Episode 15 Instant Restaurant

Two rival amateur cooks are converting their homes into restaurants.

Empty plates!

My food is good. Damn good.

They have just one day and a budget of up to £200.

20 strangers will be judging the two restaurants.

It'll be entirely up to the diners to decide how much or how little they pay.

-Delicious.

-I thought it looked a little bit mould on the plate!

Any more that they want to bring out would be fine.

So can the cooks deliver the goods?

I've lost my ostrich!

And will either of them make any money?

Hello and welcome to Instant Restaurant,

the show that challenges cooks to transform their homes

into restaurants for one night only.

But will the diners pay enough for today's cooks to walk away with a profit?

First up, near Huddersfield, 47-year-old project manager Dave Waite.

My restaurant is "Distro"

and it's a play on gastro/bistro,

so it's Dave's gastro/bistro-style, and that's where the name comes from.

Well, there's clever.

He travelled with the Forces for 27 years,

picking up food inspirations from here, there and everywhere.

I've been fortunate enough to live in the Far East.

I was over there for three years, so a lot of what we enjoy and cook is as a result of that.

Everything is really fresh and packed so full of flavour,

and that's what my inspiration comes from.

His ultimate dream is to own his own eatery.

I must be mad.

Let's see how sane you are at the end of the evening, shall we, Dave?

His rival is 49-year-old dental group director Jane McElroy who lives just outside Leeds.

What's that? Cheers.

Our restaurant's called The Dining Room.

It's going to look very pretty and the most important thing, it'll taste really good.

-Definitely fine dining.

-Last year Jane had a heart attack and it's made her rethink her life.

It's changed me and made me think, "Well, you know, I might as well

"do things I really enjoy doing, other than just working."

Day to day, she now eats more healthily,

but still loves to pull out the stops when it comes to entertaining.

I don't cook every day, but when I do, I like to enjoy doing it.

I'm passionate about feeding people.

And she is never without her skyscraper heels.

She's not seriously going to cook in them all day, is she?

I'm not dressed for cooking tonight but I'm not going on telly looking a mess!

This challenge isn't just about food.

With the assistance of two helpers, each cook must create the perfect

ambience, transforming their homes into enticing restaurants.

Good first impressions could make the difference between a profit or a loss.

Very simple, very clean and very novel...

so yeah, very pleased with that.

Dave's second in command is wife Lynn.

I'm Santa's helper today but I'm front of house this evening, so I'll be waiting on.

I haven't touched it!

You keep shifting it around, you little monkey.

-If you do that to me again, I'll kill you.

-Will you?

-Mm-hmm.

-No time for domestics, loves.

His other helper is neighbour Paul, but he hasn't turned up yet.

I don't think he knows that he's just doing pan-bash at the moment

but, he'll find out soon enough.

Well, he will...if he ever appears.

Meanwhile, rival Jane's going for a sophisticated, top-class dining experience.

I'm really pleased with that. It looks like a real restaurant now.

What we'd like to create for our diners this evening is elegance.

When they walk into our dining room, they'll see the attention to detail,

the beautiful table linen, the beautiful cutlery.

I hope they'll pay me loads of money!

So do I. To help separate her diners from their cash,

she's drafted in work colleagues Paul and Catherine.

I'm their boss so they're used to me bossing them around.

Do you think I'm a hard-nosed cow?

He didn't answer!

Give her the flowers before she gives you the sack.

Each cook has been given an allowance of up to £200.

Dave's decided he needs £158,

so he must take just under £16 a head to cover his costs.

Jane's chosen to spend just £12 less,

so she must take £15 from each of her diners to nudge into profit.

With just a few pounds in it, it's going to be a close call between Dave's gastro/bistro/Distro thingy

versus the high-heeled tiny tornado's fine dining, but

with diners about to arrive and Dave's neighbour still nowhere to be seen,

wife Lynn steps in to help...by urging Dave to work harder.

He needs to shimmy his backside, shall we say?

Not of course aided by our neighbour who let us down today.

But, hey, so be it. We've managed.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, everyone. Good luck.

Doorbell! >

-Do we have to let them in?

-It might be an idea, Jane, if you want to be in with a chance of some money.

Hers and Dave's restaurants will each be judged by ten hungry strangers, all expecting

a top-notch experience, but if either fails to impress, they could end up out of pocket.

Please grab a seat, everybody.

So a nice, warm, friendly welcome from Lynn is met by a slightly frosty response from her diners.

