Final Starter Great British Menu

It's the national finals of the Great British Menu.

Sweating a little bit.

Want to give it everything.

As eight of the country's most talented chefs...

Pretty stressed.

Yeah, tell me about it.

Go head-to-head for a place at this year's glorious

Taste of Summer banquet.

Fingers crossed.

It's not an easy one to do while you're shaking, right enough.

Celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Over the past eight weeks...

Go, go, go.

They've faced the toughest competition of their lives.

Whoo!

It's stuck to the shell.

I've never had this before in my life.

I've never tasted a plate of food like that.

Now the regional champions must do everything they can to win a place

on the final banquet menu.

This is the last chance.

I'm nervous.

Standing in their way are the formidable panel of judges.

We're talking about chefs who are cooking perfect food.

It's got a proper taste of summer about it.

Wow, this is definitely a contender for me.

They will be joined by a host of Wimbledon icons who know what it

takes to compete in the world's toughest grand slam.

If you would stop interrupting me I could eat the other.

This is a very special pudding.

LAUGHTER.

Today, it's the battle for the starter course.

I'm just getting more nervous.

But with a former banquet winner taking on a host of first-timers...

This has just made it a lot more competitive.

When you are up against the best of the best, that is

when you want to do even better.

Which chef will come out on top?

The person who will be cooking at the banquet is...

Before the eight national finalists get into the kitchen, they've come

to the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in SW19, home to the

Wimbledon Championships.

They're meeting judge Andy Oliver, who's summoned the chefs to give

them a taste of where they could be cooking if they win a place on this

year's prestigious banquet menu.

Hello, chefs, and welcome to Wimbledon.

ALL: Hello.

Well done for making it this far.

This is where every summer, the best of the best do battle

in a bid to raise these coveted trophies, and of course

where our own glorious Andy Murray rose to triumph again in 2016.

The Wimbledon motto is, "In pursuit of greatness,"

and that is what we're looking for from you this week.

So best of luck.

OK.

Thank you.

The finalists include three chefs who have competed

in the finals before, and five who have made

it for the first time, but for all of them,

setting foot in Centre Court makes them feel one step

closer to the prize.

Cooking at Wimbledon, that will be up there with one

of the best things I've ever done in my career.

You can imagine what this place is like when it's absolutely packed.

The pressure must just be immense.

I wonder if it will be similar in the kitchen.

Some big names on there, boys.

It must be a great feeling to lift that.

It definitely drives you forward.

You want to be successful in this.

It is great being in a place where champions are made.

Hopefully, this is my time.

Standing between the chefs and their place at the Wimbledon banquet

is a week of tough competition.

Each day they will be cooking one of their dishes again in the hope

of beating their rivals in the kitchen.

You're actually here in finals week and you're that close.

You just think you really want to get over the line and get

that dish on the banquet.

I'm just going to give it everything and hopefully get there.

I'm here to get to the banquet.

My blood pressure is already there.

I just need to show you all what I've got.

Bring it on.

Today they'll be serving their starter courses

for the discerning panel of judges.

Andy Oliver, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton, who are looking

for the very finest Taste of Summer dishes.

Andy. Hello.

Finals week.

Quite exciting, isn't it?

It's fascinating to see how they're going to elevate what they've

already done and how they are going to push

themselves over the final part of this competition.

There will be ferocious competition but there will also

be great camaraderie.

I actually think this competition is going to be greater than ever.

We've got a fantastic array of chefs this year.

All of them, amazingly talented people.

But some have been here before.

Some have the advantage of previous experience.

Some of them, this will be their first time under

really serious pressure.

Yeah, it was tough last time and it's going to be

tough again this week.

We all have to have our A-game on.

You cannot underestimate finals week.

It is so tough.

You have to work so hard this week.

You live on your nerves.

The interesting thing is always to see how much the chefs have

responded to feedback because change demonstrates a desire to win.

They are following in the footsteps of the country's finest chefs.

They need to be performing at that level to be successful,

so let's get those chefs in and put some fear in them.

Welcome to the finals of the Great British Menu.

This is where it gets serious.

Some of you have been here before.

Phil, Michael, Tommy Banks, do you think you will do it again?

I hope so.

As soon as I get in this room, I don't want to be rude,

I don't know if it's you guys, I don't know if it's this room,

but it makes me very nervous, whichever way it is.

Pip, you were here a couple of years ago and didn't

make it quite this far, but you have this time.

Yeah, I'm really happy to be here, and hopefully just one more step

and get through to the banquet.

And all those who made it through it for the first time.

And all those who made it through for the first time.

Ellis, do you think you've got what it takes to get a dish

through to the banquet?

Hopefully the food speaks for itself and I can get there, you know?

Yeah, I'm feeling really excited, can't wait to get cooking.

Good luck, guys. Enjoy yourselves.

Easy for you to say!

Let's get into the kitchen and get those starters started.

Well, I think they looked a bit shocked going out there.

A little alarmed.

What was interesting for me when they came was I didn't get that

sense from the returning chefs that they were feeling

all that confident.

I think there's a lot of very good new talent there.

I'm really excited.

It's my first finals week and I can't wait to get started.

The first chefs into the kitchen are the three returning finalists.

All right, buddy. Best of luck, mate.

Good luck, mate.

Let's crack on.

Michael Bremner, representing Scotland.

Phil Carmichael from Wales and north-east champion and former

banquet winner Tommy Banks.

You get to cook at the banquet this year at Wimbledon,

you get to bore everybody for the rest of your life.

Every summer when Wimbledon comes on you get to say, I cooked there.

