I'm Gordon Ramsay, Michelin-star chef and CEO
of a global business empire.
Now, the food and drink industry has never been more exciting,
but it's also never been tougher to succeed.
So, I want to catapult someone to the next level
and invest £150,000 of my own cash into their business.
Woo!
Tonight...
LAUGHTER Do not get stuck in the mud. Oh!
..it's all about the finer things...
Welcome.
..as I bring the contenders into my world.
Three covers, but they've got four dishes.
Oh, sugar!
Please don't talk over me when I'm talking.
Got to bring it together now. This is a joke.
We've been waiting ages.
A little update... Yes, please. ..close the place down.
Who will be my Future Food Star?
This programme contains strong language
CAWING
So many boats here. Do you reckon we're going out to sea?
What do you think we're going to do?
Oysters? Getting oyster pearls?
Oyster pearls? Oh, that would be cool. That would be cool.
Amazing, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
The past five weeks have put the contenders through hell.
And trust me, that's not going to change today.
This week is all about quality,
so I've invited them down here
to this beautiful Mersea Island in Essex.
Now, look at it - it's serene,
the backdrop is stunning.
This could be their toughest week yet.
- Good morning. - Good morning!
Are we good? Yes. Yeah, good.
I know you love all getting up early in the morning, right?
LAUGHTER Love it! Come on.
Early Bird catches the worm.
Right. This is the beautiful Essex coastline
and one of the country's finest oyster farms.
Yes. Yes. Ah.
Today, each of you will have just 30 minutes to collect
as many oysters as possible, using traditional techniques.
Quality control is key.
Only oysters that make the final grade will count.
Oh, right.
The person who harvests the most across those 30 minutes wins.
It's that simple. Go and get changed. Off you go.
WHOOPING Thank you. Let's go.
Right. I love it! I'm so excited.
I can't wait for this, me. Oh, wow.
Oh, we're going to get so wet.
It's going to be so Randall's.
I want to see who approaches this challenge with real efficiency.
It's all about having an eye for detail.
More importantly, quality control is key
because the better the oyster, the more money you're going to make.
I've been crabbing, but that was very sort of laissez faire.
You know, I caught crabs in Walberswick!
Woo.
While the contenders finish kitting up,
I've gone to meet Tom Haward.
Tom's family have been cultivating oysters here on Mersea Island
since the 1700s,
and his award-winning oysters are sold
to restaurants all around the world.
Wow. It's really punchy, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, it's sort of creamy.
Creamy. Dense, rich.
So, in terms of production, how many oysters a month are we...?
We're talking about 1.5 million oysters a year
that we're processing. That's quite hard to believe from out here.
Takes a lot of work.
So, what makes a great oyster? The size is important, right? Yes.
Size is very important. There are three sizes out there.
Yeah, large, medium and small. I mean, that's a medium, I'd say. Yep.
So, they want something that just fits in the cup of their hand like that.
So, for me, that is perfect oyster.
You know, that's what they're looking for. That's incredible.
So, this is a notebook from William Haward Senior. Wow.
Great grandad? Fourth great grandad. Fourth?
And he recorded all his sales.
Christmas time in 1791,
he did about £500 worth of sales,
which, if you translate that into today's money,
that's a lot of money.
Looking at those stats in that book,
he must have been a multimillionaire back then.
I know. I was thinking... Where the fuck did he put the cash?
I know, because I didn't get it.
THEY LAUGH
I can't believe this. Ha-ha-ha!
Right, we good? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.
OK, let me introduce Tom whose family has been harvesting...
Hi, Tom. ..the most amazing oysters for over 300 years.
Now, be careful cos there's a technique, right?
There is a technique, but that's, like, a perfect oyster,
like, about the size, palm of my hand.
You know, that's good value.
That's the kind of perfect oyster
I send to restaurants all around the UK.
So, that's what you want to be finding. Yeah?
Make sure it's firm.
Got little babies on here, ones which are still growing.
That size will be rejected.
Pick up your baskets. 30 minutes start now. Off you go.
Oh, my gosh, the crabs! The amount of crabs.
Did you think you were going to be doing this this morning?
No. God, no.
A seasoned oyster farmer can pick up to £600 worth of oysters
in 30 minutes.
It is a workout in itself.
Back-breaking, isn't it? Isn't it just.
But because of the tides, the oyster beds are only accessible
for a few hours each day,
so time is of the essence.
Because it's all shell and stone and oysters combined,
sometimes it's hard to see them.
I'm hoping I'm picking the right things.
Once you've got your eye in, you start to see them more.
These are fat!
What's your technique, Jamie?
Er, just trying to fucking see them. THEY LAUGH
He's doing well. Jamie?
Jamie's doing well, yeah. Jamie's doing very well. Yeah.
I think it's about speed, but also knowing which ones to get.
Exactly.
So, when you find the patch... Yeah. ..literally... You don't really
need to move too much then, because if you find a good patch,
you can literally be on your hands and knees
and then just be scooping them up.
But if you don't, then you are hunting a bit.
I'm so confused!
Ten minutes in, and the contenders' baskets are starting to fill up.
That's a pretty big one, isn't it?
See, they've found their patches and just stuck to it,
whereas everyone who's been wandering around loads... Yeah.
..getting a bit panicky... Yeah. ..they're not quite so full up.
He should get off there. He's on the reef there.
Yeah, he's going to find nothing there. Yeah.
I'm just a bit concerned that I'm picking up little ones.
That's what I'm concerned for.
Matthew!
Come off the reef.
Steph, keep your bucket close to you
so you don't have to keep on wasting time, left and right.
Ten minutes to go, guys. Looking good.
You find, like, a little gold mine.
You think you don't have any near you,
and then suddenly...
Oh, hello, you beautiful things. Aren't you gorgeous?
Look! Look at that one. Oh, yeah.
Valentina's doing a good one. Valentina's...
That's one way of... Yeah. Shall we give her some scuba gear?
THEY LAUGH She can't see anything.
I'm tired. I feel like I'm in a boiler suit
and just cooking from the inside.
Uh.
