I'm back on the hunt for the UK's next top food and drink entrepreneur,
so I've hand-picked 12 amazing contenders,
each with an incredible up-and-coming business.
I want to invest £150,000 of my own cash into one of them
and catapult their business to the next level,
but I'm not giving the money away easily.
They'll need to earn it.
SCREAMING
That's not...how you do it.
It's on fire. BLEEP!
I'm setting my contenders a series
of food-and-drink-related challenges...
Cooking, but in the wrong way.
Stop now. Stop now. You're being rude.
..which will test them on every element of the industry.
Close up, please.
Let's just all stop. If anyone can't give me a standard,
then please go home.
Only one of them will make the grade.
Who will be my future food star?
Previously...
Anybody scared of heights? Oh, my God!
This week, it's all about creativity,
turning something humble into something really special.
Make your very own bottled sauce.
Oh, no! Here we go. Does anyone like hot sauce?
The main thing is the gold in the inside. Ah!
Let's not have a tantrum. Don't patronise me.
I'm kicking myself more than anyone else could.
I'm letting my voice be heard,
which can sometimes transpire as being difficult.
We spent I don't know how long bickering.
We wasted precious time on that day two.
There were too many mistakes
for just one of you to leave the competition this week.
Rachel, Hebe, we're done.
This programme contains some strong language
I can't believe how small this group feels now.
Did we think we were going to be at week six or did we just hope it?
Oh, I knew. I knew it. You knew? I knew.
It's the quarterfinals of the competition,
and I've asked the contenders to meet me here
at The Fish Society in Surrey.
Oh, I smell the fish!
Founded 25 years ago, it's the UK's leading online fishmonger,
supplying everything from crab to caviar.
This week is all about the finer things in life,
celebrating high-end ingredients and hospitality,
and, trust me, this is going to be the hardest week to date.
Ooh! There's a coche. A cloche, coche?
No, what is under that? Fish? A big fish?
Good morning. ALL: Good morning.
I've brought you to the amazing Fish Society here in Surrey
because, this week, it's all about quality.
I want you all to tackle one of the most expensive
and delicious foods you'll find on any menu.
Ah! Lobster. There we go.
Each of you will have a fresh lobster
that I want you to shell. Oh!
You need to remove all the meat intact
because the more intact the meat, the higher the price when it's sold.
This thing costs around £30,
but has a yield in a restaurant of around four times that.
Understood? ALL: Yeah.
I'm going to give you all ten minutes
to de-shell your lobster.
Now, the person who impresses me the most
will get a big advantage in tomorrow's challenge.
But, first, I'm going to give you a masterclass.
All of you, watch and learn.
OK, we're going to snap off the claws first.
Hold firm the head and twist that tail round
and pull that out there.
Two claws, tail and the head.
Now, it's one of the most expensive parts - the tail.
Open up the tail. Grasp your cloth cos it's still very hot,
and just press gently, gently, all the way down.
Pull that shell back, and that tail should just shake out.
There you go. Got a beautiful lobster tail.
Now, for the claws, separate the knuckles,
pull off the little pincer,
get your knife in and twist.
Just twist and break.
Very carefully, finger in, and just...pull out.
Wow.
With the knuckles, slice up, and then open it up.
Come through.
Push down with the scissors and then pull that whole knuckle out.
It's amazing how much meat comes out there.
Eight legs.
The yield inside here is extraordinary.
Take your rolling pin and very carefully squeeze!
ALL: Ah! And squeeze!
That is mad, isn't it?
And now for the presentation.
Claws - one on that side.
The beautiful knuckles. From there, the body.
That just sits on there beautifully, like that.
Top legs - two, four, eight.
Tuck that underneath,
and there we go - a beautiful lobster
with two claws, two knuckles...
APPLAUSE
..and eight legs, extracted... In ten minutes.
Seven and a half. I'm giving you ten. Oh!
Any questions? No. Right, head to your benches. Good luck.
Thank you. Let's go. That's mental! That looks tough.
Gordon's just literally smashed a lobster up
and made a lobster out of a lobster.
And I have never chopped a crustacean in my life.
I've peeled a prawn with a fork once.
He makes it look so easy, doesn't he? He does.
He's just like, "Knock that out there,
"snip that, push that."
So, you feel confident? Yeah. It's not foreign to me.
I've got a seafood boil company,
so it is so important that I smash this challenge out of the park.
Praying to the lobster gods? Mm-hm. I'll need it.
It's a bit stingy, innit, ten minutes for a whole lobster?
Well, you know, it's just another day at the office, isn't it?
Let's go. When it's hot, let's go.
Ten minutes. Good luck. Your time starts now.
Oh, fuck, it's hot!
Once cracked, they need to tackle the tail -
the most expensive part of the lobster.
Ooh! Oh, God. Don't know what that is. I think it's guts.
This challenge is all about celebrating
the best ingredients and following instructions.
Oh, shit! Why is it stuck to the shell?
I'm looking for a maximum yield and a perfect extraction -
no broken bits.
Oh! It's a little bit hard.
The better they do, the more the lobster will sell for,
and that ultimately means more profit.
Come on, Mr Lobster. Get yourself out of here.
Mine's glued. It is so much harder.
Come out. Come out! That'll do.
Two minutes gone. You know what you're doing, Sam.
Eight minutes to go. Come on.
Next, the claws.
To break through the tough shell requires excellent knife skills.
Ah!
Oh, no! I broke my knife. Fuck!
Thank you. Thank you.
Are you actually taking the mick? Has anyone got a claw out?
SHE GASPS Oh, Lord! The claw's falling apart.
Bah! You OK? I broke it.
Any meat wasted is profit down the drain.
Craig, how's it going, mate? Really badly. Arrgh!
SHE GIGGLES EXCITEDLY
Just coming up to halfway. Shit!
Then the knuckles.
Most important part - tail, claws, knuckles.