That's true.

Are you a Wimbledon fan?

Yeah, I watch it every year.

My mum is a crazy Wimbledon fan.

If I get a dish at the banquet and I can take her, it will be

brownie points for life I think.

The chefs' dishes will also be scored by a guest judge.

Today it's tennis icon Sue Barker.

A former British number one and world number three,

Sue reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1977 and has

hosted the BBC's coverage of the Championships for more

than 20 years.

This is it.

Andy, lovely to meet you.

Come on in.

I'm so looking forward to this.

Welcome to the Great British Menu.

Thank you.

This is Matthew.

This is your seat.

I know. I watch the show.

I know where my seat is.

Oh, OK. I'm so looking forward to it.

Sue, you played there, you comment there, what makes

Wimbledon the place where players will actually want to

go and play and win?

Talk to any player from any nation, it's not just the British that feel

it, walk through those gates, there is a special feeling about it.

It is the greatest tennis tournament in the world.

It has an aura about it that the other grand slams don't.

There is a class about it.

Who was the hardest person you played against?

I was in the era of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova,

so that was why the best I got to was world number three

because they were there.

I did beat them a couple of times each but I won't tell you how

many times they beat me.

What's nice is we are still all really good friends.

And every year you meet up at Wimbledon?

We do. Yes, we do.

The banquet is celebrating 140 years of Wimbledon.

Part of that brief is a taste of summer.

I always feel when you go to banquets, the starter sets the tone.

You want to go wow.

I'm looking for a wow factor today.

Particularly on this occasion it needs to be amazing.

Absolutely.

All I can say is, bring it on.

Each of the chefs' starters will be marked out of ten by the judges,

with the highest scoring dish winning a place on the

final banquet menu.

So we've all been here before.

I don't think you get any less nervous, though.

No.

I feel absolutely, probably even more nervous than last year,

because I know what to expect.

I'm definitely nervous.

I'm petrified really of the whole thing.

We know we've just got to smash it out and move as quickly as possible.

Phil Carmichael is up first.

It's his third attempt at the competition and the second

time he has made it to the national finals, but he's always missed out

on a place at the banquet.

Yeah, I'm very proud to be here representing Wales.

Going up against some of the best chefs in the country.

This year I'm going to deliver and get a dish to the banquet.

Phil Carmichael has worked with Jason Atherton,

Gordon Ramsay, Michel Roux Jr, chefs with the highest

pedigree in the UK.

I am very surprised Phil has not got to the banquet already.

Maybe it is nerves.

So, how are you feeling about finals this year?

Yeah, terrified.

First up.

Hopefully they'll like the dish.

Phil's challenging himself with a complex starter, paying

tribute to a colourful summer fruit.

What's the idea behind this dish, Phil?

I'm literally doing a sort of celebration of tomatoes,

yellow ones, gold ones, plum.

When I see see this first lot of British summer tomatoes

coming into the kitchen, I know it's summertime.

Called The Greenhouse, the dish features tomatoes served

four ways including a technical consomme jelly and a tomato tartare.

But, during the regional heats, despite victory and judge

But, during the regional heats, despite veteran judge

Tom Aitkens feeling Phil had hit the summertime brief...

I'm going to give you a score of nine.

The judges weren't convinced by the central shared tomato element.

I hope he's changed his dish because there were some details

there that I must say disappointed me last time.

As I recall, I wasn't that keen on the rather large

oxheart tomato at all.

Really lacking in punch.

There was no real flavour kind of wallop to it.

You want that first dish to make a statement

about the rest of the banquet.

If you could send down an ace first serve, you think,

OK I'm in with a chance now.

I've made a couple of tweaks.

They said it was a little bit awkward to cut and eat so I've

just scaled it down, given them each an

individual plum tomato.

Hopefully it'll get the scores up there.

Phil is ready to plate up.

He starts with balsamic gel and black olive crumble.

What's that you've got going on there, Phil?

Semi-dried tomato tartare.

He adds dressed Heritage tomatoes, tomato consomme jelly

and charred onions.

Next, focaccia crisps and fresh herbs.

That looks amazing.

Thanks.

He dresses the plum tomatoes with pea shoots and serves

under a mini greenhouse.

Well done, man. Nice one.

Looks great.

Well done. First one out the way.

Took one for the team, went first.

I mean, it looks a lot better, I have to say.

Inside its wee house.

Different.

Let's have a look underneath here.

It's spectacular, though, isn't it?

It did look very beautiful, I think it looks good.

It looked better than it did in regionals.

The sort of flavour changes I made will hopefully give it more punch

of tomato which they wanted.

There's a little bit of charred onion.

I would guess tomato jelly.

The flavours are lovely.

The burrata is quite delicious, as it was before.

Tomato burrata is a very well trodden path, it's

a classic Italian dish.

I think the problem's with the plum tomato.

There's a sort of slightly "so what" feeling about it.

There's also quite a persistent taste of onion.

Yeah, I've just got that.

I quite like the taste of onion.

I think it's quite nice.

Really, really tasty.

I've got a few elements of tomato on my dish as well.

Yeah, you can do so much with the tomato.

I love the little olive flavours.

The little hit you get from them is quite pleasing, actually.

I agree with you there, Sue.

Around the edge, there are all these quite powerful punchy flavours,

you come to the middle of it and it just sort of collapses.

That plum tomato in the middle is just not doing it for me.

I like the fact you've put the seeds on because they are actually

really, really tasty.

To be fair to Phil, he has changed the dish.

I just don't think it's right for the banquet.

It does have a real sense of summer about it.

