Gary had very little, which makes sense as he went first.

Point I'm trying to make is that Ellie rightly got the credit for a fantastic dish, but part of good cooking surely has to be not taking on more than you can achieve in the time allowed? She did this to a much greater extent than any of the others.

The same thing should have seen Rich eliminated before he eventually was.

Yes, also Gary's was the least time sensitive in terms of plating as it was cold, Ellie's the most as fish / pasta needs to be served pretty much straight away and has to be bang on.

The 'plating-up' help wasn't an issue for me - they were judged on the quality of the dishes and cooking - and they all mucked in to help on plating were they could just as you would in normal kitchen.

Gary's dish you could see had far too much cheese versus beetroot before it went out.

Ellie's dish looked very good overall, but definitely took her eye off the ball with the thin sauce.

I liked Matt's dish but a bit safe? Lots of slow cooking, clever I suppose given he is out of the restaurant industry. No where to hide with it if anything wrong though! Sauce looked nice.

Poor Arnoud! Felt sorry for him and really showed how vital attention to detail is in pastry, I'm guessing the consistency in the mixture wasn't quite there.

No idea whose going to be missing out - Ellie is the only dead cert I would say.

Don't you mean Farrow & Ball?!

Ha. Poor Arnaud. Marcus had said his was the one he was most looking forward to on creativity but he messed up.

Matt did his best dish ever, according to Marcus. It did look amazing.
Ellie's was a winner.
Gary maybe didn't get any expert to taste his dish but you have to admire his balls trying to make an oatcake ring. ( I've made plenty of oatcakes so that was a feat in itself. ) Wrong ratio of goats cheese to beetroot just cause I've been eating a lot of that with beetroot chutney recently. Still he looked as pleased as punch to be serving his heroes so if he does get knocked out I think he'll still be grinning.
Can't pick a winner.

Where was Tom Kitchin?


Please don't eat them all at once (I know it's tempting)!


I get that feeling too. May be a bit of subterfuge (but I rather doubt it).

Marcus is the Head Judge (like Len).

Ellie's dish was lovely but Marcus and Monica are definitely biased towards her. Monica called her darling and Hon and Marcus told her how good she was about three times.

If anyone is looking for a reasonably priced meal in London, I had lunch yesterday at Pont de La Tour who have a £20 3-course lunch. The service was excellent, bread and good butter and included in the price and I had a great Ham Hock terrine followed by Steak and Frites. All this sitting in a restaurant looking out across the water to Tower Bridge. We had coffee outside on a great terrace and we were wrapped in fleecy cushions and throws against the cold. A great experience.

Later in the evening we walked all along Canary Wharf by the river and the array of street food was fabulous. Highly recommend.

Ta. I might try there. I've just seen the photos of the sheepskin rugs on the chairs. The head chef there was on Saturday Kitchen a few times.

Evening everybody

Evening all!

I'm nervous!

I'm here for the duration tonight.

Got the following booked in for next year:
Jan - lunch at "Marcus"
Feb - lunch at "The French" .... with that lovely Apple that Adam Reid cooked in GBM
March - lunch at Purnells

Just deciding where to go, in the following months

Evening all!

4 become 3. I feel a Spice Girls song coming on.

Go Gary

Would definitely recommend Dinner by Heston and The River Cafe.

Can we keep all four chefs and eliminate Gregg?

Ah, but which one's the Geri Halliwell?

I'm tucking into a tin of Quality Street ...got to love Christmas

We'll know in 30 minutes. I think it will be Arnooooo.

hi all..

Are we calling for drinks with anything specific this year?

Cheers - trying to justify The Fat Duck

Hello all

Evening everyone. I have wine

I feel that Ellie has perhaps gained the least as she comes from a Michelin background,although she will probably win. . Arnoud Gary and Matt have probably had the real 'journey'.

I know! Now I have to got through the dilemma and panic of who I want to go!

Hi all.