Hello-o! Anyone want to say something?

Oh, well, moving swiftly on.

Chef's on his own in the kitchen tonight.

One of his helpers let him down, so...

Nice one, Lynn! You play that sympathy card.

You never know, it might get them talking.

Meanwhile, Jane teeters out of the kitchen and into the dining room to greet her guests.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Jane, I'm your chef for this evening.

I hope you enjoy the meal. Hopefully I'll see you at the end

when you have enjoyed it, but you won't see me again cos I'll be busy in the kitchen.

-Have a good evening. Enjoy it.

-Good luck!

-Thank you!

And with the boss back in her kitchen and out of ear-shot, what do the diners think of it so far?

Well, looking at the restaurant,

looking at the tables and how they're all set up, it looks beautiful.

Very light and airy and we're really looking forward to this meal.

I feel guilty for having my shoes on on this lovely carpet!

I suppose I expected something a bit more knocked-together and

it does look like a real restaurant in here which is surprising.

Just like a real restaurant?

Well, that's exactly what both our home cooks wanted to hear, so first impressions are promising.

Mind you, you could've heard a pin drop when the diners sat down at Dave's.

Maybe things will liven up once the starters and wine are at the table.

In the hope of pepping up his diners, Dave's offering a choice of seared scallops on a bed

of minted and garlic pea puree with Parmesan crisps and crispy pancetta,

or creamy curried butternut squash soup.

These are tried and tested classics packed full of flavour and a great start to any meal.

I think the scallop starter sounds delicious, but it can easily go wrong.

The soup, personally, I think is a bit of a cop-out.

-If you're only doing two starters, why do soup?

-Oh, I don't know.

There's nothing like a good soup,

and Dave started his more than six hours before the guests were due.

-This is the roasted butternut squash.

-He roasted the butternut squash,

then added celery, carrot and onion, stock and curry powder to taste, and blended it till smooth.

Yeah, that's got a nice kick to it.

Leaves a nice after-taste, so all I'm now going to do

is add a bit of cream just to finish it off.

Mmm, looks like a thick and very creamy curried soup.

Let's hope his diners skipped lunch.

Without his second helper, Dave's on his own in the kitchen and, sadly, when orders come in, there are only

two for his ready-made soup, which means eight scallop starters to cook from scratch.

One, two, three, four, five...

I don't want to overcook these.

I just want to caramelise them.

They won't be caramelised if you're turning them. Leave them alone!

And by opting for communal dining, he's got to get all ten dishes out

good and hot all at the same time, and that's not his only worry.

I think the scallops could've been a bit bigger but, you know, that's what I could get.

I feel a bit of a fraud serving up sort of miniscule plates, but that's the way it is.

Yes, but these are only starters, Dave.

An army may march on its stomach,

but civilians tend to leave room for dessert.

Nevertheless, with practised military precision, he plates up,

and all ten starters are deployed to the dining room without a hitch

and without any help from his absent neighbour.

Things might've gone a little smoother in preparation had he been

here, and would've allowed Lynn, my other helper, to get on and do other

things, but unfortunately she's had to help out in the kitchen,

so we've just sort of been slightly behind.

Oh, dear me. Anyway...

Anyway, yeah. What have you got in there...gin?

I wish.

Don't drown your sorrows just yet.

The diners look happy enough.

So how's the butternut squash soup going down?

It was nice but it was a bit too thick and filling for a starter, to be honest.

You could've done that for the main course if you fancied it, like, yeah.

It's very thick, a bit like a curry with no meat in it, basically. It's nice, though.

Let's hope there's more success with the scallops.

Really, really good. Really tasty.

The scallops are cooked to perfection. It's lovely. Very nice.

Absolutely fantastic.

Really, really nice, yeah. I think everything about it was beautiful.

Any more that they've got that they want to bring out would be fine.

Well, all the plates have come back empty. One of the soup's, er...

-She said it was lovely.

-..maybe she's not a big eater. Hey!

I wouldn't worry, Dave. With eight diners choosing scallops, you could be quids in on the starters.

Will Jane fare as well?

She's hoping to tempt her diners with spicy salmon fishcakes

with tomato salsa served on a bed of dressed leaves,

or goat's cheese souffles in filo pastry

with caramelised onion marmalade and balsamic dressing on mixed leaves.

You can't go wrong with fishcakes.

I'm spicing mine up a bit, and the souffles I've done many a time and they're always a winner.

