Last Restaurant Standing

Has anyone been watching Ramsay's show, Kitchen Nightmares (the British version not the waaaaaay over the top American one)? I caught it last night. He was on top form calling the 'chefs' " muppets" and "handicapped". That's good tv. They were a complete shower of mis-fits so it was damn entertaining. You should check it out if you haven't on the BBC/BBC America. Anyway not my point for the blog. There was a new show on afterwards, Last Restaurant Standing. Anyone who might have any inclination about opening a restaurant should have a gander at this. It'll definately give you an insight into how you SHOULDN'T do it.

The show's fronted by Raymond Blanc. If you know anything about food I bet you've heard of this guy. He has a very famous restaurant in England called 'Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons'. I said that in my best French accent which obviously sounds nothing like it's supposed to so let's move on. Set in England, there are 9 couples who are all given a restaurant and have 7 days to get it up and running. Some of the locations are in town centers, others are in the sticks. You should have seen the state of some of these places when the couples moved in. This was no easy task. Fortunately for me, and probably more importantly my missus, I've no intention of going near a restaurant apart from grabbing a bite. But a bar...maybe...

The contestants had to design the decor (although they had help), come up with a name, create a menu and obviously get customers. Remember this was all in 7 days. No way Jose! Talk about stress. One of the couples were newlyweds (not Nick and Jessica but not far off it). He was a jazz musician who was more interested in setting up his drum kit than actually cooking anything. She was highly annoying. They called their place 'Ostrich'. The reason? She's an actress who once played the backend of, guess what? Ya, an ostrich. She said she became one with it. No shit. You can't get much more into a part than by being actually in the thing!

The format is pretty much the same as everything else on the box right now. The three restaurants that do the worst are given a challenge and the losers are sent packing. Obvious really. I like the fact that none of the cooks are trained so it definately makes it more interesting and I want to see what menues they come up with. Apart from Animal and the ostrich (anyone get that?) no one was really that interesting yet but it was only the first episode. I'll watch it again and let you know.

MY LAST SUPPER

Have you ever thought about what you'd want to eat as your last meal? I hadn't really until I saw this book by Melanie Dunea, with introduction by Anthony Bourdain. It asks the same questions to each chef: What would you have? Where would you have it? What would you drink? Who would you be with? Who would cook it? You've got the most elite men and women in the culinary world featured here from Raymond Blanc to Nobu to Charlie Trotter with 47 others in between. You'll recognise a lot of the names and others you won't until now.
For me this book is great 'cause it gives a little insight into what makes them tick. I liked when I heard Ramsay's last meal would be roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with wine at home with the wife and kids, because I can relate to it, well without the kids part. However, when I went on to read about Martin Picard who would have a multi course meal: a kilo of caviar, truffles- black and white, cured foie gras...with wine, champagne and vodka...for me, a bit over the top, but whatever floats your boat!
Once you've amused yourself with the pictures, (visualise Jamie Oliver with the Union Jack and a naked Anthony Bourdain holding a cow's leg by his manhood) a great added bonus are the recipes in the back. Each chef gave their last supper recipe, like Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken recipe and Wylie Dufresne's Burger with Fried Egg. It's good to see that just because these masters of the kitchen are renowned for their genius, at the end of the day they like the simple things too.
And yes, I've been thinking about it...What would my last supper be? There's a little pub not far from my hometown called Spillane's. It's located next to a very small harbour which over-looks the Atlantic ocean. I can see myself sitting there with my friends, having a homemade crab sandwich on freshly baked soda bread and a pint of Guinness on a beautiful summers day. Sounds good right? Ireland in summer, where else would you be? On the other hand because we only get 3 days of summer a year it might be a bit of a gamble so I think I'll go to Tahiti instead. I'm sure I can get a crab sandwich there!