Mine's, like, hench.
Oh, no! Whoops! Let's try another knuckle.
Ooh!
He made it look so easy. Oh!
Three minutes to go. What?! Come on, we've got this.
And finally, extract the eight delicate legs.
Roll too hard and the meat will be ruined.
Yeah, boy! Out you come. Out you come.
Why are my hands shaking?
Oh, lobster juice in my face! Lovely!
60 seconds to go. Good job. Come on.
Right, at least he's got a head.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
And stop. Hands in the air.
SAM LAUGHS
Sam, are you OK?
Are you waving at me or are your hands shaking? I don't know!
Well done.
Thank you.
I would shake your hand, but...
..I've got lobster all over it.
I think I managed to get meat
from every part of the lobster, which is a plus,
so, yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself for the first time.
It went so quick.
I struggled with the knife
and I'm not happy about my job, to be honest. Not at all.
My hands were shaking because
I put a lot of pressure on myself to really kill it,
but I'm just hoping I've won that.
I think it's quite close.
I've assessed the contenders' lobsters,
and I've ranked them from highest yield produced to lowest.
Right...
..results.
So, let's go from the bottom to the best.
So, this one had some issues - claws missing, obviously knuckles.
There's one leg. I think it's one leg.
Either that or they sneezed.
And it looks like it was done with a hammer.
This one belongs to...
That's mine, yeah. ..Craig.
In terms of business, the worst yield. The worst.
Moving along, no legs on this one. Two claws, one broken.
The head's been cracked, as well. Flo. Yeah, I know.
I thought you were going to shine in this one. Me, too.
Right, this one's missing the head.
Presentation is key. What happened to the head?
Andy? I just ran out of time, and I was just trying to focus on
getting quality out of what I did have,
rather than force what I didn't.
So, in third place...
..two nice claws, knuckles, beautifully presented, but six legs,
Sam. It's the legs that let you down because eight legs on that
and I'm talking about yield in business, OK?
So, third place.
Top two. This one - eight legs, two knuckles,
claws are out beautifully and a really good yield.
In first place, congratulations goes to...
..Amy. Well done.
Really well done.
Thanks. That is a really strong effort.
Kier, the claw let you down, but strong yield again.
Amy and Kier, in terms of business,
we can sell all that for £180 upwards.
Well done.
Now, if you thought today was all about quality,
wait till you see what's just around the corner.
Rest, please, cos you're going to need it.
Well, that went well. Well done. Well done, well done, well done!
Don't even know why you're happy any more.
You're getting so used to winning!
I'm just chuffed. I gave it my best,
and it worked.
Good boy! Good boy!
Yeah, ranked dead last again, which is, yeah, a 100% record.
But I've still got a chance.
It's just making sure I'm positive and keep going.
I need to nail the next challenge because
there's absolutely no way I want to leave
now I'm so close to the final.
Tomorrow, I will be better.
Oh, is this us? Lucky Cat. Who's feeling lucky?
Ooh! Here we go.
This week's all about the finer things in life.
Yesterday was all about preparing quality ingredients.
Today, I want the guys to experience high-end hospitality,
so I've arranged for them to eat at one of my top London restaurants
right here in Mayfair.
I may be picking up the bill, but that meal will come at a price.
Afternoon, guys. Welcome. Six of you? ALL: Yes.
Follow me, please. I'll show you to the table. Oh, my goodness!
Been here before?
Can't say I can afford it, I'll be honest.
Inspired by Tokyo's 1930s jazz bars and Shanghai's drinking dens...
Thank you.
..I opened my Mayfair restaurant hoping to bring back
some of the culinary wonder
from my trips to Southeast Asia and Japan.
So, we've got some snacks to start with,
our pea guac with some rice crackers on the side.
Oh, my days! Wow. For today, we'll be serving
a selection of three different bento boxes,
which you can choose between a fish, a meat or a veggie one.
At the heart of the lunchtime menu...
We got a shiitake on, yeah? ..bento boxes.
Compact and creative,
these all-in-one Japanese-style lunch boxes
contain several portions of a balanced meal.
Can I have the fish bento, please? Sure you can.
May I have the same? And the meat for me, please.
Chefs, check on. Three meat, three fish.
Once an order's placed,
the food needs to be on the pass within ten minutes,
meaning my restaurant team of top chefs
have to work in perfect unison to create the boxes.
Hey, guys, are we hungry? ALL: Yes!
Oh, my days! That smell! What?!
From the fish option, you've got
some king prawn skewers with yuzu kosho.
We then move into salt-and-pepper squid,
courgette tempura,
wakame seaweed salad, some steamed rice.
On the meat option, we've got fried chicken,
pork belly skewers glazed with honey soy sauce,
some steamed edamame, seaweed salad again.
Enjoy. Buon appetito. Thank you so much. Prego.
I'll swap you a chicken for a squid, yeah? Go on, then.
Mm! Those prawns are really good.
Beautifully seasoned. Oh, my gosh! This is insane!
Whenever we get nice stuff like this, I'm like,
"What's the catch? What is he about to do?"
The Last Supper. Gordon is coming.
Good morning.
Hello. How was lunch? Absolutely beautiful.
Unreal. Yeah. Excellent,
because, for your next challenge,
I want to see all of you running a lunch service here -
three in the kitchen and three in the dining room,
one big, dynamic team.
Amy, as you impressed me the most in yesterday's challenge,
you get to decide who goes where -
who's running front of house and who's running the kitchen.
Allocate the roles wisely.
Lunchtime diners want to come in and out.
They haven't got three hours. It needs to be efficient.
Understood?
This is my restaurant, so my reputation is on the line.
Good luck. Let's get started. Thank you. Thanks, Gordon.
Oh, my gosh, Amy! Pressure on you.
Now, I'm setting this challenge because
I want to see if they can work together as a team,
especially when the stakes are this high.
