guests?
What you're getting on our menu is fresh gorgeous food
that Mark sometimes cooks well.
Sometimes.
No room for mistakes tonight. First up the main...
I hope they don't cook it baa-dly.
That's a bad joke.
Meet our next double act,
chef James and his uncle Antony,
owner of swanky restaurant and bar, Paris.
The food at Paris is inspired by Paris as a city.
Paris is a multicultural city
and we really try to use lots of different influences.
Let's go, boys and girls.
As soon as you come to this restaurant,
if Antony greets you, you're greeted with great respect.
Lovely, Jane. Let me show you to your seat, thank you.
Thank you very much.
You're made to feel warm.
Could I have the dark chocolate mousse?
Wonderful, you certainly can.
Well I heard the other day, apparently I can charm
the birds out of the trees.
What's he doing there?
And a little birdie tells me it's your birthday today?
Yes, that's right.
Well, many congratulations.
We're super-competitive.
I know he's the best chef in Nottingham. We're going to win.
Confident! Back at the Plough, Mark's laying down the law
to front of house Becky who's helping out in the kitchen
for the day.
Three rules. Yeah. You do as I say,
you don't eat everything and no mobile phones.
All right. One rule for you, Mark. Be nice. Let's go, chef.
Jobs assigned, Becky's on spuds, Mark's on meat.
It's only the very top layer, that's all we do.
Do you think we'll get them potatoes done today? Less of the sass.
The lamb will be roasted tonight. Onto the 'tato terrine.
Don't press on too much, nice and thin.
I've got this, don't panic.
Careful, that's very sharp.
Told you. Best take over, Mark.
So what we're going to do is we're going to layer our potatoes in,
like this, Becky, look. Yeah. Do you want to do this?
I can have a go, yeah, definitely. Chef Becky.
Yeah, it's took you long enough. All right.
While the terrine bakes, Becky butchers beetroot.
Oh, my gosh, it looks like it's bleeding. It's very red.
Once pickled, the beets will debut on the plate alongside the lamb
and a good dollop of whipped goat's cheese.
Well done, amazing with that lamb. That's not too bad, that.
Pud's next, and it's a retro favourite,
Everybody loves ice cream roll.
Definitely not a fine dining establishment.
Can't be. That's more like going to your nana's on a Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, the flavours work really well so it will be good to see.
Completing the line-up of pros are chef Kyme and front of house manager
Gemma, from gastropub, the Red Lion.
What we do here food-wise is classically French
with a modern British twist.
We've got new innovative ideas.
Kyme's very passionate but also moody.
I'd love to say that he's a really happy chef
and that my days here are filled with smiles and happiness
but they absolutely aren't.
Morning, Kyme. Morning, Gemma.
You all right? Bit tired.
Bit tired. Every day I come in,
she's nagging me about something that I haven't done.
How long on table three scallops?
As long as it takes, Gemma.
You know I don't like nagging at you, it's not something
I enjoy doing. I think you do.
Well, OK maybe I get a little bit of pleasure out of it.
Despite being in their 20s, the childhood friends are confident
a lack of experience won't hold them back.
As a team that's so young, I think people underestimate us
but I don't have any doubt in my mind that the food that we present
is going to be the best.
We shall see. Back at the Plough,
Becky's knocking up a sponge, if Mark'll let her.
If this was an Olympic sport, you would win.
But you wouldn't be in it.
The batter's spread thinly, then baked.
Next, the ingredients for choccy mousse are bunged into
a state of the art gadget.
Nice.
Now cooled, Mark zhuzhes up his genoise.
Hey, Mark, are we jamming over here?
Ignore her, Mark. She's trying to...
# Stir it up. #
Thanks, Bob.
Every part of that has got to be home-made
and that certainly includes the ice cream.
Is it?
The ice cream is pre-made and pre-rolled.
That's a no then.
The stranger's ice cream is wrapped in the jammy genoise.
Oh, yeah. And that's dessert done.
Last to prep, the starter...
I think that says starter, it's middle of the road.
I don't eat a lot of scallops so I'll give it a try,
see what it's like.
So we're using in the shell scallops from a great local supplier for us.
Keep your knife as close to the flat edge. OK.
That's it, that should open up.
Perfect. Perfect.
Hey, Mark, hope you don't clam up tonight.
Oh, dear. It's going to be a long night.
You're not wrong.
Their scallops will be cooked later when they'll also make a tomato
and vanilla dressing, so just the pickled fennel left to do.
Watch your fingers, yeah?
Yeah. Says you.
I think you're the one wearing a plaster already.
Veg left to pickle, that's the prep complete.
We've got this in the bag.
I think we've nailed this.
I think this does have the potential to be a winning menu.
Loads of nice flavours.
I don't think there's a lot of risk being taken here
so they have to get it bang on.
Looks nice. The first rival restaurateurs to arrive are Gemma
and Kyme from the Red Lion.