What I don't get is Wimbledon final about it.

You don't have that lovely sense of that shaft of sunlight

beaming down on you.

It's Wimbledon.

In that case, rain will be pouring.

Next up is returning Scottish champion Michael Bremner.

Having just missed out on the banquet last year,

he's more determined than ever to win a place

on the Wimbledon menu.

Last year I was so close to getting it.

I actually believed when I was standing there,

I believed they were going to say my name, and when they

didn't I was gutted.

This year I'm going to do whatever I can to get there.

Michael, what a talented chef he is.

Yes.

The boy really knows how to cook.

He knows what flavour means and he has this very distinctive

approach to cooking.

One of the reasons he's so successful actually

is because he takes risks.

He was that close to getting to the banquet last year

with his fish dish, which was absolutely amazing.

We've got high hopes.

Michael's whole menu reflects his award-winning,

innovative and experimental approach, including his

unusual summer starter.

I'm taking more risks this year than I did last year I think.

But I think that's what you've got to do.

A bit of jeopardy.

Yeah.

The dish, Watermelon Summer Cup, is a technical salad featuring

complex modern elements including compressed watermelon

and lime infused cucumber.

Like Phil's starter, Michael's also features tomatoes.

Although he has made some changes to the original dish today he's

keeping one original aspect the same.

My one's vegan this year.

Vegan?

Vegan, yeah.

How amazing would it be to get a vegan dish into the banquet?

I bet that has never happened before.

Maybe for a reason, but we'll see.

During the heats it was his second lowest scoring dish with the judges

who felt the flavours of the salad were unbalanced and found the home

made gin drink he served on the side too bitter.

Blimey.

I think he should stick to cooking.

Today, in the hope of impressing the judges, Michael has introduced

a new, sweeter watermelon cocktail and refined the number

of elements on the plate.

I've made a few changes.

Hopefully to get a better score.

Michael starts by plating compressed watermelon infused with fennel seed.

Followed by compressed lime infused cucumber.

What's the puree?

Avocado.

OK, nice.

Next, cherry tomatoes and pink grapefruit segments.

He dresses with coriander cress and micro basil.

Adds dehydrated tomato slices and sprinkles soy glazed seeds.

It looks summery, that is for sure.

He puts his new watermelon cocktail on ice.

It wouldn't be summer without a cocktail.

Exactly.

So, yeah, just as it is, please.

That looks beautiful, Michael, well done.

Thanks, man.

Cheers.

Yeah, ready.

I think it's really colourful.

I like the idea of having gin with the starter.

A little tennis racket opener.

I am more happy than I was with the regionals.

Do you think the changes are going to get you those tens you need?

I hope so.

But I know it's a risk.

I think I might start with the gin.

That's delicious.

There's summer in every sip.

Wow, that's quite strong.

It is, isn't it?

The perfect way to start the banquet.

I agree.

I'm going to be tiddly when I'm plating mine up.

You've got the watermelon, the different types of tomato,

little creamy avocado.

It's OK.

I'm not a huge fan of watermelon.

I don't think it really packs a punch.

The dish itself is pretty boring.

I don't think he's changed it enough.

There's tomatoes and watermelon, a few micro leaves.

Some bits you find lying around a chopping board and you just

scrape them into a bowl.

It tastes like a fairly mediocre salad.

It looks beautiful but I hate watermelon.

I really dislike avocado.

I really don't like that coriander cress either.

So you might turn me.

If you want to win you've got to take a risk and it

certainly is a risk.

There is just nothing at all here that I'm loving.

Where is the sort of wow factor?

This is even more boring than it was before.

It's very fresh, it's very light.

But I don't think it has enough flavour in it,

whereas this is divine.

Third to plate up is Michelin starred Tommy Banks.

Having last year cooked his winning fish dish at the Houses

of Parliament, he's hoping to make it onto the final menu

for a second year in a row.

The Great British Menu is one of the hardest things that

a chef will ever do.

It literally takes everything out of you to go all the way,

but I'm prepared to do it all again and I'm ready for it.

You've got a little more to prove.

You've been to the banquet.

You kind of need to get yourself back to the banquet, don't you?

Having been there, it's the only reason why I entered

the competition again.

I want to get there again.

Yeah.

The thing in my head, it would be more pressure

on myself if that was me.

More to lose.

Yeah.

Like his competitors, Tommy's dish, Midsummer, features tomatoes,

and is a tribute to the summer solstice, the longest

day of the year.

Traditionally for hundreds of thousands of years

in Britain we celebrated midsummer, an ancient pagan festival.

All of the food is cut in round shapes to celebrate the sun

and the harvest and the bounty.

He is quite an inspired character, Tommy Banks, isn't he?

I love Tommy's cooking and I love his sort of 360 thinking.

He is a really accomplished chef.

I'm very excited about his food.

Except for his starter.

It was the one dish on his menu that was not up to scratch.

In the regional heats both the judges and veteran chef

Jeremy Lee agreed the dish was style over substance.

The drama of the dish was much more in the presentation

than in the eating.

I'm hoping he's taken on board our gentle suggestions.

The gentle suggestion in this case was to change the dish completely.

Sort it out!

Today, Tommy has significantly changed his dish, filling

the tomatoes with goat's curd and cod's roe emulsion.

He is also adding a brand-new element, a bloody Mary sorbet.

But despite altering the dish itself, he's keeping his theatrical

presentation, referencing an ancient summer solstice ritual.

My idea is I'm going to set fire to the starter.

The flames are going to lick around and they are going to bring the food

to that nice sort of temperature you associate with when you pick

tomatoes and they've had the sun on them all day.

