The second series of '' The Restaurant'' is a television series that aired in the United Kingdom on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

from 10 September to 29 October in 2008. Auditions took place in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and London during March and April 2008. (The series aired in the United States on BBC America in early 2009 under the title "Last Restaurant Standing.")

Raymond Blanc Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef patron at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the ''Good Fo ...

keeps his role in the series, and nine couples once again compete for the chance to open their own restaurant backed by Blanc. In July 2009 the winners, Russell Clement & Michele English, launched their own venture The Cheerful Soul in the Hare and Hounds in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (the site of the restaurant of the runners-up, Alasdair Hooper & James Knight-Pacheco). On 30 July 2010 Russell and Michele announced (on their blog) that they were leaving The Cheerful Soul. In 2009, the BBC announced that Alasdair & James would feature in a spin-off series, provisionally titled ''Plate Expectations'', in early 2010. The series, which finally aired under the title ''Out of the Frying Pan'', follows them as they launch their own event catering business.

Contestants

The contestants that took part in the series were (in reverse order of elimination): *Russell Clement & Michele English – a couple from

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

ran ''The Cheerful Soul'' in Northwood,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. They already run a buffet business but aspire to open their own restaurant. *Alasdair Hooper & James Knight-Pacheco (2nd Place) – friends from

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

ran ''The Gallery'', near

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow (; historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow) is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

. Alasdair works for

Pizza Express PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unite ...

as a waiter and James is a former

chef de partie A chef de partie, station chef, or line cook is a chef in charge of a particular area of production in a restaurant. In large kitchens, each chef de partie might have several cooks or assistants. In most kitchens, however, the chef de partie is t ...

at The Square and

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. It has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an "annexe to Buckingham Palace". Claridge's Hote ...

. They both aim to open a

Michelin-starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

restaurant. In 2010 James was working as a tutor at the Ashburton Cookery School. James is now married and living in Dubai working as a head chef. Alasdair is running the Dartmouth Ice-cream Company, Dartmouth, Devon. He lives with his fiancé Jessica Quick, who is an Occupational Therapist, and their baby daughter Isla. *Tim & Lindsie Selby (3rd Place) – a married couple from

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

ran ''True Provenance'' in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. Tim is a

TGI Friday's TGI Fridays (operating in the UK as FRIDAYS) is an American restaurant chain focusing on primarily American cuisine and casual dining. The restaurant's founder said the name stood for "Thank God It's Friday", although some television commercial ...

operations manager and line cook who rose through the ranks to manage nine restaurants while Lindsie is an HR manager. They want to run an ethically sourced restaurant. *Helen & Stephen Bryan (4th place) – a married couple from

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

ran ''Nel's'' in

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

, Buckinghamshire. Helen used to work in marketing but has some experience working in professional kitchens. Stephen is an ex-naval officer. They think they could be the new " Fanny and

Johnnie Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

".NILGA

Following the series Steven has become a hotel manager. Helen is working in local government. *Peter Dong & Laura Scale (5th) – a couple from

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

ran ''The Welsh Wok'', in

Haddenham, Buckinghamshire Haddenham is a village and civil parish in west Buckinghamshire, England. It is about south-west of Aylesbury and north-east of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire. At the 2011 Census, the population of the civil parish was 4,502. History The ...

. Peter is a team manager with a blue chip company and Laura is a service manager who has always wanted to work in the hospitality industry. *Chris & Caroline Hanson (6th) – a married couple from

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

ran ''Ray White's'' in Weston-on-the-Green,

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...

, Oxfordshire.County restaurants in TV contest
/ref> Chris has been a chef at a pub for the past nine years and Caroline is an extended schools worker. Their restaurant aims to celebrate the best of British food.Yorkshire Post: Kitchen couples take on TV challenge
/ref>
Chris is now working the food festival circuit. *Harriet & Mike Ashworth (7th) – a father and daughter pairing from

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

ran ''The Blue Goose'' in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Mike is owner and director of two recruitment businesses and Harriet is an event planner who has worked as a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

Clerk.
Harriet currently runs the kitchen at Public House *Scott Sheppard & Richard Hammond (8th) – a couple from

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

ran ''Sorbet and Seasons'' in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

.Surbiton restaurant serves up reality television
Scott trained as a

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

18 years ago, but is currently a manager in first and business class for an airline. Richard used to be an airline steward and is now the director of a soft drinks company. *Annette Cockburn & Kashelle Taylor (9th – Weren't given a restaurant) – a mother and daughter team from

planned on opening ''Caribbean Delights'' but were eliminated without being given a restaurant. Annette is a care worker and Kashelle is a freelance actress.

Episodes

Week One

*In challenge: All couples *Challenge: Signature Dish – In 3 groups of three, create a signature dish that was either a starter, main or dessert for their restaurant. *Eliminated: Annette and Kashelle, for creating "Mango Whizz" – frozen Mango Pulp from a tin, putting little to no effort in to the challenge.

