Marco Pierre White: Kitchen Wars TV show supports the restaurant industry

The first episode of Kitchen Wars aired last week​ and joins a number of recent programmes showcasing professional chefs and restaurants including Raymond Blanc's The Restaurant. But how representative of the industry are shows in this format and does dramatising the process of running a restaurant business help or hinder restaurants?

For a short audio podcast, BigHospitality talked to the infamous chef and restaurateur as well as two successful Kitchen Wars contestants from episode one - Gavin Gregg who runs his eponymous Sevenoaks restaurant with his wife and Barrington Douglas who impressed Marco with the Caribbean cooking he showcases in his Huddersfield restaurant Discovery Bay.

The former Hell's Kitchen star said he believed that particular TV show had helped encourage employment in the industry and he hoped Kitchen Wars would do the same as well as boosting the profile of independent eateries.