The Restaurant: Ray White's closes its doors

Airline food is always a challenge, but it's much more of a challenge to three couples given the brief to devise and prepare a three course meal and serve it up to fourteen first class passengers on a jumbo jet. It is even more of a challenge when three of those passengers are Raymond Blanc, Sarah Willingham and David Moore.

After the themed evening of different national cuisines Michele and Russell were once again awarded 'Restaurant of the Week' for the way they threw themselves into a Swedish themed event including a dish of warm reindeer salad which inspector David Moore declared was absolutely delicious. Caroline and Chris were not really surprised to hear they would be in the challenge after their disastrous flabby fajitas were given a resounding thumbs down by their Mexican guests. Joining them were Laura and Peter who had still been unable to prove that it was Peter who was running the kitchen and not his sous-chef.

Surprisingly the third couple to face the challenge were Lindsie and Tim despite the fact that their guests had all enjoyed the lively Japanese evening they hosted and despite Tim being unable to take a hands-on role in his kitchen because of illness. Desperately missing their young son they had earlier come very close to throwing it all in and putting them into the challenge was Raymond's way of testing their resolve - which meant a very lucky escape for Alasdair and James.

This week's challenge was doubly difficult because most of the pressure was on the front of house staff rather than the chefs. Each couple was assisted by one of the other couples. The chefs' jobs were done once the food was all prepared and stowed away and then the responsibility fell on the front of house teams. They had to present, reheat and serve lunch to their fourteen first class passengers, all within forty minutes - and with a smile!

Only one couple, Caroline and Chris, managed to serve the dessert but perhaps they shouldn't have bothered because the pastry (courtesy of top chef James) was rock hard, and the rosti topping to their Lancashire Hotpot managed to be both burnt and raw at the same time. Two of the teams managed to overlook poor Sarah Willingham who could only look on while others were served. Lindsie lectured the passengers about food miles and carbon footprints - perhaps not the best way to make people feel at ease when travelling on a jumbo jet.

It was not all bad news however. The airline catering management were so impressed by Tim's lamb that the dish will be appearing on their first class menus. Tim and Lindsie's True Provenance would be kept open and the decision was now between Ray White's and the Welsh Wok. It can't have been an easy decision as both couples gave cause for concern, but Raymond Blanc decided to give the Welsh Wok another chance so it was Caroline and Chris whose restaurant was closed and their dream over.

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