It is my name above the door and, as always, in my restaurants,
I expect nothing but the very best.
I think I'm going to run the kitchen.
It's your chance to shine, so go for it.
Do you feel confident in the kitchen, Kier? Yeah.
Flo, kitchen. Of course.
So, we're going to go kitchen - me, Flo, Kier.
Front of house, we've got Sam, Andy, Craig.
I'm happy to run front of house.
You want to maitre d'? Yeah.
I will throw my hat into the pot. To what? To run it?
My job is front of house, isn't it?
But the thing is, like, when you're running the front of house,
you have to make sure that it runs like clockwork.
I'm putting myself out there this week. This is my thing.
I'm going to go with Craig
only because that's what Craig does every day.
I'm happy to do it. Yeah? Yes, that's fine.
I'm happy to be wherever.
I haven't known Craig to successfully lead any challenges
during this whole experience,
but let's just hope that Craig is up for the challenge.
There is no easy role. There's nowhere to hide.
There's six people. Oh, God! Now I feel nervous.
And I'm going to run Gordon Ramsay's kitchen.
LAUGHTER AND CHEERING
One team, one dream!
This is make or break today.
If I cock this up, then I'm going.
With only a few hours until this restaurant
is packed with expectant guests... These are the aprons.
..the contenders have a lot to learn.
Is yours the wrong way round? Yeah. Spot who works in a pub.
Are we ready for this?
Showing them the run of service... Think so.
..my director of restaurants, Mario.
So, who's going to be the maitre d'?
That's me, yeah. The fun part. CRAIG CHUCKLES
And in the kitchen... Hello. CONTESTANTS: Hello. Welcome.
..group executive chef Jocky.
Got your aprons? All the gear, no idea.
Have I mentioned that
I've never worked in a professional kitchen before?
Right, so any of you have any experience in hospitality?
I've got a couple of pubs.
OK. I deal with the public, so... Great.
So, today, we have 35 guests coming through the doors.
The room is going to be split in three sections.
You are the maitre d' and you will decide where they go.
Yeah. The maitre d' will always welcome them at the door
when the guests arrive, and then sit the guests down at the table. Yeah.
And very important that you take the order
as per the timing that they sit down.
It's very crucial that table four
doesn't get the food before table five.
Obviously, when I'm spreading the customers out into...
Guests, please. Guests. They're guests in our house.
Remember, you work for Gordon Ramsay,
one of the most powerful people in the hospitality industry,
so it's important that we have that standard. Yeah.
I run pubs for guys that have just finished work,
guys that want a pint.
It's not high-end at all, but it's go-hard-or-go-home today.
Yeah.
When you're getting the drinks, at the same time,
you will be getting some snacks for the table,
so you don't waste time going back and forth.
Time is very crucial for you guys
and you have to always be on the floor with your guests.
The first section I'm going to show you
is the robata and the grill.
Back in the kitchen, a crash course on the food stations
from exec chef Jocky.
As soon as a check comes on,
it needs to be gone within ten minutes.
Prawn - skewer on. Pork skewer - shiitake mushroom on.
This is, like, a four-, five-minute cook.
This will go up to the pass. Everything goes into the middle.
Next up will be the wok station.
A little bit of oil, salt. Bok choy goes in.
Meanwhile, this is for the edamame. Boiling water.
It's quite overwhelming.
There's an extremely large amount of stuff to remember.
You drain it, and that'll go to the chef on the pass.
I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't anxious.
All right? So, next up, tempura section.
Open vats of oil. Do not be sticking your hand in the oil, all right?
Squid into the basket.
So, the aubergine goes into the tempura batter.
About five minutes, it takes to cook.
So, you just have to kind of guess what five minutes is.
You've got a watch. That is true.
This is a very super fast service. You'll communicate with each other
and work together to deliver the box.
I'm not sure I'm confident for the challenge today because
we need to keep communicating between each other
without shouting to each other.
That will be a challenge.
You work as a team. This is the whole thing about this.
To be successful in this challenge, jump in, get involved.
That's what we're doing every day. It's about supporting each other.
So, this is where we're going to be welcoming the guests.
The maitre d' is going to be standing here,
and when the guests are coming,
"Good afternoon. Welcome to Lucky Cat. Come through."
So, table one, table two, table three behind us,
and then table four. We have to memorise these table numbers,
do we? That's right.
What table number was that again? Six. Sev... Ah, six.
You don't want to get the wrong food to the wrong table number.
We're laughing about it now,
but it's not going to be a joke when you're in the service. Yeah.
Right, now it's a case of building the bento box.
This is the pass.
It's about listening to one voice,
and that one voice is the person who's on the pass.
We have rice,
the pickles, the seaweed and cucumber salad.
Skewers - always top right. All the boxes are looking the same.
The only way it's not going to be a success
is if you haven't got good leadership.
Who's going to do what section? I'm gravitating towards the grill.
That's fine, but please make sure everything's cooked, yeah?
So, fryers. Fryers for me? Yeah.
And if I get slammed, then just jump over
and maybe help with the bok choy.
I'm running the pass,
so that's communicating with everybody
and putting all the dishes together.
I've put myself in the firing line and it's sink or swim.
What could possibly go wrong?
With less than an hour until the doors open
and my reputation on the line,
I'm paying the contenders another surprise visit
for a trial run before service.
Gordon's here. Oh, shit!
We're OK. We're OK.
May I have a look at the menus super quick, yes?
Sam, what are the snacks, please?
Erm, the snacks.
So, we have a pea guacamole and...
Oh, God! I didn't write it down. A pea guacamole with cucumber
and smashed cucumber... OK, stop, stop, stop.
You guys need to learn this. You've only got two things on there.
Let's have one meat, one vegetarian
and one fish bento box, please, with the snacks.
Thank you. Craig... Yeah? ..how can Sam not know about the snacks?
Yeah, she should.