Oh! This is so heavy.
Five minutes to go, guys.
Oh, God.
Shit. Oh, my God. Like, five minutes.
Oh, damn.
Ah!
Oh!
Oh, shit. I just lost a whole lot.
No. 30 seconds to go, guys.
Oh!
Oh, fuck.
That's it. Time up.
Right, stop.
Head to the boat with the nets, please.
LAUGHTER Do not get stuck in the mud.
I'll see you back at the harbour.
That was some exercise, that, wasn't it?
I feel like passing out.
Tom's brought the contenders' haul to his sorting shed
for counting and assessment.
This challenge is all about quality,
so any oysters that don't meet Tom's high standards
will be considered waste.
So, we're going to grade them now. Yeah. Shall we?
So, I'll start whacking them over, shall I? Yeah.
Bloody hell.
Amazing machine.
Anything that's undersized, won't get flipped off,
it'll go over the end of the conveyor belt. Yep.
Goes in the wastebasket.
I did not stop in that half an hour.
I just was, like, in the mud,
grappling, so hopefully... SHE CLICKS HER TONGUE
..I'm up there.
Some of these are too small.
They're not big enough.
That's just a baby. Yeah. You know? Will we put those back?
We'll put them back. Yeah, good. Yeah, yeah.
I think I did well. If my mum saw me do this, she'll be happy
cos she's got a fish farm in Nigeria.
It's just...I know it's quite muddy out there,
but it's just kind of...I think,
with the panic of getting the numbers... Sure.
..anything's going in, you know?
Can you imagine if we didn't have this?
I'd never leave this shed.
I'd just be in this shed for hours and hours. All day.
OK, great. I'll catch you later. Yeah, all right, mate. Cheers.
See you later on. See you later.
With all oysters through quality control,
it's time to let the contenders know how they've done.
Oh, hello.
Now... OK.
Oh! Oh!
OK, first of all, Tom has been processing all of these oysters
in that incredible little plant, there.
I told you at the beginning of this challenge
it was all about quality control, right? Yeah.
Here's something that you should know.
Tom is going to be selling all of these oysters at the market.
Small, £1, medium, £1.50,
and large £2 an oyster.
That's a lot, right? Yeah. That's good.
OK. Here are the results.
In sixth place,
with a total of £85.50,
a waste of 37%,
um, that belongs to...
..Valentina.
Oh, I knew it. Ah.
I knew it.
Cos you can't pick oysters in water.
The big issue in your nets was the lack of quality control.
Right, in fifth place,
£158 of value,
10% waste
is Steph.
Slightly too slow.
You just needed to pick up the pace. It was only 30 minutes. OK.
In fourth place, with £263.50,
with 7% waste,
Matthew.
But you kept on disappearing into the reef,
and you have to stay out of there because when you pick oysters
from that area, they're all misshaped. Yeah.
We can't sell that oyster on ice in a restaurant, OK? Yeah.
Impossible.
Third place...
With £2 more than Matthew, £265.50,
10% waste,
but this person really stuck to the area
and was consistent with the size.
Leah. Oh. Wow. Well done.
Right, which leads us to the top two,
which are Victoria and Jamie.
In first place, with a total of £289 of value and only 4% waste,
congratulations...
..Jamie. Yes!
Fucking yes! You needed that.
Oh.
Thank you, man.
4% is incredible.
You stuck to your spot.
Yeah. You really got your eye in,
and you had a great quality control.
Now, Victoria. Yes.
This may sting a little bit.
You had a total of £275.50...
..but your waste was 24%.
Oh.
You actually picked the most oysters by far, by 75 in number,
but 66 oysters were too small.
Because I was looking at my palm size.
Maybe I've got small palms.
Maybe that's what it is.
All of you, well done. Thank you. Thank you.
In your next challenge, I need to see a lot more energy.
OK. You'll know why.
Oh, God.
I've been in the last three grillings,
so winning the challenge today,
like, it means everything to me, yeah. It's put me back on top.
I really just want to go for it now,
show Gordon what I'm about,
cos I want to be here and I want to win it.
Coming second to Jamie, who does mussels for a living,
like, I'm over the moon with that.
Leah beat me by £2. Bit annoyed about that.
The competition is on now. It's ramping up.
I think I need to now start proving myself a little bit more.
Today was a tough challenge, but if they think that today
was about quality control, well, tomorrow, they're in for a shock
because they're entering my world.
Ah, this is lovely.
I've always wanted to come here.
This week is all about the finer things in life,
celebrating quality and legacy.
Now, I've arranged for the contenders
to have breakfast in one of my jewels in the crown,
The Savoy Grill.
But they should know by now that giving out free breakfasts
really isn't my style.
Look how nice it is. Wow. It's gorgeous.
With over 100 years of service, this is more than just a restaurant.
It's an institution.
Some of the world's most famous faces have passed
through the gilded doors.
And today, I've given my contenders the best table in the house.
Welcome. Oh, hello.
Just to let you know,
Gordon is treating you for breakfast this morning.
Yes! Oh! Amazing.
The breakfast service attracts different types of clientele,
with guests looking for a quick and high-quality service...
Definitely having champagne and a glass of orange juice.
..before they start their busy days.
What would you like? Could I have the scrambled eggs
with caviar, please?
I'll take one of those, as well, please. Exactly the same? Yep. Eggs Benedict, please.
The English breakfast, please. Scrambled eggs, please.
Salmon and caviar as well, please.
And caviar. Yeah. Excellent.
Thank you very much.
Once an order has been taken, it's in the kitchen within seconds,
where my team of top chefs divide up the dishes.
Right, check on six.
You've got three scrambled egg with caviar,
a full English with poached egg, side of tomatoes, vegan,
and a side of mushroom, vegan.
The food is prepared with precision,
elegantly presented and ready to serve in seven minutes.
Service!
Here comes the food. That's incredibly quick service.
Here we go.
Fantastique.
This is so good. Beautiful.
Caviar for breakfast. Ultimate success, isn't it?
Thing is, once you've been spoilt like this...
No more, no more bargain butties.
