All Star Lanes Chefs: Put Your Menu Where Your Mouth Is

-Britain's top chefs...

-Yee-hah!

..are going up against each other...

This is going to be a good battle.

..to see who can make the most money

from creating fabulous food for the great British public.

-It's all about making money.

-Our award-winning chefs will be

-putting their reputations on the line...

-Help me!

..as they are each challenged to produce a delicious

three-course meal...

-Yes!

-..for a room full of ravenous diners.

-We can't have customers waiting!

-We want beef!

-Perfect.

-Wow!

They'll be working in kitchens they've never set foot in before...

-This is impossible.

-With a limited budget...

-Deal.

You've got to go a bit lower than that.

..And up against the deadline of that day's service.

That took for ever to cook.

But the big question is, who will make the most money...

-Rock on!

-..and win?

We came, we saw, we conquered.

Well, today's challenge is going to be a real transatlantic test,

as our two chefs will be battling it out

over a hot stove at an All-American Diner.

Coming up...

our duelling duo take the challenge out of the kitchen

and into the bowling alley.

Yes, that's all right.

Provisions start to get on the low side...

Stop doing what the chef tells you, count crab cakes, please!

And whose mouth-watering delights will the customers prefer?

Chefs, put your menu where your mouth is!

The world of cooking has always had its simmering feuds

and bitter rivalries.

Now, in a public arena for the first time, two of the country's

most respected chefs are about to explode onto the gastronomic stage.

They both have much to prove and have promised to deliver nothing but

punishment to their rival. This is no kitchen battle,

this is chef WAR!

Bl-bl-bl-bl!

And first to stand up

and be judged is a man of truly international background.

Born in America, raised in Britain and trained in fine French cuisine.

He's head cheffed at some of London's finest restaurants

and received critical acclaim throughout a glowing career.

Let me hear you shout it loud - it's Jun Tanaka!

Yeah, I like to be the best. Yeah, I believe all chefs are competitive.

You know, it's in our nature.

I mean, we don't come in to work for 15 hours a day and strive to create

this perfect dish without having a natural competitive streak inside us.

His rival today is a real kitchen heavyweight. She's cooked her

way through some of the toughest

restaurants in London, the Groucho, the River Cafe, the Belvedere.

She's cooked for presidents, she's cooked for royalty,

she's even been awarded her own MBE.

It's the West London mauler - Allegra McEvedy.

I've been a restaurant chef for over 20 years in big kitchens,

little kitchens, London, San Francisco, New York.

To be honest, I've seen it all, nothing's going to phase me.

Nothing, eh?

Well, unbeknown to both chefs, the front line for tonight's cook-off

is a popular restaurant in London's Brick Lane -

it's the All Star Lanes American diner and tenpin bowling alley.

The menu here might be imported from the US,

but this is no fast-food joint.

Tonight's 60 paying customers will be expecting top-notch nosh,

but at attractive prices.

So our chefs will

have to be sparing with their £400 budgets,

as the chef that makes the most profit will be the winner.

The profits are going to their chosen charities.

Jun Tanaka and Allegra McEvedy,

it's time to put your menu where your mouth is.

American diner!

You know what? Because we're on Brick Lane, I thought

it was going to be an Indian food challenge.

So have you lined your jacket with spices?

I happen to have some maple syrup in here(!)

Great, I feel OK about that.

That's all right, I love that, I love noshing that kind of food.

The first thing that comes into my head is hot dogs,

but I don't think that will cut it.

My first thought was burgers

but I'm not going to tell YOU all my good ideas.

That's all right, you can keep them.

Yes, forget the smiles, there's no love lost between these two battlers

because in just a few hours' time, one of them - and only

one of them - will be pronounced the best chef on the block.

So a good early strategy will pay dividends later down the line.

I've lived and worked in New York and San Francisco for a few years

but then to really bring home my American credentials,

I married a Virginian and I've spent a lot of time in the Deep South.

My strategy is, I want to sell the most dishes and the way you

do that is to give the customers what they're looking for.

So, Jun's big idea is to go commercial

and give them what they want.

For Allegra, All-American authenticity is the key.

And how will that translate into a menu?

Time for round one - the first course.

My starter's going to be a popcorn shrimp with tomato and chilli jam.

I think it will be a perfect starter for an American diner.

Jun's salt and pepper prawns will be deep-fried in a cornflour batter

and served with a sweet and spicy tomato

and chilli jam. It certainly looks the part.

What will Allegra be serving up to counter that?

So, to start with I'm going to do Louisiana crab cakes

because crab always sells, crab cakes sell even more.

Allegra's Deep South crab cakes

will be served with grilled sweetcorn

and a fresh-tasting mango salsa.

