All language subtitles for My.Million.Pound.Menu.S01E03.Hollings.and.The.Cheese.Wheel.1080p.WEBRip.x264-CBFM

I'm Fred Sirieix.

I've worked in the restaurant
industry for 25 years.

Right now, the UK's restaurant scene
is the envy of the world,

and all it takes is one great idea

to make a fortune
on the high street...

..but has the next generation
of restaurants

got what it takes to become a
multi-million-pound business?

Over the next six weeks,
here in Manchester,

the food capital of the North,

12 of the most exciting new
restaurant ideas

are in with a chance of a
life-changing investment

from some of the UK's
most respected investors.

These are the men and women who can
turn an idea into a national brand.

We're looking at putting
a lot of money

into the absolute best concept.

This is the kind of model
that you dream of.

If I find the right operator
I'll be fighting for it.

Each week, the investors will give
the people behind two great new food

ideas a unique opportunity.

Ah, this is brilliant!

Their own pop-up restaurant.

Right, rock and roll, man.

They have just three
days to prove....

Nobody seems to know the table
numbers.

...they've got what it takes...

That's a disaster.

..to make it on the high street.

When you start to rush, that's when
you start to make more mistakes.

There is a big backlog
of customers at the door,

what are you going to do about it?

If I was to invest, it'll take half
a million to £750,000.

Time to make some dough.

After the three days,

will the investors walk back
into the restaurant...

HE SIGHS

..and make them an offer?

It's a £600,000 lunch.

We are not going to leave
without an investment.

I'm sorry, the time is up.

The doors are open for business.

Welcome to Million Pound Menu.

Today, two new restaurants arrive
in Manchester to open their doors

to the paying public
for the very first time.

Will they be able to secure an
investment,

or will they leave empty-handed?

And these are our lovely momos,
well worth the wait.

The men and women behind some of the
most successful businesses

on the high street...

We call it a hug in a box,
so we've created a hug in a box,

like comfort food.

..met to choose some of the best
new restaurant ideas

for a three-day trial run pop-up.

This is our signature
Libertine burger,

double-ground beef patty
and fried pickles.

There's an explosion of these
concepts, they're really successful.

They were looking for the two
entrepreneurs

with the strongest food, brand
and business plan.

I think this is a very good plan
that he's put together.

It ticks a lot of boxes
in terms of being on trend.

Then each investor had to decide

whether they liked the concept
enough to try it in Manchester.

James is a proper grafter,
so he leads from the front,

which is something that's very
important to me.

The first idea to
get the investors excited,

an experienced chef
and bartender duo,

who want to bring great food and
drink to commuter belt towns.

Hollings is a
neighbourhood restaurant

with Central London service
standards and produce,

pulled out to the commuter belts.

When I go back home to
Buckinghamshire,

James is out in Essex.

There's good takeaways,
there's good Indians and Chinese,

and good pubs, but the next level is
gone back to the quiet dining rooms

with the big chairs,
and it's stale and it's stagnant.

There is very much a gap there,

and we are the perfect people
to fill that.

Chef Ronnie and barman James
want £200,000

to set up their first Hollings.

Certainly, where I live now,
in Surrey,

you're bored of all
the good concepts being in London.

This is definitely a concept
that could scale to multiple sites.

Could you see ten Hollings?
Absolutely.

The bar and restaurant scene in
major cities is hypercompetitive.

That means that you need to generate
a very high level of profit

to make a return.

Actually, if you step away from that
market into suburban towns,

where your rents are lower,
it is a compelling strategy,

if you can get the offering right.

I obviously run three suburban
restaurants,

so I understand their passion,

where they're coming from, and I
understand the economics of it.

Hollings is a place
where people feel

that it's their
neighbourhood restaurant,

where they know the chef,
they know the front of the house,

and they can walk in there any time

to have a chat or have a drink.

You can definitely make money
like that

because people don't patronise
you just for a day,

they patronise you for their life,

because you become
part of their life.

I wouldn't be amazed if there will
be an arm wrestle

between me and Imbiba,
but let's see.

Guys, this is our signature
fettuccine Alfredo.

It's slathered
on a giant wheel of cheese,

it's going to blow your mind.

Next, an Italian idea with a twist,

fresh pasta finished off
on a 40kg cheese wheel.

We are making fresh pasta,

then slathering it in a massive
wheel of Grana Padano

to infuse the flavours.

South African-born Graham
is looking for £500,000 investment.

It's been a massive hit on
Instagram,

the videos have gone viral.

I think everyone has a secret
fetish for cheese.

Conceptually, it's very simple
to do, it's got a lot of theatre,

it really connects with millennials.

They don't have any Italian
experience, they're not Italian.