I feel so much better.
That's how it should be every day.
Cheers.
They made it look so easy, though, didn't they?
Do you remember last time we got to eat the food?
It didn't end up well. It didn't.
Good morning. Good morning, Gordon. Hello, morning.
How are we feeling? Good.
I was fine till about 30 seconds ago.
THEY LAUGH
For your next challenge,
you're all going to embrace the world of high-end hospitality.
Oh, Matthew!
Tomorrow morning, you're going to be running the Savoy Grill
for breakfast. Oh, wow.
There's going to be three of you in the kitchen
and three of you in the dining room.
Yes.
This is my reputation on the line.
You'll never face a tougher challenge.
Absolutely.
Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you. Thank you. See you tomorrow, chef.
Ahh!
So, we're all on one team tomorrow. Shall we talk about roles?
I'd love to be in the kitchen, just to say that I've worked
in the kitchen at the Savoy.
I want to prove to Gordon how good I am in the kitchen.
So, yeah, it's a great opportunity for me and I've just got,
I've got to smash it. Definitely.
Does anybody else want to be in the kitchen? I would.
You'd like to be in the kitchen?
I'd like to lead the kitchen, but I think, now, it's my time.
OK. Effortless and glamorous.
That's what it has to be. Yes.
I am a maitre d'. This is what I do.
I cannot make a single mistake.
The pressure is definitely on.
I'm more than happy to do front-of-house,
and I can bless them with my beautiful smile.
Yeah!
So, Victoria, Steph, myself, front.
Yeah. Yeah.
Valentina, Leah, Jamie in the kitchen, yeah?
Yeah. It's going to be tough.
I'm not going to sit here and sugar-coat it.
It's going to be really, really tough.
The next day, 4am.
In a matter of hours, the doors will open
to guests expecting to be served a first-class breakfast.
Between now and then, there's a lot to learn.
Hello, hello.
Good morning and welcome.
So, you came in yesterday?
Yes.
You've eaten the food for breakfast, and now it's your turn
to cook it for us today.
So, who's going to be the head chef?
I am. Valentina's going to go, yeah. OK.
Today you're going to be serving our guests.
Does anyone of you has experience
in the hospitality industry?
Yeah, I do. I haven't.
You haven't. I eat out a lot.
You eat out a lot. Great.
Taking this seriously and following instructions is essential
if they're to succeed in their roles today.
Very important.
You take your order. Write properly, please.
Yes. If Chef cannot read,
it's going to be a mess.
There are the six dishes that we expect you to cook for us
today. Full English breakfast - pancakes served with berries,
avocado on toast, poached egg and coriander.
A mushroom and gruyere cheese omelette.
Smoked salmon and scrambled egg. And there's Eggs Benedict.
So, we have two dishes per section.
As the head chef for today... Yeah.
..you will be on the Eggs Benedict section and the avocado section.
And organise the pass.
That's where we plate all of the food. Yeah.
OK? Got it.
How are you with poached eggs?
Yeah, I've never done it before.
Never done poached eggs? No. Ever?
I'm vegan, dude.
By now, it should be clear.
If Leah has empty hands,
she's going to be my poached egg lady.
Hey, madame, your scrambled egg.
Not "Hey, madame." Sorry, sorry.
Don't laugh, please. This is very serious. OK.
OK? OK.
I don't have much front-of-house experience at all.
The most I've done is probably host at university events and at church.
Excuse me, I've ordered some caviar. What do I do?
I'm so sorry, madame. Let me get that for you.
Yeah, I'm monsieur. I'm not, I'm not a madame, OK?
I'm sir. I called him madame. Sorry.
OK. Come on.
You turn to your colleagues and you say, "Check on." Check on.
OK, be nice and assertive so they're listening to what you're saying.
Yes. They will say, "Yes, Chef."
Yes, Chef.
OK? I'm loving it. Yes, Chef.
That's it.
Are the check's getting split down to the sections, or are they
just staying on the pass, the checks?
The main chef on the pass will have the check.
It's up to that person, Valentina, to communicate with you guys
so you have a smooth, efficient service. Yeah.
SHE LAUGHS
I like to think that my style as a leader is not so much
telling people what to do, er, but...
..no, actually it is tell them what to do.
So we're relying on you, Valentina.
I have full trust. We're going to be fine.
Yes, yes. Yeah.
Don't forget, has to be quick.
Yes. Breakfast is quick.
Yeah. Yes. Short space of time.
It's going to be like boom, boom.
With only two hours until doors open,
the kitchen team need to decide who will be making what.
Right. So, Jamie, you're going to do a full English.
Full English and the pancakes. This is with the pancake.
And you're having the omelette and the salmon,
and I'm going to do Eggs Benedict and the avo toast.
And I'm going to make sure that everyone is on, you know, top form.
So, we're going to go full English breakfast first.
And you've already griddled the tomatoes?
So we've already done the hard work for you.
Alls you have to do is apply heat again.
It's going to take more or less seven to eight minutes for the food
to come out, hopefully.
Yeah. Yes?
Bear that in mind, yes?
Ladle. Ladle and a half, roughly. Ladle and a half. Yeah.
This takes maybe a minute to cook,
but only ten seconds to overcook, OK? Yeah.
You have to be very, very careful.
Just replicate Gordon Ramsay's best breakfasts in the world.
Easy, right?
Table number 16, 24.
22, 20.
Easy, isn't it? Perfect.
HE WHOOSHES
Communication needs to be fluid.
The standards are very high.
We expect it to be perfect.
We expect it to be swift.
Only now, when you're stood here in, in the uniform,
and I've got a tie, which I haven't worn since the Navy days.
And, all of a sudden, it's like, "Oh, God," like,
"We've got to do really quite well at this."
"oh, my God, it's so hot."
All the dishes need to come up together.
Pancakes, 30 seconds.
Toot, toot, toot-tooh!
This is not that level.
It's that level.
Yes? No pressure, then.
With less than an hour until doors open,
and with my reputation at stake,
I've decided to drop in to see what they've learned.
Good morning. Good morning.
Are we well? Very well.
