Ramsay’s Best Restaurant 2010 – Semi Finals (part 1)

In the first of the two semi finals of Ramsay’s Best Restaurant, the winning Italian, Chinese, Thai and Spanish restaurants battle it out for a place in the final. Chef Gordon Ramsay sends in more secret diners to investigate how the restaurants perform on a daily basis with two restaurants being eliminated following their feedback. The remaining two restaurants will then receive a surprise task when Gordon Ramsay arrives by helicopter accompanied by chef Angela Hartnett and restaurant critic Simon Davis. These two restaurants will then be given just one day to create a pop-up restaurant from scratch. The winners of this task will receive a place in next weeks final where they’ll be required to run a full service in Ramsay’s own Petrus restaurant.

The Semi Finalists

• Casamia in Bristol, family run Michelin starred Italian restaurant with brothers Peter and Jonray Sanchez-Iglesis in the kitchen and parents running front of house. During the heats, Casamia’s front of house team struggled to give feedback to the kitchen, but the the brothers innovative cooking style won chef Gordon Ramsay over. [ Episode summary ]
• Yu & You in Blackburn, head chef and owner Charlie Yu cooks up both traditional and contemporary Chinese cuisine with his son and sous-chef. The restaurant beat London’s Michelin starred Kai in the heats to earn their place in the semi final. [ Episode summary ]
• Nahm Jim, another family run restaurant with wife Bee running the kitchen, and husband Sandy managing front of house. Despite an altercation over wine between a waiter and secret diner Simon Davies, Nahm Jim made it through to the semi-finals on the strength of their authentic Thai food. [ Episode summary ]
• Fino Tapas Bar in London, impressed from the outset with flawless performance in the ‘pressure test’ and good handling of the awkward mystery diner and won the Spanish heat. [ Episode summary ]

The Results

Spanish heat winners Fino and Italian restaurant Casamia survived the initial “sudden death” elimination which removed Yu & You and Nahm Jim from the competition.

The popup restaurant challenge was tough for both restaurants, but Casamia shone through and has won a place in the final next week.

Ramsay’s Best Menus

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Gordon Ramsay has released a book to accompany the series, featuring the UK’s favourites international cuisines (Italian, French, Spanish, Mediterranean, British, Chinese, Thai, SE Asian, Indian, Moroccan, Mexican and Middle Eastern). He has created 52 menus consisting of 156 recipes for starters, mains and desserts. By mixing and matching different courses, you can create up to 140,000 different combinations. There are also recipes for accompaniments and a few basic essentials.

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Find out more, or buy it from just £10 at Amazon »