A traditional American dish that would even get Forrest Gump to

sit up and beg for more.

And that will be the customers' first choice -

prawns or crab cakes.

Which one would YOU choose?

Well, planning the menu and cooking it are two different things.

Remember, neither chef has even visited tonight's venue,

let alone its kitchen.

They will each be allocated two assistants from the regular

kitchen staff.

But while Allegra is keen to meet her team

and get cooking... Jun is nowhere to be seen!

I know that Allegra has already started cooking, which is fine,

you know, I don't mind that

because I'm writing a mise en place list which is a to-do list.

My approach to working in the kitchen is calm, organised and this way,

I cook so much better and I think that will give me the edge over Allegra.

So, preparation, preparation, preparation is Jun's key to success.

Whereas for Allegra, it's perspiration all the way.

-Big, sweaty bloke is what I feel like!

-If that's not too personal.

And first up, it's on with the crab cakes.

Now, the thing about starter crab cakes is they'll be little.

They won't be like the big salmon fish cakes

we're used to seeing in gastro-pubs up and down the land,

so it's a little bit of potato... it's quite a lot of pepper...

and it's quite a lot of green pepper, too,

and it's quite a lot of spring onion, and as well as that,

I'm going to put in some lemon zest...

..a little bit of mayo,

brown meat going in, and then these aren't very far from being done.

Now, Jun may give off an air of total calm and professionalism,

but on the quiet, he's up to mischief in the form of mind games,

undermining Allegra's confidence.

Crab cakes? Nice, a bit more work, a bit more work involved.

So now Allegra is wondering if she's taken on too much.

I've never been one to be able to

make my life simple, that's never been something that works for me.

Simple works the best.

And Jun follows up

with the "I've got a better recipe than what you've got" routine.

I've got a great recipe for crab cakes. I have.

I might come knocking on your door for that in a bit.

But has he put Allegra off her own crab cakes?

Yes?

No?

Maybe?

-Yummy!

-No, he hasn't. Good for her!

Over on the other side of the kitchen, Jun is preparing the tomato

and chilli jam to go with his prawns.

In there I've got some olive oil,

I've got some red onion, which is finely chopped.

That goes straight in.

I've got sliced chillies, sliced garlic, that goes straight in.

OK, tomatoes goes in. Just cook that out, 20 minutes

and then I'll put it inside a blender. A little bit of

red wine vinegar, a touch of sugar and that's it, very simple.

Now, Jun might be giving off an air of "cool, calm and collected,"

but Allegra has a plan

to stop all that - by winding him up with a little side competition.

-Do you fancy some bowls?

-Bowls? Yeah.

-A quick game of bowling?

Yeah, definitely.

Yes, we are, after all, at a restaurant with its own

bowling alley, so it would be a shame to waste it.

Oh, my God, you're approaching like a pro.

-Oh,

-BLEEP.

Oh, it looks like Jun

might be a bit of a dab hand at the old tenpin.

Seriously, just aim straight down the middle.

I do understand the concept, it's the gutters that I just find

so attractive.

Maybe it's not such a good challenge after all, then.

Ooh, Madam! Yes, you're not going to distract this whizz kid.

Right, here we go for a strike.

Here he goes, he's moving on in, it's Jun Tanaka going for a strike

and he's got, has he got...? Oh, and he got one.

Now I say she's not going to distract Jun,

but of course that is exactly what she HAS done,

because whilst he's showing off on the alley, over at the main event,

Allegra's two assistants

have been beavering away over her starter.

Buying in a bit of precious time. Good plan, Allegra!

-And very nice game, yeah, very good.

-So, no stone left unturned

in the desperate bid to sell as many dishes as possible, but of course

this competition is not just about the food. The winner is the chef

who makes the most profit.

So, earlier on in the day, when both our chefs

went shopping for their ingredients, it was essential they got good deals.

The first port of call was a cavernous cash-and-carry store.

Help!

-Cornering, cornering!

-And when I say massive, I mean MASSIVE.

-Cat food, baby food.

-This place is absolutely huge!

With time against them, being lost amongst the consumer durables

is not what either chef wants.

Boop, boop, boop. Boop.

Oh, yes, I found Useful World, not sure I've found useful trolley.

So Allegra found a few bits and pieces, but it's

the crab for her crab cakes that she really needed a deal price on.

-How much are these normally?

-3.99.

-I need about four.

Can I get four for a tenner, please? Thank you very much, please?

-Um, let me have a look.

-Best price, best price, best way.

Let me have a look at the date, yeah? OK, yeah, we can.

-What, four for a tenner?

-Yeah.

-I like your work. Cheers, thank you.

-You're welcome.