Hey, guys. Hiya. Hey, how are we? Hiya. I'm Gemma.
Hi, Gemma, Mark, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I'm Becky. Hi, Becky.
Thank you very much.
Oh, my gosh!
Good first impression, Gemma.
I'm so sorry, that was just...
Can't take her anywhere.
Beautiful.
Finally it's the boys from Paris, Antony and James.
Hi. I'm Antony. Pleased to meet you.
Nice to meet you, Mark. Antony, I'm Becky, lovely to meet you.
Hi, James. How are you? Very well, thanks. Yeah, good.
Good to see you. Do you two know each other?
Absolutely, yeah.
We weirdly trained under the same head chef back in the day, yeah.
Oh, wow! So you both know your stuff then?
Yeah, that's right. No, you don't, Mark.
We've got a game on here because I know he's a good chef.
He's been cooking for longer than I have.
Here's to a great night, some great food,
and definitely the best night of the week.
We'll see about that, Mark.
Cheers. Cheers, everyone.
And good luck, you'll need it.
Coming up, shoddy sketches...
This was what you kind of looked like a little bit.
And a manners mix-up.
I would 100% open the door, seat my lady before I sit down.
Really? It's just a bit of old chivalry.
Nothing wrong in being polite to a lady.
It's the first night of our Professionals competition
in and around Nottingham with Mark and Becky from the Plough
serving up a night of gastro grub in a bid to win a £1,000 prize.
Hope you're hungry. See you in a bit. See you soon. See you soon.
So you guys know each other then?
Yeah, I've known Mark for years, yeah.
We trained under the same head chef.
He gets a bit heated in the kitchen. Does he?
Oh, maybe we'll see some of that.
I need to be proper on it.
Yeah, you do because I want to win.
I want to win. Good.
Crack on then.
This is the roe off the scallop.
We dry them and then make a powder. It's going to add bags of flavour.
The pimped-up molluscs get a quick sizzle.
There's nothing worse than an overcooked scallop.
What about athlete's food, or bad breath? Just saying.
Right, we're going. Piece of cake, this.
It absolutely isn't a piece of cake.
I'd like to think we're a bit quicker. Yeah, all right.
Feeling the pressure, Mark?
Winning dish, this, Becky. Yeah? Confident?
Yeah, confident. I mean, it looks incredible.
Et voila.
Scallops with tomato and vanilla dressing,
pickled fennel and watercress.
Here we go, how are we all?
Good. OK, enjoy.
Beautiful colour, Mark. Thank you. What do you think, Antony?
I do like scallops, Mark.
Yeah? And they're nice.
Good.
I would 100% have been happy to have been served that in a restaurant
and paid good money for it.
The scallops are really, really lovely.
I don't like scallops. OK.
However, the dressing, it's so refreshing,
I think it's beautiful.
Fair play to Gemma. Yeah, Gemma admitted she wasn't...
Doesn't like scallops, but still enjoyed the dish?
Still tried them. Five and a half out of six,
I think we're quite happy. We'll take that. Yeah, take that.
So how long have you guys run this place? Do you run it together?
So Becky's our general manager and we've had this for a year now.
You've changed since when I first worked with you.
You're a lot calmer now. There's no...
Oh, no, tell us more.
There's a... Give us specifics.
There's no pans being thrown at anybody.
I don't think I ever threw a pan, I don't think I was ever that bad.
Are you sure you've never thrown a pan, Mark?
Not sure I have but if I did, I probably missed.
Don't get any idea about throwing anything around the kitchen.
I'm just down in the gym on equipment, not worth it.
Yeah, this is it, I don't think you'd do it, would you, you know?
If I was in someone else's kitchen, maybe.
It's different when it's your own. Yeah.
I find in general, though, chefs moan a lot.
You're not kidding, you're not kidding.
Does your chefs in your kitchen work 2,500 hours a week like ours do?
Absolutely. Because that's all I hear.
They say that we don't have a difficult job
but have you ever made one mistake
and put a check on wrong or something?
Oh. Because if I make a mistake,
it's like the world's ended so if my job was that easy,
surely making a tiny mistake wouldn't be that big an issue.
In fairness I never make them mistakes.
However, however, I do only work Saturday evenings.
Antony likes to think he works harder than he does.
Let's get it right, let's get it right.
I mean, doing a Saturday night and swanning in and just,
"Take a seat, madam, take a seat, sir,"
you know, I bet it's tough.
It's what they come for, though, isn't it?
You think they come for the food. Possibly, yeah.
Well, it's definitely about the food tonight. How's that lamb looking?
Happy with that.
Whoopsie. That's better.
Don't throw it on. Yeah, Becky!
Accompaniments arranged, Mark throws on gravy.
Everything's gone according to plan. Perfect.
Happy with it. Are we going to win?
Of course we are. Good.
And there it is, Lamb rump with pickled beetroot,
potato terrine and whipped goat's cheese.