These look fantastic, certainly something I'd order in a restaurant.

I think I've got a bit of competition here.

Let's see, shall we?

And after we've done all that, we should be, er...

not too many more things to do.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-Crack on.

Our tiny dynamo had her team hard at it all day.

Going to start cracking the whip now.

They prepared both starters hours before the diners arrived.

I'm making the roux for the goat's cheese souffle, so I'm just melting the butter,

then I'll add the plain flour,

cook off the flour. There's nothing worse than undercooked flour. It tastes awful.

Catherine, could you just pour this in gradually for me?

Catherine was put in charge of the goat's cheese souffles,

closely monitored by Jane.

And once her roux passed muster, egg yolks, chives, goat's cheese and

egg whites were added to the mixture and then popped into the oven.

Just remember to put a bit more goat's cheese on top.

Once the souffles cooled, Catherine was back in action making the parcels...

a square of filo, then the souffle and some extra cheese for luck,

with every move carefully watched by Jane.

Don't forget the cheese or you'll be in trouble, Catherine!

So, with the souffles ready to just pop in the oven later,

Jane delegates more tasks to Catherine.

-If we try and do half of the fishcakes each go...

-Yeah.

-Take it away, Catherine.

-Yeah.

Do you want me to put half in here?

The spicy fishcakes are a combination of salmon, potatoes, spring onions, cheese and spices.

The consistency needs to be just right...

not too wet and with just the right amount of fish.

If you cut them out, put them through the flour,

through the breadcrumbs, keeping the shape because they are quite soft,

and then onto the baking tray, and then we can fry them.

Perfect! That's the worst bit there.

-You've got it all on your fingers!

-Yeah!

So while Jane rules the roost, her helpers get their hands dirty.

I like her style!

Having got someone else to prepare her starters in advance, all she needs to do is pop them

in the oven as orders come in, but worrying seems to be a big part of Jane's job.

Just... not stressed but, yeah, getting a bit.

Not very stressed, just slightly stressed.

I want the starters to go out.

Right, table four... their order.

Let's concentrate on the starters now.

-Three ordered first so we need to get theirs out first.

-Right.

With just two souffles, those eight spicy fishcakes really need to do the business.

They're not that spicy but they've a bit of Cajun spice

which has got loads of different blends, you know.

It's quite nice. A bit of smoked paprika.

So it's not mega spicy.

Well, as long as it didn't say "mega spicy fishcakes"

on the menu, you should be fine.

-Can you open the door, please?

-Yes, of course. One fishcakes, one goat's cheese.

OK. Ooh! Whoops!

Bit of nerves and some butter-fingers.

Oh, well, never mind. Knock it back into shape

and hopefully no-one will be any the wiser. I won't tell.

-Fishcakes spicy enough, sir?

-How is everything with your starters?

-It's a bit sloppy.

-Right, OK.

This is beautiful.

-This is beautiful.

-It's not horrible.

OK. No, no, that's good.

Not horrible? Hardly a ringing endorsement.

I had the fishcake.

I thought it was a bit wet, not firm enough, and too much potato rather than fish.

And now Paul's got to break the news to the boss.

Right, the texture that he'd like... maybe felt the pieces a bit too much.

OK, we're bound to get a few criticisms, aren't we?

That's the spirit, Jane, but what do the other diners really think behind closed doors?

For my starter, I had the spicy salmon fishcakes.

Again, I thought it wasn't spicy, but maybe that's because I

like really strong-tasting food, and it was slightly, for me, on the...

I mean, bland may be a bit harsh but

the flavours I thought could've been a little bit stronger.

So a touch more spice wouldn't have gone amiss.

Will the souffle reviews be as deflating?

I thought it was excellent.

It was very light, the filo pastry was just fine. It was beautiful.

It was really light and the sweetness of the onions was really nice with it.

-It was a really good start.

-Well, they certainly rose to the occasion.

-What a shame only two diners ordered them.

-Empty plates!

Well, clean plates are a pretty good sign at most restaurants,

but Jane's wet, bland fishcakes weren't to everyone's taste,

and Dave was so lucky that only two of his diners chose his curried butternut squash soup.

So what's on his menu for main courses?

He's hoping to wow his diners with pan-fried duck breast on a bed of

wilted spinach with smoked aubergine puree and a red-wine reduction.

Or salmon en croute

with a champagne, cream and chive sauce served with crushed potatoes.

I want to cater for fish and meat lovers alike.