Crackers and pea guacamole.
This is for Gordon.
Check on - one meat, one veg, one fish.
You've got ten minutes.
Craig, can you turn around, tuck your shirt in?
It's all hanging out at the back. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Thank you.
I've seen better service down the Golden Egg
down the Old Kent Road.
I think all three of us need to relax a bit, you know what I mean?
Just taking the pressure off ourselves.
Just going to top his water up. Yeah, yeah.
Have you got your skewers on, Kier? I had to take this out.
That's going to wait. Please put them on now.
Get your edamame down. Are you OK, Flo?
So, you've got flour, then batter for your courgette.
I'm not sure about the flour, but let's see.
Have you got your bok choy in? No, I haven't yet.
We need to be thinking. Get your meat on,
then move on to your edamame and your bok choy. Yeah.
Craig, one thing you should know about the guests here is
they're in and they're out, so be efficient.
Sam, what are the snacks, please?
Pea guacamole with rice...with rice cake...crackers.
Sorry. And, erm...
Go back to the kitchen. Oh, God!
Oh, my Lord.
Kier, my squid cooked really quickly.
Are you ready or not yet?
Erm, just got to make sure I don't burn this meat.
Courgette for the fish. Salt. Don't worry about the... Salt.
Ow! Salt. Yeah, yeah, we're all good.
I'm done with the fish. How long, Kier?
I'm nearly there. There's the meat.
Service, please. One meat, one fish, one vegetable.
In the fish bento, we have yuzu-glazed prawns
with tempura, erm, courgettes,
seaweed salad, rice and, erm, salt-and-pepper squid.
Nice explanation. Just need to be quicker.
OK. I need you to be more fluid.
Thank you. Is everything OK with your meal?
I haven't tried it yet.
It'd be nice if you let me have a little bite to eat,
and then I'll let you know. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry.
First time in a restaurant,
Gordon Ramsay's just eating your food.
No biggie. No biggie.
Shit!
Is everything OK with your meal?
Would you mind just taking that one back?
There's no seasoning on the squid whatsoever. It's just bland.
Sure. Thank you. Oh, no! He's not sending something back, is he?
What is he sending back? The squid - he said it's bland.
Yeah? We can try and reseason the batter.
More salt? Salt and pepper. Can we change the batter?
Do you want me to recook anything of that?
It should be OK. Close the bento to keep it hot.
This is exactly what they need to avoid.
Every returned box not only affects the customer experience,
but also has huge cost implications.
It's crispier. Definitely crispier. Service!
Right. Erm...
Just so I'm clear, the box went back to the kitchen,
and they redid the squid, and everything else is the same?
When we send something back to the kitchen, what do we do?
The whole thing would get redone. The whole thing.
That is basic - very basic.
If somebody complains about one sector of that box,
the whole lot needs to get redone.
OK? We're in Mayfair, not a camping site.
Yeah. Yeah? Standards, OK?
I know we can be a lot better.
My restaurant. Your quarterfinal. Own it.
Good luck. ALL: Thank you.
Oh, I feel like I want to cry.
GORDON SIGHS
Hey, we ordered the snacks.
No snacks. Fuck me!
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. We got this.
I think people are feeling the pressure. Final six.
No-one can really hide.
But I just think this is still way too early for me to go home,
and I would hate to go home on something
that's not in my back garden.
Just positive. It's fine. We are here. We are a team.
I am treating every single bento box like it's a bento box for Gordon,
without missing anything off or falling behind on timings
and making sure that everyone's doing it in the kitchen.
Ah! I think I've just realised what's about to happen.
I don't have any concerns.
No, no, no. It'll go well. It'll go well.
It'll go well. Yes, it will go well.
So, smashed cucumber. Pea guac with rice crackers. OK.
Not the best start. Slightly all over the place.
That's just with one customer sat in the dining room.
Can you imagine when there's 30 in there?
Right now, I'm not feeling too good.
With the start of the lunchtime service
only minutes away, I hope the teams have taken on my feedback.
Guys, you've checked all your fridges, yeah?
The only way they're going to succeed
in this quarterfinal challenge is if they communicate...
Four, five, six, nine and seven.
..and keep calm.
1pm, and the guests are starting to arrive for lunch.
So, you've got two woks, you've got enough clean water.
Can you tie me up a bit tighter?
It's a 90-minute service
and I expect every guest to leave the restaurant
with the same high-end dining experience,
as well as a swift and delicious meal.
Be yourself, girl.
That's how you smash it - just being yourself, innit? Yeah.
Be myself.
With my expert team and I keeping an eye
on the contenders' performance,
it's time to see who shines under this added level of pressure.
Hi, guys. How are you? Welcome to the Lucky Cat.
Nice to meet you. I'm Craig.
Follow me through and I'll show you where to sit.
You can sit at table 12. Everyone looks nice.
Enjoying the weather? Thank you.
You'll be looked after by Sam today, so take care.
AMY: We've got guests coming in, so look alive.
Would you like to wait there, guys, and I'll be with you in a second?
I'll take you to your seats. How are you? You all right? Yeah.
Enjoying the weather? My name's Sam and I'll be your server today.
Do you know what you'd like to drink?
I'll leave you with Andy. Thank you, Andy.
My name's Andy. Like Craig said, welcome to Lucky Cat.
For drinks, what would you like? We'll have white wine.
Everyone with a white wine, right? OK.
With the restaurant filling up...
Enjoying the weather, then?
..and the welcome snacks finally served...
We have some pea guac and some smashed cucumber.
That's my favourite.
Have you looked through the menu at all?
I'll go for the meat, please.
Three fish and a meat, yeah.
..Craig wastes no time taking orders to the pass...
Guys, check. Right, three fish, one meat.
..but, for Mario, standards are already falling short.
We just started the service and Craig's already messed it up.
You look after the tables on the order of sitting down,
so the first seated gets served first.
