[Televisionary]

And then there were two. I was on the edge of my seat while watching last night's penultimate episode of BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing (the finale airs next Tuesday), though it was remarkable to see how much was cut from the US telecast from the original British version, including some scenes that further painted challengers Grant and Jess as slightly coming apart at the seams. But more on that in a bit. In this week's episode, married marketing professionals Grant and Laura and twin children's entertainers Jess and Laura entered Raymond Blanc's latest Challenge: to cook two of their restaurants' dishes in the kitchens of Raymond's fabled restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and serve it to 30 of Raymond's guests while their teammates worked the front of the house, making sure everything ran smoothly out front. While professional chefs like those on Top Chef could have had this in the bag, it was a quick reminder that the players here are

The competition is heating up on BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing , with only three couples remaining. I think that over the last dozen or so weeks, Raymond and his talented team of restaurant inspectors have managed to cull the wheat from the chaff and I am pleased with the final three teams left standing. This week definitely put the pressure on all of them to pull out all of the stops, to entertain and delight their customers, to increase their nightly bookings and turn their tables, and--most importantly--to impress Monsieur Raymond Blanc, who dropped into each restaurant unannounced at various points during the weekend service. It was immensely interesting to see how the front of house and kitchen dealt with his arrival and his presence throughout the evening; in every case, the chefs neglected the food to focus on Raymond. Hell, Jeremy stood there for 15 minutes chatting with him pleasantly about this, that, and the other, while pans nearly boiled over and tickets lined

The competition is heating up on BBC America's deliciously stressful culinary competition series Last Restaurant Standing , with two of the final four couples going into Raymond Blanc's latest challenge this week. I knew this week's episode would be a stressful one, with both Lloyd and Adwoa and Grant and Laura strong, competitive teams. If I had to give the upper hand to one of them, it probably would be Grant and Laura, only because Lloyd is still severely struggling in front-of-house. He lacks that "spontaneity" as Raymond dubbed it, so crucial in a fantastic restaurant manager and is far too reactive and not proactive enough in his role; a real shame as Adwoa's cooking is so magnificent and so special and original that put a damper on the entire enterprise. Raymond's challenge this week was to host a singles event in their respective restaurants; he provided them with 20 young professionals and it was up to the couples to find like-minded individuals w

I was more than a little baffled by some of the ideas thrown about in last night's episode of BBC America's addictive culinary competition series, Last Restaurant Standing . Raymond Blanc had tasked the four remaining couples with creating restaurant experiences that would "surprise and delight" their customers, while increasing the number of bookings (and for the first time start to turn tables), and I expected them to seriously give the matter quite a lot of thought. One of my favorite elements of the meal at Tom Colicchio's Craft (besides the legendary and delicious food) is when the waitstaff bring you a complimentary cellophane-wrapped pastry for the next morning. It also needn't be free: at Grace , you can order a morning-after box of treats to go or stop by Wednesday nights for "doughnut shoppe," when pastry chef Maria Swan pairs a changing selection of doughnuts with various ice creams and sorbets and a host of other delicious toppings. Inst

Was it just me or was that just a truly stressful episode of Last Restaurant Standing last night? While I always find the series engaging and informative, I have never been quite so stressed as I was last night whilst watching it before. Maybe it had something to do with the breadth and scope of Raymond Blanc's latest challenge or the fact that the playing field has been largely cleared of the incapable, with only five couples remaining at the start of the episode. By the time Raymond sat down with the players by the end, another restaurant had closed its doors forever, leaving only four couples left on the series. The heat is definitely on in the kitchen. Raymond tasked the three couples with translating their restaurant's brand into pre-packaged microwave dinners, which they would then have to cook, design, and package before pitching to two leaders in the package dinner world from Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer's. This was their toughest challenge to date and r

Competition is seriously heating up on BBC America's addictive culinary competition Last Restaurant Standing yet I can't believe how one couple has managed to muddle through this far. Yes, ladies and gents, I am talking about the lovable but way-out-of-their-depths Emma and Martin who have the natural ability to amuse and charm but whose restaurant Bravo! lacks brand identification, profit, or, well, customers for that matter. This week, Raymond Blanc raised the stakes yet again for the remaining couples: in addition to filling their eateries with hungry (and cash-holding) customers, they'd also have to perform two tasks: to create a cooking course for at least six pupils and to clearly define their restaurants' brands. Were the teams able to solidify just what makes each of their restaurants unique and what are their individual selling points? Let's find out. Grant and Laura. I have to say, when this series first started, I didn't have such high hopes for Gran