Very clever.

Tommy starts by placing his reworked tomatoes into serving bowls.

Next he adds pickled and charred cucumber and his bloody Mary sorbet.

Won't it melt when you set the bowl on fire?

It shouldn't do because I've got stabilisers in it.

He pours on tomato consomme and finishes with basil oil.

OK, that's good to go.

So, down in front of the judges and then just light each one.

Splendid.

I don't know how well it's going to work and things like that.

Or whether the ice cream is going to melt or whatever.

Or if it sets the judges on fire.

Yeah, or if Matthew loses his eyebrows or something.

It's quite exciting, isn't it?

I love the fire, the little balls as well, it's kind

of like great balls of fire.

She's started.

I don't think it screams summer quite as much as yours did.

They were like very light summery sort of white plates and mine

is on a black plate.

It is kind of...

It's alternative, you know?

I love the goat's cheese.

It's quite nice, isn't it?

I think the clear tomato's really well done.

There's a much better sense of flavour out of the dish.

The problem of actually setting fire to the bowl,

the bloody Mary sorbet, which he's added to this, melts,

which rather spoils the point of it.

I didn't really taste a lot of bloody Mary in it, I have to say.

You're probably still drunk from the last dish!

Yes, I'm still tasting the gin!

I don't think the combination of tomato and goat's cheese

is particularly exciting.

Do you get the sense of a bountiful summer harvest

from looking at this plate?

No.

I think it just looks like a collection of sad melon balls.

Are you happy with it?

You made a lot of changes.

I'm very nervous about it.

They didn't like it first time and although it's a completely

different dish you kind of get your confidence

knocked a little bit when you get a low score.

It was all very nice but it didn't excite me.

I think it's a much improved dish.

I think the clear tomato is really well done.

I actually think there's a much better sense of flavour.

Do you know we've had three tomatoes on the trot?

That's a good thing.

Is it?

And it's very summer, isn't it?

We asked him to change the dish.

The dish is better than its previous incarnation.

I can't believe you are saying that.

It's better.

It's better but it's not good, is it?

With the first group's starters done the judges

are considering their scores so far.

I must say, these three chefs this morning have shown a truly

astonishing ability to raise our hopes and trample all over them.

They dashed them.

I was expecting quite a lot from all of them and I haven't been

able to give anybody a decent score yet.

I think two of the dishes were perfectly good.

I just don't think they are good enough for the banquet.

That's what I mean.

I've loved every dish.

I thought they were really tasty, but I know you have to be harsh

and we're looking for something that is spectacular.

It's not harsh, it's being just.

Next in to the kitchen are newcomers Ellis Barry,

representing the north-west, and Selin Kiazim from London

and the south-east.

Good luck.

Good luck.

Despite both being first timers in the competition they are hoping

they can give the returning chefs a run for their money.

Having got here to the finals I am hoping to step up

my game a little bit.

Yeah.

After this morning's dishes are you feeling more

confident in your own dish?

I'm definitely feeling more confident in my own dish, yeah.

Without bragging.

Both Ellis and Selin's starters are inspired by picnics

and celebrate a classic summer ingredient, the cucumber.

So you copied me then with the cucumber dish?

I think you'll find you copied me!

First to plate is Selin, a rising star in the London

restaurant scene, who draws inspiration from her

Turkish-Cypriot roots.

I love Wimbledon.

I love summer food.

I really enjoyed cooking this brief, so to be here cooking

for the finals with the chance of getting through to the banquet

is just incredible.

So how was the brief for you?

A taste of summer is really when my food is at its best.

With my heritage, I have spent long hot summers

in Cyprus or Turkey and kind of that whole barbecue

vibe, eating outdoors.

She is using clever techniques in the hope

of elevating a picnic staple.

My dish is inspired by a cucumber sandwich

and it is called Queue-cumber, as in with a play on words.

It is inspired by all the thousands of people who would spend hours

and hours queuing up outside Wimbledon and who would be there

with their packed lunch or a picnic.

In the regional heats veteran chef Angela Hartnett thought the dish

was tasty but disjointed, scoring Selin a seven.

Much as I loved tasting every little element of it I wasn't sure if it

came together as a dish.

And when it came to the judges, her dish divided opinion.

I quite enjoyed the abundance, the sort of slightly

chaotic nature to her dish.

It kind of made me quite happy.

Her starter was a bit nervous, that's all I'd say.

It was a bit busy, there was a bit too much going on,

and she needed to simplify it.

Determined to score highly today, Selin has reinvented the dish,

replacing her original cheese and egg filled

pastry with a gozleme,

a traditional Turkish flatbread,

which she hopes will give the dish more cohesion.

I had to make quite a few tweaks, hopefully to please

the judges a bit more.

I've just toned it down and it's definitely more about the cucumber.

She starts by serving the gozleme flatbread filled

with caramelised onions, olives and Turkish tulum cheese.

Before piping Cacik, a yoghurt and mint dressing, on top.

Next she adds compressed cucumber and drizzles with a verjus dressing.

Then pickled cucumber and pickled mustard seeds.

How is everything?

Yeah, not bad, getting there.

Wow, this looks great.

She tops with shredded spring onion.

So you've got bacon going on?

Just a little bit of crispy pancetta.

She pours a new addition, cucumber gazpacho, over

chopped cucumber and herbs.

Looks really tasty, doesn't it?

Looks good, yeah.

Just tried to make the dish a bit more singing of cucumber.

She dresses the gazpacho with olive oil.

OK, ready.

Looks good.

Well done.