He's taken an order from other tables,
rather than taking the order from the first table,
so they're already behind.
Not a great start.
What? Six skewers, yeah? Yeah, will do.
Rock that edamame, as well. Just one portion of edamame.
We need three minutes for the meat, so, wait, wait. Yeah.
My name's Sam. I'll be your host today.
And it's not long before the problems from their practice run...
So, on the menu today, we have a meat bento, fish and, erm...
..veg. ..crop up again.
How did I forget that veg? Oh, boy!
I had the fish earlier and I thought it was great, to be honest.
But whilst the first order is yet to be boxed...
See with this one? That's meat without the seaweed salad.
What would you like?
..a rapid stream of checks to the pass...
I'm meat, as well, yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much.
..is already overburdening the kitchen.
So we've got table 12.
Yeah. Just leave it.
Where would you like this, Amy?
Just stick it on the board.
I want to put this cup here.
So we've got another three fish, one meat.
I'll get that on in just a sec.
Watch that prawn doesn't burn there, Kier.
It's caramelised, yeah, not burnt, yeah? Big difference.
So I have six prawn skewers there. Yeah.
You've got five prawn skewers here, Kier.
I need another one now.
What? Is there only five? Now. Kier.
Three twos are six, yeah? Not five. Yes?
You need to be super-vocal.
Kier, do you need help? I'm OK, actually, yeah. Maybe.
What have we got?
We've got three fish and one meat on the next.
Listen. Yeah, I'm listening.
Tell me what I have to do.
Three, one, two...
Kier, you can't lift the shrimp and the pork with the same tongs.
OK? OK.
Starting to regret this.
I'll bring over some snacks for you and also
put your drinks order through.
Thank you. Thank you.
How are you? Are you well? Very well, thank you. That's good.
I'm sure Craig will be over to seat you in a second, OK?
Just ignoring the guests waiting at the entrance.
Tell him. Yes. Just tap him and tell him.
Your guests are at the entrance waiting.
Yep, no worries. Let's go. Let's go.
Sorry, I won't be a second. That's OK.
Nice cold beer...
Thank you.
INDISTINCT
Be back with your drinks in two seconds.
Would you like to come with me?
How are you enjoying the weather?
I'll get you seated. Just over here for me.
The guests at the entrance are waiting for a long time.
Oh, my God. Craig's lost it.
The room's running him rather than him running the room.
There's no communication with him or his team.
Guests waiting at the door. Say again. Guests waiting at the door.
OK. Thank you.
Hello, ladies, how are you, all right? And gentlemen, I can see.
Come through. Come through.
Service!
20 minutes into lunch, and with the restaurant almost at capacity...
My pleasure.
..the service team are still finding their feet.
We are ready for the big reveal, yeah? Absolutely.
One, two, three. There we go. Sorry.
I hope you all enjoy your food.
Thank you. Andy.
No-one's explained what's in there.
Come on, give me those. Give me those.
Come on.
Let me just give you a little rundown on what we have.
Let's see if I get this the right way round.
OK, so we have the fish and meat, and the big reveal.
Is this the wrong way round?
We've swapped meals. OK.
Bloody hell.
Sam, they're positioned on the check.
So you don't go over there, "Who's having fish, who's having meat?"
But more importantly, you've got to be in and out. Nippy, nippy, nippy, yeah?
A little bit quicker. Let's go.
I am about one minute off on the fish and about two minutes off on the meat.
When did you put that edamame in, mate?
Right at the start. Get it out. Get a fresh one in.
With orders backing up in the kitchen...
Meat. No seaweed. Mushroom instead.
..it's vital that Amy and her team box clever...
Fish, no seaweed, mushroom instead.
..and communicate any changes...
Three fish, three prawns incoming. Fish, no seaweed, mushroom instead.
..otherwise, there's no way guests are getting fed.
I've got my three fish there.
Stop talking while I'm thinking, please, I pray to God.
Well, that's going to be difficult. Please, just literally just give me silence
for two minutes.
This next check, right... Bit louder, Amy.
I'm not talking to you.
It's fine. Amy.
You're landing the aircraft.
So you're central control to this, that's why you talk to each other.
The timing and the communication is off.
We need to get our timing back, please.
Right. So we are sending three meat, three fish, yeah?
When done correctly, the bento boxes should be cooked and served
in around ten minutes.
Sorry about the wait, guys. I've just chased up your food.
It should only be a few minutes. That's OK.
How long on table ten? That? Nowhere near, mate.
But with the kitchen behind... Table 12, how long, please?
..timings have gone completely out the window...
Table nine is waiting.
Everyone's waiting at the moment.
..and guests are getting hungry and restless.
Sam, table 12 was the first table in.
We've already fed three other tables.
What's happened to their food?
I've asked them several times and they keep saying,
"It's coming, it's coming."
Well, it just looks a bit embarrassing, they're looking round.
How long for table 12, please?
They were here first and still haven't been served.
OK, I swear to God it's coming.
Guys, I'm so sorry about the wait.
Your food is just getting plated now.
Table 12 is our first table to sit down and no food.
There's no communication.
Craig is not talking.
And Amy's shut down.
What a shame.
An hour into the 90-minute service...
This is table 12.
..and table 12's order is finally on the pass.
Going to go and get your food for you now.
Thank you so much for your patience.
All right, there's the meat.
But there's another problem.
Hey, come on, look at this. Black is burnt.
Kier, get some more pork on. Oh, my gosh.
We have to restart all of them. Yeah. Come on, guys.
Let's pick it up. How much? Six.
Kier looks a mess, man.
He's not even thinking about what he's doing.
Flo, she's working super-fast.
She should have been on the fucking hotplate, if I'm honest.
We need to keep an eye on this pork.
Kier, how many have you burned now?
Eight. Too many. Eight. Yeah, sorry about that.
