Last Restaurant Standing Episode Guide, Season 1

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Episode 1
In the series premiere, Raymond Blanc meets nine couples who must each choose a key to an empty restaurant and make it into their own. From restaurants on bustling city streets to those in quiet villages - they all need a lot of work and commitment. One half of each couple will be in charge of the kitchen and the first task is to cook their favorite dish for the other contestants. From sunken souffles to forgotten garnish, the first test doesn't go according to plan. There are tears and tantrums as the couples try to work together to create their own unique concepts and open their restaurants within a week. Opening night creates more friction for the couples - Sam spends more time worrying about his drum kit than the food, Adwoa serves raw chicken and emotions are running high. After sending in the inspectors, Raymond puts three couples to the test in a special challenge to determine which restaurant is failing. The challenge involves creating an event for one of three different clients. Each client wants a different style of event - one will be a VIP charity auction with a budget of $100 a head, one a tasting menu for the mayor and one an informal 21st birthday bash, with entertainment, at $40 per person. At the end of the challenge one restaurant is shut down.

Episode 2
Raymond Blanc sets the couples a new challenge in episode two - to focus on making a real profit. He gives them some inspiration, but should Martin and Emma say 'no' to Raymond's recommendations? Despite having the best restaurant in the first week Jeremy and Jane continue to bicker over restaurant decisions and struggle to find customers. Jess and Laura strive to up their game, Nicola and Tom lack optimism about their new challenge and Sam and Jackie leave things until the last minute. Once again, after talking to the inspectors, Raymond will choose three couples to face the special elimination challenge.

Episode 3
The pressure is on for the remaining eight couples to make more money by adding profitable cocktails and desserts to their menu. They are all desperate to do their best to avoid being selected for the elimination challenge. While a few find they have a natural talent for sales, others soon realize that it is as much as they can do to just hold things together. As the stresses and demands of running a business together increase, the couples also discover how strong their relationships really are.

Episode 4
Three couples must battle for business in the tough world of large-scale canteen catering in an attempt to save their restaurants. The three teams go head-to-head at a lunch service for hundreds of scientists. But things soon careen out of control when some forget basic ingredients and others find there is not enough oven space. Whoever makes the least profit will be out of the competition, and the pressure is on to exploit every sales technique possible. But is it Mexican fajitas or traditional roast dinners that will have the scientists lining up at the till?

Episode 5
The seven remaining couples are battling to attract more customers. They try every marketing trick possible - from balloon releases to free gifts - but many misfire and the couples soon realize how difficult it is to turn their restaurants into profitable businesses. They also have to offer a special children's menu with entertainment. But the bigger numbers cause chaos. Some customers are kept waiting for hours and many of the would-be restaurateurs find children can be the most difficult customers to please. Raymond and his three inspectors closely monitor their progress before deciding who will go into the elimination challenge and run the risk of being put out of business.

Episode 6
The selected couples must host gourmet evenings featuring local produce and provide entertainment celebrating local history. But finding seasonal ingredients and cooking up lavish historical fare proves their most difficult challenge yet. Some decide to break the rules with dramatic consequences.

Episode 7
Raymond tests the couples' management skills by seeing how well they can train their staff in sales technique. To make the task particularly challenging, he gives all the restaurants eels. They have to come up with original, appetizing eel dishes and then try and sell as many as possible. But many chefs struggle to prepare and cook them and the front of the house teams soon find eel is not popular with the British public. In one restaurant things get so out of hand a wedding anniversary is ruined by poor food and service and there is a fiery clash when a contestant struggles to cope with the criticism.

Episode 8
Three couples must show they have the management skills to pull off a big event. They will have to organize a three-course sit-down hot meal on the lawns of Blenheim Palace where Raymond Blanc has invited three tables of 50 important guests, representing the great and the good of Oxfordshire. But the couples are in for a surprise - their staff will be local teenagers who have little experience in this area. Will they manage to get them trained in time?