And for you, my darling. Thank you so much.
Enjoy your lamb.
Maybe a touch more sauce on the plate would have been nice
with the lamb jus because it is really tasty.
The lamb for me was perfectly cooked, lovely.
I thought my first piece of lamb was tough.
Antony thought the lamb was tough on one piece which I thought
was a bit odd, but overall, good reaction, happy.
I think it's really important front of house
because, above everything, manners,
so showing a couple to a table,
it's still pull the chair out for the lady.
I would 100% open the door and seat my lady before I sit down.
I was taught many, many years ago by my father,
yeah, always take your lady's drink to the table
and that's stuck with me.
That's an interesting reaction you've given me there.
Yeah, absolutely!
It's just a bit of old chivalry.
I don't need someone to pull my chair up,
I don't need someone to hand me a menu first.
I don't need someone to look at me as diff.
I don't want to go to a restaurant with Kyme and someone look at me
as different to Kyme. I want us to be the same.
It's taken me three years to get to a point where in my own restaurant,
people respect me, and even now I still struggle with that.
I'm surprised by the reaction, if I'm honest.
The girls didn't seem to like it. I don't get that.
Nothing wrong in being polite to a lady.
These days, I think the minute you ever start talking
about where a lady, what a lady should do or what position
a lady should be in,
I think you'll always get women
on the bit of a back foot to begin with.
Let's lighten the mood with a spot of inoffensive art, eh?
So I want you to draw the person opposite you
and I want you to emphasise their best or worst features.
Yeah, I've got it.
I should never have given you a white board.
Don't be offended, please.
Is that legal?
I think I've captured Becky quite well in my mind.
Hair and nose ring.
Very flattering.
I'm happy with that. You're happy with that? Yeah.
Mark. And that's the pan that you threw.
I was going to say, is that the pan? The infamous pan!
This was what you kind of looked like a little bit.
It is the only thing I can draw.
It's certainly memorable.
It's super accurate.
It's a bit round, it's a bit obnoxious.
What's this bit? I don't know, what is that bit? Looks like a hat.
I don't wear hats.
Or look like a nappy-wearing octopus for that matter.
Shall we have some pud?
Oh, that looks good, doesn't it? Happy with that.
Look at the jam.
And look at the choccy plop, and the swanky splodges.
Ooh!
With a sprig of lemon verbena,
the ice cream roll with chocolate mousse and strawberry gel is ready.
Can't wait. Enjoy.
Lovely, lovely, really love it.
The first mouthful of that was beautiful. Home-made ice cream?
It's not, no.
It is a bought-in ice cream
because with home-made ice creams you don't get that stability
of being able to slice it.
I would have hoped the ice cream would have been home-made.
The ice cream roll went down a treat.
I think everyone polished it off super quick.
OK, so if you had to describe your working colleague/partner
as a pudding, what kind of pudding would you describe them as?
I would say a lemon posset
because he's very zesty
and very one-dimensional.
Ouch!
An attack!
Going off the back of that one,
I would describe Gemma as a vanilla ice cream.
She's a bit, yeah, plain.
What do you mean, plain? What about me is plain?
I don't know. Oh, God.
Every life choice is quite...
Every life choice! It's getting personal now.
Stop now before it gets personal and she hits me.
I think that ship's sailed.
I'd describe Mark as a sticky toffee pudding,
classic, little bit simple
but every...
But also everybody loves it.
I think I'd probably describe you as a crumble, just rough on top.
Mark!
Probably a good time for scores. Out of 20, please.
Lovely solid cooking, really good flavours.
And we had a really good time so we're going to give
Mark and Becky, 16.
We both enjoyed tonight.
We had some good food too.
And we're giving Mark and Becky a...
..16.
So the Plough start the week with a solid score of 32
out of a possible 40.
It's day two of the Professionals competition
and the turn of competitive duo Antony and James from Paris to host.
Tonight is going to see excellence. We're raising the bar.
I think James and Antony's standards are going to be very high tonight
and I think they're going to really pull out their A-game.
I think James, from his questioning and knowledge of ingredients
last night, I think he does know his stuff.
What's this called again, apron? Yeah.
Bodes well.
The boys are kicking off with the main...
Duck has to be served pink. Served pink. 100%.
If that fat's not rendered, it's not pink, the dish is dead.
So the reason we score the duck is to make the skin crispy.
We render the fat out and it tastes incredible after.
The breasts are flash fried,
then coated with a honey glaze ready for roasting.
Look at the caramelisation on that bad boy. Ooh.
Next they prep the oranges,
or as they say in Paris, les oranges.
How is your French, Ant, all right? Je m'appelle Antony, bonsoir.
Bonsoir? It's morning, mate. Bon matin.
You actually surprise me, you knew bon matin.
I thought you only knew mange-tout and... I'm not Del Boy.
And you're not Jean-Paul Sartre either.
Red wine jus is reduced, then James tackles his tartes.
