MB

I watched 'The Restaurant' last night on BBC2.

BBC - The Restaurant - Homepage

I have always fancied running a restaurant or cafe..God knows why because I cannot cook particularly well and often have the urge to just drop everything and travel around in a camper van..however..

This was intriguing..aww...Raymond is such a sweetie..it is one of those terrible knock out shows..but it does reveal how difficult it is to get everything 'right'. Fascinating if you have ever thought of this.

CaptainWaggett

I don't think they'll produce anything more horrifying than the 'Oswald Mosley theme night' from last year but the restaurant where punters had to order their food 2 days in advance and still most of them left, hungry, after two hours of waiting ran it pretty close.

Chevyman

My sincere advice would be don't do it

If you take stock of the entrants you have the usual mix of those who can cook and those who might be able to run a business. In order to succeed
you need to be bloody good at both.............interesting that last years winners lasted six months

The main strengths are running the kitchen (executive chef) and front of house (maitre de). If either of these go wrong the establishment goes into meltdown very quickly. You saw what happened to the Father and Daughter team last night; they didn't know who had ordered, or pre-ordered which dish; they didn't know who was sitting where and they hadn't a clue which stage they were at in the kitchen

The hours are long. You need a theme, both for the menu and for the seating area. You need to be able to cost dishes while you are buying the ingredients. You need to understand balance of flavours. You need to be different. You need to produce a business plan..........the list goes on and it's daunting

It was during last years series that Raymond Blanc said that the average life expectancy of a restaurant in Britain is 18 months............that isn't long when you have loans to service.

But I do enjoy the series. Raymond Blanc is excellent. Calm, considered and positive in his criticism. But then he is a working chef.

I sent you some pics of a restaurant in Burgundy? As you can imagine the chef/proprieter was very passionate about the business and about food; he is also flamboyant. I overheard someone asking him why there were hardly any "celebrity" chefs in France.

His reply summed it up very clearly. "If you are serving perfection and charging accordingly, your customers expect, quite rightly, that you be present during opening hours. In any case I am too busy in my kitchen to watch those who should be but aren't". Marco Pierre White is on record as agreeing with the first part.

If you take Richard Corrigan and Angela Hartnett.....two chefs who are going places...........their TV work is very sparse because they are too busy

At least with this series, the contestants aren't shouted at and we are spared the viewers voting

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the boulevard?"

MB

I am hoping that the reason for being is largely based on the wholesome idea of opening up the world of restraundom and cookery. But, along with that you have to take the cheesy, dreary 'Mr nice. Mr Nasty and Mr knowledgable' judging panel and the suspicion that the 'contestants' have been picked because they are a bit dippy and, therefore, will provide a bit of entertainment.

I hope it doesn't lean too much this way because it could be really interesting and there is little to be gained from watching real plonkers mucking it up, I think. Plus, it makes me cringe to see people humiliated on telly - especially if I am paying for it. I cannot watch 'The Apprentice', X Factor, none of them - loathe it.

A few years ago I was regularly asked to be the 'Mrs Nice' on a panel 'judging' young musicians. It was for charity and a very good cause, so I did it (plus, they had a magnificent buffet and I was treated like some minor deity, which was nice for a few evenings, if I'm honest...)
Thankfully, we didn't have to say anything with the baying crowd watching, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do it - it was just on paper to the musicians themselves. After sitting there and watching people put their hearts and ambition on the line for everyone to see - I think you'd have to be pretty destructive to do anything other than let them down gently.

Luckily, Raymond is such a chap and I like him already! The obligatory 'sarky woman' who I seriously doubt has 'run a large chain of restraunts successfully' (with that attitude? pretending to 'vomit with two fingers...?) is someone I resent having a penny of the licence fee.

Anyway, yes, most of them did make a real cods ear of it didn't they? With mistakes you would have thought were obvious.

I think the couple with the 'Ray White' name for their restraunt (Raymond Blanc translated..) are likely to be most in trouble, bless them. You could see Raymond visibly bristling..and I thought it was a strange, slightly insulting idea from the off. I know it has become customary for cooks to 'franchise' out their name to various other projects. But, I would have thought that getting their agreement and involvement was pretty necessary..and whilst on the face of it it seems like a good idea to 'link' themselves with Raymond..to do it in such a way is tacky and thoughtless, surely? Most real 'foodies' will pick up on that and, at best, visit once, compare unfavourably and then never go back..meaning it could end up as a sort of 'McRaymond Blanc's' - surely he won't stand for that?

Still, we shall have to see!

Chevyman

I agree about Sarah Willingham, MB. Two business degrees and opening Planet Hollywood in France, Pizza Express' international expansion, and she is a stakeholder in London's Bombay Bicycle Club.............hardly the same as opening a privately run restaurant.

As for the use of Raymond Blanc's name...................implicitly or explicily that is unacceptable in this sector

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the boulevard?"

Chevyman

I think it's time to pull the plug on this series. The ineptitude of the contestants is unbelievable

Last years winners only lasted six months. This years will be worse

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the boulevard?"

MB

I missed it! Can I watch it somewhere?

