Raymond Blanc recruiting for The Restaurant

Raymond Blanc is looking for budding restaurateurs and chefs with a ‘partnership that will flourish under pressure’ to apply for a place on the next series of The Restaurant.

The BBC2 show will return for a third series later this year, and is looking for competitors who may or may not have experience working in the hospitality industry to step forward.

Last year’s winners Michele English and Russell Clement are on the cusp of opening their own restaurant with the support of Blanc, and describe their situation as ‘a dream come true.’ They survived week after week of nerve-wracking trials as nine fellow couples fell to the wayside. But despite the intensity of the show, executive producer Chloe Solomon said the reward of working alongside Blanc both during and after the show is huge.

“Raymond is an exceptional teacher,” she said. “Having nurtured more Michelin-starred chefs and front of house managers than any other chef it is an incredible privilege for our couples to work alongside him. He is driven by an incredible work ethic and is inspirational in part because he is completely self-taught and knows that a dream is not enough; success depends on sound business sense and hard work as much as creativity.”

Blanc says this series of The Restaurant will not be an easy one to win, and will require much stronger contestants than ever before. “This year will be survival of the fittest,” he said. “I am not looking for dreamers, I want to see couples with fresh ideas and a partnership that will flourish under pressure.”
For details of how to apply to compete on the next series of The Restaurant, visit www.bbc.co.uk/restaurant​ before 31 March 2009.