Episode 9
The couples have to come up with distinctive brands for their restaurants that will make them really stand out. But some of the would-be restaurateurs struggle to create a winning concept. To make matters worse, the battle is then on to promote the new brand as effectively as possible. One couple wastes all their budget printing leaflets full of errors while others hope that a live radio appearance will help pull in more customers. The couples are starting to realize just how tough it is to get enough paying customers. Some have to take desperate measures changing their menu and concept a few hours before opening in a rash attempt to generate more business. Raymond and his three inspectors closely monitor their progress before deciding who will go into the first elimination challenge and run the risk of being put out of business.

Episode 10
Three couples must come up with exciting new microwave meals and pitch them to two leading high street stores. They must create a successful, innovative dish with mass appeal, produce the packaging and give a winning presentation. But some soon realize that what works in their restaurants will not be effective on supermarket shelves. They have to find clever ways to make the food look more appealing and come up with a marketing strategy and advertising campaign that will impress their potential clients.

Episode 11
Raymond Blanc asks the couples to focus on the most important person in the restaurant business, the customer. They must come up with ideas that will 'surprise and delight' every customer who walks through the door. But they quickly realize that what pleases one customer alienates another. One couple surprises some customers with a high-spirited dance routine - but manage to upset others. And a singing performance at another restaurant causes embarrassment as well as delight. There are more fundamental problems too. One couple battles to fill their restaurant while control their staff at the same time. And another couple discovers that their carefully prepared meals are ending up in the bin rather than satisfying customers. As always, Raymond Blanc and his three inspectors closely monitor the couples' progress before deciding who will go into tomorrow's elimination challenge - and run the risk of losing their restaurant.

Episode 12
Raymond has asked the couples to focus on the customer. His challenge is simple: it's date night. Fill your restaurant with singles, give them the night of their lives and help them to find romance. But the couples don't find it so easy to spread 'the love'. Finding customers who want to go on a date proves difficult - there's a mad dash along the Thames to find suitable singles and a very high drop-out rate. Confusion in the kitchen over a romantic seafood platter for two leaves several guests without any food at all, and being the 'host with the most' leaves one contributor unable to run his restaurant efficiently.

Episode 13
Raymond springs a surprise visit on all three couples, turning up at their restaurants to see for himself how they are faring. But the contestants are in for some big shocks as he examines every aspect of the running of their establishments. He sets about tasting the food and checks that their service is up to standard. On his tour, however, he uncovers moldy ingredients, undercooked dishes being plated up, and customers heading for the door after unacceptably long delays. All three couples are quizzed about their standards before Raymond decides which two he will ask to perform his final challenge. The remaining lucky couple will discover that, whatever happens, they are now guaranteed a place in the final.

Episode 14
Just three couples remain in the competition to win a restaurant business backed by Raymond Blanc. And one lucky couple already has a guaranteed place in the final. The other two couples must battle it out for the last coveted place. Instead of returning to their own restaurants, the two couples head to Raymond's restaurant. They must work in the kitchens and Front of House at Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons. From running their small establishments, they must now step up to the standards of one of the best restaurants in the world. Working directly for Raymond tests them to the limit. There are tears and tantrums as the couples try to raise their game. They have just one day to produce food that is good enough to serve in a two-Michelin star restaurant. At 7pm Raymond will taste their food and judge whether it is good enough for his guests. If it isn't, guests will go hungry. Front of House is a struggle too. Tables have been laid again and again to reach Raymond's standards, customers are far more demanding, and how exactly do you carve a squab? After watching their performance in his restaurant, and questioning them closely about their experience, Raymond will decide who should go into the final, and who should lose their restaurant.

Episode 15
It is the grand finale. Raymond must now decide which couple will become his partners and open their very own restaurant with his financial support and expertise. To help him make this very important decision he takes the finalists to his home town of Besan???on, France - the place where he grew up and started his own career. But the two couples are shocked to learn that they have less than 48 hours to open their own restaurant here for one night and introduce the French to British cuisine. This proves to be the most stressful of all the tasks the couples have been given during the series. They must come up with a menu that will appeal to the French and train a new team in a foreign language. There are tears and tantrums as the restaurant service degenerates into chaos with some customers never receiving their food and front-of-house managers struggling to make themselves understood. Raymond brings family members, including his mother Anne Marie and his actor son Oliver, to both restaurants and listens to their views before announcing his decision...