These two dishes have absolutely gone down brilliantly in the past.

I like the sound of both the main courses

but, to me, the salmon en croute does sound a bit dated.

Ooh, don't hold back, Jane!

Dave started preparing his main course at lunch-time.

To accompany his duck, he's gone for an unusual smoked aubergine puree.

What I'm going to do now is smoke the aubergines in this pan.

I've got Earl Grey tea leaves and all I'm going to do is put the aubergine, after

having cooked it for 30, 35 minutes, into the pan and the flavour of the tea will infuse into the aubergine.

Mmm, smoking aubergine in tea? That's a new one on me.

A quick blend, and hey presto, a smoky, tea-infused auberginey puree is born.

I wonder where he gets his inspiration from.

I've seen smoked with wood chips more than anything else before,

and although there's a smoky flavour,

I don't think it adds a massive intensity so I felt...

add a bit more flavour to it and just do something that way.

His other main is a salmon en croute.

You know, the one Jane thinks is dated.

But Dave obviously doesn't because he's blown 65 quid on it,

about a third of his total spend.

This main course is rather an expensive course.

The salmon is rather a nice piece of fish and it was a bit

of a gamble, but I think the actual course will have the wow factor that

-it deserves.

-Well, we'll soon see.

Once the salmon is flattened, spinach, sole fillet and tiger prawns are piled on before rolling.

Right, now we're going to finish the salmon en croute off, and it's a case of taking

the cling film off it and then just wrapping it in the pastry.

I'm using bought pastry because it is so much easier

and they do such a wonderful job of making it.

I wonder if the diners will notice.

And of course they're all going to love this and want the recipe.

With Dave's other helper a no-show, Lynn is split between

the diners and the kitchen, so main course service could be tough.

Right, we're now going to plate up with the main.

That pastry looks and sounds a bit dry,

and Dave's clearly continuing his theme of "size matters"

with two big slabs being carved up for each of the four diners.

The pastry's a bit... could've been better, but

I'm pleased with how it is so it'll be absolutely fine.

Glad to hear you're pleased, but will your diners be as tickled pink?

-Talking of which, there are six duck breasts to cook to order.

-Look at the size of them duckies!

I'm cooking them how I want. They're going to be about medium

to well done, so they'll just be slightly pink in the middle,

nice and crispy on the outside,

and everybody should enjoy them the way they are.

Pretty confident about them being cooked properly and how people will like them.

Mmm! So they're not going to be cooked to order,

just the way Dave likes them. It's a novel approach.

Oh, is that duck medium-rare, Dave?

Looks like it could still quack to me.

I'm just trying to get this cut, let it rest.

The salmon's on the plate, just waiting for the aubergine puree to warm up and then we'll be away.

But I have made one mistake.

I've forgotten the spinach and I haven't got time to do it now,

so it'll have to go out without.

Yes, but it was on the menu and it doesn't take that long to wilt spinach.

Seems like Dave's military precision is starting to desert him

and, if he keeps his diners waiting much longer, they might be next.

I'd probably say we were waiting for about 45 minutes.

I think if I was in a restaurant, I might've said something at that point.

That means I think we're running a little bit behind.

-Don't panic!

-I'm not panicking. I'm just waiting for you to shimmy it.

I'm shimmying it. Duck's about to go on.

Yeah, come on, Dave, shimmy it!

Your spinach may not have wilted but your guests are showing signs.

I just get a little bit peeved that you tend to forget something, but unfortunately

that's the way it is, and there's not a lot I can do about it.

Just go with it and do the best you can.

It's a household kitchen and not a restaurant.

It might be a bit late in the day to be worrying about that, but at least your guests have now been fed.

So pink duck on a bed of fresh air with aubergine smoked with tea...

what's the verdict?

For my main course, I had the duck and that was

supposed to be on a bed of spinach which I couldn't find, unfortunately.

That must've been hidden somewhere.

The aubergine puree, smoked, wasn't my favourite,

and the meat, whilst very tender, um...

a bit cold to be truthful. A bit cold.

To my taste, it was a little bit undercooked.

Duck breast is quite fatty but it was a bit too fatty for me,

and it was only just cooked in the middle. Eugh!

The smoky aubergine had got into the duck, really,

so that was quite smoky as well.

Too smoky to eat. Sorry!

The aubergine puree was a bit smoky for me, a bit like a cigarette stub.

A cigarette stub?! Oh, no!

-Maybe that pricey salmon en croute will land more compliments.