Do you want me to do the rest of the shallots, chef?
No, thanks, there's pots to wash, pal. Off you pop.
The trimmed shallots are fried with herbs.
Easy, this cheffing malarkey, James.
Raymond Blanc, watch your back.
The shallots go in to roast ready for the pastry topping.
If James is making his own puff pastry for this tarte tatin,
fair play to him.
Looks home-made to me.
Whenever I make pastry from fresh,
and you don't use a machine, you use your hands,
I think it adds so much more passion to the dish.
After an eggy wash, the dish is ready for baking later.
Onto dessert...
Everything could go wrong with a souffle.
It's got to rise to the occasion. No-one wants a floppy souffle.
Tell me about it.
Doing a souffle is a massive risk.
It's a risk that I think is worth taking. Yeah.
We want to win this, don't we? Yeah.
That's the spirit.
James whips up a passion fruit puree.
Have you got confidence in me?
Total confidence, James, you're the man. Brilliant.
To avoid the dreaded droop, meringue will be added to the puree
when the puds are baked tonight.
If I could bathe in chocolate ice cream, I probably would, yeah.
Yeah, definitely. That's something I'd do.
Not much room for a dip in there.
We're making the chocolate ice cream from scratch today.
How exciting!
James, your ice cream is ready.
Ooh.
Ooh. Looks a bit runny.
Basically it's a custard.
Chocolate custard set in the freezer.
In it goes.
The puds will be adorned with fancy dark and white
chocolate shards later.
That's my signature.
Must be a nightmare getting that on the back of your debit card.
Last up, the starter...
How big's a quail's breast then?
It's probably, well...
Oh, that's quite big.
As in that's like the whole bird.
Oh, so if it's just the breast... Yeah, so...
So what we're in for is a night of tiny food.
Looks like it.
To ensure the quail is moist and tender,
James is vacuum packing it with herbs
before slow-cooking in warm water.
Right, in for a bird bath, 45 minutes.
Now for the world's smallest Scotch eggs.
If that quail's egg is overcooked in the middle, it's no good.
It's game over.
To avoid that, James uses iced water to halt the cooking process.
Then the diddy eggs are bound in black pudding.
The concentration on his face, a master at work.
The master coats them in breadcrumbs ready for frying tonight.
How's the sweetcorn puree?
Voila.
I think you mean tres bon, Antony.
Finally, the pineapple brunoise.
What's a pineapple brunoise?
Just look it up, just look up what pineapple brunoise is.
Yeah, give us a sec, I'll just look.
Brace yourself, Gemma.
Oh, another way of saying... Tiny pineapple.
More tiny food.
We're going to brunoise it,
which basically means smallest possible dice.
We're going to put it into a vac pack, compress it
and let it cook in its own juices.
In it goes and that's all they can do for now.
James, come on, mate, we've got a lot to get on.
Let's go win this competition.
It's definitely... Yeah, I think it could be a winner.
This could be a winning night, yes. It's actually a bit worrying.
I still think our menu is better.
Yeah, I think we're going to win still.
Wow. First in are Gemma and Kyme.
After you.
Been taking tips from Antony, Kyme?
Hello. How are you, you all right?
Welcome, darling.
Nice to see you, nice to see you, Kyme.
Wonderful, thank you very much. Thank you very much.
So what can we expect from you guys this evening?
What are you expecting then?
Nothing short of perfection.
OK. The great news is it's all on James.
That's true. To be fair, that is true.
So much for one team, one dream. Here's Becky and Mark.
Good to see you, Mark. Good to see you again. Good to see you, Mark.
I've got a cocktail for you. Oh, this is fabulous.
Cheers to a good night. Cheers. Sante. Cheers.
Coming up, A list associates.
Well, I did meet Keanu Reeves. I met Kylie Minogue,
I met Cat Deeley. Kylie Minogue!
Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the restaurant.
I think if Keanu or Kylie walked into our establishment,
they'd probably be lost.
And dubious doppelgangers.
I've had a few run-ins in the past of looks like Daniel Craig.
Bond, James Bond.
I want to know what delusional person said he looked like that.
It's night two of our Professionals competition...
Cheers. ..where Antony and nephew James are hosting
a night of fancy French fare in Paris.
Not the city, the Nottingham bistro
off junction 25 of the M1 via the A52.
We'll show you to your table shortly. Enjoy.
Thank you. See you soon, guys.
It's all about the food tonight. I'm feeling confident.
I've got a great chef next to me.
With Scotch eggs in the fryer, James browns the quail.
Yeah, I'm pleased with them. A little bit more colour
and they'll be good. We're starting to plate the dish and we'll go.
How you getting on, James? You're looking pressured.
I'm not pressured at all, pal. How long to the table? Three minutes.
On goes the sweetcorn puree.
You all right there, Ant? Yeah? You've had a tough day, haven't you?
You OK just stood there watching?