I am happy with that!

It's a great discount. Jun, top that.

So, how much is this for a bag?

-This is a kilo, right?

-That's right, 8.99 for that.

-8.99 a kilo?

-Yep.

Four bags, 20 quid would be absolutely perfect.

-Right, OK, that's fine.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-Thank you, thank you, brilliant.

So that was quick, cheap and cheerful -

but who spent less

and how will those prices impact on tonight's menu?

Well, Jun's total spend on all his first course ingredients came

to an incredible £31.85,

and he's decided to

put his dish on the menu

tonight for a reasonable £6.50.

Allegra, on the other hand,

splashed out an enormous £102.12

on her crab cake dish and as she is

putting it on the menu

for just £6.00.

She is really going to have

to outsell Jun by some margin to

be in with a chance

of taking the round.

Back at the restaurant, the guests are starting to arrive.

The chefs were expecting 60, but word must have got round about tonight because well over 70

have turned up. The chefs have agreed to let the extras in,

but it's really going to stretch both their ingredients and their time.

Brave or foolhardy, we are about to find out, as regular head chef

Steve, who will overseeing the match,

has turned up and set his stall out.

-We've got 30 minutes to service, restaurant's filling up.

-Good, good.

Nice competition tonight, we want to serve some good food up.

-Have you got anything helpful to say?

-Good luck.

Thank you very much indeed, Steve.

In the restaurant, the expectations are high.

I'm hoping for the best

sort of American that you can get, but with an English twist to it.

Everybody looks like they're quite excited about the food

and overhearing people's conversations, everybody's

talking about the food and stuff and so it's quite exciting in here.

But what are the first impressions of the menu?

Tonight, I've ordered the prawns for my starter.

I like prawns and I love popcorn and they were both on the menu together.

I ordered the crab cakes

because the salsa which it's coming with sounds amazing.

Well, the first tasting of the event always goes to the chefs.

Let's see what they think of their rival's dish.

The thing about crab cakes, I mean, it could be too kind of

overpowering with the crab but, actually, it's really nice.

Yes, it's cos it's frozen. It's got a very mild taste.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, can we talk about this? This looks much more exciting.

I always wonder what defines them as being popcorn.

It's just a wording to make it more appealing.

-Is it like saying "Louisiana"?

-Yes. THEY LAUGH

-Hm, nice.

-Yeah, it's just deep-fried prawns with a bit of chilli sauce.

-I think yours is way more sophisticated than mine.

-Really?

Oh, don't do yourself down, dear.

Surely you must have something else to say about Jun's prawns?

It's crowd-pleasing stuff that Jun's playing, all the way down the line

and he's playing to win.

-Playing to win. Not sure what I'm playing to do, though.

-Jun?

Playing to win? Surely not(!)

I tried her crab cakes and they are, for me, tastier, but it doesn't mean

she's going to win. Popcorn prawns sounds really inviting.

What?! Even though it hasn't got any popcorn in it?

Well, no further time for debate as the bell is about

to go for round one service, and they are indeed...off!

OK, guys, first order in. One crab cake, one popcorn prawn.

Now, from the very start, it's a remarkably close race.

You've now got six-and-six, guys, it's actually seven-and-seven.

-Oh, my God, going hand-in-hand.

-Neck-and-neck.

Yes, seven-and-seven, hand-in-hand AND neck-and-neck! Well, that is close!

Surely someone's going to make a break for it.

You're got 14 portions on order.

Yes, here we go. It looks like the crabs are off.

One more prawns and three crab cake.

-Whoa!

-Yes, Allegra's crab cakes have made a scuttle for it,

but have they gone too soon?

I'm trying to cook this many portions in Mickey-Mouse pans.

Because Allegra is struggling to keep up with the demand.

Milan get me another tray of crab cakes, please...

Milan, salsa.

Three, three, two.

Three? All right, let's just deal with that.

Three-three, two-two.

-What is this,

-BLEEP

-football?

Three-three, two-two, is he doing anything?

-Will Jun be able to take this battering?

-On order, three prawns.

Woo-hoo! Oh, I shouldn't be cheering, should I?

Come on, Steve, I need to hear more prawns.

Nope, looks like the big guy has run out of steam.

Allegra, on the other hand, has plenty of steam.

But she could be starting to run out of crab cakes.

-We might be running out...

-How many have you got?

Have we got 13 portions?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,

-10, 11, 12, 13, 14 portions. Mate, we've got one

-BLEEP

-fish cake left!

I think she's seriously stressed.

Those extra diners could be taking their toll.

This is going to be a close-run thing.

If she runs out of crab cakes, the orders automatically go over

to her rival and she won't want that.