Thank you very much.

Glad it's over?

Yeah.

Completely different.

Wow.

Too good to eat!

It's pretty, isn't it?

It's really appealing-looking.

I'm just trying to work out how to eat it, though.

Get stuck in, my dear.

I think I might be wearing some of it!

Looks great, I thought the presentation was amazing.

It's really fun.

So hopefully they get stuck in with their hands

and eat it, as I intended.

This wasn't here before. Is it nice?

It's quite nice.

Some little gozleme is delicious, lovely little toasty thing

happening, then you get the gorgeous fresh cucumber.

Little bit of salty bacon, then you get a zingy little bit

of coriander on the top.

I'm loving that.

The flavours and the textures as well, it's...

I think the flavours are very nice, I think it's

really beautifully made.

Oh, it's nice, that.

Really is a nice combination of flavours.

It could get pretty messy, couldn't it?

Yeah.

That's probably the only negative I've got.

Taste-wise, it's brilliant.

Thanks very much, guys.

Oliver, you've eaten the whole thing!

Wow.

That is a massive change in a dish.

This is now what I would describe as street food, in a way.

Flavours are wonderful.

I just cannot imagine this at the banquet.

Oh, I think it's fun.

It's got a proper taste of summer about it.

It's fresh, it's light, it's clean.

It's not gastronomic enough for the banquet,

I really don't think that.

Self-taught Ellis Barry, representing the north-west,

is next to plate his starter.

He impressed in the regional heats with his unusual dishes

featuring diverse flavours, and he's determined to build

on that success today.

I've got a lot to prove, that's why I want to push

right to the banquet.

Can I compete against these big boys?

I think so, so bring it on.

Ellis Barry, an absolutely wonderful chef, he's self-taught,

really throws himself into it.

He's quite inventive.

One of the advantages, I think, of being a self-taught chef is that

you're not constrained by the sort of classical training

that some of them may struggle to get from under.

Like 's dish, Ellis' starter also showcases cucumber.

Like Selin's dish, Ellis' starter also showcases cucumber.

Summer Is Icumen In, named after a 13th century song,

features seven complex cucumber elements, and is inspired

by childhood memories of eating cucumber sandwiches on the beach.

So you reckon you've got a good chance of getting

this one to the banquet?

Well, they enjoyed the plate of food that I put up.

I haven't done too much to change that.

It shouts Wimbledon, it shouts summer.

This is all about the cucurbits family, cucumber,

courgette, cucamelons.

Summer's all about family, so...

Why not?

In the heats, veteran chef Daniel Clifford said the dish

was spot on the brief, but felt it needed more excitement

to become banquet-worthy.

Make that piece of cucumber in the middle of the plate smaller,

and stuff it with a fresh oyster so you have a surprise.

And, after Ellis took Daniel's advice on board,

the judges thought it had banquet potential.

As I recall, this dish scored quite highly.

We all sort of gave a little cheer when it came in because it looked

so pretty, little summery picnic.

I think he cooks with a lot of freedom and this

dish represented that.

In a bid to further elevate his dish, Ellis has replaced his bread

and oyster butter with a filled soda bread roll, his refined take

on a cucumber sandwich.

Before he can start plating, Ellis must finish his complex

compressed cucumber element.

He fills cucumber batons with oyster and confit cucumber.

Before topping with lardo - a cured pork fat -

charring and adding to his plate.

Next he adds cucumber tagliatelle and pipes in courgette puree.

How's it going, Ellis?

Very well, mate.

Then yellow courgettes with rice wine vinegar gel, borage flowers

and a new addition, cucumber crisps.

Crisps in a packed lunch, can't get any more British than that.

He decorates the plate with more edible flowers and baby herbs.

Quite a fiddly number to finish off there, Ellis?

No, it's quite a simple one.

Next, Ellis fills his soda bread rolls with shallot

marmalade and oyster butter, along with compressed cucumber,

rice wine vinegar gel and lardo.

Might put a few little crisps in there as well,

because everyone likes a crisp butty!

He adds oyster leaf to complete his cucumber sandwich,

then pours a gin and cucumber cocktail, garnishing with a ribbon

of cucumber and pink peppercorns.

Just open them up for me.

He serves all the elements in picnic hampers.

HE SINGS: Summer Is Icumen In in cuca bits and bobs.

MUSIC: Summer Is Icumen In.

Did you like that little ditty?

I loved it!

That little ditty, 13th century round, it was.

One of the earliest pieces of music in English.

That is a very refined picnic.

I think this is incredibly appealing.

Just looking at it, it's a taste of summer.

It does really say summer to me.

It's a beautiful looking dish, little colours of Wimbledon,

the green and the purple, bringing it all together.

Makes me feel sort of wistful for my long school summer holidays!

Happy? Yeah, I think so, yeah.

It is what it is.

Hopefully I get the scores which are needed.

The drink is not quite as successful as the earlier cocktail was.

But I love this drink, it's not just like a great big hit

of alcohol, it's delicious and it works beautifully.

I think it's a bit sweet.

Oh, no, I like it.

Oh, no.

I'm going to try my first cucumber crisp.

These were olive crisps before. Which you didn't like?

Which we didn't like, they were a bit too strong

and a bit too heavy.

That's absolutely delicious. This is gastronomic.

I really like this.

I think it's a really, really very sophisticated bit of cooking.

I've failed miserably with my little sandwich and I had

to take the hat off. It's too big.

It's a bit cumbersome, isn't it?

It should just be a bit more dainty.

Trying to pick that up and eat it... Yeah, it's a bit awkward.