Yourself? Good. I'm going to have a quick bite to eat.
Here you are, sir. Thank you.
That's all skew whiff.
Can you stop bouncing around?
You're making me feel nervous, like we're in a bouncy castle.
Good morning, Gordon. Good morning.
Can I take your order, please? Yes, please.
Can I see a menu first? Absolutely.
Chef, Gordon has sat down in the restaurant.
He's by himself. He's one guest, he's ordering.
Gordon is sat in the restaurant.
Oh, God.
Let's do a bit of a spot-check on the kitchen.
I'll have a full English breakfast with extra baked beans,
scrambled eggs, and then an Eggs Benedict, please. Thank you.
How would you like your scrambled eggs, sir?
Scrambled.
Thank you very much, Gordon.
HE EXHALES HEAVILY
OK, order up for Gordon. Right, thank you.
Okey dokey. Thank you.
I've got a full English and scrambled eggs,
and then I've got one Eggs Benedict.
Can you please, Leah, do my Eggs Benedict and the scrambled eggs?
Why?
Don't you want to practise doing the Eggs Benedict?
Yeah, but... Yeah.
So, you need to practise doing the Eggs Benedict.
But not, maybe not with Gordon.
So, you want me to come round and do you eggs? Yes, please.
Thank you.
How was your morning?
Really busy. Busy, busy.
So, if you pour that too fast,
then it's going to go all over the table. Table.
What a beautiful restaurant you have. Stunning. Isn't it?
Let's hope we keep it that way.
I'm making a poached egg for Gordon.
VALENTINA SQUEALS
He can't have it overcooked. Right, Jamie, you ready?
Yeah, plating up now.
Service, please.
Send him our love.
OK, Gordon, we've got your Eggs Benedict. Excellent, thank you.
Well done, guys.
Come on, a smile. Give me a smile.
I am worried that it's going to be runny, but there might be just,
you know, when it's just that centre's a little bit jelly.
Is there any chance these eggs could be a little bit more cooked?
They're sort of all so runny.
Too runny? Yeah, too runny.
OK. Is that OK?
The egg white's not actually cooked.
Thank you. I'll take the full English, then, if that's OK.
Oh, my God. What a shitshow.
Can we get the Eggs Benedict again? The whites are underdone.
Yeah, yeah. Shit.
We'll just make it again.
Yeah, no problem.
You thought it was underdone. No, yeah, shit.
Here is your full English breakfast.
Oh, dear. It looks like you're playing with a Frisbee.
What are you doing? There we go. Thank you.
It's all very intense in here this morning.
It needs to liven up a little bit. It's breakfast, Matthew.
Do you honestly think I'd trust you with fucking dinner?
No. Maybe one day, maybe one day, Gordon.
There we go. Thank you. Thank you.
Who cooked the eggs, please?
That was Leah. Leah. Thank you.
How are your scrambled eggs, Gordon?
All good, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Matthew, Can you get all three of them out of the kitchen, please?
Yes, sir. I'll bring them out here.
Gordon would like to see you all in the restaurant now, please.
He's good. He liked your eggs.
Gordon likes my eggs! Yay!
Thank fuck for that.
Just got to do that another 50 times.
Guys, come over, please. Just two minutes together,
cos that wasn't a good morning.
OK, first of all, we need to relax.
We need to relax quickly, cos the service is, is too intense.
OK? You have to stop bouncing around and glide.
I sit down, coffee all over the white tablecloth.
The Eggs Benedict were undercooked.
The eggs were cold in the middle.
The sausage, overcooked.
So just be careful.
Understand what you've just been taught and start putting
it into practice quickly. Yeah.
Work as a team, communicate and push each other.
Understood? Yeah. Mm-hm. Right, let's get to it.
That's not a good start.
In minutes from now, this place is going to be full.
It's wake-up time.
8am, and guests are starting to arrive for breakfast.
Sounds busy out there. It does.
You happy?
It's very important that I'm on top form today.
You know, I don't want to go home.
There's no room for error.
Ready to roll.
Right, are we ready? I think so. Yes, we're ready.
With eyes on the front and back of house,
it's a chance to see who shines under this extreme pressure.
Good morning. Welcome.
Good morning.
So, I'll be serving you today. My name's Victoria.
Can I get you any drinks to start with?
We've just got some menus for you, and I'll be back
in a couple of minutes.
There's a huge amount of pressure.
This restaurant is the jewel in Gordon's crown.
Hello.
Hi, how are you?
The other contenders will be looking at me as someone
that has got the experience in this field, and if we don't get
off to a good start, it will be very messy.
Is that OK there?
Don't worry, I'm not joining you.
Oh, that's a shame. I know. Next time.
Sorry to interrupt. Are you more or less there on the menu? Yeah.
I'll take some orders, then. Great.
OK, Chef, got an order. Right, thank you.
All right, guys. So, we've got a full English.
Yes, Chef. Another full English, fried egg,
and a side of avocado
and I've got one Eggs Benedict.
Yes, Chef.
Right, OK, I'm going to stick my eggs on for the first two.
Eggs on! The first orders are in and the kitchen team can now
put their training to the test.
We want this out, ten past eight.
OK. I'm going to give you your side of avocado.
First order will be two minutes, I reckon. Yeah.
With three different stations to manage,
they'll need to be in perfect sync if they're to succeed.
I won't be letting anything go out that's not perfect.
Shit, my face is on fire.
Service, please.
Are we good?
OK, two full Englishes here, please. And the extra avocado is here.
And the avocado. Fabulous. Right, so this is done.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
We're doing great, guys, you know?
Well, we've only got one ticket.
SHE LAUGHS
We have a cooked breakfast.
If we weren't doing great with one ticket,
then we'd be in trouble.
Yesterday, I dropped the bombshell that our contenders would be running
a full, busy breakfast service today.
But I'm worried.
Have I made a mistake? It's time to find out.
And fried.
Oh, fuck. Bloody beans.
I've not put the fucking beans on. Fuck's sake.
Erm, that first table's not got fucking beans. I'm sorry.
