''Ramsay's Best Restaurant'' is a
television programme
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
featuring British
celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...
Gordon Ramsay broadcast on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
. During the series restaurants from all over Britain competed in order to win the "Ramsay's Best Restaurant" title. The initial 16 restaurants were selected by Ramsay from a pool of some 12,000 entries submitted by Channel 4 viewers.
In the first stage of the competition, eight pairs of restaurants representing the same type of cuisine were pitted against each other, with winners progressing to semi-finals, and then the final. Although originally announced as a 12-part series,
the series had nine episodes aired between September and November 2010.
In the grand final broadcast on 9 November, the competition was won by Casamia, a
Michelin-starred restaurant based in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, with Prashad, an Indian
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
vegetarian restaurant from
Bradford, finishing as runner-up.
Format
In the elimination round, two restaurants are chosen from each category of cuisine and subjected to three tests:
* Thirty diners are brought to each restaurant, and all order their meals at once. Every guest needs to be served a complete menu in two hours for the task to be successfully completed.
* An undercover diner (either Simon Davis or Sarah Durdin-Robertson) is sent to each restaurant, to review the food and service. The undercover diner is intentionally difficult, to evaluate how the service staff and the kitchen respond to customers with out-of-the-ordinary demands and problems.
* The chefs from each restaurant prepare a dish using a main ingredient of Ramsay's choosing, and serve it to twenty guests, including their front of house staff and VIP guests, at the ''
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay'' at Royal Hospital Road in
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area.
Chelsea histori ...
. Ramsay then samples the dish from the final challenge, and decides on the episode's winner.
In the quarter-finals, each team is evaluated by an undercover diner on the quality of their food and service; Ramsay eliminates four restaurants from the eight semifinalists after reviewing the undercover diner's findings.
In the semi-finals, Ramsay,
Angela Hartnett
Angela Maria Hartnett (born September 1968) is an English Michelin-starred chef. A protégée of Gordon Ramsay who became well known by her appearances on British television, she was Chef-Patron at Angela Hartnett at The Connaught in London. Cu ...
, and Simon Davis stop by unexpectedly at each restaurant to enjoy a meal (in some cases, with a 90-minute time limit), evaluating each restaurant on service and food quality. He also recruits a second party of people to dine at the restaurant at the same time, to see if the service and food provided is the same for all customers. Each restaurant is then given restaurant space in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nor ...
, £2000, and a guided tour of Ramsay's favourite markets for fresh ingredients. They are tasked with decorating and operating a temporary
"pop-up" restaurant for an evening, where guests pay what they feel the meal was worth. Ramsay eliminates two of the four semi-finalists on the experience and food of the pop-up restaurants.
In the finals, the two remaining restaurants cooked in ''Petrus'', Ramsay's central London restaurant, for a variety of guests that include chefs and staff from previously-eliminated restaurants. They are tasked with producing a full three-course meal that demonstrates their passion for cooking while Angela Hartnett, Simon Davis, and Sarah Durdin-Robertson supervise them from the chef's table in the kitchen. Through sampling of the dishes from each course and consultation with his guests and the chef's table, Ramsay selects the winning restaurant.
Episodes
: WIN
Finals results
Winner
International version
An American version of the show was produced in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
under the name ''
Best New Restaurant'' premiered on cable network
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
from 21 January until 1 April 2015. The host was
Tom Colicchio
Thomas Patrick Colicchio (; born August 15, 1962) is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, whic ...
.
References
External links
''Ramsay's Best Restaurant'' at ukgameshows.com*
*
Ramsay's Best Restaurant on thefoodplace.co.uk
{{Gordon Ramsay
2010 British television series debuts
2010 British television series endings
2010s British cooking television series
Channel 4 original programming
Food reality television series
Television series by All3Media
English-language television shows