If you watched last night's episode of BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing , I am curious to know what you thought about the latest elimination. To me, it was a foregone conclusion that brothers Michael and Ed would be the ones to get the chop and their restaurant, the woefully struggling Treacle Well, would close its doors forever. This week, the three teams in the challenge--the brothers, Emma and Martin, and Lloyd and Adwoa--had to cater a three-course dinner for 50 guests at a dinner at Blenheim Palace. I thought that Lloyd and Adwoa were smart to fuse their trademark Ghanian cuisine with a lighter, fresher menu that reflected what their group--businesswomen from Banbury--would come to expect from a networking dinner. Their only hiccup: that terribly plated dessert of tropical fruit and cream, which looked slopped on the plate without any forethought. Personally, I would have done a parfait, layering their stewed fruit with thick cream, if they wanted something light and

I wonder: is it really news nowadays when NBC buys yet another international format? Regardless of that fact, I was at least intrigued by NBC's latest reality order for The Chopping Block , based on an Australian format to be executive produced by David Barbour and Julian Cress that sounds completely similiar to BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing (or, as it was known in the UK, The Restaurant ). In this case, the Peacock has cast, er, highly eccentric retired chef Marco Pierre White (who trained Gordon Ramsay... and then replaced Ramsay on the UK version of Hell's Kitchen ) in the Raymond Blanc taskmaster role. White was last glimpsed on these fine shores in the recent Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations episode when he traveled to England. The series will follow eight couples as they compete for their own restaurant. However, unlike Last Restaurant Standing , the couples will be split into two teams that will compete head-to-head in adjoining restaurants in Manhattan.

I came home yesterday to discover a large pile of DVDs of culinary competition series, Last Restaurant Standing , from the good folks at BBC America, who know full well my undying obsession with the Raymond Blanc-hosted series. Despite numerous other television offering (including several series I need to catch up on), I spent the evening with the future Mrs. Televisionary watching several episodes (heaven!) and sitting on the edge of my couch, glued to the television set. Over the course of the next few episodes, the remaining couples will face their toughest challenges yet and nearly reach the brink of collapse. For those of you not watching Last Restaurant Standing , you really are missing out: it's gripping, tension-laden, and provocative. It also gives you a first-hand glimpse into what it takes to run a restaurant and, I am sure, will deter a few would-be restaurateurs from entering the business after seeing what these couples go through. (For those of you who ARE watching, I

One of the things that I find most interesting on BBC America's culinary competition series Last Restaurant Standing is how much the competitors' standings can shift from week to week. One week, your eatery has earned Raymond Blanc's coveted Restaurant of the Week award; two weeks later, it seems like you could be going home and your restaurant's doors closed for good. That's just what happened to former superstars Jane and Jeremy, whose multiple course restaurant, Eight in the Country, was the clear winner during the series' first week. Since then, however, things have gone downhill for the couple. In recent weeks, they've struggled to book the restaurant and the introduction of an a la carte menu (in addition to the restaurant's namesake eight-course prix fixe) meant that their take went down considerably as no one opted for the more expensive tasting menu. In fact, they were the only couple this week to actually lose money, landing a negative balance

There is justice in the world, after all. I'm speaking of course of this week's episode of the highly addictive BBC America reality series, Last Restaurant Standing . When we last left the remaining eight couples--each on a quest to open their own eatery with celebrity restaurateur Raymond Blanc--three teams had been pushed into the challenge after yet another disastrous weekend. For Martin and Emma, Sam and Jacqui, and Nicola and Tom, one of their restaurants would be closed forever and their dreams dashed. The challenge this week: to feed a potential crowd of 800 rocket scientists at a laboratory canteen outside Oxford during the lunch crush... and to make profit doing so. In order to achieve this end, they would have to carefully price out each portion, determine food costs, and maximize their profit-taking at every turn. Or that's what they were meant to be doing, anyway. In their inimitable style, Sam and Jacqui once again managed to miss the point of the task at hand