Been a tough day but I find sometimes standing
is actually harder work than actually working, I find.
Yeah, I'm sure.
I don't know why you bother, Antony.
Beautiful. Let's get them on the table.
Best place for it.
Quail breast with Scotch quail's egg,
sweetcorn puree and pineapple brunoise.
Bon appetit.
Very good French again, Antony.
Very nice, James. It is really nice.
Very good, very good. Very intrigued by the pineapple in the quail
because even as a chef,
I wouldn't have put them ingredients together
but I have to say, it did work.
I've never tried quail before and it's very nice, really nice.
And the egg's bang on. Thank you.
I must say I was very pleasantly surprised
and I would probably order that again in a restaurant
now that I've had it.
Sweetcorn, couldn't really taste a lot of the sweetcorn in it myself
but still, really, really nice.
I disagree with her, to be honest.
Obviously it was three quarters of the recipe was sweetcorn
and there was no other similar comments from the table
so she can have her opinion. That's fine.
How did you get involved in cheffing?
I've been a chef for 25 years,
I got the opportunity to work in London with Gordon Ramsay.
Wow. Yeah, I worked for two years at Claridge's
and we gained a Michelin star in the first three months
that I was there so it's nice to know
I prepped the mushrooms for that, you know.
I think he said himself,
very much in there prepping mushrooms
as opposed to being in the thick of everything.
So, no, it didn't, it didn't faze me one bit.
Well, if that didn't impress, this might do the trick.
So who have you met that's really famous?
I did meet Keanu Reeves, had a ten-minute chat with him. Stop it!
Yeah. One of my favourites was Alex Ferguson,
I met Kylie Minogue, I met Cat Deeley.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the restaurant.
I think if Keanu or Kylie walked into our establishment,
they'd probably be lost.
The chances of Kylie Minogue walking into our pub are slim to none.
Very slim, I would have thought.
So, I can top your Keanu, are you ready?
Ooh, yes, make it a good one.
I actually had some of the cast from Love Island once.
Oh.
ALL: Ooooh!
I was all starstruck.
Not exactly A-listers, though.
Not quite Kylie or Arnie, no, but you know,
it was relevant at the time.
Lovely, James, thank you.
I thought we had great feedback on the starter,
clean plates all round. Ready to go with the main.
James plates up his tartes.
I'm really pleased with the colour on these.
Nice crispy pastry as well. How's that duck looking?
This duck looks quacking.
Quacking! Ha-ha-ha. Ohhh.
You happy with them?
Yes, mate, I am. Let's go with them, eh? Good.
Honey roasted duck breast with caramelised oranges,
shallot tarte tatin
and a diddy little jug of red wine jus.
Thank you very much.
Nice sauce, James, some good shine on that.
Yes.
The duck's just incredible.
Absolutely incredible and I don't really like duck.
Only critique, maybe a bit more veg.
But, apart from that, great dish.
I love duck, I really do.
Wait, this is duck, isn't it? LAUGHTER
In my head I went, "This isn't duck, and I've just said it's duck."
Oh, my gosh. Of course it's duck.
Duck's one of my favourite meats as well. This is the best thing.
It's her favourite meat and she couldn't even identify it.
The sauce is amazing. Thank you. I think it's a really good dish.
Really good comments all around the table.
I was really concerned about the sweetness, but, yeah,
the red wine worked.
Now, do I hear the sound of wedding bells?
James is getting married this year. I'm getting married this year.
Oh, wow. Oh, wow. What was the proposal like?
I imagine with you it was quite extravagant.
We had some circus acts, we had some firefighters.
Ooh, actual firemen?
I'd also said get 50 red roses.
And the firefighter went in front of him, produced the roses
and that was my cue to get on one knee,
and it was a yes. Aww.
It was the most unsurprising story I've ever heard.
Of course that's what happened. It's perfect, it's perfect for him.
In my personal experience, chefs are horrible people to date.
Ouch! Why's that then?
Always smell? They're just really not very nice.
So how many chefs have you been out with?
Yeah, Gemma? Officially, one.
Oh, OK.
Maybe internet dating's the way forward?
If I was writing Gemma's dating profile,
"Prickly and loud."
You always talk to me about how you think I would be happier
if I had a boyfriend.
You could have used that opportunity to sell me to the world,
and you really didn't. Lovely young lady,
she would be a great wife one day, I'm sure of it.
Any takers? Just looking for the next chef.
Oh, my God!
I think if I had to do a dating profile for you,
Becky, I think it would be outgoing... Nice.
.adventurous... Nice.
But slightly unfit.
Did he really just say that?!
So, in all fairness I started off with two positives.
Yes. That didn't go far.
I then did go slightly, slightly controversial.
What did we go for?
You cannot tell a woman she's unfit.
When I say unfit,
I mean in the pure exercise term,
as opposed to your appearance. Mm-hm.
Has anybody got a shovel so he can keep digging, anybody?