It doesn't matter. For me,
that matters, because I am Italian.

That key signature dish
is really strong.

Cheese, fresh pasta -
seriously, what's not to like?

The impact of the cheese wheel,

I think it's potentially
a great hook.

Every restaurant needs a unique
selling point,

something that differentiates it.

These guys have got a great idea,
great passion.

So, yeah, I'd like to see it.

Two ideas have been chosen.

The Cheese Wheel's hopes
rest on just one person,

but two investors could end up
fighting over Hollings.

Today, Manchester welcomes two new
restaurant hopefuls,

Cheese Wheel and Hollings.

The next three days

could well change their business
fortune forever.

The two ideas will take over
identical existing restaurant sites

100 yards apart.

This morning, Graham
and James and Ronnie

are about to see their new
restaurants for the first time.

It's good, actually,
it does look really good.

After you. Thank you.

Look at that.

Over the last month, they have been
working with a designer

to bring their restaurant to life.

That's great.
Looks banging, doesn't it?

That's really nice, actually.

James and Ronnie have worked

for some of the country's
best restaurants,

but this is their first time in
their own place.

We're super excited
to see, you know,

to see Hollings
actually become real.

The first diners sits down,
the first check comes through,

first martini goes to the table,
it exists then, that's exciting.

38-year-old Ronnie
has spent 20 years as a chef.

His current main project is running
a supper club

from his home in South London.

I've slow-cooked it, 140 degrees.
Pressed it.

I'm very fortunate that
I'm paid a living to do my hobby,

which is lovely.

My earliest memory is knocking
around on my grandma's floor,

with an old set of balance scales,

weighing up dry pasta and pretending
to cook with a spoon and stuff.

My mum was a cook for 29 years
in a school kitchen.

Yeah, it's sort of in the family.

28-year-old James is a rising bar
and cocktail star.

He met Ronnie when
they worked together

at an upmarket London restaurant.

I am sort of the beverage side,
and front of house side of Hollings.

I've been in hospitality
in London for about 11 years.

I think we make Hollings credible
for an investor.

Between the two of us, there's a
large wealth of experience.

Now, Ronnie and James are looking
for £200,000

to kick-start Hollings -

and the right person to back them.

I think an ideal investor for us

has got to be someone who's going to
fit our character.

We've got to like
what they've got on offer,

they've got to like what we've got
on offer, it's like a marriage.

If it doesn't feel right,
don't do it,

because it's going to end messy, and
it's going to end in a nasty divorce

and someone's going to lose
everything.

But equally, I think, it's
probably as important

that the 120 covers that we got
booked over the next three days

have a good time.

If we do that right, then the
investment will probably come.

Yeah, let's do it!

Opposite Hollings, Graham is also
about to see his restaurant

for the first time.

This looks awesome.

So cool.

CHANTS: Cheese Wheel! Cheese Wheel!

Unbelievable.
Look at the kitchen, whoa!

Get your pasta, fresh pasta!

35-year-old Graham had a cheese
wheel in Italy when on holiday,

then brought the idea
back to Camden Market in London.

Now he's serving hundreds
of dishes a day.

An average week,
looking about £8,000.

Our best sales, we're looking
at about 11 grand.

Pretty mega for a tiny little stall.

We've had customers online, on
Facebook, that actually have said,

"The Cheese Wheel is not just a
gimmick, we've gone and tried it.

"It's fresh-rolled pasta,
it's a convenience,

"it's something that there is not
enough of out there."

Now Graham wants £500,000
so that The Cheese Wheel

can take its share
of the 24 million visits

that were made to Britain's
Italian restaurants last year.

I've got a wife and two kids,

and I dream of giving them
a better future,

of building something for them
for the future, also.

Something I want to achieve
in my life, if possible,

that's what I'm aiming for.

Tomorrow, in just 24 hours,

the investors will be arriving
for a private lunch.

Right, rock and roll, man, let's go.

So, tonight, each restaurant
has just one practice run

to get their menu and service right.

Tonight, both restaurants open
to the paying public

for the first time.
It's their soft launch.

I've done so many in my time,
and believe me,

they never go according to plan -

but that's the point! Because they
must learn from tonight.

Tomorrow, there will be no room for
error when the investors arrive.

Hey, buddy.

Both restaurants have brought
their own teams

to help in the
kitchen and with front of house...

..and the man with the cheese wheel
is Graham's twin brother.

Johnny, you're doing
a sterling job, mate.

Buongiorno. How are you?

Oh, you're making pasta?
Oh, beautiful!

I love pasta! They are very good
quality, these pasta.

Thank you. Tell me about this cheese
wheel, because I'm really intrigued.

I mean, do you actually serve
all your pasta

in a Parmesan wheel like this?