Week Two

*Task: Pay What It Is Worth – The customers could pay what they wanted for their meals. *Restaurant of the week: Helen & Stephen *In challenge: Harriet & Mike (put in the challenge on the second episode of Week One, for their poor opening night), Michele & Russell (for being disorganised with their booking on the night of the task) and Richard & Scott (for ignoring Raymond's advice to add either Sorbets or Seasonal food to their menu) *Challenge: Motorway Service – Create five dishes for the public at a motorway service station *Eliminated: Richard & Scott, for failing to market their food well in the challenge and poor presentation of the food itself.

Week Three

*Task: No Waste, No Loss – Given half a pig, minimise waste, maximise profit. *Restaurant of the week: Michele & Russell *In challenge: Alasdair & James (because James regards the kitchen as his sole responsibility), Chris & Caroline (for tasteless food) and Harriet & Mike (for Mike's lack of effort) *Challenge: Oxford Formal Halls – cater for high and low table at three Oxford colleges. *Eliminated: Harriet & Mike for Mike's lack of commitment.

Week Four

*Task: Flags of the World – the couples must adjust their menus to include the national cuisine of a foreign country, while maintaining their own concept and identity. *Restaurant of the week: Michele & Russell *In challenge: Chris & Caroline (for their evening being a disaster), Peter & Laura (for lack of control in the kitchen) and Tim & Lindsie (as their commitment was in question, particularly Lindsie's due to missing their one-year-old son). *Challenge: Airline Food – The three couples in the challenge must serve the First Class passengers on a jumbo jet the best food they can muster. *Eliminated: Chris & Caroline for poor quality food and tasting from Chris.

Week Five

*Task: Takeaway – Run a take-away business as well as catering for customers in the restaurant. *Restaurant of the week: None — Raymond didn't think that any of the restaurants were up to scratch. *In challenge: Peter & Laura (for Peter's lack of control in the kitchen), Alasdair & James (for being immature) and Helen & Stephen (for not taking advice) *Challenge: The Dinner Party – Cooking meals for dinner parties in three private homes *Eliminated: Peter & Laura

Week Six

*Task: Cookery Demonstration – Demonstrating cooking in public on the streets *Restaurant of the week: Lindsie & Tim *In challenge: Alasdair & James ("if you have any talent for business it is very well hidden"), Michele & Russell (for failing to meet Blanc's high expectations) and Helen & Stephen (because the last time they were put in the challenge the quality of Helen's food improved significantly). *Challenge: Cook Book – The couples have to come up with cook books that promote their restaurant concepts. *Eliminated: Helen & Stephen for not being as high a standard as the other couples

Week Seven

*Task: Tricky Customer – Raymond invites back the least satisfied customers from the couples' previous weeks of service, and adds some customers that require very special care, but only tells the restaurants this when it is time for them to take their bookings. *Restaurant of the week: None *In challenge: All three couples, as Raymond thought it was very close between all three couples, and all had their strengths and weaknesses. *Challenge: Masterclasses – Instead of sending them out to a challenge, he hands the couples' front-of-house to David Moore to test while personally putting the couples' chefs through a much tougher cooking regime than they expected. Then

Sarah Willingham Sarah Louise Willingham (born 21 December 1973) is a British entrepreneur, serial investor, founder and CEO of Nightcap PLC, with extensive experience in the hospitality industry. Education Willingham has two business degrees from Oxford Brooke ...

tests the couples' business skills. After that they have to serve up what they have learned to some of the most discerning palates and fastidious managers in the trade. *Eliminated: Lindsie & Tim

Week Eight

*Task: First Class Service – The finalists must cater for a group of discerning guests on one of the world's most romantic railway journeys – The

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...

*Eliminated: Alasdair & James *Winners of the Restaurant: Michele & Russell

Weekly results

: All couples were in the challenge in the first week; Raymond revealed that only 8 of the 9 couples would receive a restaurant.
: Raymond did not nominate a restaurant of the week in Week Five, as he thought that none of the restaurants met the required standard.
: None of the three restaurants were put directly through to the final as Raymond thought that each couple had its own strengths and weaknesses.

The restaurants

* Chris & Caroline's restaurant, ''Ray White's'' in Weston-on-the-Green,

, Oxfordshire is the Ben Johnson pub. * Helen & Stephen's restaurant, ''Nel's'' in

, Buckinghamshire is usually Le Bistro.Bucks Herald – BBC reality TV show takes over two more Aylesbury Vale restaurants
/ref> * James & Alasdair's restaurant, ''The Gallery'', near

is The Hare and Hounds on Henley Road. (Now the site of winners, Michelle and Russell's restaurant, The Cheerful Soul) * Peter & Laura's restaurant, ''The Welsh Wok'', in

is usually The Green Dragon. * Tim & Lindsie's restaurant, ''True Provenance'' in

at San Marco on Ferry Quays. * Russell & Michele's restaurant, ''The Cheerful Soul'' in Northwood,

is now Metro Piazza. * Harriet & Mike's restaurant, ''The Blue Goose'' in

was in real life the Sahara in Blue Boar Street. Now taken over and named The House. * Scott & Richard's restaurant, ''Sorbet and Seasons'' in

is normally Da Lucio in Maple Road.Da Lucio

References

External links

The Restaurant at BBC.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Restaurant 2, The The Restaurant (British TV series) 2008 British television seasons