-It's absolutely delicious.

There's possibly too much of it so I may struggle to finish, but it's absolutely lovely.

There's a lot of it, too much. I think we could've done just with the one.

It's a bit much. It was nice.

The salmon's a little bit chewy, I have to say.

I could eat it again, but obviously just the one.

Too big and a bit chewy.

Oh, that could cost him.

But Dave's still fretting about that forgotten spinach.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll be forgiven for the oversight of the green stuff on the plate.

Nobody likes green stuff anyway, do they?

I think that could be the least of your worries, Dave.

Over at Jane's, she's still on those heels.

I'm in pain just watching her!

For her main, she's serving ostrich fan fillet

with a red-wine jus, crushed pepper and a juniper berry crust,

served with potato fondant, sauteed cabbage and wilted spinach -

hope she doesn't forget hers! -

and a root-vegetable infusion of carrot, swede and peas.

Or pan-roasted pheasant wrapped in bacon, a mash duo, thyme and

cider sauce, caramelised shallots, parsnip crisps and green beans.

For mains, I'm showing off a bit.

I'm going to do ostrich, which obviously is quite unusual but

I'm sure, when people try it, they will love it cos it is delicious,

and if it's too adventurous for them, then they can always try my locally shot pheasant.

I'd like to go to her restaurant!

But it is all meat at the end of the day so there's no real choice for non meat eaters.

Mmm, it might be a bit of a gamble,

and this time it's Paul who's landed with the dirty work.

Jane only uses the freshest ingredients,

and you can't get much fresher...

than just shot out of the sky.

What we want to use today is just the breast so, to save us

a lot of time so we don't need to pluck the bird,

I'm just going to push the wings out to start with...

Paul's been given the grisly task of de-breasting the pheasant.

I guess his dentistry skills should come in handy.

Looking to make just a little incision...

..and there we have

nice pheasant breast. That's probably from where it was shot

yesterday, so we'll be careful when we're cooking it, check there's no shot in that bit.

Still, if someone cracks a tooth, at least there'll be a dentist in the house.

-The pheasant is wrapped with bacon and thyme.

-The bacon adds another flavour cos I was very...

The pheasant was only shot yesterday.

We don't like gamey things, do we, Paul?

Not all people have tried it, but if you wrap it in bacon, it

gives that sweetness and crispness, and it's a very familiar flavour.

So, also then when they taste the pheasant with it, I think it just makes it nicer.

It's then fried in garlic and thyme before baking to order

but, at just a day old, will it be too bland?

I know it's a bit unusual, my menu,

but once you taste it, it's not too bad!

With ostrich or pheasant, meat or meat, there's not much room

for the faint heart, so let's hope her diners are confirmed carnivores.

This is the fan fillet from the ostrich, so just around the wing.

Just going to season them now

with some salt.

We've got crushed black peppercorns and juniper berries.

Once coated, the low-fat ostrich steaks are sealed and put to one side until service.

I know these two dishes are good. They're going to be different.

I wanted to be different just a bit, so I'm

a little nervous but confident once they try it they will love it.

So orders are in and Jane, our high-heeled cooking machine,

is poised for action and,

unlike Dave, she's checked how her diners want their meat cooked.

So I was hoping they'd all want them the same, but it's no problem.

We're allowing a few minutes in between. Um...

I think in about a minute's time we'll be putting the medium-rare in.

-Was it medium-rare and?

-Medium.

Now there's the pheasant to cook.

Six pheasants, and I'm

going to do one for good luck just in case anything goes wrong!

Timings are going to be crucial.

-Let me know when you want me to start heating them.

-I'd start them now.

-Just under well done.

-Yeah.

I'd do higher setting for four minutes.

-Do you want me to do the swede mash as well?

-All the tables are cleared.

-Is the medium ostrich there?

No. I've lost my ostrich!

-But she's taking it all in her stride.

-Five on that so two more for the onions.

I want some butter and plain flour mixed together, please, equal quantities of each. Not too much.

-Four minutes on 900, please.

-Would you like some butter in the mashed potatoes?

-Yes, please.

What should be heating in here now?

-Potatoes.

-Is that on high?

-Yeah.

Get those covered again so they don't burn. That needs more cling film and it needs to go back in.

Yeah, could you stir it round?

Blimey, there's no doubting who's the boss.

Medium. Nearly rare. These need a couple of minutes.

Don't get the plates out yet. These need a couple of minutes to rest.