It's just a bit of a big one to get through.

With the exception of the bun it's a perfect dish, it's sophisticated

in an understated way.

I absolutely, you know, top marks.

I would actually love to give this dish aten,

I would actually love to give this dish a ten,

but unfortunately I can't because of the bun.

If he'd left off the bun, I would have given it a ten.

With five chefs down, today's competition for the starter

course has passed the halfway mark, and the judges are reflecting

on the dishes so far.

Things are looking up!

Aren't they just?

I didn't know I could learn to love a cucumber again,

but I've been won over.

This morning we had the returning chefs and then all of a sudden two

new chefs, and they are doing a great job.

Absolutely beautiful, both of those dishes

I thought was superb.

I've been impressed with all of them, but those last

two were outstanding.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, we got three more dishes to come,

so in order to have a chance of getting through to the banquet

they've got to be really special.

The last group of chefs into the kitchen are three more

first-time finalists.

Good luck. Good luck.

Good luck.

Northern Ireland's Tommy Heaney.

Tom Brown from the south-west.

And representing the central region, Pip Lacey.

With the competition hotting up, they are all feeling the pressure.

You kind of think it might be a bit easier coming

back into the kitchen, but it's not, is it?

Nerves as soon as you come through the door again.

When you're up against the best of the best,

that's when you want to do even better, I think.

I think one of us has got it.

Yeah?

First to cook is Tom Brown, head chef at a Michelin-starred

fish restaurant.

It's really great to be here, first time in the competition,

through to the finals.

I definitely really, really want to win.

Unlike his rivals, Tom has based his dishes purely

on the summer aspect of the brief, inspired by memories

of his childhood by the sea.

The whole menu for me is all about personal nostalgia

and growing up in Cornwall.

I keep seeing lots of tennis vibes.

The brief was about Wimbledon, did you not get that one?

I kind of stopped reading after the word summer!

Tom's starter, Cowl Bysk, is a refined take

on a traditional fishermen's soup.

This dish is based on an old Cornish recipe that the crab

fishermen used to make, and they could only make it

in the summer when they could get the pots out, so for me it doesn't

get a lot more summery than that.

His dish originally combined steamed lobster claw with a warm tomato tea,

but in the regional heats, despite veteran judge

Michael O'Hare thinking his judge fulfilled the brief...

Michael O'Hare thinking his dish fulfilled the brief...

Really fresh, really vibrant and really summery.

The judges thought it was the worst of his dishes, scoring him

only fives and sixes.

Tom Brown.

The man from Cornwall whose whole menu sang of his home county.

It didn't sing that well.

It was a bit flat.

I don't think he really thought about the banquet, the occasion.

Lobster and tomato.

It was a bit limp.

We are looking for something with more flair.

I've made some really really big tweaks.

I think it is a better dish for it, to be fair, I agree with them now.

I didn't agree with them at the time but I agree with them now.

Sometimes it takes somebody to tell you, doesn't it?

Yeah, exactly.

Although it would be nice if somebody told

you before you got here.

Today, Tom is replacing the lobster centrepiece with Cornish crab

and has changed his warm tomato soup for a thyme and garlic

tomato gazpacho.

In the regions I called it a tomato tea but they didn't know

whether it was tea or soup, what the temperature of it was.

So I thought I would make it a little bit easier.

Just call it tomato.

Yeah.

Tom starts by plating a mix of heritage tomatoes grown

in Cornwall's Tamar Valley.

You know they've seen lots of tomato dishes.

Are you a bit worried?

I don't think anyone's going to have tomatoes like these.

Next he adds crab mayonnaise and a new addition, a slice

of crisp Mangalitsa pork.

He adds mustard cress.

You're finishing that with more fresh tomato?

You can't get enough of these tomatoes.

Yeah?

And pours the tomato gazpacho.

Finally he drizzles with Cornish rapeseed oil.

Thanks.

Looks good, man.

It was really good.

Cheers, mate.

Nearly started sweating there.

It looks lovely.

Cowl Bysk, the life of crab fishermen in Cornwall has always

been dictated by the ever changing tides and seasons.

Summer ensures a plentiful supply of tomatoes in the garden.

Tomatoes, we are back.

And hence this combination of tomatoes and fresh crab.

Are you pleased with the changes you made, crab instead of lobster?

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, no one likes to admit they're wrong, do they?

But I just hope they like the changes as much as I do.

Gazpacho is absolutely outstanding.

Wow.

It's a lot better than the tomato tea that we had last time.

I could have the soup on its own.

That would be wonderful as well.

It's good gazpacho.

Thanks. You smiled when you tasted it.

Yeah.

Have you got any left?

No, it was so good I had to eat it all.

The crab is excellent.

Really delicious.

Beautiful crab.

The little tomato sort of bursts through giving

a tremendous freshness.

Wow, that sort of massive hit of garlic, tomatoes,

the crab is beautiful and creamy and rich.

It's really good.

Really happy with how it has turned out but it's my most worrying dish

because they absolutely slated it in the first round.

I could eat this every day.

I think it is absolutely wonderful.

Maybe it doesn't say Wimbledon but it says summer.

Absolutely lovely.

Can I point out another chef new to the competition?

They are smashing it, aren't they?

It is utterly transformed from a mere dish, from a five,

to something much closer to the top.

How close are we talking?

That would be giving the game away, wouldn't it?

The penultimate chef is Northern Ireland's Tommy Heaney.

To get a dish to the banquet would be a dream come true.

I am confident that my dish is good enough to make the banquet.

It is just down to me whether I cook it properly or not on the day.