So, what we do, we cook our
fettuccine Alfredo

nice and hot and put it on top,

and it infuses the flavours
from the wheel...

Really? ..and it makes a cheesy,
white wine, Alfredo-type of sauce.

How many wheels like this
do you go through a week?

We go through one every few days,
I'd say.

But it's not too
expensive to do that?

We make our mark-up on it.

Oh, really? Yeah. There's a lot of
dough in pasta, isn't there?

Yeah. Good, good, good, good!

Well, today, you'll have your first
service here.

I hope it goes well for you.
Thank you.

And enjoy it. Ciao.
Lovely to meet you, take care.

The Cheese Wheel's star dish
is fettuccine Alfredo.

Fresh pasta is cooked
in double cream,

then swirled hot on the wheel
to pick up melting cheese.

It's £6.50, with toppings like
sheep's milk cheese extra...

..but Graham's decided to add dishes
to his Manchester menu.

We've taken some risks,
we haven't played it safe.

I really wanted to show the
investors this isn't just a fad,

a one trick pony.

This can be developed
into something much more...

..beautiful.

Fresh pappardelle with lamb ragu
is £9.25,

and squid ink spaghetti with fresh
clams in a white wine sauce

is £10.25.

All right, boys. We've got bacon
sandwiches ready, yeah?

A bit of brekkie.

Most important, make sure everyone's
looked after. Happy, happy staff.

How are you, guys? Just in time for
a bacon sandwich.

Good. How are you?
I'm very well, thank you.

How are you? Nice to meet you.
Very good, thank you.

Nice to meet you, too.
So, what is Hollings, then?

Very good question! Absolutely.
HE LAUGHS

It's authentic sort of
British cuisine,

a bit of provenance,
quality service,

amazing drinks - but I suppose
the USP, or the hook,

is that we're going to sort of
pull it to commuter belts,

out of Central London.

Slightly more than a pub.

Slightly more affordable than
the sort of fine-dining restaurants.

Very good - and what about drinks?

You say fantastic drinks. Yeah.
What have you got?

We are not labour-intensive shaky,
shaky cocktails any more,

I think the world has moved on.

Just quality products and just
a really simple serve, really.

Good. All right.
Well, guys, have a good day,

and I'll see you later on.

See you later. Take care. Bye.

Right, Will,
let's do a little checklist.

Sweetcorn. Sweetcorn...
Yeah. Fritters...

On average, we now eat out 100 times
a year in the UK...

Tartare sauce, we need to mix. Yeah.

..and the long Hollings menu

is designed for familiarity
and repeat visits.

Sort out the seaweed...

Its 26 items include a crispy lamb
belly snack at £3.50,

rump of beef carpaccio at £7.25,

and Alfie's fish and chips, named
after one of Ronnie's proteges,

at £14.50...

..and James's drinks
are a big part of the offering.

Four of his Tiny Tinis,

miniature versions of
classic martinis, cost £10.

Ron, 6:30.

See you on the other side.
See you on the other side, mate.

In my own restaurant,
I love that feeling before service.

Everything must be ready.

The waiters must be standing
to attention,

and when the first customer
walks through the door...

Hello. How are you?

..the battle is on.

I was going to say,
have you been to Hollings before?

But I know you haven't. No!

Tonight's soft launch features
half-price food,

so both restaurants
are booked solid.

Table nine, yeah?

Fettuccine, pancetta, fettuccine,
pancetta. Thank you.

We're both going
to get the Alfredo. OK, yeah.

In The Cheese Wheel,

most of the customers want to try
the signature dish.

I'll order the fettuccine Alfredo.
Yeah.

Can I have the fettuccine Alfredo,
as well?

Yeah. I'm going to go
for the same. Yeah.

Fettuccine Alfredo with pancetta.

Fettuccine Alfredo with smoked pork.
It's all fettuccine tonight.

BELL RINGS

We've just come back from Rome and
the pasta there was, like, amazing -

but that measured up to it, as well.

Like, it was literally one of the
best pasta I've ever had.

Hi, guys. How are you?
Can I sit at the bar? Yeah.

Thank you. How are you?
How are you doing?

You all right? Very well, thank you.

Check on, guys. Fettuccine Alfredo.
Fettuccine Alfredo with pesto.

I like the menu. In fact, I love it.
I want to eat everything on it...

..but the thing is, there's only one
dish that's cooked using that wheel.

How is it going, Graham?

It's going very good, thank you.
How popular is the wheel tonight?

I'd say 80% of orders.

80%? Yeah. People come for the
cheese wheel experience, I think.

Thank you very much.

Oh! What flavour.

So well integrated. It's beautiful.

Now, if you'll excuse me...

Fettuccine straight in, Chef.