Could you put foil over those, please?

I don't want to start serving anything that you're not confident is hot enough.

-Yeah, we checked them all.

-Yeah.

-Can I have two plates, please?

-Yeah.

But when it comes to plating up, Jane suddenly shows her softer side.

When people are eating, you want them to have a nice experience,

and I don't know what they're going to think of this when it goes out.

They might think it's a pile of rubbish.

I hope they don't, but I don't feel as confident as I did

a few hours ago because, suddenly, the pressure's on.

You've got to get it out and you're just getting it out,

you know, whether it's perfect or not, and it's just going out.

And I hope it is, but...

One of each, well done.

-That's the ostrich.

-Thank you.

And, after more than 13 hours of crippling stiletto chic,

Jane finally comes back down to earth.

That's got to be some sort of chef in heels record.

My feet hurt!

Quarter past eight. That's not bad going, is it?

-Anyone vomiting?

-No, everyone's smiling and seems happy.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Look at the mess!

-I know.

I hope the pheasant hasn't given anyone lead poisoning.

Very good.

It's lovely.

I've never tried pheasant before, but in my opinion it was a bit fatty.

I think I chose the wrong thing.

If I were to have it again, I think I'd go for the ostrich next time.

It was more like steak.

The presentation was absolutely spot on, you know, as a top-class restaurant would present their food.

Different colours, different flavours, it was hot, and I really enjoyed it, yeah.

Yeah, I got the pheasant for my main course. It's not that

it wasn't... you know. I mean, I think it's personal

preference, the taste, and it just wasn't really for me but, yeah, the presentation of it was nice.

It's just not my cup of tea.

So mixed reactions for the pheasant.

Maybe the ostrich will pass with flying colours.

Mm, it's quite nice. I've never had ostrich before at all.

Um... for a funny-looking bird that you normally see on safari and things, it was actually...

It surprised me. It was quite nice.

I've never had it before either, so I think

I'll be ordering it again next time I go out. It's very nice.

I'm really relieved that I've got the mains out cos that is so stressful.

I'm absolutely... Any chef that does this for a living, I'm impressed, because it's so intense.

Yeah, empty plates!

Don't tell me she's back in those heels again!

That wasn't too bad.

So both of Jane's birds

went down pretty well in the end, even though

one of her diners thought the ostrich should still be wandering around a game reserve in Africa.

And Dave's struggling valiantly on, even though he's one man down

in the kitchen and he forgot to put on the green stuff.

So now it's down to the grand finale - desserts,

and Dave's serving ginger meringues with balsamic strawberries

or poached pears with rich chocolate sauce and amaretto cream.

This is a choice of rich or light,

the rich being the pear and chocolate, the light being

the combination of ginger,

balsamic and strawberry which is surprisingly good.

To me, balsamic vinegar should go with salad, not strawberries,

and I'm sure the poached pears with chocolate sauce is delicious,

but chocolate just doesn't rock my boat, I'm afraid.

Well, luckily it's not YOUR boat that needs rocking, Jane.

Dave's chosen pretty simple desserts that he prepared just a few hours before the diners arrived.

What I'm doing now is I'm preparing the pears for one

of the desserts which is a white-wine soaked pear.

His poached pears are peeled and infused with white wine, sugar and cinnamon.

I'm going to cook these off for about 40 minutes so that the

pears actually take on the flavour of the juice that's in there.

To perfect his second dessert, the ginger meringues,

he's practised them until they were perfect.

Hopefully the meringues are going to be crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside.

Egg whites are whizzed up in a dry bowl

before adding the sugar and ginger.

OK, for the ginger now.

Not too much, otherwise it'll be overpowering, but you just want that hint of ginger.

With meringues, it's not only the taste but it's also that all-important texture.

Meringues can be a dessert that you either love or hate, and I think to love it

you've got to have something that's slightly different about it, and

keeping the centre nice and chewy and marshmallowy is just right.

After their long wait for their mains, the diners won't want to hang around for their puds.

All Dave has to do are a few final flourishes.

There's the amaretto cream to complement his poached pears, and then the chocolate hit.

And this is just simply dark chocolate, melted.

And they're good to go.

On to the meringues. A dollop of fromage frais

sweetened with icing sugar, and those balsamic strawberries.

This is balsamic vinegar sweetened off with sugar, and strawberries just warmed through,

and these are now just going to sit on top of the meringue, and we'll be good to go for dessert.

