Programme Information

Recipe for success

The Restaurant

Thursday 29 October BBC TWO

• Programme copy

Thousands of people dream of owning their own restaurant, but few succeed. Being offered the chance to go into business with world-renowned chef Raymond Blanc, therefore, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As The Restaurant returns to BBC Two for its third series, nine couples vie once more to prove they have the culinary vision, drive and flair to create their own restaurant and open it to the paying public.

"When I took this programme on it was like a breath of fresh air," Raymond tells BBC Programme Information's Sarah Ward. "It is highly entertaining, but it shows how tough it is to set up a restaurant – it is really real. It's so incredible."

Born in Besancon, France, in 1949, Raymond is acknowledged as one of the finest chefs in the world, and his cooking has received accolades from every national and international guide to culinary excellence. In 1972, he arrived in England and, at the age of 28, he opened his first restaurant, Les Quat' Saisons, in Summertown, Oxford.

This year, according to Raymond, will be survival of the fittest. He is looking for couples with fresh ideas and a partnership that will flourish under pressure.

"Each couple this year have different personalities and different strengths. Sometimes they are good teams, sometimes they are not very good at working together and sometimes they are highly emotional."

This series, for the first time, Sarah Willingham and David Moore, Raymond's eagle-eyed experts, will not only join Raymond in putting the contestants through their paces, but they will also be investing in the partnership as well – something Raymond very much welcomes.

"It makes a great deal of sense that we should work together as partners," says Raymond.

With two degrees to her name, Staffordshire-born Sarah has managed some of the biggest brands in the restaurant industry, from Planet Hollywood in France to Pizza Express International.

"You go through this journey with these people and you get very emotionally involved with not just them but in the outcome of whatever their dream might be," says Sarah, who swiftly grew famed Indian catering chain The Bombay Bicycle Club into a profitable business.

"I've stayed in touch with so many of the couples from last year and the first series and am still trying to help them live the dream with their restaurants. This was an opportunity for us actually to become part of that and we thought rather than talking about it, why not actually become part of the process. So it was very much a considered decision."

Front-of-house obsessive David Moore began his career under the leadership of Raymond at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons, and is the long-standing creative force behind London's Pied à Terre restaurant, which opened in 1991.

"Last series, we were looking for the characters that we imagined would work best with Raymond, and that's not the case this time," says David, who prides himself on his attention to detail. "We're looking for something different. We're looking for people that will work with all of us."

Each couple takes over an empty restaurant, makes it their own and opens it to the public, while dealing with tough weekly challenges set by Raymond.

The Restaurant bears witness to how the couples' relationships fare under extreme pressure – they must turn their business into a success or risk closure.

"Setting up a restaurant isn't just about cooking, it's also about the commercialism of it and getting the concept right, getting the location right and all about the team work," says Sarah. "It's very rounded in a sense that we judge them on all aspects of their ability to run a restaurant, not just on their cooking ability."

Although Raymond hasn't been a fan of reality TV in the past, he admits that had a show like The Restaurant been around when he first started out in the business he would have been tempted to apply.

"With that kind of prize I would be the first," he says. "That's a dream of any young professional to be given an opportunity, surrounded by three of the crème de la crème inspectors.

"Both David and Sarah are fully fledged partners and they are also going to help financially set up the business with me. So I think that is again an aspect of the programme which goes beyond the eight weeks of television. We are all going to get involved with the new winners."

Raymond is full of praise for last year's winners, Michele and Russell, who transformed an old pub in Buckinghamshire into the restaurant of their dreams – The Cheerful Soul.

"You cannot help marvelling about what they've done," says Raymond. "I still admire them enormously, because it takes guts, it takes resilience and it takes a lot of qualities.

"And Michele has been an absolutely amazing person. She's just jumped into her role as a business woman and a great leader. She's tough, she's demanding, she's got standards, she's a great designer and she will not take any nonsense. And she is a fantastic host."

Sarah says: "They've got their 'baby'. It's wonderful – they have what they set out to achieve, along with a phenomenal amount of training."

Owning a restaurant may seem a really glamorous industry to get into, but it's obviously a very deceptive image. The Restaurant is a brutal insight into the business of running a restaurant and the incredible pressure of living and working with your partner.

Does Raymond think the couples understand just how hard it really is and what they're letting themselves in for?

"No, they have no idea," says Raymond. "But how could they? With the creativity, with the business side, with the health and safety; it's such a complex business. You've got to be a marketing person, you've got to be an HR person, you've got to have a degree, you've got to be a wine buff, you've got to love people, you've got to train them, you've got to be a part-time IT person, a trouble-shooter and still be a philosopher on top of that."

David agrees: "Last series, I said that good restaurant sellers make it look easy – that's why people think that they can do it.

With the current economic climate putting an extra strain on restaurants, how will it affect the couples this year?

"It comes across in the series, actually," says Sarah. "You can see the reality of the times we live in at the moment."

As far as giving advice to young budding restaurateurs, Sarah says make sure you know what you're letting yourself in for.

"I would say do your homework. Make sure it's not just a pipe dream; make sure you've got experience and you go into it with your eyes open."

Raymond wholeheartedly agrees: "Sarah is so right!"

So, with two top industry experts by Raymond's side, it seems the way has been paved for a recipe for success. Let's just hope the couples can stand the heat.