[snip]
- As has already been said on here, Raymond likes them because they keep bouncing back from disasters, but the disasters shouldn't be there in the first place!
[snip]
An excellent summery and the whole post covers it all.
As for the bit quoted above: How can RB see the result as a positive but completely ignore the negative that the disaster was totally made by them?
You could give them some praise if something beyond their control happened and they came back with something, but they had to come up with something to cover up their major f'ck up! Why was that ignored or seen as better than Chris who didn't come up with a fix as he never f'cked up in the first place?
There is something very fishy going on here: It's not just a matter of opinion. How can so many obvious negative things be ignored when it's JJ and James and yet they ignore the positives in everyone else.
What are they trying to say? Chris should have messed up his dish so that he could fix it rather than just cook it correctly in the first place? - Only that is f'cking mental nonsense!
'... they have many qualities that I revere: they are hard working, resilient , smart and they think on their feet. They have sound and mature business minds, they are creative and they form the strongest team by far. Driven and hugely enthusiastic - and they have a concept, "a raison d être". The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making. His cooking may be naive but his taste is immaculate. He is after all one of the most talented young British professionals. Give me JJ and James for a month, full on at Le Manoir, and we will see, for a start.'
Still talking out of your backside Raymond. He's certainly testing the theory there's no such thing as bad publicity.
"The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making. He is after all one of the most talented young British professionals."
As insane a collection of words as you’re ever likely to read.
I can't believe I've watched a restaurant competition where the ones who can cook superbly, do everything right, do everything honestly and make brilliant progress (Nathan was a completely different person at the end) are left out in favour of people who just cannot be bothered cooking.
A point Sarah made each week and yet last night was seen praising them to the hilt!
I felt very sorry for Chris as you could see his desire to want it more, but did you see his face when he was told I thought he was going to floor RB.
I'm sure I'm not the first to mention this but I suspect RB is probably more interested in an investment in a London bar those two numpties run than any concept they decided to come up with.
A very disappointing outcome to what had previously been a great series. I doubt I'll be watching next year.
Just read his response. I'm still not convinced. They may in some respects have better business minds, but for someone who claims its all about the food it just makes a farce of the competion. I particularly loved this line from his blog
"The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making."
Sorry, did the BBC mis-tittle the show. was it actually 'The Cocktail Bar'? absolute joke!!
Chris was the best chef but Nathan was a complete lowlife. I guess thats why they didnt win.
RB's integrity has just gone out of the window. I am surprised about David going along with it though. I think (considering his obvious dislike of Nathan) it was the lesser of 2 evils.
"The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making."
What's the bloody use of that when you want a FOOD in a restaurant?
"I want a Beef Wellington please!"
"Here is your "sex on the beach" cocktail."
"Umm I think there has been a mistake, I ordered a Beef Wellington!"
"Oh I'm sorry, let me sort that out for you - Here is a "Randy Rabbit" cocktail instead."
"No, you don't understand, I came to a restaurant for food and ordered a Beef Wellington"
"That's no problem sir as we have totally ignored you and swept anything you wanted under the carpet - But there is no need to complain as we have had a quick think about it and here is your "Deep Screw" cocktail that you didn't want or order."
"Is Sir getting our concept now? It comes highly recommended by award winning chef Raymond (I've lost my marbles and all credibility) Blanc"
The thing is, I'm prepared to believe that the Winkers had the best concept (though it does nothing for me), but that's the basis for a one-off programme, not an 8-part series (or maybe a different series where 8 couples who want to open a restaurant go through various food-related sales & marketing tasks.)
But this was like a detective story where the hero spends 85 minutes following clues to track down the killer, and in the last 5 minutes bumps into him in the street by accident. It's not necessarily unrealistic, but it's fundamentally a poor story, and that's what we had here.
There's that old saying - "When the only tool you have is a hammer, after a while everything starts to look like a nail." That's the Winkers with their cocktails, the universal cure-all for every situation.
Best episode of this series though, stupid result notwithstanding. Definitely won't be watching again, au revoir Raymond.
It's definitely the last series of The Restaurant I'll watch, the new format wasn't great, none of the couples were particularly interesting to watch and the challenges seemed a bit lame after previous years, with the judges disinterested as well.
It would work better as The Apprentice, or Dragon's Den.
"The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making."
What's the bloody use of that when you want a FOOD in a restaurant?
You do realise JJ is going to be trained by Raymond?