Fettuccine Alfredo, pancetta,
sauteed mushroom.

OK, two fettuccine ready to go.

Graham, thank you very much.
Thank you.

See you later. Two fettuccines
coming up right away.

They're done, ready to go.

We've got no more cream left.

OK. Well, that means Alfredo
is off the menu.

Yeah. Let's have a look.

What's going on? What's happened?

We've run out of white wine cream,

cos we've been so busy
with the fettuccine.

SHE SIGHS

Backs, backs, backs.

In Hollings...

Venison, mac'n'cheese.

No messing about. Straight in.

..the menu is proving popular...

So, two hummus, three carpaccio,
yeah? Yes, Chef.

BLEEP hell.

It's BLEEP hard. It needs to be
a lot easier than this.

..but 45 minutes into service,

no mains have left the kitchen.

How's everything going so far?

I know we haven't had anything
to eat yet.

It's on the way.
It's going to be worth the wait.

Your food is about seconds away,
I believe.

I mean, it's first day,
so it's always going to a bit ropey.

Give me a lemon wedge... Lemon?
Lemon wedges...

What we didn't have
time to do is go through the flow

and where everything works.

So we're running down
doing 15 miles' walking,

probably, that we don't need to.

How are you, guys?

Can I sit you at the bar,
is that all right? Just yourself?

Just me, yeah. Yeah, lovely.
Thank you.

How are you, Chef? Hold on, BLEEP
me. Chef? Sorry. How's it going?

Table three... What's that?
How's it going?

Oh, good. Thank you. Yeah...

Sorry, table three.
Mac, fish and chips.

That's the first main course out.

Quarter to eight, that's all right.
That's all right.

Your wine's here for you. Thank you.

There's a lovely
atmosphere here in Hollings.

I really like it. Behind the scenes,
though, it's manic.

Check on, one carpaccio,
one smoked salmon, one venison.

One chicken.
Will, you got truffle on this mac?

Yeah. So, give me two salmon now.

I'm going to do three carpaccio.

Hello, lovely people. How are
you doing? Very well, thank you.

BLEEP hell, do I have to do
everything?

Will, we're on starters next.

Sorry, Chef, coming up. Starters,
starters. So we double up here.

Two mac, two steak, one venison...
Yeah.

..and then we'll go that as well,
same time, yeah? Yes, Chef.

That's a little nibble, Fred, while
you're waiting. Thank you very much.

A little crispy lamb belly
and a sweetcorn fritter.

Right, jus, steaks, chips...

I'm just waiting for my main course,

but the chef is very kind and sent
me these little things to nibble on.

This is really good. Really class.

Hi, guys. Hiya.

Just to let you know, the fettuccine
that you've ordered,

we are out of the
cream white wine sauce.

OK. So it will be done with
a mushroom sauce.

With customers still ordering,

Graham has had to improvise
a new dish for The Cheese Wheel.

We've sold, like, I'd say 80 to 90%
fettuccine tonight.

Hiya, ladies.

I'm sure you've heard
about the problem

with the cream sauce
in the fettuccine.

Just apologise to the customers

and change the sauce to
our mushroom cream,

and just finish off the night
on a high note.

Let's try that one,
because we've got it, yeah?

Yes, Chef. I'm going to give
you a venison and a venison.

That's table two gone, yeah, Chef?

In Hollings, Ronnie and James have
got service back on track.

Hello, lovely people.

Chips coming up
for that steak right now.

My dad once told me that if you know
how to drive, you can drive any car.

Well, it's the same
for a restaurant.

It doesn't matter whether it's your
first night or not

or whether you
know the restaurant or not.

If you know how to do it, then you
know how to do it. These guys know.

How is everything? Worth the wait?

Oh, look at that bad boy.

The service was great.

The food was delicious.

Even, like, where we lived
in a small town, it would work.

Last check.

Done. Done.

Big day today. Yes, Chef.

It's only a few people,
but nonetheless,

possibly the most important
people of the week.

Got about an hour and a half
till service. No problem.

Last night's service put
both kitchens to the test.

Today, the investors expect
a lunch par excellence.

Their first impression of each
business

is all about the food on the plate.

They must get it right if they are
to stay in the game.

Over the next two days, the
investors will test the restaurants

on their service
and business plans -

but today's private lunch
is all about the food.

Ronnie's trying to treat it as just
another day at the office.

I think certainly once
you get in a kitchen,

it's a fantastic friendly
atmosphere.

It can be a little bit, you know,
hostile

during the middle of service,

but, you know, generally,
everyone wants you to do well

and everyone helps you out.

So I think that's
probably taught me a lot.

I think sometimes it has been a
little bit of a struggle,

having a disability.
I was a classic victim, you know.