We are cooking for our lives here,

like our Louisiana lives depended on it.

At the moment, though,

Jun is reeling from a veritable stampede of crabs!

I've got eight more portions of prawns for you.

One last rally from the prawns, but is it too little, too late?

I need one more crab cake... and that's it, finito.

One more crab cake... And one more is all she's got!

Can we have a siesta before main course, please?

Young man's game, this, young man's game and whoop, there he is,

there's my young man.

So, as it turned out. an almost perfect performance from Allegra.

selling virtually everything she bought.

So she's happy, Jun is sad,

but what do the diners in the restaurant have to say about it all?

I had the salt and pepper prawns. It was absolutely lovely.

The sauce lacked a little bit of depth.

I had the crabs cakes. It was better than I thought it was going to be,

to be honest. Yeah, it was definitely better.

I had the prawns to start with. I was a little bit disappointed

in the actual prawns themselves, they were a little bit bland.

I wish I'd gone for the crab cakes.

So it's a tough crowd our chefs are performing for this evening,

but the question on everyone's lips is, who sold the most dishes

and took round one?

-One, two, three. Pretty good!

-Not bad, not bad.

All right, that's OK.

-Nine more, it felt like a lot more than that.

-Yeah.

Yes, as expected, a comfortable sales victory for Allegra,

nine dishes ahead, but, remember, she spent an awful lot more than

Jun on her ingredients, so it's not as black-and-white

as you might think. Let's take a look at the figures in detail.

Well Jun's 33 dishes sold brought in a total of £214.50. When you deduct

the money he spent on ingredients that leaves a profit of £182.65.

Allegra's 42 covers brought in a total of £252.00.

Take away the money she spent

at the shops and that leaves £149.88.

That's over £30 less profit than Jun.

So she may have won on numbers sold, but she is behind on profit

and profit is what the game is all about.

However, it's early days. Still plenty of time to make up ground

as we head into round two, the main course.

Feel a little bit flustered now.

Both chefs will be acutely aware that this is the round that has

the greatest profit margins and both will be desperate to win it.

So what are they going to be serving up for mains?

For the main course, I'm going for the good old burger.

Now, who doesn't love a great, juicy, dirty burger?

Jun is serving his topside beef "dirty burger"

with a horseradish and

mustard mayo, pickled onions, melted Red Leicester and a side

of rosemary-salted thick-cut chips.

You don't get much more American than that!

Or do you?

For my main course, I'm going to do a real classic Southern dish

called pulled pork.

Allegra's authentic maple pulled pork with barbecue beans,

chilli cornbread and an apple and pecan slaw is authentic,

tasty and different - a real dilemma for the diners.

Back in the kitchen,

-and while Allegra struggles with her wrappers...

-Argh!

..Jun gets down to making the perfect burger.

You see that? Now, that's topside.

Now, the secret for a great burger mincemeat is to get

plenty of fat in there, because otherwise it's really dry.

So I've got some beautiful topside which is too good a quality to

put inside a burger but I've got some of the fat running through it

and that's going to give it the moisture

and that is the secret for a great mince inside a burger.

Sounds tasty, and while Jun and his team portion up his topside,

Allegra is giving one of her bellies a good old slap.

Pork belly makes a good noise, I'm happy with it, it looks fine to me.

Nice amount of fat. Not too much, though.

On the bone, which is what I wanted.

The main important thing I need to do is to get it chopped up.

OK, Milan? Pieces like that, really quickly, bang, bang, bang,

and lay it out in here. One, two, three, four, five, six.

And it's not long before Allegra gets her pork in the oven,

aided by her new assistant.

Thank you very much, and in about five hours we'll have a beautiful,

smoky, homogenous thing that we can pull apart and make yummy.

Right now, I just need to get it in the oven.

Although an unsuspecting Jun is soon to realise why Allegra was

so quick to stake her claim on the oven.

-Is this the only combi oven we've got?

-Yes, we can steam in it.

OK, slight problem.

Yes, that's right, there is just one fully functioning

oven in the kitchen. Allegra needs it for her pork

and Jun needs it for his triple-cooked chips.

-Time for a bit of negotiation.

-How long do you reckon?

-Tomorrow.

HE LAUGHS

You think I'm joking.

What do you want me to do, what temperature do you want it on?

-I'm flexible.

-I need a steam and I need a hundred degrees as well.

-OK, you have the oven.

-You sure?

-Yeah, yeah.

-OK.

So, Allegra very kindly capitulates,

until she realises that all the other ovens are stuck on full-blast.

Not ideal for slow-cooking pork belly.

How long do you reckon for that oven?

I don't think I can go in to these ones, that's my problem.