By the time anything opens he will be trained to cook by one of the best in the world. It isn't as if Raymond is giving them the keys and leaving them to it.
You do realise JJ is going to be trained by Raymond?
By the time anything opens he will be trained to cook by one of the best in the world. It isn't as if Raymond is giving them the keys and leaving them to it.
Didn't RB stick one of his own chefs into the 1st series winner's pub pdq?
Continue to be baffled by FMs who don't seem to realise that reality TV isn't very real.
Look, the title of this show is "The Resturant", not "Master Chef" or "Perfect Chef" or whatever.
The entire principle behind this series was that the three of them wanted to open a restaurant that had a unique theme, run by two people who had the most potential to turn a profit. Cooking is just one part of that process. There are other parts:
- Concept
- Front of House service
- Determination
- Team Work
Yes JJ can't cook, but he will be trained by Raymond personally. And Raymond wouldn't agree to train someone whom he didn't feel could be trained. The winkers excelled on all other four items.
R&R however were only good at the cooking. Yes they had a concept, but it wasn't the strongest one. And as for front of house, determination and team work.. well that all came down to what mood Nathan was in and if he could be arsed or not.
If you take cooking out of the equation and remember Raymond will take care of that side of things with training, the winkers were clearly the best team on the other catagories.
If you're watching this show to see the best cook get a restaurant then you perhaps are watching the wrong show. They went for potential over perfection.
You do realise JJ is going to be trained by Raymond?
By the time anything opens he will be trained to cook by one of the best in the world. It isn't as if Raymond is giving them the keys and leaving them to it.
Then why doesn't he train me as I have ZERO flare for cooking as well. :rolleyes:
That's the biggest cop out I have ever heard! - This show is not and never has been about taking an absolute non-cook and giving them free training.
You do realise that from the start, one of them is defined "The Chef or Cook" and the other one is front of house? To be awarded the title Chef, you must at least understand the basic concept of cooking and have the skills.
Why are you having such problems with this - Seems it's you that can't get the basic concept! :rolleyes:
Why is it that you have it right and everyone else who has watch the show for so long is wrong and don't understand the concept?
- Concept
- Front of House service
- Determination
- Team Work
The winkers excelled on all other four items.
No they did not!
Their concept was every bit as weak as everyone else's.
At the beginning they gave some hazy, vague idea about picnics that Sarah actually openly laughed at. Remenber that?
Then they didn't so much as mention that for weeks on end, yet it didn't seem to matter. At no point did their 'concept' relate to cocktails, yet that's what they fell back on every time they messed up.
Determination? How about Chris' excellent soufflé that was hardly mentioned? That's what I call determination, not just wheeling out the same tired idea every week when you inevitably cock things up.
As for the Front of House, James came across as smarmy and smug to me, I wasn't that impressed.
Look, the title of this show is "The Resturant", not "Master Chef" or "Perfect Chef" or whatever.
The entire principle behind this series was that the three of them wanted to open a restaurant that had a unique theme, run by two people who had the most potential to turn a profit. Cooking is just one part of that process. There are other parts:
- Concept
- Front of House service
- Determination
- Team Work
Yes JJ can't cook, but he will be trained by Raymond personally. And Raymond wouldn't agree to train someone whom he didn't feel could be trained. The winkers excelled on all other four items.
R&R however were only good at the cooking. Yes they had a concept, but it wasn't the strongest one. And as for front of house, determination and team work.. well that all came down to what mood Nathan was in and if he could be arsed or not.
If you take cooking out of the equation and remember Raymond will take care of that side of things with training, the winkers were clearly the best team on the other catagories.
If you're watching this show to see the best cook get a restaurant then you perhaps are watching the wrong show. They went for potential over perfection.
Look, the title of this show is "The Resturant", not "Master Chef" or "Perfect Chef" or whatever.
The entire principle behind this series was that the three of them wanted to open a restaurant that had a unique theme, run by two people who had the most potential to turn a profit. Cooking is just one part of that process. There are other parts:
- Concept
- Front of House service
- Determination
- Team Work
Yes JJ can't cook, but he will be trained by Raymond personally. And Raymond wouldn't agree to train someone whom he didn't feel could be trained. The winkers excelled on all other four items.
R&R however were only good at the cooking. Yes they had a concept, but it wasn't the strongest one. And as for front of house, determination and team work.. well that all came down to what mood Nathan was in and if he could be arsed or not.