To be honest I have a sneaky suspicion that it's a bit contrived too..

I don't know..I haven't learnt as much as I would have liked - I know you think it's a risky idea..but I can see it really working to open at least a tea room around here and I would love to give it maybe just six months. Work in the evenings bring some money in and this during the day - ideal.

But, I despair at the BBC joining in with this 'exploitative' kind of television. It is just..odd and not what I expect from them. I want them to be above that!

CaptainWaggett

It's on iPlayer. I like it enormously but it's there as entertainment - it's not meant to be two hours a aweek of 'How to Run a Restaurant' I don't see it as exploitative at all - the contestants know exactly what they're in for and nobody holds a gun to their head. Plus, Raymond is utterly charming to them even when they don't seem to be able to feed a single customer (did the bloke who lost last week manage to serve any meals at all in three weeks?). But it's inevitable that the programme will focus on the less competent contestants in the early stages - we hardly saw anything of the couple who won last night but presumably they weren't quite as entertaining as the Mexican buffet that ran out of all ingedients.

Chevyman

Episode by episode:-
BBC - BBC Two Programmes - The Restaurant - Previous episodes

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the boulevard?"

MB

Well, I disagree.
I think choosing people who are clearly going to make a mess of things for us to laugh at is exploitative.

It's a well known ploy..the most extreme example being Jerry Springer style shows and Big Brother.

But these people really want this..it's their dream, no matter how misguided..

I get very little pleasure from watching unprepared, unwitting people fall flat on their face for our amusement. I know 'Schadenfreude' is a well established concept - but it doesn't mean we have to leap on it and I think it would be nice if the people we were laughing at were 'in on it'. These people aren't..


And yes, I think the idea of the programme has been sold to us, partly, as about the difficulties of setting up a successful restraunt and the possible solutions..


Thankyou Chevy

CaptainWaggett

They're all intelligent people who plan to run their own business. They've all seen the previous serious. None of them are being asked to make fools of themselves or do anything that doesn't actually relate to their chosen porfession (unlike The Apprentice) nor are they being set up to fail - each week different people excel and while some have done badly in individual tasks, nobody has been humiliated, IMO.

But surely if you really don't like the concept, you shouldn't be swelling the viewing figures ?

MB

I'm just disapointed that they think we need these elements to keep us watching...break it down and look at it for a second..what is it this 'Apprentice' like mentality:

I'd say it is 'God I'm miserable, I'm not this, I'm not that...but rather than trying to do something about it - I'll laugh at someone who is..look, I'm not as badly off as him - great! He's an idiot..laugh at him until he cries - then run a full page spread about his sex life. I can sleep easy tonight...'

I just think thats a bit, y'know - nasty.

This is the BBC - it would quite nice if they had a bit of respect for the people who are funding them.

I think the very fact that it doesn't descend to the level of other similiar programmes and is fairly watchable means that they are trying to keep a balance because they do know that some people are not into this 'bearpit' mentality.

This seems to be a case of - we'll have some posh bits for the middle class types and then a bit of action for the sealions...

People watched documentaries before they were largely about extreme tabloid heading subjects and people making fools of themselves - I'm sure they would again.

CaptainWaggett

Well, maybe I'm a sea-lion (why a sea-lion - surely they're the performers rather than the audience?) but I can't think of anything duller than a documentary showing a nice couple setting up a new restaurant and nothing going wrong... Though a restaurant where the waiters were all sea-lions - I'd definitely watch that

MB

I 'd watch the sealion thing too.But as long as no one animals feelings were hurt in the process because I'm, like really worthy and that.


Sealions clap at anything - you know arf, arf.

I don't think you're a sealion - Sealions rarely watch TCM.

I dislike this kind of mentality that we are slipping in to again (historically, we had smartened up our act..but you could say that the forces of capitalism are bringing out the worst in people again..) I don't get it's point..or rather I do..but it doesn't make any sense to me. People are, usually, just trying to do their best and get on with it and life is hard. Why make it worse for them? What for?

I don't think we should have 24 hour fluffy bunnies - I don't mind something being hard hitting if it's got a point other than to make somne poor sod profoundly miserable.

Chevyman

I think the format is quite good and embraces all the elements that a good restaurateur should have under their belt by means of comprehensive training:-

Invent your theme
Market your business
Present classic cuisine
Present a cuisine which is foreign to you
Prepare two separate menus for over 100 diners
Control your sourcing
Cost your menu

The list goes on

That goon who had to present a mexican menu just couldn't get his head around the concept. His oven failed. Why not offer a barbecue menu? He and his wife had five hours.

The Sino-Welsh team still, despite repeated warnings from M Blanc, cannot control their kitchen; the sous chef is still very much in charge

The "Duffer" award last night must go to the two chaps, one of whom is purportedly an experienced chef , who had to present a French Menu and served Coq au Vin cooked in white wine. Now that's a new one on me. It's a Burgundian dish based on Red Burgundy. I didn't see any sign of lardons or bacon in the making of it either. The invited French diners saw straight through it

They also spotted the typing error on the English translation of the menu "Poached Pairs". They were laughing so much they were late ordering

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the boulevard?"