I'm in the supermarket

and they say,
"Do you want to pack your bags?"

It's nothing to do with my arm,

it's cos they want
to pack your bags.

Five years ago I'd have gone,
"No, I'm all right,

"I can pack my own bags."

My parents were great
in bringing me up

and taught me to be very
independent.

So I think sometimes people are just
genuinely being nice

and you take it a little
bit the wrong way.

Morning. Morning. How are you, guys?
Very good, how are you?

Very good, thank you.
Are you ready for lunch?

Yeah. Good. You had a good
soft launch yesterday,

but today's all about the food.

The food has to be perfect.

Yeah. There's no room for error.

It's a little bit daunting,
but I've got belief in the brand,

belief in the product - and I think
the only thing we can do now

is do the job right,
and then if we walk away without it,

at least you can turn
round to yourself

and say you've done your best.

Can you make them fall in love
with Hollings?

Absolutely. Yeah. I hope so.
Well, good luck, guys.

Thank you. See you later.

Cheers. Right, rock and roll, man.

A little pick-me-up Negroni
before service. Nice!

That's the one, mate.

Hollings is hosting Darrel Connell
of Imbiba,

and partners Fraser Bradshaw
and Simon Wheeler.

They've invested over £50 million
in hospitality start-ups.

When we first saw Hollings,

the thing that really stood out
was the pedigree

and the quality of James and Ronnie.

Proven operators
who've been doing it for years,

who want to take that big leap
and go it alone.

We have no qualms about making an
investment

of between half a million and
£1 million initially in Hollings,

but with a view then to putting a
further £5 million into Hollings.

What I'm really looking forward
to seeing

is, have the guys got the
appetite for that?

Do they want to build Hollings
into a great British business?

Are these guys money-makers?

Imbiba face competition -

Michelin-starred restauranteur
Atul Kochhar,

who's looking to expand his UK
restaurant portfolio.

Finding new ideas is always exciting

because it kind of connects you
to the future, what's coming next.

I always look at ideas
in different ways.

It's just not whether the financial
sense is there or not,

but also whether we are working with
the right ethos or not,

all that is very important to me -
and people, their commitment.

Whether they are really
hard graft or not -

and if that's not going to work out,

then you might as well just don't
make the investment.

I'm quite excited about Hollings.

I'm pretty much sold on the idea
and I do hope that they fare well,

to be honest, because it's almost
like it's theirs to lose.

I know Atul's expressed an
interest in Hollings.

If we have to go head-to-head,
we have to go head-to-head.

After you.

Hello. Hello, hello.
How are you doing?

Welcome to Hollings. Darrel.
James. Nice to meet you.

Very nice to meet you. Hello there.
How are you doing? Fraser.

Fantastic. Want to take a seat?
Thanks very much. Thank you.

I'm sort of predominantly drinks
and to start with some Tiny Tinis,

little miniature versions
of sort of longer drinks.

There's your classic Negroni.

There's a little bergamot Bellini.

Then there's a Hepple gin martini.

That's a nice idea that, actually.

Canape drinks. Canape drinks, yeah.

Definitely, I think so.

On the menu today,
26 different items,

from smoked salmon to mac'n'cheese,
to apple pie and custard.

Gosh, there's quite...
Quite a lot, yeah.

..extensive menu, isn't there?

If you do a calculation across
Tiny Tinis and across your snacks

and starters and mains,
and including wine,

it ends up with a pretty strong
spend per head.

Yeah. A good £60.

Yeah, a good £60.

Gents, are we ready to order?

Yeah. This is one of the biggest
services of our lives.

The easiest way to put it is a half
a million pound service, isn't it?

We are going to have one of all of
the starters

and then just share it round.
So, one of every starter?

Yeah. And mains?

Let's have all six main courses.

Fantastic. They are going to have
one of each starter. Yeah.

And one of each main. Yeah.

And then just a selection of sides,
whatever you like.

So, the lot, yeah? Everything.
Let's do the lot.

Oui, Chef. Will.

Check on. Yes, Chef.

The whole menu. Yeah?

Get busy. Fantastic.

Looking good, Chef. Looking good.

In The Cheese Wheel,

Graham's making sure
everything is perfect

for today's make-or-break lunch.

A little bit nervous,
but definitely on track.

Graham's one shot at investment
is Jeremy Roberts,

CEO of Living Ventures.

He runs a string of over 40 bars
and restaurants.

I think the two main things from
a pure investment point of view

are customer acceptability -

Italian food has almost become
a default British food.

We all understand it.

Second thing is, the profitability
side of The Cheese Wheel offer

should be really positive.

Pasta isn't very expensive -

but if in The Cheese Wheel,
it's the only thing it's got,

then I would be slightly concerned,

so we need to see what
the breadth of the offer is.