If you take cooking out of the equation and remember Raymond will take care of that side of things with training, the winkers were clearly the best team on the other catagories.
If you're watching this show to see the best cook get a restaurant then you perhaps are watching the wrong show. They went for potential over perfection.
Reading this forum, it's occurred to me more than once that some haven't realised Masterchef-the Professionals has finished.
You do realise that from the start, one of them is defined "The Chef or Cook" and the other one is front of house? To be awarded the title Chef, you must at least understand the basic concept of cooking and have the skills.
And you do realise one of them is defined as "The Front of House" yet how many of them actually had real front of house experience and how many of them were doing it for the very first time?
Show me where it says they were looking for the best chef.
No I spent the entire series wanting Rebecca & Steve to win. But once they went out I put myself in the judges shoes and understand why they made the decision they did. That's all. To me their decision makes perfect sense. It's not the decision I wanted but it makes sense when I think about how they judged the series.
You do realise JJ is going to be trained by Raymond?
By the time anything opens he will be trained to cook by one of the best in the world. It isn't as if Raymond is giving them the keys and leaving them to it.
Statement above is a fair comment but this show was a farce and a very funny, embarrassing farce it was. I have complained to the BBC about the quality of the show, the contestants and the poor decisions made by Raymond and his colleagues. It was cheap tosh - poorly executed and badly conceived. Raymond, the producers, the BBC and everyone concerned should be embarrassed at the whole series. To make a show which is for a large part (not all admittedly) about the skill and quality of cooking and then to suggest that is not important is ridiculous. I hated it and thought it was hilarious at the same time - but not in a good way! It was a good lesson in how not to make a reality show!
Comments
An excellent summery and the whole post covers it all.
As for the bit quoted above: How can RB see the result as a positive but completely ignore the negative that the disaster was totally made by them?
You could give them some praise if something beyond their control happened and they came back with something, but they had to come up with something to cover up their major f'ck up! Why was that ignored or seen as better than Chris who didn't come up with a fix as he never f'cked up in the first place?
There is something very fishy going on here: It's not just a matter of opinion. How can so many obvious negative things be ignored when it's JJ and James and yet they ignore the positives in everyone else.
What are they trying to say? Chris should have messed up his dish so that he could fix it rather than just cook it correctly in the first place? - Only that is f'cking mental nonsense!
There isn't an argument that works.
A total fix!
http://raymondblanc.com/blogs/the-restaurant-series-3-winners-losers.aspx
Hum Piaf's "Je ne regrette rien" while reading.
Still talking out of your backside Raymond. He's certainly testing the theory there's no such thing as bad publicity.
As insane a collection of words as you’re ever likely to read.
A point Sarah made each week and yet last night was seen praising them to the hilt!
I felt very sorry for Chris as you could see his desire to want it more, but did you see his face when he was told I thought he was going to floor RB.
I'm sure I'm not the first to mention this but I suspect RB is probably more interested in an investment in a London bar those two numpties run than any concept they decided to come up with.
A very disappointing outcome to what had previously been a great series. I doubt I'll be watching next year.
"The weakness of JJ (cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent: cocktail-making."
Sorry, did the BBC mis-tittle the show. was it actually 'The Cocktail Bar'? absolute joke!!
Chris was the best chef but Nathan was a complete lowlife. I guess thats why they didnt win.
RB's integrity has just gone out of the window. I am surprised about David going along with it though. I think (considering his obvious dislike of Nathan) it was the lesser of 2 evils.
I wont bother watching the next series.
What's the bloody use of that when you want a FOOD in a restaurant?
"I want a Beef Wellington please!"
"Here is your "sex on the beach" cocktail."
"Umm I think there has been a mistake, I ordered a Beef Wellington!"
"Oh I'm sorry, let me sort that out for you - Here is a "Randy Rabbit" cocktail instead."
"No, you don't understand, I came to a restaurant for food and ordered a Beef Wellington"
"That's no problem sir as we have totally ignored you and swept anything you wanted under the carpet - But there is no need to complain as we have had a quick think about it and here is your "Deep Screw" cocktail that you didn't want or order."
"Is Sir getting our concept now? It comes highly recommended by award winning chef Raymond (I've lost my marbles and all credibility) Blanc"
"Now, can I offer you a cocktail?..........."