So if I was writing my own dating profile,
I think I'd maybe have to refer back to,
I've had a few runs in the past of
"Looks like Daniel Craig."
Bond, James Bond.
It's like he's in the room.
Yes, I've been confused with Daniel Craig
back in the day, yeah.
Perhaps maybe the looks are going a little bit nowadays though.
Oh, don't be so modest.
I want to know what delusional person said he looked like that.
I could, honestly, I can see it a little bit.
No, I can't see it at all.
I love that, "Eight or nine years ago, right?"
Antony probably goes on holiday
and comes out of the sea in little tiny shorts.
Do I want to imagine it? No, not really.
Well, we all have to now.
Right, two courses down, one more to go.
Took a real risk with the souffle, so fingers crossed.
To fruit puree, James adds whipped egg whites.
That's good.
How's it looking, James?
Time will tell, but I'm confident.
While they bake, bananas are blowtorched,
ice-cream's portioned,
and with the puds puffed up, it's good to go.
Passion fruit souffle with banana crisp,
chocolate ice cream and a milkshake chaser.
Enjoy. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much.
I think sometimes people underpower a souffle.
That's bags of flavour, great job.
Absolutely agree, I loved it.
I'm going to go out there and say it's probably one of
the best desserts I've had in a long time.
So would it surprise you to know I did the souffle?
Did you actually? No, I didn't.
LAUGHTER
Did I help at all with the souffle? Just remind me. No.
That's why it was the best bit!
CHUCKLING
CACKLING
Right you lot, let's call it a night.
100% done it. If it wasn't decided by the main,
it was decided at the dessert.
I've really enjoyed the food tonight, great hosting too.
So we're scoring Antony and James... 18.
I think the food has been really top notch.
And we've had a really great night,
so we're going to score Antony and James a...
BOTH: 17.
So, a score of 35 takes Paris into the lead.
Tres bien, mes amis.
It's the final day of the competition
and chef Kyme and front of house Gemma from the Red Lion
are hoping their gastropub grub will catapult them into pole position.
I'm really nervous about being in the kitchen today.
You'll be fine, you'll be fine. Yeah, but I know...
As long as you follow some instruction.
I'm not good at following instructions.
Yeah, well, you need to be.
So Kyme's a little bit younger. I think he's 26
so he might crumble under the pressure. I really hope he doesn't.
I think there's a little dark horse in Kyme and I think, yeah, he's
going to pull something out that is going to be a bit shocking.
That sounds painful.
So guys, feeling the pressure?
Our food is on par. If not better.
I can't wait to see their reaction to what we serve tonight.
First up for scrutiny,
Beef fillet carpaccio with truffle espuma,
aged Parmesan and pickled shimeji mushrooms.
Right up my street that is, yeah.
Fillet of beef carpaccio is thinly sliced beef,
just seared on the outside and raw in the middle.
Did you say raw?
Very, very, very rare.
OK, I think that's brave.
Kyme starts by seasoning his meat with industrial amounts of pepper.
I hope they like pepper, Kyme. I hope so too.
Adding anything else? Using a little bit of cep powder on the outside,
it's literally just dried cep mushrooms.
To get a nice crust, the fillets are seared in a hot pan.
The secret of any good steak is butter and baste.
That is a winning starter if I've ever seen one. For sure.
They're doing a foam, OK? OK. Is that what espuma is? Yeah.
Oh, we do love a good foam, don't we, Mark?
Well, who doesn't?
For the espuma, truffle oil is added to milk and beef stock. Any good?
Ooh. That's amazing.
The amazing sauce is decanted into a fancy foam frother.
Ready for tonight, lovely. Lovely.
Lovely. Mushrooms are next.
A shimeji mushroom is a Japanese style mushroom.
I love a pickled little mushroom, I think they're brilliant.
I think they bring a lot of excitement to the dish.
To be fair, that does look exciting
but wait till you see the shaved cheese.
Aged Parmesan. I like Parmesan.
But that could taste like granny's foot shavings.
Never tasted them, to be honest.
NARRATOR RETCHES
Shall we move onto the main?
Chicken supreme with a wild garlic emulsion and olive oil pomme puree.
I'm a bit underwhelmed with the main course, overall.
I think I just expected something to go wow.
I wonder if the walls in the restaurant are magnolia as well.
That's harsh.
To elevate it above the ordinary, Kyme is pimping up his poultry.
This technique is called French trimming.
Just taking all the meat off the bone,
just so they're nice and clean and presentable.
Fit for a royal garden party.
For the emulsion, blanched wild garlic is blitzed with oil.
Look at that, the colour on that. Lovely and green.
In go soft boiled eggs, the garlic juice and,
after another blitz, it's done.
Yeah, happy with that. Yay.
Yay indeed. Now the mash.
Olive oil pomme puree?
Well it's an apple sauce with olive oil.
OK, a little bit of knowledge for you.