Hello. Hello. Lovely to meet you.
My name's Graham.

Nice to meet you, Graham.
This is our famous cheese wheel.

I've heard a lot about it.
Come and have a look. Yeah.

So, this is our aged,
40 kilo Grana Padano wheel -

and our speciality in Camden Market

is actually making
a fettuccine Alfredo.

So, what do you recommend, Graham?

Our signature dish is something I'd
really like for you to try first.

Got to try that.

Before he can use
the cheese wheel each day...

So I need to stand back?

..it has to be sterilised
with brandy.

So, this is not integral
to the flavour of the dish...

No. ..in any way.

It's just a question of sanitising
the surface, yeah? Exactly.

Cool. Yeah, sure.

Just try it. Yes.

Happy? Yes. Nice bite, yeah?

Good?
I think you're going to like it!

THEY LAUGH

OK.

This is our fettuccine Alfredo. Yes.

This is where the magic happens.

That goes straight on there?
Yeah, so we...

Not going to...? ..poke it around.

Presumably you've burnt off all
the alcohol,

so they don't get any flavour? Yeah.

It certainly gets
the taste buds going. Yeah.

Try and do this elegantly.

HE LAUGHS

Thank you.

Yeah. It's just picking up the...
Some of the alcohol.

I was worried about that, because
we had a bit of a dip there.

Mm...but, yeah, OK.

A minute on the soup, Chef?

Perfect.

So, here you have the onion dish

and you also have the beef rump
carpaccio, as well.

Sounds good. Thank you.

He's looking at me funny,
cos I'm looking at him funny.

HE LAUGHS

Brilliantly prepared, isn't it?

Actually, I don't know
if I've got enough Parmesan.

It's absolutely delicious.
Absolutely delicious.

There's smiles and empty plates
and empty glasses.

I hope they're in for the marathon,
because there's a lot to go

if they're going to have one of
everything. There's a lot to go!

HE LAUGHS

Beautifully balanced.

Every element speaks for itself.

Chicken burger.

Not just any chicken burger.

A Hollings chicken burger.

How's the food so far? All right?

Very, very, very good. Just so
broad and varied. Yeah. Yeah.

ATUL: With your experience
and your exposure,

you could have found the
finance anywhere.

Why did you come for this? We came
to this for a very good reason.

So, James and I have done lots of
things, lots of outside events,

I've got my own business
doing pop-ups and consulting.

What we need is some help,
some guidance, some advice.

Will you focus 100% on Hollings
if you get some capital...?

The honest answer is no.

I'll have some other stuff
on the go,

because that's the way
I operate best.

If I focus 100% on one thing,

I've found out in the past I get
too emotional,

too attached
and not objective enough.

Anyway, I'll let you get back...

Thank you. Otherwise we'll be here
till three o'clock in the morning.

He'll be in the kitchen thinking,
"I wish I'd never said that."

I hope it don't go against us,
but I've got to be honest,

I said I ain't going to be 100%...

I heard you. That's bang on.
We know that.

We've said that all along.
We've had that conversation anyway.

There's two here.
This is the one you're cooking.

A little bit extra in there,
just in case you need it.

In The Cheese Wheel...

Lovely clams.

..Jeremy's second dish is Graham's
new squid ink spaghetti.

Looks great.

Enjoy.

Mm. Yeah, that's really good.
Do you like it?

Yeah. Oh, wonderful.

He clearly is talented,
in terms of his ability to cook.

The main course dishes that I've
tried today have been fantastic.

Yeah. At the moment, my slight issue

is they are probably better than the
signature dish.

Which is a bit of a concern, but...

Thanks very much.
Hope you enjoyed it.

Pleasure to meet you, Jeremy.
And you.

Feeling quite relieved that
that part of the service is over.

In an ideal world, Jeremy would come
back tomorrow

and taste the dish for what it is

without a bit of brandy flavour
coming through.

I mean, it is a crowded market,
the Italian market.

The cheese wheel, front and centre,
is THE thing about this.

If it is going to be their
unique selling point,

they need to make more of it and it
needs to be the star of the show.

Even though that version of the
signature dish I tried today

didn't quite come off,
I'm really keen to try it again,

because conceptually,
it should work -

and clearly, in Camden,
it is working really well.

Great meal, all in all. Yeah.

I really...
Shame about the company, but...

THEY LAUGH

Thanks, Atul.

There is absolutely no doubt
to us in Imbiba

that Ronnie is a great chef

and that James is a great host
and a great drinks guy.

The big question is,
are they businesspeople?

What an amazing meal.
Thank you so much.

He is such a great chef.

The service was charming,

and the hospitality
was just perfect.

