It was three gruellingly long days for competitors featuring in a Nottinghamshire episode of Come Dine With Me: The Professionals today (Wednesday July 20). The Red Lion in Thurgarton, Paris in Nottingham city centre, and The Plough in Normanton-on-the-Wolds can be seen in the Channel 4 TV series, battling to show they have the winning food and hosting skills.
Viewers will tune into a 60-minute episode but one of the restaurant owners taking part said hours and hours of footage is shot. Antony Crossman, co-owner of Paris, in High Pavement, said: "It was a hellish filming schedule. On our day of filming the taxi picked me up from home at 6.45am and I didn't get home until 1.30am. That's how long the days are. They do warn you in fairness.
"On the day of filming, even though I've never cooked a thing in my life they insisted that the owner is there with the chef, all day, for every single piece of filming in the kitchen. I think I chopped one thing for about ten seconds but I had to be in every single shot they might use. "
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Antony, whose nephew James is the executive chef and fellow owner, said: "James is a genius, I hope that will show through. They filmed him preparing every single bit relating to the meal right the way through to starting service at 6pm. I reckon they will probably show one-and-half to two minutes of kitchen filming. Every single carrot being cut was shot."
Previous episodes make it appear restaurants are open for business when filming takes place. But Antony revealed: "They said most people are choosing to close for the night and just have a few friends and family in the background.
"I said 'no I want it to be authentic' so to my knowledge we're one of the very few that's done it with an operating restaurant. It meant James was cooking in the kitchen where other chefs were preparing covers coming through on the ordering system which added a little bit more tension."
One of the golden rules was not to mark down food if it was served cold - this is because of last-minute filming in the kitchen. "They're taking five minutes in the kitchen to take some shots of the food when it would normally be in front of you ready to eat. That something they made clear to everyone at the beginning," said Antony.
"When the food is placed in front of you the director will say 'we'll just take some close-ups' and then they might say 'take a mouthful and just pause as you put it into your mouth'. Or 'can we just take that shot again?'
"If you said something funny but not everyone was laughing how they wanted it to sound they would do false laughter. They'd say 'that was great but on three can we all just laugh again?' There are lots and lots of takes. We served our first course about 6pm, and were serving our dessert at 11pm."
Competitors aren't told what to say but the director gives helpful hints when it comes to conversation. "At the table they are forever giving you little one liners - how about asking this or having a discussion about this? Whatever you say, they will cut and say 'maybe leave this out and did you mean to say that?' They might say 'that's great but will you make it shorter?' if you're using 100 words and they want 20."
On the days their rivals were cooking, the other contestants had to film the menu reveal during the morning. In James and Antony's case it took place at a Nottingham hotel. It was then back home for a hour or so before they were picked up again and taken to the that night's venue.
"We were picked up again at 2pm, where they stage your arrival at the venue and film you walking through the door. They then keep you separate for an hour until you have a drink and meet everybody. Then there's a lot of waiting around for that first course to come out. Even on those nights I didn't get home till 1.30am."
Another rule was not to trash anyone's business behind their backs. "They said these are people's livelihoods so unlike in the usual series (of individuals and couples) where they can say what they like behind the scenes after saying at the table 'that was very nice' and then in the bedroom they say ' it was awful' you can't do that. If you wanted to criticise you had to do it to the chef's face at the table.
"When you came to mark in secret at the end of the night you couldn't use any criticism you hadn't said at the table to back up a low score. Filming the score can take half an hour believe it or not as they are asking questions about how you found the meal. They are giving themselves loads of footage that they may or may not use."
Despite the long days Antony said: "I wouldn't take anything back. The crew were amazing really. It's amazing to see the intricacies of what goes into making a TV programme. It was quite enjoyable at the end of it all." Find out who emerges the winner at 5pm on Channel 4.
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