When you put too much on there, it's just starting to burn.
Yeah, yeah, I get it. And then there's no point in putting 12 on and burning six, right?
Yeah.
Please be careful.
Kier's got no standards.
There's no standards being held there. No.
There you are. My pleasure.
Is everything OK with your food? It's pretty nice. Fantastic.
Enjoy.
How is the wine?
Exquisite. That's what I like to hear.
Right. Bring the pork here now.
Craig, pick this up, please. That is table 12.
You've got fish, meat, fish, meat. OK.
You've got a fish.
Thank you. And a meat. Enjoy. It's delicious.
Craig? Thank you. Thanks. You just put them down.
No-one's got any idea what they're eating.
No, that's fine. Explain. Quickly.
Sorry, guys. I should have explained exactly what you're eating.
So, what's next? Hang on.
Yeah, I just need to know so I can cook.
Yeah. No, I know you do, but please just be quiet.
Kier and Flo can't see the tickets.
They're depending on Amy to co-ordinate that.
Now she's shut down.
Amy? You've got to communicate to the team. Yeah.
Up next... Yeah. ..five meat, one veg.
After that, two veg, two fish.
You need to speak up now and use your voice. Yes.
So we are going on table eight,
which is five meat and one vegetable.
After that, we are going on table nine, which is two meat,
after that, two meat, so we're making... OK, well, stop there.
Yeah? So that's easy. Put two twos together.
Start a time. Yeah. Four minutes, three minutes.
So we work in unison, please. OK.
We can do this, guys. We can do it!
With food stalling in the kitchen,
the service team have to deal with the fallout in the restaurant.
Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. It won't be too much longer.
Can I get you a drink at all?
Can you look if our bentos are coming?
I'll chase that for you now.
I'm here with more drinks.
But they've got problems of their own.
Craig, we're still leaving the menus on the table. Looks so tacky.
OK. Get some standards across the service now. Of course, yeah. No worries. OK. It's not a pub.
I've never, ever seen a service like this.
Menus around, guests complaining, hands up on the tables everywhere.
This is not a service.
This is a mess.
Fucking hell. What have I done?
Come on, let's do this, yeah?
Thank God we have Andy.
Sam, go in front of me cos you're one and two.
He's speaking to the guests. He's speaking to his team.
He's communicating very well with everyone around him.
He's owning his section.
ALL: Wow.
OK. I'll bring over some water in a second for you. Yeah?
GUESTS: Thank you. My pleasure.
How long's that ticket been there, Craig? An hour.
Yes. One hour. You're supposed to be in and out within an hour. Yeah.
Not sat for an hour. No worries. We're so sorry.
Yeah.
Yeah, we'll just chase for you. I apologise.
I'll check with the kitchen.
Table seven need to go home.
So... I don't know how I'm supposed
to physically cook food quicker, though, Craig.
Yeah? I've offered them a complimentary wine.
I'll pay the bill. No, no, no, it's fine, but I've given them a drink.
Amy, just give me a time for table seven, please. Meat and fish.
How long on a meat?
I am two minutes off on the meat.
How long on a fish?
Er... Two minutes, three minutes, yeah? About one minute.
More edamame working, yeah? Thanks. That's all right.
Would you mind chucking some edamame in for me?
You're an absolute legend, Flo. Thank you for that.
I couldn't have simplified the menu any more.
There's three boxes on there. Meat, fish and veg.
I agree. I agree. Come on.
Kier, four minutes for me. Is it OK for you?
I am nearly there on the fish.
90 minutes up and the lunch service should be coming to its end.
Service, please.
Where are they?
But instead, some tables are only just receiving their food.
So sorry about the wait there, guys. I'm really sorry.
Can I get you a drink at all?
Here you go. This one's for you.
This is the meat, right? Yes.
I'll get the chopsticks.
There you are.
Thank you, my friend.
Come on. The last table's a fish and a meat, yeah?
One fish, one meat. Let's go.
The contenders have one last push to turn this around.
Is this the last one? Kier just cooked that.
Come on. Chicken is done.
Last one. Come on.
Done? Done.
It's on the pass. It's on the pass. I'm so sorry, guys.
Oh, thank you, darling. Yeah? Are you OK?
I'm starving! Yes. Very hungry? Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah.
I'm starving! I promise you...I promise you. It's on the way.
Kier, come over. I just touched them.
They've been sat there five minutes... Yeah, yeah.
..because no-one's on the same page.
I mean, I am calling out our times, I just... It's fine.
It's not fine. It's a shitshow,
and the last three tables there was just embarrassing.
So can you and Flo talk and give me a fresh one
for the last table, please? Yes.
Is that too much to ask for? No, it's not.
No. So, I'd like a standard to be set. Yes.
So can we have fresh? Yeah. Absolutely fresh on.
Two prawns, two pork skewers, two prawn skewers.
Can you do it in three minutes?
Yes, I can. OK.
Service.
Ah. Well done.
There you are. Ooooh!
How do you feel?
Don't break. Not now. Not now. Not now.
It's almost three, and the lunch service is finally over.
Thank you. No worries. Yeah, lovely to meet you.
Take it easy. Thank you. And sorry for the delay again.
Table six were waiting for...
..45 minutes, it was. An hour.
I think there's going to be a ton for Gordon to critique us
on in the grilling. For people to wait 50 minutes...
There's no way there should be a compliment there.
Just communication for me. I was shit at that. It's cool, man.
I think we controlled the controller.
I wish I could have done better,
but I did the best that I could to keep the guests happy.
In a room of this size with three people, it's tough, isn't it?
I feel proud of myself that I've given it a shot,
but I would change a few things if I could.
Because you're not in the pub, Craig.
Yeah. I must say, not my favourite thing.
That was the hardest thing I've ever fucking done in my life, I think.
I did my best. I jumped
a lot on Kier's station to help him
because I didn't want to let my team down today.