And while Jane thinks balsamic is for salads not strawberries, Dave thinks he's onto a winner.

It's something we've had before.

When you think of it, balsamic's very strong and you just wouldn't imagine it would go together,

but actually it works very well together, and with the hint of ginger in the meringues as well,

it actually cuts through and makes it all very edible.

Now Dave's on the final furlong, it seems things are back on track

in the kitchen, and with the desserts safely dispatched,

he thinks it's time for an early celebration.

Could do with a stiff drink!

No, it's only sparkling mineral water.

Maybe you should wait for some feedback before you hit

the hard stuff, starting with a word about those chocolaty pears.

Delicious. Really good. Yeah.

That's all I can say. They're really good!

Really, really nice. I could actually eat it again.

I was tempted to lick the bowl, it was that nice!

They were absolutely beautiful. Really nice.

Couldn't quite eat them again, but had to stop my other half

from licking his plate, just cos we're out in public!

Absolutely fantastic. Really nice.

So will the meringues give diners the same urge to lick their bowls?

Very nice.

Interesting mix of flavours and the meringue was perfect.

Hard on the outside and soft on the inside like it should be. Very good.

After disappointing mains, Dave's desserts have really hit the spot.

Can Jane come up trumps too?

She's serving sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce

and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Or towers of hazelnut pavlova

with poached peaches, mango, mint and a passion fruit coulis.

I make the best-ever sticky toffee pudding, put it together with

the vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce

and it doesn't get any better than that.

I also think that hazelnut pavlova is so underrated,

but when you try it, it's absolutely delicious.

Sticky toffee pudding?

Isn't that a bit heavy? Hazelnut pavlova?

That's a posh meringue!

Jane's self-proclaimed best-ever sticky toffee pudding

is a rich mixture of butter, sugar, eggs, flour,

vanilla essence and juicy dates.

The minute you put your dates in with the water,

it goes quite sloppy.

The mixture is spooned into ramekins and baked,

and Jane has a plan on making service easy.

When they're cool, I'll just wrap them in cling film, and then literally,

whoever orders them, it will take minutes cos this

is literally ready to go then, so it's quite an easy dessert

that you can prepare in advance and then use,

get ready very quickly.

Reheating in the microwave might make these puds dry,

but she's got a sticky toffee sauce to moisten things up...

a concoction of sugar, butter and cream.

It sounds mighty rich. Hopefully her diners will pay accordingly.

It's a big lump of butter so it's a really healthy...

-very healthy, this dessert!

-Oh, yeah, of course it is!

For her pavlova, she needed to make mini meringues.

Sugar, cornflour, white wine vinegar and hazelnuts were added to stiffened egg white.

But with three meringues per fruity tower,

someone's got his work cut out.

Like that?

Mm, they're perfect. Yeah, if you keep them like that, that'll be absolutely fine.

As Jane had her desserts and pretty much everything else prepped earlier in the day,

service has ended up being about as pain-free as possible,

but...cracking open some celebratory bubbly might be a little premature.

I deserve a glass of pink. Cheers.

The diners haven't tasted their puds yet.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Table one would like two sticky toffees and one coffee.

So that's two pavlovas, eight sticky toffee puddings,

so we made 33 pavlovas and all we need are six!

-Yeah.

-Great!

If only we'd known, Paul, we could've had like a rest this afternoon.

Looks like we're having a pavlova party now!

A pavlova party? Ooh, invite me!

I think I've got enough passion fruit.

Jane hollows out the passion fruit into a bowl.

The towers of hazelnut meringues are held together with cream infused

with vanilla, and filled with poached peach and chopped mango.

The finishing touch is a passion fruit coulis.

I wonder what the diners will make of it.

-Do you want this sifted on?

-Could you sprinkle some icing sugar, please?

The sticky toffee puddings are blasted in the microwave

and finished off with a super-sweet toffee sauce

-and homemade vanilla ice cream.

-OK.

I really hope they enjoy my homemade ice cream.

-And Jane decides to deliver these personally.

-Thank you.

It's a pleasure. I hope you've all enjoyed your meal. Dare I come in?

JANE LAUGHS

-I'm really scared!

-Thank you very much.

Have you enjoyed it? Well, it's been quite an experience in there, I can tell you!

-I don't think I'll repeat it.

-Clean plates were coming back in.

Yeah. There are a few that weren't quite clean.

I was having a crisis then!

-Anyway, enjoy your desserts.

