One of our favourite ever reality shows is back tonight. The first series of The Restaurant surprised a few people with its success, but now its third run is here, it’s firmly established as a BBC Two favourite. What makes it work is the combination of so many winning elements: useless participants (and the occasional good ones), marital strife, homoeroticism, challenges, food, tinned mango pulp as a dessert, Sainsbury’s tortilla chips as a main course, the awesomeness of advisor Sarah, and, at the heart of it all, Raymond Blanc himself.
Blanc is much more genial than Alan Sugar, much less repetitive than “Michelle” Roux Jr, and yet you never feel that he lacks authority. However, the undoubted star of series one was Maman Blanc, Raymond’s mother, whose absence was sadly felt last year.
If you haven’t caught on to this show, think of it as The Apprentice meets Come Dine With Me meets Masterchef meets Kitchen Nightmares. Only way, way better.
One thing to note this year: it looks like we’re down to one show a week rather than two, which decreases your commitment but also means less time for the epicness of the challenge to see who goes home. I’ll sit on the fence about this change for now.