I mean, I will, but I just didn't want to

until you're absolutely ready, ready, ready.

OK. And then, even when you are ready, ready, ready, I'm doing it reluctantly.

But I think you're a nice chap, so I'll try.

Ah! Isn't she nice? Nice. She is...nice!

Is there any way, Steve,

-that your oven could be anything less than

-BLEEP BLEEP

-hot?!

Well, perhaps she's not that nice.

-Something that doesn't make my

-BLEEP

-flare up every time I bend over,

would be fantastic.

She's turned the air blue!

And while she continues to get more and more flustered at the thought

of her pulled pork being burnt to a crisp, a confident Jun is more

than ready to step into her shoes and keep the customers well fed.

I've made 49 burgers.

Originally I bought for 40, but I'm pretty sure that

I will be able to do it and if I sell 49 burgers, forget pudding,

forget starters, it's all over.

Yes, you might think it's all over, matey, but sadly for you,

the red-hot oven issue has resolved itself and Allegra is a happy bunny.

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop!

Oh, yes, we WILL have pulled pork, we WILL go to the ball, huzzah!

Huzzah, indeed. Yes, it's going to be pulled pork all round.

Just one question, though. What is pulled pork?

So, this is officially how you pull pork.

So this is the good stuff, which is the meat. This is the stuff

you don't want, which is the layers of fat and stuff in-between.

You want to get rid of that and then you get the actual meat

and you shred it like that and it's yummy.

There you go - why not try that at home of a Sunday?

Get hold of a bit of pork, give it a good old pull.

If you feel you want to pull some pork, mate,

I hear it's a better activity for two.

Now, whilst the chefs are beavering away in the kitchen,

it's a good time to remind ourselves that this competition

is all about profit - and the main course is where the big money lies.

So it was key earlier in the day that both chefs got a good

deal on their meat.

Allegra was unable to find her pork in person

so she had to resort to phoning one of her butcher contacts.

When you say 380, is that like your Regular Joe price or is

that like your special "I love Allegra" price?

OK, so I need you to come down just a little bit more for me on that,

just a touch, Michael, so I can really feel that piggy love.

Please!

Oh, my God, he was about to do it when we got cut off!

-Michael, Michael.

-Oh!

Cut off mid-piggy haggle,

it must have been "crackling" on the line, yeah?

-Let's hope Jun does a bit better.

-Have you got any beef chuck?

We don't have beef chuck at the moment

but I have some topside if you're interested in that.

-Can I have a look at the topside?

-Yeah, I'll show you.

So you were going to give me your super-duper special rainy

Monday price?

Do you know, from 380, 360 is decent

but you know, what would make this woman absolutely over the moon,

jump all over the place and say "Hoorah, huzzah" is 350.

Go on, she's got it, sold! Michael, you're an absolute darling,

thank you so muchy, lots of love, bye!

Love that Michael, huzzah!

What is the price of this?

The price this one we are selling for 4.49 per kg.

-I mean, chuck would be a lot cheaper...

-That's right, yeah.

..than a topside.

-Yes.

-So I'm thinking maybe around 350 a kilo?

Yeah, I can do it for £4 for you.

350 a kilo, I mean, I think that works,

just because you haven't got the chuck available.

-All right, OK.

-Thank you so much.

-That's all right.

-Brilliant!

There you go. Both chefs managed to drive their suppliers

into the ground.

Hats off, chaps. So how will those real knock-down prices affect

tonight's menus? Let's check the stats.

Well, in total, Jun spent just £76.92

on the beef and other ingredients for his burger and chips

and he's putting it on the menu for a reasonable £9.50.

Allegra once again outspent her rival,

forking out a weighty £116.14 on her pulled pork,

but she is putting it on the menu

at a fair bit more, at £12.

Back at the restaurant, will that price difference sway the diners?

I ordered the pulled pork because I really like pulled pork

and I don't find it too often on menus here

and being an American, I quite like it.

I've ordered the burger for my main course and this one's got

horseradish and mustard mayo, bacon, pickled onions, I can't think

of anything better to have on a plate than all those things.

Well, on first inspection,

it seems the diners like a bit of both,

but what about in the kitchen - what do the chefs think of each other's dishes?

-Time for a tasting.

-Mm, that's a beautiful-looking burger.

My choice was to go with a burger because everyone loves a burger.

You're quite right but I went and did THAT, which is

one of my favourite diner dishes, very Southern, pulled pork.

-I love pulled pork.

-Yeah, I love pulled pork, too.

That is true Southern food. I'd be happy with that plate.

Woo, all right, bring it on.

So a bit of menu envy on both sides there, but what do they really think?