I didn't take the easy road and I put my neck on the line.
I feel like I was supported, especially by Flo.
Kier did come into his own towards the end.
But it's too little, too late.
OK.
Last guest just gone. That was a tough 90 minutes.
It's painful. It's very painful.
Let's talk about the service first. Front of house.
Watching guests being ignored at the reception, watching guests waiting
for their meal and watching the maitre d' in charge
not communicating with the kitchen or not with his team,
that was very painful as well. Right.
Craig should have led that...
Craig wasn't in charge. He should have led the whole operation.
He just lost it. The service looked a little bit haphazard.
They were just throwing the food at the table.
They weren't even telling the guests what was in the boxes.
In the kitchen, Amy started with a strong voice. Yes.
What happened there? She got spun out from the first check
and never managed to really catch up on herself.
It's just too much information. She didn't know how to get that information out.
So, what happened with Kier burning those skewers? How do you burn a
skewer? They're only on there for two minutes.
Yeah, the fact was that he burned them. He was told they were burnt.
And then he sent out even more burnt skewers.
I just felt it was a lack of interest.
Kitchen-wise, standouts. I mean, Flo seemed organised.
Flo was running. She started running.
She started jumping onto Kier's side as well,
and was super positive in the way she handled herself.
So, calm, collected service by Andy.
Andy is. Andy really, really kept his cool, smiling all the time,
even though there were some delays on his tables.
He was going to the tables, speaking to his guests.
Really good feedback. Appreciate it, gents.
Thank you. Thank you. See you later. Take care. See you. Thank you.
Fucking hell.
Back here so soon.
Here we go, here we go.
Here we go.
Here we go, kitchen team.
Did anyone else not sleep last night?
My dreams are just like... either have got Gordon in them,
or I'm doing some form of task. Yeah.
I'm like, "Oh, no!" Like...
Welcome back.
Good to see you all.
This week was all about quality and high-end service.
Crucial in business. I told you it was going to be tough,
and I wasn't lying.
Now, this challenge was in my restaurant, my name above the door,
and I handed my 25 years' experience to you six.
I had my staff training you,
and myself and they were watching you across every minute of that service.
We're in the quarterfinals now,
and the margins for error are so slim.
So, I had a big debrief with Mario and Jocky at the end
of that service and discussed all your performances,
and we all agreed that there were two of you that stood out
across this challenge as two strong performers,
and for that reason,
the first person that I will not be grilling tonight
and will be in the semifinal...
..is Flo.
Thank you. Young lady, you acted professionally in the kitchen,
offering help to cover all aspects of that kitchen,
and honestly, I felt without you, it would've been an even bigger
disaster than it actually was. So, good job. Thank you.
The second person I won't be grilling this week kept their cool
under pressure and actually did manage to keep a decent level
of communication on the floor.
My second semifinalist is...
..Andy.
Just unfazed under pressure, which is a great sign.
Well done, young man. Thank you.
As for the rest of you, simply not good enough.
Sam, Craig, Amy and Keir.
I want to see all of you in the restaurant to grill
you on your performances.
At least one of you will be leaving tonight.
Good job, Flo, Andy. Well done.
Well done. Well done.
That was well deserved.
Well done, bud.
Well done.
I'm not surprised that I'm in grilling this week.
I did struggle with the challenge, but I'm going to fight my corner.
I had a bad day in the office, if you like.
So, I have to tell Gordon exactly why I need to be here
and that I deserve to be here, and I do.
We're on week six and I've been five weeks on the winning team
and I need to prove to Gordon that the common denominator
between all of these winning teams was me.
It would be really difficult to go out now
because it's, like, in touching distance. There's a lot at stake.
So, yeah, I'm going to fight for it because I want to be in the final.
That's what I'm going to do.
Kier, sit down, please.
Sam, take a seat, please.
Craig, sit down, please.
Amy, sit down, please.
In your mind, what went wrong?
Obviously, I made errors. Of course I made errors.
But it was very difficult having food coming from one side
and the other side, getting one on time
and then finding out that six skewers have gone in the bin.
So on that note, did you shut that communication down?
Is that why they weren't talking?
I didn't shut the communication down between that.
I was asking Kier questions and he was getting very confused.
And I'm like, "No, listen, don't talk. Just listen, listen to me."
Those levels of communication should have been so much easier.
Why had you shut down?
I think communication between me and Flo was good.
But without mincing words,
Amy kept telling me to shut up, literally.
And there's only so many times you can be told
to shut up before you have to, really.
Because it was Amy's show. She was running the kitchen.
If I was going against her in that respect,
the wheels would have fallen off even more.
Let's make one thing fundamentally clear.
That is not how I'd like to operate a service in the middle of Mayfair.
No. That 90 minutes was a shambles.
You were all over the place.
You were literally putting those boxes down and disappearing.
Yeah. You weren't even explaining.
No, no. Why?
I'm not going to sit here and say I was at my best yesterday.
I can't do that, because I wasn't.
I just made a couple of mistakes yesterday and I've learnt something.
We start the service. Yes. You get one of the first tables sat.
Yes.
45 minutes later, still no food on that table. Yes.
How does that happen? You'd have to ask Amy.
There was no movement in the kitchen.
Two thirds of the way through, we were still taking orders
and leaving the menu on the table,
which was causing mass confusion amongst all three of you,
to who had their order taken.
Why can't we clear the menus after we've taken the order?
My mistake. Hands up. That was my mistake.
But as soon as it was brought to my attention,
I cleared them straight away.
Yesterday was a shitshow, but I can tell you
that that's not how I run my business.
It's not a reflection of what I can do.
The big question for me is where was your quality control?
Knowing full well that you can't overcaramelise them,
then they look burnt... Yeah.
..and yet you did that and sent them to the hotplate
when you know the standard. Why do that?
In retrospect, it was a silly mistake.
I wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes,
but I think it was Amy's call.