I've got beans on now. I'm going to send them separately.
Sorry about that. I'm so sorry.
That's all right. Don't be sorry. Let's just get this going.
It's all good. Right, Steph. Yep.
We've got a problem. What's the problem?
We forgot the... Beans. We forgot the beans.
So, now he's giving you the beans for the full English that went out.
That's fine. I'll take it over. Yeah.
Just two seconds. Jamie, why did...
Look at me, young man.
Yes, Chef. Why are there no beans on that plate?
I forgot to put them on. You forgot the beans? Yeah, yeah.
I fucked up on not putting the baked beans on the first table.
Come on, Jamie. Sorry, I know, yeah, yeah.
Gordon was in there as well, so that was a bit of a shitter.
Thank you, thank you.
Fucking hell.
How do you forget beans on a plate?
20 minutes into service and,
with the restaurant starting to fill up,
seasoned maitre d' Matthew is making sure the guests feel welcome.
And would you like any teas or coffees?
It's the finest coffee and tea we'll do, I promise you.
Matthew, he forget that, you know, breakfast is a quick service.
There is no time for a chit-chat.
You know, the guest wants to be in and out.
Good morning. How are you all?
Hi, great. Yeah, looking very well. Did you stay here last night?
No, we didn't, sadly.
But you're tasting breakfast here this morning, yeah.
He's the experienced maitre d'.
This is not dinner service. It's breakfast.
Get on with it!
Fantastic. It's lovely to have you all in.
With the dining room nearly full, I'd expect to see a steady flow
of food leaving the kitchen.
But, so far, I've seen next to nothing.
Totally hyped up.
THEY LAUGH
I need to calm down.
Come on, give me this order.
I want tickets. Come to mama.
There's only one table in.
The dining room has got eight tables in there.
One table is gone. We served it.
There's eight tables in there.
Erm, Thierry, tables are waiting that haven't ordered.
And that is because Matthew is all over the place.
Matthew?
Yeah? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Yes, yes... Listen to me. Let me finish a sentence.
12 tables in. I've got one ticket in the kitchen.
I need the orders taken now. Yes. Right now.
HE SIGHS
Check on, Chef. Three covers, but they've got four dishes.
Right. Let's dance.
I've got another order, Chef.
With orders finally flooding in,
it's time to see if the kitchen can handle the pressure.
Shit a brick!
Order, Chef. I need smoked salmon.
I also need full English with poached egg.
Leah? Yeah. Can I have two poached eggs, please?
Yeah. Is there an omelette on there?
We're not doing that yet, but you do me...
I've got two poached eggs, two fried eggs.
Just give it to me whenever they're ready, the poached eggs.
That's all I need. Yes, Chef.
With so many dishes to prepare, for head chef Valentina,
communication with her team is going to be key.
Right. So, we've got one full English, no black pudding,
scrambled eggs, and two avo.
No, three avo. One...
Three avo. What about my omelette?
We don't have an omelette. Why am I making one?
One second.
Valentina wasn't calling out the tables.
"Am I meant to be doing an egg? Should I do an egg?"
"Yeah, do an egg." "OK, I'll do an egg."
"We don't need that now. That's too early."
Can you please let me know what eggs I need?
I've just done two poached. You said two poached.
One second, please. Don't talk over me when I'm talking.
Sorry, guys, I don't mean to be rude,
but otherwise it's chaos here.
Valentina's communication, it wasn't great.
Yeah, you do have it, an omelette. Yeah.
Whilst the kitchen is finally feeling the heat,
out in the dining room, first-time waitress Victoria is taking an order
from her largest table.
OK, what would you like to order?
Could I have the full English, please? Absolutely.
So, what type... How would you like your eggs with that?
Could I have them boiled, please? Yes, so, poached egg?
Erm, hard-boiled if it's available. Hard-boiled. I'll ask.
Yes, I'll definitely ask.
Can I get the Eggs Benedict, please? Yes.
I'm really weirdly particular about eggs, though,
so any of the white being, like, runny, it's not, like, OK.
Order, Chef. Yep.
Right, thank you.
Oh, ay-ay, ay-ay.
Right, guys, I've got, er...
I don't understand the calligraphy.
Eggs Benedict? I don't understand.
Scrambled egg is ready in one minute.
I don't understand how she writes.
Erm, I think she means she wanted to have the red very runny.
Don't overcook, yeah? You got that?
No, just, yeah. Right.
We don't want anything sent back.
Service, please.
Oh... SHE LAUGHS
OK?
Oh, those eggs are done, like, really underdone.
I'm so sorry. Are you OK?
Yeah, I ordered my eggs slightly overdone.
Right, they are definitely not overdone.
Excuse me, I'll get this. Thank you.
My apologies. Thank you.
Is this your table here?
Erm, yes. Is their order wrong?
Yeah, no. Put that down. Stop there.
So, she's asked for her eggs to be done well done.
They're raw, they're raw. I'll apologise to them.
I need it quickly. OK. Table-turning quick. OK.
Oh, de-da, de-da.
Chef, table ten, her eggs are raw,
she asked for them well done.
Er... No, the one I had from you said the white was done
and the red raw. Yeah, well, runny.
So that's what we did.
No, she wants them... They're raw all the way through.
Right, OK.
Oh...
It's so annoying. We made it perfectly runny.
That's fine. Make another one, Leah.
OK, so, we want overdone poached?
The order was taken incorrectly,
and therefore we had to constantly re-prepare the food.
That is going to have an impact on all the other orders.
Victoria? Yes.
This four-top straight down here, there's only one person eating
on that table. Yeah, the Eggs Benedict, they went out.
I took that back.
I'm going to serve their drinks, then I'm...
No, check with the kitchen first and then we'll go back
for the drinks, please.
Scrambled.... Right, this...
I need my full English.
This table's been waiting for about 20 minutes.
The full English are coming in under two minutes.
OK. We call you. Do not ask again, because you're confusing us.
OK.
My frustrations came when the food just wasn't coming out
at the same time. It was out of my control.
Here are your Eggs Benedict.
Thank you. Sorry about the wait. We'll come with your full English.