One thing worries me.
Ronnie, while talking to us,

mentioned that he will have other
things on the go.

I'm not that kind of investor.

Others might be OK, I'm not.

How did it go?
Very, very good. Very good.

Did they fall in love with Hollings?
Yeah, I think so.

But you do realise
that if you go with it,

they just want your full, undivided
attention on that project.

You have a lot of projects going on.

I mean, are you ready to give them
up? Just for Hollings?

Let's be clear, if we opened
Hollings, from day one,

first six months,
we are going to own that...

Yeah. ..but I don't think we're
going to give up the other stuff.

But do you think they'll
be prepared to give you

half a million pounds,
a million pounds,

if you're juggling other
responsibilities?

We've said right from the beginning

that it's about the right
partnership

and the right investment.
It's got to work all-round.

Right. OK. Well, good luck in your
financial meetings later on.

Thank you very much.
It's going to be interesting.

See you later, guys.
Thank you. Cheers, Fred.

Tomorrow lunchtime, the pressure in
the restaurant increases.

The investors will get to see
how well they cope

when they're full of
paying customers...

Thank you. Couldn't have done it
without you, boys.

..but today isn't over.

Graham and Ronnie and James
still face private meetings

with the investors

to talk through their financial
strategy for the business.

Hollings are first.

I've seen many business plans
in my time,

but this one clearly lacks detail,

especially around the numbers.

James and Ronnie are predicting

half a million pounds turnover
in year one -

but a restaurant like that should
take double that. £1 million.

They have to show that they can run
a business as well as a kitchen.

As they're in competition,

each investor will have an hour
alone with James and Ronnie.

The financial side of the bar and
restaurant business

is the less sexy bit.

You know, the great cocktails,
the delicious steaks,

that's all the stuff
everyone wants to talk about -

but for us as investors,
we need to understand

that the people that we're backing
take the numbers

and the financial side
of these businesses

very, very, very seriously.

Because without that, our money
could evaporate very quickly.

Hollings are asking for an
investment of £200,000.

How was your day?
A long day for a four-cover lunch.

THEY LAUGH

Thank you so much for fantastic food
and great service.

Great.

Numbers. Yeah, numbers.

If I look at the numbers,

the labour cost is sitting somewhere
around 200,000.

There's money in the budget
for a head chef, a GM

and then, obviously, bar and...

How much are you paying? Because I
don't have a breakdown of the wages.

I would expect that you would need
to find 40 to 45 grand

for a head chef
and somewhere similar for a GM.

80 grand has gone. Yeah.

So, what's left in the budget
is 120.

Yeah. Yeah. We can't get the rest
of the staff in 120.

What we haven't been is owners
of a restaurant before,

so it's based on the theory
of other people's... OK.

Other people's numbers.

From a weekly sales perspective,

I mean, just taking
some headline numbers...

Your expectations,
12, 12.5 grand a week.

For us, looking at this
and looking at the concept,

we need to generate
a 25, 30 grand a week.

We understand that
at the end of the day,

you need to cover your opening costs
and turn a profit.

The bits in between certainly need
some help, support and some work.

Who prepared the spreadsheet?

Predominantly myself, and then we
went through it together.

I guess the slight surprise
was it didn't add up,

unless we've missed something.

It still doesn't look like it does.

I'm concerned about the
business plan they presented to us

and the inaccuracies in that plan.

There wasn't the diligence
to check them,

and I would have thought,
in a meeting like this

that they would have gone through
those numbers very, very carefully.

Now, let's take a step back
away from numbers.

Imagine the restaurant is ready.

I have invested. Initially, you will
fulfil the head chef role...?

No, I'd like to go in
with a head chef...

Mentor a head chef. How much time
you guys will spend on...?

I see us getting our hands dirty for
the first six months, I'd imagine.

Until this is...
Until it's up and running

and where we need it to get to.

I'm glad you know that
and you understand that.

That's what I wanted to hear from
him today,

and he exactly commented -
he said, "If it takes six months,

"I'll be there for six months,
or maybe more."

I was a bit confused about you guys,
I have to say that.

Ronnie has got an edgy personality,
no doubt about it,

but I think it's a good edgy
personality.

I'm warming up to him now.

He's confident, he knows his product
well, and I think he can be trained.

For you, Ronnie, especially, being
a chef and a very confident chef,

I felt you were a little arrogant,
but you are not.

I was wrong. I read you wrong.
Thanks.

I don't know where he got his
opinion from.

What you see is what you get.

I haven't changed my style
in ten years.

I don't know where he gets that
from.

It was unjust.

At the end of the meeting,

the investors can choose to spell
out the offer they'll make,

if - and only if -
they decide to invest tomorrow.