In French, pomme de terre means... It's potato.
I know that.
And those potatoes are whipped till smooth.
It means apples of the ground which is why it's pommes.
I 100% know that too. OK.
Learnt that when I was 12.
OK. So why did you say apple puree? Were you joking?
Because it said pommes.
Oh, I feel your pain.
The lumpless spuds are blended with cream.
It's not pomme de terre puree. Pomme puree. A classic French potato.
So I wasn't wrong in saying pomme was apple then?
No, you're not, but that's not an apple puree.
Oh, are you two done?
Finally, les pommes de terre are joined by huile d'olive.
That's olive oil, Antony.
Perfect. That's lovely.
Lovely. Onto the final course,
Tonka bean cream
with strawberry granita and meringue shards.
What's a tonka bean? I don't know that.
And neither do I.
It's a vanilla substitute. Vanilla substitute.
It is indeed. Used in perfumery,
this gourmet ingredient has a nuanced aroma of cinnamon,
almonds, cherries and furniture polish.
It brings a bit of luxury. That's what we like doing here.
The luxurious seeds are added to cream, sugar and gelatine.
If you put too much in, it's overperfumed,
overpower the whole dish.
It becomes quite sickly. And, is it?
Bang on. Perfect. Great!
With the cream in to set, they get busy with meringue.
Sugar's added to whipped egg whites.
This is the cheffy bit.
Yeah, not sure slapping a bowl makes you a chef.
The baked meringue will be sprinkled on the puds this evening
along with a frozen dollop of strawberry puree
and that's the prep done.
For me this isn't really a risky menu, so I'm quite confident.
That has got to be executed to perfection to challenge
the intricacies of what we delivered last night.
I think everything's going to go great tonight,
as long as you don't mess up. As long as you keep smiling.
BOTH: Smile and wave.
Now's your chance to try it out.
This looks rather nice, dun't it? Dun't it just.
It's Mark and Becky from the Plough.
Lovely to see you, hello, my darling.
Very good to see you. You OK? Good, how are you guys?
Good. Brilliant, got a little welcome drink for you.
It's called the Blushing Monk. The story goes that the monks had
a secret tunnel leading from the priory to
the cellar of our little pub here
and so we've done a cocktail with a chaser of real ale
because that's how the monks would do it.
Typical monks, always encouraging bad habits.
Hey-hey! Sorry.
It's a winning combination that one, isn't it?
This looks nice, Ant. JAMES BOND THEME PLAYS
Last up it's Daniel Craig - oh, no sorry, it's Antony -
with nephew James, from Paris.
Are you feeling nervous? Pressure on?
We're in this competition for a reason. We're in it to win it.
Wow, fighting talk.
Absolutely. James is looking quite smug over there.
Do I really come across as smug? You are doing today, to be fair.
Yes, Smuggy McSmugface.
Here's to a great night, a great week, and the winning night. Cheers.
Coming up, bovine bunkum.
Every week in the countryside in the UK,
people are killed by cows.
Cows herd together and trample you to death.
I don't often wander in fields with cows
and think they're going to kill me.
Yay.
And someone wins the wonga.
Ohhhhh!
It's the final night of our Professionals competition
in Nottingham, where Kyme and Gemma from the Red Lion
are serving up posh pub grub in the hope of grabbing a grand.
I'll go and get the starters done, and we'll see you soon.
Nice one, look forward to it. See you soon.
Do you want me to do anything or shall I just stand back?
Please stand back. I'll just let you do it.
Probably best. Kyme starts by plating his beef.
I don't want to distract an artist at work.
Oh, Gemma.
On go mini mushrooms.
Do you need... are you sweating? No, I'm not sweating.
So much for standing back!
Get the tissue off my head.
That went down like a lead balloon, didn't it?
Yes, it did.
With a good splodge of fancy foam, it's ready to serve.
They look amazing, Kyme, well done.
Service! Beef carpaccio with a truffle espuma,
pickled shimeji mushrooms and aged Parmesan.
There you go, Mark. Thank you so much.
Dig in.
How are we all finding it?
I think it's a great opening starter.
The beef's cooked amazing.
I really like the mushrooms because I love mushrooms.
That was tasty, that was up my street. Good.
I'd probably like to have seen the pickled shimeji separate,
maybe not hidden in the espuma. Don't you just hate it
when you can't see the shimeji for the espuma?
The beef was amazingly pink. I wanted to see it,
I wanted to see those pickled mushrooms.
That's all they had to say, was there was too much on the plate.
I think that's the best comment to have.
Back with the gang, talking horses during courses.
It's a very dog-friendly pub and I suppose some people think
they can bring other animals into the mix.
So they came through the door,
referred to it as, "Can I bring my big dog in?"
We were like, yeah sure.
And you just hear this click-clack. click-clack.
It was literally a miniature horse walking through the pub.
We've got diners.
The worst part of it is I'm petrified of horses.