I tried Allegra's pulled pork and it is delicious

but I know everyone loves burgers because it's one of those things

that you cannot resist when it's on a menu.

If I've got Jun Tanaka next to me in the kitchen,

do I really want to eat burger and chips? Not really,

I'd rather see something a little bit more special

because he's a very, very talented chef and burger and chips?

I don't know, it's all right it's just it's not, it's not his finest work.

Well, we'll soon find out if the customers share Allegra's sentiments...

Are you ready for main courses coming in now?

I've just got to get my lippy on.

..as service for round two is about to kick off.

Three pulled pork and six burgers.

And from the very start, Allegra's worst fears are realised.

-Three burgers, well-done.

-Yes!

It's a burger night!

Yes, it seems when visiting an All-American diner,

Joe Public are inexorably drawn to the All-American burger and chips.

-The burger, please.

-I'd like the burger, please.

-And for me, as well.

-And for Allegra, it just keeps getting worse.

-Four burgers, pink.

Yup!

I think I came to the burger shack with the wrong dress on.

In fact, rather than pack up and go home, poor Allegra has

decided to throw in the towel and give her rival a hand.

-Let me help you with your buns, mate.

-OK, here you go.

How very decent of her.

-Do you want me to just toast as many of them as I can, Jun?

-Er, yes please.

-Buns away, young Jedi master.

-So, where did it all go wrong?

Obviously, I've had a bit of time to think about it now

and, you know, really you can never ever win against a burger.

There's just something, they're undefeatable, burger always wins.

-Burger always wins.

-Ah! But are things really that bad?

Surely there's a few customers who like a bit of pork?

-Pulled pork for me, please.

-I'll go for the pulled pork, thank you.

Five pulled pork, straight up, please.

Woo! Five pork. OK, boys, we're back in business, let's do it.

Yes, it's not all over yet, there's a veritable a flurry of pulled pork!

-I'll have the pork.

-And the pork.

Which seems to have left Allegra a little confused.

Somebody tell me what's going on round here! Steve?

-Two more pulled pork I'm waiting on.

-No.

-I got all the burgers.

-You told me to do seven.

-Yeah, then I told you another six after that.

-That's confusing me, but OK.

-Lucky she wasn't doing burgers!

If we can just either sell my dish or not sell my dish I'd be really happy.

That's customers, eh?

But the pulled pork flurry, whilst being a godsend to Allegra,

is still really just a side show to the burger and chips

which are still flying high.

On order, two more burgers. Pink.

-How many well-done burgers?

-25 pink and eight well-done.

You've got the chips there, correct?

Although, whilst he has a plentiful supply of burgers, the chips

are starting to splutter...and it's caught the eye of maitre d', Steve.

Guys, with the fries, can you make sure you're filling them up?

Getting a bit shy on the portions.

Yes, wouldn't it be a shame if Jun ran out of his triple-cooked chips?

I mean, let's face it, potatoes are cheap

so it's the last thing he should be running short of, isn't it?

We're running low on chips, I think.

Maybe go for some once-cooked chips. Have you got any more potatoes?

No, we used ten kilo. We used them all up.

How many portions of fries do you think we are going to be short?

-We're going to be short by at least 12 portions.

-12 portions?

-Yep.

Oh, Jun! Now you are up the creek

and it's no good looking to your rival for sympathy.

I'm 12 portions of chips short. Can I offer the ones that I'm

short on the chips a reduced price of £5 or the option to go with the pork?

I don't feel frightfully happy about this.

No? What's the best option for you, then?

Are the chips not part of your mise en place?

It is, but it's a part of my mise en place...

-That dish is not your dish any more.

-Yes, Allegra is quite right.

It's in the rules of the competition.

If you run out of a main ingredient, the order has to go to your opponent.

And with 12 portions short, I don't think Allegra is going to let that one go.

I could clean up here, you see, that's the thing.

I could literally say "good night, Vienna" at this point.

And I don't know, I sort of feel that at this stage,

you and your triple-cooked chips can absolutely stick it!

Before it turns nasty,

time for referee Steve to step in and break it up.

OK, guys, because Jun's run into trouble with fulfilling his orders,

the dishes are going to be offered over to Allegra's pork, so it means

any orders that were taken with Jun's burgers are now null and void.

Ooh! What he wouldn't give for a bag of spuds right now!

That's a huge number of orders to give his rival,

and what was a burger whitewash is now no longer a walk in the park.

And isn't Jun peeved!

It's all my fault. I mean, I just didn't order enough chips,

how silly of me is that?

Allegra's lapping it up, though.

I do feel sorry for him but I don't feel that sorry for him

because I nicked it!

And with that, service comes to an end.

It's been high drama in the kitchen,

but how have things been in the restaurant?

