One Nottinghamshire chef has fallen at the first hurdle of the Great British Menu, but the other is sitting joint top of the scoring charts after the first episode.
The 17th series of the popular cooking show started on Tuesday (February 1) night, where the winner of the whole series gets to serve their menu at a prestigious banquet.
It kicked off with the Central region heats, featuring four incredibly talented chefs, two of which have roots in Nottinghamshire.
Sally Abé, from Mansfield, is currently chef consultant at The Pem, her new restaurant in London, and Harvey Perttola, from Nottingham, is head chef at fine dining Restaurant Six, at Trent Bridge.
He used to run Hill 101 but since filming has moved to the West Bridgford restaurant.
They competed against Liam Dillon, having the only three AA rosette restaurant in his home town of Lichfield, and Ben Orpwood, the executive head chef of Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat in London.
And after serving canape, starter and fish courses, judged by Aktar Islam who has the only Michelin star Indian restaurant outside London, Harvey had the lowest score.
Harvey's starter earned a score of six, and his fish course was given a seven, a total of 13.
That means he does not progress to serve his main course and dessert, which will be shown during Wednesday's (February 2) episode.
However Sally's starter was given an eight, and so was her fish dish, meaning she is joint top with Ben on 16, with Liam two points behind them both on 14.
Canapes are only taken into account in the event of a tie break.
Harvey served a cheese and onion canape with cheese custard, and Sally served a tartlet of whipped chicken with elderberry and port jelly.
The theme of this series is 100 years since the BBC went wireless, with the first television broadcast 10 years later.
Harvey's starter was inspired by Peaky Blinders, and was called 'By Order of the Peaky Blinders'.
It consisted of a roasted veal sweetbread with smoked butter, smoked pomme puree, malt vinegar gel, leek in butter emulsion and a whisky and bacon jam with no onions.
Judging, Mr Islam said: "The bacon jam was too powerful, there was no smoke from the bacon, but the sweetbread was perfect."
Sally's was inspired by Dad's Army, specifically the episode 'When Did You Last See Your Money?'
She created her own sausages along with serving Wiltshire truffle, bubble and squeak and other pickled elements, which was presented inside a bed of five pound notes.
Mr Islam said: "I loved the presentation, and the sausage texture was perfect, but I wanted more chicken leg going through it."
For her fish dish, Sally's effort was called 'Scolli Bolli Sweetie Darling', a nod to the show Absolutely Fabulous which she said on the show she "spent all my teenage years watching".
It comprised of scallops in a Bollinger sauce, with a garnish featuring a take on veronique, a white wine sauce with grapes, butter garlic, fennel and celery.
Mr Islam said: "It was a good link to the brief - the champagne sauce had a good flavour, and the celery had a good texture; the scallops were cooked well, but time could have been used to give them more of a rest."
Harvey's fish dish was called 'Monkfish Like Mobeen', inspired by the show 'Man Like Mobeen'.
It was a monkfish curry, with the dahl and onion bhajis from his mother's recipe on the side; the dahl included lentil spices, cumin, coriander and curry powder plus more.
It also featured cauliflower in coconut milk, tempura cauliflower and a coconut and lime leaf sauce.
Mr Islam said: "The monkfish was cooked well and the lentils tasted lovely, but during the pureeing process, some flavour was lost and it became grainy - the bhajis were perfect though, your mother would be proud."
The scores carry over in to tomorrow's show, where the winners will be judged by a panel.
The series continues on BBC Two at 8pm.
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