-Thank you.

So, with Jane and her team retreating to the kitchen, the diners are left to tuck in.

Is that sticky toffee pudding one rich dish too much?

I liked it, it was very tasty, but I just found the sauce too sweet

and it got the back of my throat, to be honest. It was nice, just slightly heavy.

It was really lovely. You could tell it was homemade and everything.

I could do with a few cooking tips from Jane, I think, for my puddings. But, yeah, it was lovely.

Praise indeed, but will the pavlovas keep her diners sweet?

One guest's wondering just what's on her plate.

Mould and frog spawn? Yeah, I can see what they mean, but get it down you, girl.

You might be pleasantly surprised.

It tastes lovely. When it first came, I thought the little...

I think it was passion fruit seeds.

I thought it looked a little bit like mould on the plate!

But it was actually the nicest tasting thing on there.

It was very pleasant in the end. But, no, I'm impressed. Good.

I enjoyed my pavlova.

Just enough, very tasty, and I could taste the hazelnuts

and it was everything I hoped it would be.

And presentation as well, Thank you.

All in all, a pretty good round-off to the evening.

So have Dave and Jane done enough to make a profit?

Their fate is now entirely in their diners' hands.

It's up to the guests to decide how much or how little they want to pay for their evening.

Dave spent £158 on his restaurant,

so his diners must fork out £16 a head if he's to edge into profit.

-I would do it again. Would you?

-No.

-Right.

-Not without another helper.

I'll get somebody else to do it.

So how did his diners rate his efforts?

The only down point from the evening was the main meal.

The starter and the pudding and everything else was great.

The main course was a little bit...

iffy, really. Not quite cooked to my taste.

I think all the courses were really nice.

The main was nice and the starter was fantastic. I think the pudding was really good as well.

I think I've done very well, actually.

I don't like to blow my own trumpet but, you know,

It went very well and they seemed very pleased, so yeah, I think it's gone reasonably well.

Jane spent £12 less and needs

to take around £15 a head if she's to have a sniff of a profit.

Thank you, bye-bye.

Pleasure. Get the wine out! Yay!

You know, we actually got a booking for Christmas, so we must've done something right, mustn't we?

-We're not taking it, though, are we?

-Definitely not!

Did she make the grade?

I thought the starter let her down slightly, but overall I enjoyed the evening.

I thought it was above average for a restaurant.

Really enjoyed it and she was an excellent chef.

-Good night, thanks very much.

-Thanks a lot. Bye. Thank you.

I'm hoping that we will, at the end of it, actually make even if it's just a slight profit.

Just a bit of profit.

-We'll be happy with that, won't we?

-Yeah, definitely.

-We will be.

Hooray! You did it.

You got to the end and people ate, but did you enjoy it?

-Very much so, yeah.

-Did you? What was the best bit?

I think the whole. It was absolutely fantastic from start to finish.

Now, your puddings were a real hit.

The meringue was what everybody wanted the recipe for, but meringue's very easy so,

-you know...

-For an ex-military man, you were incredibly laidback.

It takes a bit to get me flustered.

And Jane, from woman to woman,

my admiration for your stunning shoes, but also that you can cook in them!

-I have to be in bare feet when I cook.

-I wouldn't be able to see cos I'm so small

and the worktops are too high and my cupboards are too high, so it solves the problem and I look good!

What was the highlight of the evening for you?

I was really nervous cos I'm a bit of a show-off and I did ostrich,

and I thought, "If no-one has the ostrich, what am I going to do?"

Ostrich soup, ostrich pie!

Yeah, Vince and the dog would've been getting a lot of ostrich.

-Right, I'm sure that you'd both like to know if you made any money at all.

-Yeah.

Dave, you spent £158

and your diners donated £213.

-Wow.

-Pretty good.

And your profit was 55.

That's because you spent rather a lot.

There you go. That's your cash.

-Thank you.

-Give half to your wife. She worked very hard.

No.

And, Jane, you spent £146

and your diners' donations came to £226,

-so you made a profit of 80 quid.

-Wow!

-I didn't expect that!

-Didn't you?

-No!

-It's great. It's great.

I am amazed. At the start of the day, I was like,

"They'll all be paying £40 a head."

As the day went on, I thought, "God, if I just break even!"

-If they just each leave a fiver, I'll be fine.

-Yeah!

Listen, guys, you both did brilliantly, so thank you.

And thank you for watching.

I'll see you next time on Instant Restaurant.

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