I ordered the burger. I found the burger a bit well-done to my liking.

I did ask for it to be well-done.

Well, how very dare chef give you a well-done burger

when you merely ordered your burger well-done(!)

Grr! And what about those that ordered burger and got pork?

The pork came and it was absolutely amazing. Loved it.

I'm quite glad in the end I had to change around and have the pork

because it was so succulent and juicy

and the side of apples was amazing, I loved it.

I ordered the burger, I thought it tasted lovely,

just what I'd normally order.

So all seem to be reasonably happy even after the "chipgate"

incident, but just how big a burger balls up was it for Jun?

Time to find out the round two scores.

Ready?

Three more. It's close.

Interessant! Onwards and upwards.

-All in the pudding.

-The final frontier?

-Yeah.

-Let's do it, Jun.

Yes, so close to a victory

and then he let it slip away.

Let's take a look at the figures in detail.

Jun, you might want to look away, because in the end, the burger and

chips only raised a total of £351.50,

and when you deduct the money

spent on ingredients, that leaves a main course profit of £274.58.

Allegra charged more for her pulled pork

and it in turn pulled in a total of £398.

Once you take off her expenses, it leaves her a profit of £281.86.

Just over £7 more than Jun.

That means it will all come down to round three, the puddings!

My pudding is going to be a sticky caramel brioche pudding with

pecan ice cream.

Jun's take on a classic bread

and butter pudding will be soaked in a creme anglaise

and served with praline ice cream, enough to make your mouth water.

Is it possible for Allegra to top that?

So I'm going to fess up here, I'm not very in to puddings.

But when they said the theme was "American diner" I was really

pleased because straight away I knew I was going to do a whoopie pie.

Allegra's chocolate whoopie pie will be served with

a salt and caramel peanut brittle and a shot of peanut butter milkshake on the side.

How very, very, scrumdiddlyumptious!

In the kitchen, Jun starts by preparing the brioche bread for his pudding.

I've got the toffee sauce at the bottom of this dish

and then, I've got the buttered brioche,

and I'm just going to layer it in one single layer.

I'm just ladling the custard over the brioche, just making sure that

brioche soaks up all that custard

because that's where the flavour's going to come from.

So Jun's putting a lot of love into his pudding, and on the other

side of the kitchen, Allegra is making whoopie.

Look, I've chosen for my pudding,

my Southern pudding, whoopie pies which are essentially like this.

They're little kind of soft-centred cookies.

What did you put in it again, what's the mix?

I got cocoa powder, plain flour, sugar, butter, coffee,

-vanilla essence.

-Cake mix, basically, but I love the name

and it's the name that I was really, really attracted to.

But they are a very traditional diner, American pudding.

Jonny, whoopie your life away, mate.

And while sous chef Jonny whips out a few more whoopies,

Allegra turns her attention to her peanut butter milkshake, and,

if I were to guess, I'd say she was making it up as she goes along.

You've probably guessed by now I'm making this recipe up as we go along.

Yep! Thought so!

And by the way, if you were wondering why they're called whoopie pies?

-Numa-numa-num!

-It's because they make you go "whoopee!"

Don't they, Allegra?

Give me a la-la-la-la. La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Yip-yip-yip, yip-yip-yip.

Flubber, flubber, flubber, flubber, flubber. Yee-hah, yee-hah.

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoopie pies,

whoopie pies!

Hup-hah!

Allegra's loving it!

Yes, but we're not! So that's enough of that!

Now, as far as competitions go, this one couldn't be closer.

Even the amount spent on ingredients for their desserts was negligible.

Jun spent a reasonable £46.39 on his sticky toffee brioche pud,

and Allegra an even more reasonable £22.82 on her whoopie pies.

So what do they taste like?

Well, Allegra's dessert may have only cost peanuts but that's

because it's mostly made of...well, peanuts.

But what about Jun's?

Is his brioche pudding likely to bring in the bread and butter?

-Mmm, sublime!

-It's nice and light, isn't it?

That taste, totally, because it's very light,

much less dense than I was figuring.

It's a very classy pudding. Welcome to my board of fun.

Whoopie!

-With a little bit of peanut butter shake.

-That is actually quite nice.

So, both chefs generous about the rival dish,

but that's just the polite exterior. Inside, they are a raging

torrent of competitiveness cascading into waterfalls of wanting to win.

-Oh, yes!

-Jun undoubtedly outclassed me on the pudding.

What I don't have in talent in the patisserie section,

I made up for in, like, fun.

I think mine looks jollier. His definitely looks classier.

Allegra's pudding, yeah, it's really good fun, you know,

it matches this diner perfectly because it doesn't take itself

too seriously, it's a bit of fun and it tastes good.