It's really cold. Oh, is it?
Oh, not again. That's OK. This is torture.
My table just wasn't happy.
And then their orders were coming out wrong.
Oh, gosh.
Eggs Benedict. They said they're... It's really cold.
Oh, no, stop.
And they need their full English on that table as well.
It's not... Is it the four-top? Yeah.
Fucking hell.
Hold on a minute.
Guys, yeah, just stop for two seconds.
We can't just keep on sending one dish.
Try to get people served at the same fricking time.
OK, Leah, can you do me a new one?
It's all very well you shouting. You're shouting over me now.
Look at me. I'd like you to serve the whole table
at the exact same time.
Yes. That's not difficult.
Yes.
Raw eggs, disjointed service and cold food.
There's only one thing left to do.
Excuse me for interrupting, can I just apologise
for the diabolical beginning, middle and end.
You deserve to eat together and there's been nothing of that.
Breakfast is on us, so my apologies. There's no excuse. Thank you.
Oh, boy.
We're one hour into service, and the full English breakfast
is in high demand.
I'll go for the English breakfast, please.
And for yourself, sir.
I'm going to try the breakfast as well, please.
Wonderful.
Check on, Chef. Jamie. Yes. You got two full English,
one with scrambled eggs and one with fried eggs,
both of them no black pudding.
Can I get your order, please.
Could I have the full English, please. Absolutely.
I'm going to go for the full English.
I think I'll stick with the breakfast. Full English for you.
Order, Chef.
Table 19. Right, Jamie.
Yes. You've got a fully English with crispy bacon
and a full English with fried eggs.
Fucking hell.
All I kept on hearing was, "Full English, full English, full English."
Jamie looked really stressed, but he didn't want any help.
How many have we got in total? Fucking hell.
Two full English, one and two.
No, that's three full English.
What do you need me to do?
Plate them up? Not yet.
Jamie, I'm doing your fried eggs.
I can do, I can do the fried eggs.
It's OK.
Jamie, do you have the bacon as well?
Jamie?
No answer.
Young man, communication is key, especially in a busy service, OK?
You're swamped over here, everyone's going for full English.
Ask for help before you take the kitchen down.
Ask for help.
Will do.
Jamie, he had his hands full,
but then we had food coming back.
Should be shiny, shouldn't they? So they've been under the heat lamp.
OK. They look like has-beans.
Chef. Table 19, she said she wants a new plate,
it looks like it's been under the lamp for too long.
Are these people for real?
Yeah, so we need two full Englishes for table 19, please.
They've been waiting for so long.
Definitely overdone.
Excuse me. Hi. My eggs are like extremely overdone.
Oh, no. OK.
What's wrong with this one?
The eggs are overdone.
Can we not use those fried eggs there and just swap out this plate?
He just wants scrambled eggs.
Same thing, scrambled eggs.
Fucking hell. No, he wants scrambled,
he doesn't trust us to find a fucking egg.
Fucking hell.
With a backlog of orders forming in the kitchen,
some tables are yet to receive any food at all.
18, they arrived a long time ago. Whose table's that?
That's Matthew's table, right?
They've been waiting for about 30 minutes more or less.
Hi, how's it going? Not very well.
No. We have meetings to get back to.
Right, OK.
Can you find out where our breakfast is so we can decide...?
I will accelerate your breakfast.
Have we got 18's ready?
They've got a meeting to get to.
They want to know how long it's going to be. Table 18 is next.
So we've got table 18 next. Four. Four minutes, thank you.
I think once the larger volumes started coming through,
that's when the wheels started to come off a little bit.
I don't know where Matthew was.
I've seen it with my own eyes,
four minutes is what the head chef has just told me.
That's OK, yeah. Fantastic. Yeah, thank you.
Right, one, two three.
I need fried eggs and bacon.
Hold on, I've not heard this order yet, so I don't know...
I understand.
Sugar, fuck sake.
Oh, fucking hell.
Leah. Yeah? Can you help Jamie?
Can we get some pans on there and start frying eggs?
We're shutting down here. Yeah.
Quickly, he's not saying, he's not asking for help.
But please, Leah, do something.
With the kitchen now in complete disarray,
it's damage limitation in the dining room.
We've been waiting ages.
OK.
Hello, ladies. Yeah, we've been waiting a really long time.
I'm so sorry about that.
Chef, little update, please.
A little update? Yes, please. Close the place down.
Matthew doesn't know what he's doing.
Victoria, Victoria, I mean, I don't know.
Probably they will never have breakfast, Chef, with Victoria.
She's fantastic.
I have a third time lucky on the Eggs Benedict.
Let's hope so. Well, it's from me, so it might be OK.
Joking. Please enjoy.
I looked after my customers and I'm pretty certain
they were all happy with the service.
Yeah, there we go.
That is much better.
But I just started picking up everything I could
and was doing over half the tables in that room at one point.
And that's not an exaggeration.
Bravo. Well done.
I'm so sorry for the guests. I can see they're not happy.
They're looking around.
Some are still waiting for the food.
Hi. We've been waiting quite a while. Just wondering where...
I will go find out where yours is.
The table who do have the food, they're not happy with the food.
The black pudding's overdone.
I mean, I've just nearly broke a tooth crunching it.
When we thought it couldn't get any worse...
..one of the table left.
We can't wait, I'm afraid. I apologise for that, gentlemen.
All right. Bye-bye, thank you.
Cancel table 18.
Please, please, watch this. Chef.
Table 18, they walk out. They have enough.
Oh, stop. Stop, stop, stop.
Table 18. They walked out. That's it, gone.
Oh, come on.
Gone. Matthew, your table just walk out.
Jesus Christ. I'm not going to continue.
Stop, stop.
Psst!
Stop.
They've walked out.
That's how shit we are.
Got to bring it together now. This is a joke.
Matt, can you jump in and help Valentina, please?
Yeah?
Jesus Christ.
Fuck me.
Take control. I'm not going to have any more guests walk out.
Take control now. Yes. Now.
They're all over the place right now.
I'm so sorry about today, ladies.