The thing is, I'm prepared to believe that the Winkers had the best concept (though it does nothing for me), but that's the basis for a one-off programme, not an 8-part series (or maybe a different series where 8 couples who want to open a restaurant go through various food-related sales & marketing tasks.)
But this was like a detective story where the hero spends 85 minutes following clues to track down the killer, and in the last 5 minutes bumps into him in the street by accident. It's not necessarily unrealistic, but it's fundamentally a poor story, and that's what we had here.
There's that old saying - "When the only tool you have is a hammer, after a while everything starts to look like a nail." That's the Winkers with their cocktails, the universal cure-all for every situation.
Best episode of this series though, stupid result notwithstanding. Definitely won't be watching again, au revoir Raymond.
It would work better as The Apprentice, or Dragon's Den.
You do realise JJ is going to be trained by Raymond?
By the time anything opens he will be trained to cook by one of the best in the world. It isn't as if Raymond is giving them the keys and leaving them to it.
Didn't RB stick one of his own chefs into the 1st series winner's pub pdq?
Continue to be baffled by FMs who don't seem to realise that reality TV isn't very real.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6960687.ece
The entire principle behind this series was that the three of them wanted to open a restaurant that had a unique theme, run by two people who had the most potential to turn a profit. Cooking is just one part of that process. There are other parts:
- Concept
- Front of House service
- Determination
- Team Work
Yes JJ can't cook, but he will be trained by Raymond personally. And Raymond wouldn't agree to train someone whom he didn't feel could be trained. The winkers excelled on all other four items.
R&R however were only good at the cooking. Yes they had a concept, but it wasn't the strongest one. And as for front of house, determination and team work.. well that all came down to what mood Nathan was in and if he could be arsed or not.
If you take cooking out of the equation and remember Raymond will take care of that side of things with training, the winkers were clearly the best team on the other catagories.
If you're watching this show to see the best cook get a restaurant then you perhaps are watching the wrong show. They went for potential over perfection.
Then why doesn't he train me as I have ZERO flare for cooking as well. :rolleyes:
That's the biggest cop out I have ever heard! - This show is not and never has been about taking an absolute non-cook and giving them free training.
You do realise that from the start, one of them is defined "The Chef or Cook" and the other one is front of house? To be awarded the title Chef, you must at least understand the basic concept of cooking and have the skills.
Why are you having such problems with this - Seems it's you that can't get the basic concept! :rolleyes:
Why is it that you have it right and everyone else who has watch the show for so long is wrong and don't understand the concept?
Maybe it's YOU!
Oh brother!
How could everyone bar one have got it so wrong for so long?
No they did not!
Their concept was every bit as weak as everyone else's.
At the beginning they gave some hazy, vague idea about picnics that Sarah actually openly laughed at. Remenber that?
Then they didn't so much as mention that for weeks on end, yet it didn't seem to matter. At no point did their 'concept' relate to cocktails, yet that's what they fell back on every time they messed up.
Determination? How about Chris' excellent soufflé that was hardly mentioned? That's what I call determination, not just wheeling out the same tired idea every week when you inevitably cock things up.
As for the Front of House, James came across as smarmy and smug to me, I wasn't that impressed.
I have read the comments on here and here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F1951566?thread=7038199&skip=440&show=20
and you seem to be the only person defending RB's decision.
Are you his mother?
Reading this forum, it's occurred to me more than once that some haven't realised Masterchef-the Professionals has finished.
And you do realise one of them is defined as "The Front of House" yet how many of them actually had real front of house experience and how many of them were doing it for the very first time?
Show me where it says they were looking for the best chef.
How many chefs work in a restaurant?
No
Is that it? Is that really the best you can do?
A patronising straw man argument that no one has ever said or claimed.
Why can't you see that it's only you who refuses to see what everyone else who have been watching the show for years can see?
And if your only comeback is a straw man, put words in people's mouths that where never said then I'll let you get on with your isolation.
Statement above is a fair comment but this show was a farce and a very funny, embarrassing farce it was. I have complained to the BBC about the quality of the show, the contestants and the poor decisions made by Raymond and his colleagues. It was cheap tosh - poorly executed and badly conceived. Raymond, the producers, the BBC and everyone concerned should be embarrassed at the whole series. To make a show which is for a large part (not all admittedly) about the skill and quality of cooking and then to suggest that is not important is ridiculous. I hated it and thought it was hilarious at the same time - but not in a good way! It was a good lesson in how not to make a reality show!