Northern Ireland got all the way to the banquet

with the starter last year.

Are you hoping you can do the same?

Yeah, it would be great to get their two years in a row.

I was feeling all right until I tried everybody else's.

He had great heats, didn't he?

He was performing at a very high level.

I would love to see what he has done.

He was inventive. Good food.

It ate really well.

I am excited to see what changes he has made.

Tommy's starter pays tribute to a Wimbledon icon, Rufus the Hawk.

What made you choose pigeon?

It was the story behind it.

There is a hawk goes around Wimbledon before anything kicks off

and it basically patrols all the courts and scares

away the pigeons.

So I wanted to do a little tribute to Rufus the Hawk.

His dish, Rufus Beets The Pigeons Away, combines water-bath pigeon

breast with deep-fried pigeon leg with three different

beetroot elements.

So do you reckon this one might beat me and Pip?

I think it is ace.

Yeah, I went there.

During the regional heats, despite praising the cooking

of the pigeon elements, veteran judge Michael Smith was not

so keen on how Tommy presented the pigeon leg.

Do you think that may be a bit too much, might scare off

some of the banquet goers?

I wanted it to be a bit dramatic as well.

Having removed the claw from the pigeon leg when he cooked his

starter for the judges, it became one of Tommy's

highest scoring dishes.

Solid eights across the board on this one.

Better than what I got.

The bowl was a bit cramped and I wasn't keen on the great big nest.

I kept thinking something was going to emerge from the nest.

It was impossible to get the food out of it, which was infuriating.

I suppose if I had a beak or talon...

Hoping to score perfect tens, Tommy has changed his original

bird's nest presentation for a more refined bowl.

He starts by piping on beetroot emulsion.

Next he adds sous vide pigeon followed by a new addition,

charred raspberries.

I had originally blackberries on there and they said

they were too wintry.

Then baby beetroot, candied beetroot slices and golden beetroot.

My only concern is that it's a bit wintry looking.

But beetroot in the summer as well, you get nice baby beets.

Yeah, summer beets are lovely.

He adds his panko-coated confit pigeon leg, pickled shallots

and edible flowers.

Good to go.

He covers with a cloche and infuses with applewood smoke.

All right?

Nice one, fella.

How do you feel?

I've made the changes that they've suggested.

That's all I can do.

Yeah.

We've got a smokey cloche.

Now it looks so pretty I wouldn't want to take the cloche off.

It smells amazing.

My name is Rufus the Hawk.

Every morning at Wimbledon I have a very important task of chasing

away those pesky pigeons.

I present to you this morning's catch served up with beetroot.

Enjoy.

Rufus the Hawk.

It's a great story.

I like the way you have done what the pigeon eats as well.

It's cool.

The winning ticket on this is the pigeon in the beetroot sauce.

It's excellent.

The pigeon breast is just perfectly cooked.

It has that sort of combination of chamois leather and velvet.

The colour of that beetroot emulsion, the puree,

is just so incredible.

Lovely.

The raspberries and the sweetness and the beetroot, I mean,

it's beautiful flavours together.

With the beetroot I wanted it to be almost quite raw.

Crunchy.

I love the smoked ones but for me I really like those ones.

This is really fabulous cooking.

My only concern is I feel it has been bolted into summer.

I still look at it and it feels like autumn to me.

Why one thinks it's autumnal is the colour.

It sounds like you've started loving it and you are talking

yourself out of it.

No, I really like the cooking.

Everyone at the banquet will love this story because Rufus

is famous at Wimbledon.

Rufus never caught a pigeon like that!

The final chef to cook for the judges is Michelin starred

Pip Lacy, representing the central region.

In the heats her dish got the highest score of any

starter in the competition.

I feel really excited and just like really really ready to go.

I think you really have to step it up.

I just have to really nail everything and do what I do best.

I think Pip is a very interesting chef.

You know, Michelin starred chef.

First time in the final, second time in the competition,

and I am willing her on.

Whatever The Weather is a tomato and ravioli soup celebrating summer

produce and the determination of Wimbledon's crowds to enjoy

themselves come rain or shine.

What is your dish?

Surprisingly it's tomatoes.

I haven't eaten tomatoes today.

Has anyone done any tomatoes today?

Everybody has done tomatoes.

It is difficult not to compare.

I think I am just getting more nervous.

In the heats, veteran chef Richard Bainbridge thought the dish

really hit the brief.

There was so much flavour packed into such a small bowl it made me

want to eat more of it.

And the judges agreed it captured the taste of summer.

I am really excited about having this dish again.

I really hope she does herself justice.

Having listened to you, I can't wait to see it and taste it.

Have you changed it at all?

No, I'm just making sure everything is spot on this time.

Oliver gave me a ten.

If someone gives you a ten...

Exactly.

I feel a little bit less confident now.

Pip starts by placing pickled heritage radish

into her tennis ball bowls.

Do you think the judges are going to relate this one to Wimbledon?

I really hope so.

She adds sauteed runner beans followed by pickled courgette.

Just in case you weren't nervous enough...

What's this?

What are those yellow things, Pip?

Basketballs.

Next, honey-soused tomatoes and tomato hearts.

It's really nice that you guys could come and join us.

We're just here for moral support.

The colours are awesome.

She adds goat's cheese ravioli, places her tennis ball lid,

and serves with hot tomato rain in watering cans.

Off you go.

Anyone for tennis?

Isn't it lovely?

I love this concept.

It looks like it is summer.

Underneath.

I love doing this.

Watering the garden.

Yeah.

Look how beautifully clear that is as well.