There's no system in place because they're disorganised.
Kitchen...
Oh! ..just as confusing.
This is a disaster.
Fried eggs in and I can send this, yeah?
With order now restored in the kitchen...
After this, Jamie, I need three full English.
Three full English now, yeah?
Straight up. I've got the eggs.
Which table have you got? Table 12.
12. The two ladies. Fabulous.
..Thierry has taken charge in the dining room.
Do you want tea and coffee?
Come on, come on, Victoria.
Thank you so much. The lady's been waiting.
Table 20's coming now.
Last order, Jamie, this is it.
Quick, quick. Seasoning on the top, you're ready to go. Yes?
Which table? 19. 19. Can I take that?
OK, so that's the last one right here.
OK? Thank you, chef.
It's 10am and breakfast service is finally over.
God.
Oops!
Gents, I left you to it at the end.
Thanks for that. That's not what we're used to.
Right? That's not our standards in there.
Was there anyone this morning that shone? Steph.
She looked after all her tables plus Matthew's table.
He's a lovely man, don't get me wrong, but all Matthew's table,
we have to comp or they walked out. Really bad.
Really, really bad. In the kitchen,
was there anyone that you thought held it together?
For me, it was Leah by a mile.
Yeah, she coped under the pressure and she was helping
everybody else out. She was confident what she was doing.
I think she shone over everybody else.
I couldn't have done it without you guys. Thank you.
I appreciate it. No problem. Thank you, chef.
That was just two hours of chaos.
It was a complete whirlwind in there.
The issue came especially with my tables when their food
just wasn't coming out right.
That was the most difficult challenge I've done today.
Like, I will jump off ten 40-foot cliffs before I ever do that again.
Shit a fucking brick. Shit a fucking brick!
It was... It was a hard service, yeah.
I think Victoria performed really poorly.
I couldn't understand what she wrote, it was lots of things.
They were mixing the drinks and stuff. It was a mess.
And that had a dramatic impact on our team.
I think that's me done.
I will not survive this.
This is what I do. This is what I do.
I've spent years building this up as a career.
Oh, fuck.
Don't want to fucking cry.
Gordon is going to go fucking ballistic, isn't he?
Oh, man.
Wow.
This week, you faced the toughest set of challenges I've ever set.
For your first challenge, was to collect those stunning oysters
from Mersea Island.
That was all about quality control.
Valentina, needless to say, Tom will not be calling you up
to join his oyster picking team.
Understood. Next, running the Savoy Grill for breakfast.
Yeah. Right, let's get one thing straight, shall we?
I never expected all of you to walk in there and get things perfect,
but across that challenge, I was testing how you took instruction,
how you communicated, and whether you could maintain
the highest of standards in that environment.
So front of house team, Matthew, Victoria and Steph.
How do you think it went?
Steph, kick it off.
I felt like it was difficult,
but actually I feel like everyone came together as a team.
We kind of moved and adjusted to make it work.
Can you just stop there two seconds. I sat in there,
I nearly cried in my own restaurant.
I've been there for 20 years.
Guests weren't being greeted, checks we couldn't read.
One table got up and walked out.
There was a situation once we had eight tables in the dining room
and in the kitchen, only one ticket.
What does that do to the service?
It fucks it.
It's absolutely gridlocked.
It's a domino effect and we got it off on a bad start.
Really embarrassing. Victoria, be honest.
How do you feel it went?
Yeah, it was... It was very difficult.
I'm really ashamed that a lot of the customers left unhappy.
Kitchen...
..Valentina, Jamie and Leah.
How did you feel it went in the kitchen?
I'm disappointed that we didn't deliver as much as we could.
However, I was very happy about the fact
that we came together as a team.
There was, like, we've been very respectful to each other
and we try to end the situation at the best we could.
Can I tell you what worried me, what I saw?
Incomplete dishes leaving the kitchen,
tables not getting their meals at the same time,
and worst of all, food coming back into the kitchen.
What happened?
Because the wheels fell off. The food coming back to the kitchen,
I'm really sorry to say, but that wasn't our fault.
80% of the food that got back is because the order
were incorrectly taken.
There was three dishes that I gave that the eggs were completely raw.
They were... I sent back two sets of eggs as well.
I think 80% is a bit unfair.
So we were very wary of, like, making them overdone.
Jamie, the problems stem from where?
Back of house, front of house, where did it start?
I think it was the miscommunication between the front of house
coming into the kitchen.
I asked Leah twice, jump over and help Jamie,
because Jamie was like sinking.
In the middle of a high pressurised breakfast, Jamie,
why can't you ask for help,
or at least suggest we change the system?
Because every time I stepped into that kitchen,
it just felt confused.
I don't... Maybe, maybe we're just too flustered in the situation.
It was a shit show. Yeah.
OK, this is how things stand.
Thierry has gone through all those cheques and calculated the takings.
Breakfast for us is normally a very profitable, swift service,
but we ended up giving away just under £500
in free drinks and meals.
That is unacceptable.
£500 giveaway on breakfast.
But after speaking with Thierry and Matt,
they singled two of you out as showing
somewhat good potential.
Leah.
Matt said that you're calm in the kitchen, composed,
and you managed your station well.
So well done. Thank you. Steph.
You're the only waiter in that dining room that we did not
have to comp any of your tables.
Two of you kept your head above the water and I feel you performed
strongly enough to stay in the competition for another week.
Well done. Thank you.
Right, the rest of you listen carefully.
Victoria, Matthew, Valentina and Jamie, I want to see
all four of you in the restaurant.
This week, I won't be grilling you individually.
I'd like to see you in your teams, front of house and back of house.
And on the back of that performance, if I'm honest with you,
all four of you could be leaving.
I'll see you in the restaurant.
I will go in there and fight for what I believe is right,
and I do think that there are failings that I was definitely
part of, but I will go in there and I'll conduct myself in the manner
that I've done throughout this entire process.
So the fight's on.
I don't deserve to go home
because I communicated, I worked as a team.
Many individuals were just in it for themselves,
so where they saw things going wrong,
they didn't say anything.