How scared of horses, are you? To be honest, I didn't really know
I was that scared of them until it came in
and then it just washed over me. I have a similar fear of horses.
Do you? Do you like cows?
I wouldn't go and pat one but, yeah, I've no problem with cows.
Right, every week in the countryside, in the UK,
people are killed by cows.
Mooo!
They walk through fields thinking cows are friendly.
Cows herd together and trample you to death.
Do they wear ca-moo-flage, eh? Heh.
He said it to try and make us feel better
but it made us all feel worse. Yeah.
I don't often wander in fields with cows
and think they're going to kill me.
Don't panic. I've rung the vets, it's very, very unlikely.
Cows might look cute, I personally like cows,
but there's another side to them.
Mooooooooooo-ving on.
The first course has gone down really well, so quite happy.
Just need to nail this next one.
Kyme kicks off the main by frying his chicken.
Don't burn them, Kyme.
Thanks, Gemma. Absolutely solid support there.
Yeah. Come on, Kyme.
Look, I'm providing some entertainment over here.
So tragic.
Mate, stop. He's not feeling it, Gemma.
Oh, I'm trying to lighten the mood. You're very serious.
I'm just trying to cook. Happier now?
Absolutely how I wanted it.
Good. Whack it on a plate then.
Super pleased with that. It's everything how I planned so...
Chicken supreme with a wild garlic emulsion,
olive oil pomme puree and chicken sauce.
Thank you very much.
Enjoy. It looks great.
Chicken breast, cooked perfectly. Thank you very much.
Absolutely love it. The pomme puree,
there's a lot of people just say pomme puree
and it's not pomme puree and this really is.
I was massively impressed. It was absolutely banging.
Really, really strong main course, and I'd be so proud to serve that.
It means a lot that you guys say that to us, it really does.
Thank you. Sorry. Don't be like that.
He's just so modest.
Like, thank you.
You've set me off now.
I'm just very emotional. I'm sorry that I did that.
No, it was quite nice.
Oh, you big softie.
Hope you enjoyed your main courses.
If you'd like to follow us next door,
we've got a little surprise for you.
Oh, I love a surprise. Let's hope it's H from Steps.
I'd like to introduce you to our little friend, Basil.
It's only Basil,
the little horse Gemma and Kyme were talking about.
We walked down the stairs and there was a horse in the bar.
There was a Shetland pony in the room. I couldn't believe it.
I backed that at the Grand National.
Are you all right, Mark? Strangely I'm OK with that.
I'll do it if you do it.
Go on, stroke the pony.
If you hold the treats next to your face,
Basil will give you a little kiss. Oh, lovely. Kiss.
No tongues, Antony.
I'm wondering if Antony will have this conversation with his fiancee.
About kissing a horse.
I've kissed a horse in a pub this evening.
And he liked it. I'm not sure Basil did.
To be fair, I think it was just flirting
with me. I don't think it was interested.
He's a tease, isn't he? See you, Basil. Bye, Basil.
GRUFFLY: Don't forget to write. Excuse me, I'm a little horse.
Time for the last course of the competition.
I made that meringue, all on my own, didn't I, Kyme?
You sure did. Woo.
Woo indeed.
They're going to love it.
Tonka bean cream
with strawberry granita and Gemma's meringue shards.
So last course of the week, enjoy.
It seems different, more sturdy than pannacotta.
I've set it in a glass so it is a little bit thicker.
I enjoyed it, it was nothing special.
It's not my favourite course but it's still really nice.
For some reason, I expected a bit more theatre from it.
Right, OK.
The elements were there that we wanted,
just not in the right proportion.
I think the amount
of tonka bean cream needed that
extra amount of strawberry just to kind of balance it all.
I think there was enough granita on there.
I think we did a great job tonight
and I'm really happy with what we did,
and that's all that really matters.
Apart from the scores, that is.
The Red Lion need to score 36 or more
to outrun current leaders, Paris.
Good hosts, good food.
The only thing that slightly let it down tonight was the dessert.
So we're going to score Gemma and Kyme...
17.
Good food but it was lacking slightly in technical difficulty
so we're going to give Gemma and Kyme...
Hold your miniature horses, boys.
Hurray.
Let's find out together who's going to bag the cash.
Ooh.
In joint second place is...
the Red Lion and the Plough.
Paris scored Kyme and Gemma 15, giving them a total of 32.
So that means that in first place is Paris.
Thank you, darling. Thank you.
The three of us are all at the top of our game
and it could have been anyone's so congratulations to them.
We came across two fantastic restaurants
with fantastic chefs,
brilliant front of house team and to be honest,
we couldn't have lost to anyone better.
No.
Whoa, that's coming out your prize money.
This boy can cook.
I think it's all down to the hosting skills at
the end of the day.
Bond, James Bond.
Shaken, not stirred.
# And I wish I was James Bond
# Just for the day
# Kissing all the girls
# Blow the bad guys away... #
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