Technically it is really well constructed, isn't it?

Pip, are you happy with that, was it as good as you did in the regions?

Yeah, I think it was a bit better, better pasta this time,

so hopefully, fingers crossed.

Really good.

I love the little raviolis.

I probably could have done with a couple more.

I think you're right, actually.

The ravioli is giving a lovely creamy sort of mellow nature

to the middle of the dish that I am really enjoying.

The goat's cheese raviolis you have done are amazing.

Yes, they add a really nice creaminess to it

as you bite into them.

I like those honey cured tomatoes.

They come through with a real punch.

The consomme is lovely.

I think it's slightly salty and it doesn't have the life of last time.

I don't think the broth is too salty.

It feels like a taste of summer to me.

My word, that's lovely, that.

That's annoyingly nice.

I think it's different, I think it's exciting,

and I think everyone would absolutely love it.

It's Wimbledon.

I've never had anything like it.

I just think it's perfect.

This is as much on message as you could possibly hope to be.

Yeah.

It is incredibly beautiful.

And really inventive.

I think it's a high score.

You look quite moist eyed.

I am a little emotional.

People have upped their game today.

They really have.

Very seriously.

You thought Wimbledon was tough.

It's tough in here.

I can't come back here again.

This is far too stressful.

With all eight starters cooked, everything is in

the hands of the judges.

The dish with the highest total score will win a place

on the banquet menu.

The chefs have done all they can.

Definitely the worst part of the day is waiting around.

Really nervous.

Yeah, it's been a tough day.

We have seen some pretty amazing dishes.

Generally, looking across the day as a whole, they've given us

an enormous amount of pleasure.

Quite inspiring.

It is inspiring when you can see that people have gone to such

an enormous amount of effort to change their dish

or to try to win the course.

I wasn't sure what I was going to eat today but I've

enjoyed every course.

It just got better and better and better for me.

Those courses were exemplary.

Illustrations of great individual cooking, great technical skill

and a wonderful understanding of the brief.

Yeah, we are all sort of nervous waiting around,

but it's exciting as well, right?

After today one of us is going to find out that we're

actually going to be on that banquet.

Yeah, definitely ready to find out.

It's getting too much now.

May the best dish win.

Good luck, everyone.

It's going to be really really close.

Let's add up the scores.

Hello, chefs.

Well done.

You've completed one course.

How did you find it?

Tough.

Yeah.

It's time to reveal the results.

In eighth place, it's...

Michael.

Michael, it was a brave decision to put a vegan dish

on the menu.

Unfortunately I don't think the dish was quite as good as the summer cup.

Tomorrow is my day.

OK.

Good luck.

In seventh place, it's...

Tommy Banks.

Tommy, we really appreciated the sort of substantial changes

you made to your dish, however the drama of

the presentation slightly overawed the dish.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Best of luck, everyone.

Mate, I didn't see that coming.

It is what it is, you know?

In sixth place...

It's...

Phil.

It wasn't a great dish, to be honest.

We know you can do better.

Yeah.

Disappointed, but you've got rid of all the old guard now.

The old guard will come back to fight again.

Thank you.

See you tomorrow.

In fifth place it's...

Selin.

It was a very delicious plate of food but not quite good enough.

Thank you very much.

Good luck, guys.

In fourth place...

Ellis.

Ellis, it was one of the most creative dishes of the day.

It was a thing of great beauty spoiled by one thing, the sandwich.

Yeah.

I get it.

See you tomorrow.

So there are three of you left.

A Tom, a Tommy and a Pip.

You all cooked dishes that were imaginative,

creative and absolutely on brief.

It all comes down to points, though, and I can tell you that...

There has been a dead heat.

You all got the same score.

You look a bit startled!

So, what we have here is a tie-break.

We then, the three permanent judges, have to decide which of the three

dishes we think is the most suitable to celebrate the British summer

and 140 years of Wimbledon.

It was a really, really tough call.

We did finally come to a conclusion.

And I can reveal that the person who will be cooking the starter

course at the banquet is...

Pip.

Congratulations, Pip.

We loved the dish from the moment of its arrival.

I think Sue was particularly taken with the tennis ball reference.

We thought it was the sort of perfect dish for the occasion,

light, summery and just a sensational dish all round.

Thank you.

Tom, your Cowl Bysk crab dish was completely transformed

from your first starter but you were just

pipped at the post.

I mean, I've been beaten by a brilliant dish so I can

hold my head up high I think.

Tommy, you executed your pigeon dish beautifully.

It was so difficult to choose between the three of you.

I'm just happy not to go out eighth!

I thought these two dishes were the best I've eaten today.

I gave all three of your dishes a perfect ten.

I thought they were all fabulous in so many different ways

but, as with Wimbledon, there can only be one winner.

So congratulations, Pip.

Thank you.

You have all cooked absolutely superbly today.

You've just got to go and do the same thing tomorrow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I can't believe that.

To have that initial first thing that people see and taste

at the banquet is amazing.

So then, guys, what happened?

It was a tie-break.

And they decided that it was mine.

Well done.

Congratulations.

To come joint first on points, for me that's a huge

achievement in itself.

It really just makes me want to go for it for the rest of the week now.

It gives me the motivation to go and push my other dishes and maybe

I might be able to make it to the banquet after all.

To Pip's starter at the banquet.

Well done, Pip.

Cheers.

Can't believe that.

I think I need pinching or something.

It doesn't feel real.

TV is everywhere,

but how has it changed the way we see

our history, our politicians,

our nation and ourselves?

I don't think we know the scale of the television revolution,

cos we're still living it.