This is my fourth time in the fucking grilling,
so that's me going, right, I'm gone.
I'm going to be opposite Valentina.
It's quite loud, so I'm going to have to fucking just butt in
and fight my ground.
I'm not going out today. Like, you have to physically take me out
to go out.
I am not moving.
Victoria and Matthew, sit down, please.
Valentina and Jamie, sit down, please.
You both understand that this was my restaurant
and my reputation was on the line.
Absolutely. Right, and whilst I was spending time in the dining room
and in the kitchen, I did have my eyes and ears over everything
that went on in there.
Matt.
Thierry.
Good afternoon, Thierry.
Good afternoon, Thierry. Merci.
Obviously, you remember Thierry. He trained you,
he went through every little detail across that service.
Remember that? Yes, I do. Yes.
Good. Sadly, not much of that training went into practice.
What happened? How did a breakfast service like that go so wrong?
There are huge failings throughout this, and I hold my hands up,
and it absolutely kills me that this is the industry that I call home
and I absolutely adore, and it went completely into the weeds.
Matthew, you were the one who said,
I'm going to take charge of this room and you didn't.
I didn't. But why?
I had a shit day in the office.
I had one of the worst services and I've... And I should have...
You were amazing with guests. When you arrived, when you started,
I went, "Wow." You were superb. I know...
But you talked too much. You talked to the guests too long,
for too long. That means, you know, it was a backlog.
And then your colleague were like, "What do I do?"
You know the importance of getting that ticket into the kitchen immediately.
I explained twice, we're going to get slammed,
you're going to gridlock, back up the kitchen.
Matthew, when the system's not working, why couldn't you have
brought your team together and repositioned them?
I was panicked, Gordon.
I was absolutely panicked during this service.
We were looking for a leader. Yes.
Matt, what did you see?
I thought the service was shambolic, and the thing that I was
most surprised about is the attitude at the beginning of service.
Laughing, joking and underestimating the work that we do,
which was insulting.
I'm really sorry how it came across.
I can tell you that no-one there for a second disrespects your job,
and we all understand that that was a really hard challenge.
Valentina, you made a lot of noise, but you didn't actually communicate.
Even I was getting confused.
Right or wrong, I thought I kept it cool.
I thought that I was managing my team really well.
Your communication was confusing.
No, I did apply myself.
I did try my best to run that kitchen.
I asked you to communicate.
You need to be more explicit, clearer and a little bit
more understanding to what you're doing.
Victoria, whilst I know it's not in your wheelhouse...
Yeah. ..you seemed out of it.
I completely hold my hands up to not writing the tickets correctly.
So you weren't writing the tickets properly.
Why not delegate that to somebody else
who knows how to run a restaurant? Tell me that.
Yeah, the communication just wasn't there.
And given Matthew's experience, I would expect him to talk,
to communicate with me.
That is a basic element of business, and it just wasn't given to me.
I wasn't told what to do.
I was going outside of my role to greet guests,
which was Steph's role.
So I was doing it as much as I could to make sure they knew
that I was struggling on that part and to back me up there,
and I had no support.
You did have the support. I took orders for you and also
I spoke to those guests as well.
Wow.
Jamie, you were on an island.
You shut down.
I just wanted to, I wanted to get my head down and get that food out.
Oh, you got your head down, all right. But you shut down.
That was the difference. I feel like it was, out of the whole kitchen,
that was the busiest section that was going on.
The food that I sent out,
I feel like nothing, nothing that I had cooked
had come back from customers.
You forgot the fricking beans.
The first three breakfasts went out, I didn't put the beans on,
but then I sent the beans separate,
and then from then on, I was putting the beans on the plate.
You are an experienced chef,
and the standard of the food that was leaving was unacceptable.
This is your field of work.
I was expecting you to step up to the plate.
I should have got on the pass.
So, Jamie, where do you think those problems stem from in that kitchen?
I don't want myself to go, so I'd say Valentina, for, you know,
just because of the communication with what's going in each dish
and what was going out. Well, I was leading the ship,
so it is me, something that I need to work on and be better
because that wasn't acceptable.
Yeah. OK, yeah. Right.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry, and I'm so sorry about your...
Thank you. Thank you.
If you're going to step up and run the hot plate,
you're the last line of defence, so standards need to be met.
It was chaos.
There was no systems from the get go there.
Embarrassing, Chef. Embarrassing.
OK, first of all, this was my restaurant,
and this challenge was always going to be tough.
There were issues in both front of house and back of house
and I've made my decision.
For me, there were two of you who I felt that
saw the problems in front of them and would not react.
The two of you I won't be investing in...
..Matthew and Jamie.
For the rest of you, this is a prolific competition.
I'm pushing you all for a reason.
I can't wait to see you on the next challenge.
Matthew, Jamie, thank you.
Thank you, Gordon. Thank you very much.
To run a successful business,
you need to be able to identify problems and react.
For me, Matthew got overwhelmed by the occasion
and was so desperate not to fail, he took his eye off the ball.
And if Jamie wants to run multiple restaurants,
then he needs to know that you can't work as a one-man band.
That was crazy.
I'm devastated, obviously, to go out this close to the end.
There was a lot of things that went wrong during that challenge,
which I take complete, full responsibility for.
Yeah, I'm gutted that I'm going.
It's Gordon's decision at the end of the day,
and, you know, if they ask what he thinks,
then, you know, I'm happy with that. Yeah.
Like, I'm obviously happy to be in the competition,
but at the same time, very sad that Jamie went.
Now I am going to fight until the end
until I get this 150k.
Semifinal time, I want this.
I want to get to that final and...bring it on.
Next time...
Ready? Woo, woo, woo!
..it's the semifinal.
My head's exploded.
There's no room for error...
Look at the length of it now coming out, so back up.
So impressive, isn't it?
..as the contenders create at-home pasta kits.
Does that look like black or does that look like cack?
You didn't let me do this. This is all you, full stop.
All right.
Don't know whether you could sense it, but there's a sense of urgency.
Jesus, what happened there?
I'm not doing this.