Now, the rules for dessert are slightly different.

Tonight, we have Allegra McEvedy.

Hello.

APPLAUSE

And in this round, the two chefs have to present their dishes

directly to the customers - who can then pay what

they think the dish is worth, so good salesmanship is essential.

I mean, you don't want to go into the restaurant

and admit that you're not very good at puddings.

I'm not very good at puddings, I'd like to say that for a starter.

No, no, you DON'T want to go out there

and admit you're not very good at puddings!

-I'm not very good at puddings.

-Oh, I give up!

And how's Jun faring under a good grilling from the customers?

Did you make the ice cream?

No, because they don't have an ice cream machine.

-Bread and butter pudding is really traditional and really classic.

-Yes.

So why would you mess around with bread and butter pudding?

-Because that's an improvement on a classic.

-An improvement?

-Absolutely.

Ooh, they are a hard bunch to please.

Perhaps get off the food and talk about...oh, I don't know...politics?

-How's the sisterhood working tonight?

-Sisterhood?

-Yeah.

In terms of...?

-Get my pudding.

-No, I definitely might.

-Come on, girls, one sisterhood.

-Sisterhood. Sisterhood. All right.

-Going for the feminist vote?

Yes all a bit obvious, eh, boys? Mind you, it works.

I went for the whoopie pudding

because I think the chef sold it to me so, basically,

I don't know what it's going to taste like

but I'm going to go for it.

Well, who knows how that's all going to affect the final round.

Only one way to find out and that is to start service.

I'll have the sticky toffee pudding.

Definitely the sticky toffee pudding because we quite like the chef.

Three sticky toffee, one whoopie pie. And another six sticky toffee.

Oh, my God, he's done it.

And as the first orders come in, it's looking rosy for Jun.

-18 sticky toffee and 11 whoopie pie.

-18 sticky toffees against 11.

-Are you going to run out there, Jun?

-No, definitely won't run out. Keep them coming.

It's only halfway, but it's looking pretty good

and I am not going to run out on this.

Well, I'm glad to hear it.

But, like the man says, we're only halfway through

and it could yet all change. In fact, for some customers, it already has.

They changed what, two, from two sticky to two whoopie pies?

They shouldn't be allowed to change their orders, you see.

Yes, but they have,

and little-by-little, Allegra is whoopie-ing her way back into it.

I can hear some whoopies!

This is tight. It could all come down to pennies!

-Go whoopie!

-I'll go for the whoopie pie.

-Whoopie pie.

-Whoopie!

-Nine sticky toffee, eight whoopie pies.

-Come on, more orders.

-Seven sticky toffees, seven whoopie pies, after that lot.

-Neck-and-neck.

It is neck-and-neck.

It is indeed, and the two chefs are still belting out puddings,

-until...

-Last order, guys.

Two whoopie pies and that's end of service.

-Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, all done.

-Yes.

-All righty!

Quite right, job done!

And of course, as it's this close, it's all down to the diners now

and what they feel like paying for our chefs' efforts.

I had the sticky toffee brioche and I'm going to pay £6 for it,

I thought it was delicious.

I had the whoopie pie, which was really, really tasty.

It was really sweet but really light at the same time.

I'd definitely pay £6.50 for it.

And while we tot up the final profits,

let's find out just how many

desserts our chefs actually sold.

Well, it was, as suspected, incredibly close. Jun managed to

sell 32 portions of his sticky toffee bread and butter pudding,

while Allegra sold 28 whoopie pies - so it really is to the wire.

What a day it's been for our chefs with its highs

and lows, its ins and its outs and its ups and downs.

But at last it's time to put our duelling duo out of their misery and

find out just who's taken the bacon and who's going home with a doggy bag.

-Shall we do it?

-Let's do it.

-Ready? BOTH: One, two, three.

Go.

We're both like, "Uh?"

-Just!

-Nicked it, 60 quid.

-That's so close!

Win-win, I would put that down as. Mostly cos I don't like losing.

Yes, Jun takes the crown, but with less than £60 in it,

it was a close-run battle and certainly no shame in defeat.

If I could please get one more round of applause for Jun Tanaka.

Because both chefs earned a load of money for their chosen charities,

and Jun's is particularly close to his heart.

My charity is Action Against Hunger

and they are fully committed to helping malnourished children

all around the world and I am incredibly passionate about it.

My chosen charity today is the Joshua Foundation which gives

terminally ill kids opportunities to do the things that they always

wanted to do before they die.

It's hoorahs all round as once again two top chefs have shown that

they've got what it takes to put their menus where their mouths are.

For a selection of recipes from the series, log on to...

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