If she wasn't happy with it, she could give it back to me.
The minute you dispose of something, your job is then to communicate
to your team, can we flip the ticket? Yeah.
Can we go elsewhere? Because I've just ruined something.
I was trying to communicate.
I had learned from previous weeks that that was important.
Amy was so overwhelmed at that pass,
partly because the front of house team hadn't assigned one person
to communicate to her,
so she was getting three or four voices in her ear at one time.
Were you overwhelmed?
Oh, my God, yeah. Absolutely, I was overwhelmed.
But I pushed and pushed and I didn't crumble.
I pushed until every box had every element cooked well.
No food came back into the restaurant.
There was no components missing.
The quality of the food was there.
The timing of the food was an issue.
How do we wait nearly 60 minutes for a ten-minute pick-up of a box?
That's the situation we were in. And from my perspective,
I couldn't get the food out any quicker.
What I could do is try and salvage the situation by pacifying people.
That's where I draw on my experience.
Yes, it's pubs, it's not your level of business, of course,
but a lot of those people waited 60 minutes and they left
with a smile on their face. So I had to draw on what experience
I had to do that. Sure.
I actually stopped half of that restaurant walking out,
because they would have done, Gordon.
But by giving them free drinks and compo meals.
You have to speculate to accumulate.
Craig was the maitre d'. Yes. You and Andy were supposed to be
the sort of wingmen. Mm-hm.
Did you feel he led the dining room properly?
No. I don't feel like he led the dining room.
Andy took a bit more control than Craig.
You could see the wheels were falling off in service. Yes.
Why didn't you then call a meeting, take control of the dining room
and reconstruct that whole service?
When I tried to communicate with the kitchen,
Amy wasn't...
It was... You were literally shooed away.
It's the semifinal... Yeah. ..next week. Mm-hm.
The pressure's off the charts. Mm-hm.
Have you plateaued?
Have you maxed out with what you can deal with in this competition?
No, I haven't maxed out. Impossible.
I've survived two heart surgeries.
That's not enough for me to max out.
There's a semifinal place at stake. Yeah.
Tell me why you think you should be in that.
I think I've managed to relate to people well,
which I think is important. I think I've been vulnerable.
I think that's just as important as barking orders.
And, yeah, this has been the hardest experience of my life.
But I'm still here.
I'm still fighting, and I want to do it.
What have you done to warrant a place in the semifinal?
Look at all of the six tasks. Yes. Look at profit margins. Yes.
Look at being part of a team.
Look at some of the stuff I did for you yesterday
to save you from losing customers in that restaurant.
I'm not a finished article in terms of a business,
but I've learnt something yesterday and I learnt something
the day before and I learnt something the day before that.
And what I have got is a product that would make you a lot of money
because it's innovative and it's unique
and it's new and nobody in my sector of the business is doing it.
I would like to take you along the way,
and I deserve the investment. I deserve to be here.
But I just made a couple of mistakes yesterday.
I have shown you over the last five weeks that I am competent
across the board.
I have won every single challenge.
Marketing, tag lines, things that I have no experience in,
no formal training in, I have excelled in.
Everything that I put my mind to, I can achieve.
Amy, thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Genuinely appreciate it so much.
Kier, thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Craig. Thank you.
Thank you, Sam. Thank you.
Hiya. Hi. Oh, God!
Amy, Kier, Sam and Craig.
Running one of my restaurants was never going to be easy,
but this is for a place in the semifinal.
Amy, for me,
you shut down your team in the kitchen
and you couldn't control the voices from the restaurant.
Kier, the food wasn't coming out of the kitchen fast enough.
And one of the main reasons for that was quality control
from your station.
Craig, your team looked towards you as a leader, and honestly,
at times you were like a deer in headlights.
Sam, the pressure got to you on that floor,
and I don't think we saw the best of you.
I've done a lot of thinking, and especially at this stage
of the competition, nothing's easy.
I've made a decision.
The service started off on the bad foot.
And from that point, honestly, I don't think it ever recovered.
So the person I will not be investing in...
..is Craig.
Thank you.
Young man, you had that pressure on your shoulders.
You were supposed to be running that service.
Unfortunately, it was running you.
I hope you take a lot of these lessons and apply it
to your phenomenal business. You've got two smart micro pubs.
Yeah. And I know...are going to go on and become a huge success.
Thank you. But I'm afraid we're done.
It wasn't only service where we had issues this week.
There were problems in the kitchen that led to the breakdown
throughout that challenge.
Which means I'll also not be investing in...
..Kier.
Last week, I gave you a pass, and this week I really needed
to see you step up. And honestly, I don't think you did.
OK. Yeah.
I know that you're an incredibly articulate man with a huge future,
and I understand how passionate you are with those sources.
Take everything you've done in this competition
and put it into that business. All right.
Congratulations, Amy, Sam, Andy and Flo,
into the semifinals.
The margins of error are going to be even smaller next week.
Understood? Yes. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you.
Well done, guys. Well done. Give me a hug.
Craig was overwhelmed with the challenge.
He fell asleep during service.
With Kier, it was a really difficult decision
because I gave him a chance last week and I needed to see
more of him this week. Sadly, I didn't.
Really excited with the four talented guys
in the semifinal, and if they didn't know beforehand
how high the stakes are, they definitely do now.
I've really enjoyed the competition.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I'm so lucky to have got this far, so I'm not going to take anything
other than positive stuff from it.
It sounds super cheesy because everyone says that, don't they?
They all go, "Oh, I've had this amazing experience
"and I'm so much of a better person now."
But I have learned a lot. I have grown.
So it's been an incredible experience.
Next time...
It's all about creativity.
Create social media videos.
You are taking over. You are not listening.
This is like a horror movie.
There's a place in the finale at stake.
When I ask you questions, don't go on for too long.
Et voila!
Oh, the egg. Yeah.