From finding the site
and fitting it out,

I envisage it will take us, easily,

anything between
half a million to £750,000.

Yeah. We will be looking at putting
up to £4 million, £5 million

behind you, potentially,
to scale the business into a brand.

We're not single site investors,
if that makes sense.

Yeah. Over a three, four, five
year period,

let's open six, seven, eight sites.

If everyone gets it right,

there's a big pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow. Yeah.

We didn't expect that when we walked
into that room, to be honest.

We started with no restaurant,
no food even being on a plate,

and now we're talking about
somebody putting in

four, five million quid

and having that belief
in our product.

You know, that's...
Hold on a minute.

Let's go back 48 hours.
This is somewhat unbelievable.

We're certainly going to tomorrow's
service with an open mind.

For me, it's not so much about
how good, you know, the venison is.

It's more about just spending some
more time with the guys,

just to see how they think,
how they react to things.

I want to get more confidence in
them as commercial businesspeople.

Now it's The Cheese Wheel's turn.

Graham's looking for
a £500,000 investment.

He's very competent in the kitchen,

but his aspiration is to be CEO
of this business.

So, he needs to convince me
that he's capable of doing that.

So, those dishes that I tried today,
which were fantastic.

Have you a feel for the gross profit
on those are?

We're looking at a food cost
of around 22 to 24%,

and, so that's why...

I'm just slightly confused on your
gross profit figure there.

You mention 25% there? Yeah...

But your model's talking about 35.

35% food cost?

Yeah. I've got my numbers wrong,

because when we're operating
it's definitely around...

Big difference.

HE LAUGHS

It's a major difference.

It may be my forecasting is not
spot-on and correct

but I can tell you what we're doing
now and that is...

We're looking at 27... 24 to 27%.

OK, fine. That's what you're
doing in Camden?

Yeah. That makes a bit of sense.
Yeah. So, going forward,

we're looking at 65% gross profit.

OK. Which is...OK...

..but it's not... Yeah, it's not...
It's not ideal.

The concept is one thing,
but if I'm going to back him,

then I need to be confident

that he is going to be able to make
that concept profitable.

You were going to explain what this
restaurant looks like.

A floating sort of kitchen kiosk
with people working in the middle

and people sitting all around it.

We'd like to try to bring more
wheels in, too,

so we can have more than just the
fettuccine Alfredo onto the wheel.

We've actually managed to source
another cheese wheel for tomorrow.

Adding an extra wheel in
for tomorrow's service

is a really good, positive
move that he's made, there.

He's recognised that
unique selling point

is something he
needs to capitalise upon.

Jeremy's got a view on what his
potential offer could be.

You are looking for an investment
of 500,000?

Yeah. To take you
to that first stage.

My conclusion at the moment

is that it probably is going to
cost a little bit more.

Probably going to need potentially
600 or 700,000. OK.

So, tomorrow, I'm keen to see
how the second wheel

can help that interaction
with the customer,

cos I think one is a little bit
limiting.

I'm keen to see if the
team can cope with those dishes -

and also, I think, I'm keen to see
some of the reaction from customers.

Good.

Still feeling nervous.

Have a lovely evening.
Nice to see you. Cheers. Bye-bye.

Jeremy is not giving anything away.

So, definitely not walking out
feeling confident -

but definitely not walking out
feeling like it's over.

So it's, yeah, on the fence.

Hollings and Cheese Wheel are in
with a chance

of a life-changing investment -

but the investors have serious
questions about both's ideas.

We need to rock and roll
those arancini faster.

We need to finish the job
like ten minutes ago.

Today's final service
for the paying public

will be what makes up their mind.

Right now, everything hangs
in the balance.

First table? About 12:30.

They had a good lunch yesterday,
we've had a good meeting,

and now they want to see whether
we can deliver the goods

in a real environment.
So, it's crucial that we're ready.

Morning, guys. Morning.

How are you? Good, yourself?

Morning, Fred. So, are you ready
for lunch? Yeah. Yeah. Boxed.

The food's got to be good but
operations also must be perfect.

Hopefully it's going to be
a great atmosphere today,

and really soak up the whole
Hollings experience.

Well, good luck. Great, thank you.

See you later.
See you later. Cheers.

So heavy. 40 kilo.

HE LAUGHS

This is the second cheese wheel now.

So, you are going to see
two up on the pass,

is going to look fantastic.

It's the first time for us
to have two at the same time.

Fully booked house.
So, it's time for us to up our game,

and have a good service.

Voila.

How are you, Graham?

Hi, Fred. You OK? Very well.

How are you? The same, thank you.

I see you've got another
cheese wheel here.

Yes, we've decided to put
two dishes on. Uh-huh?

The mushroom rigatoni on here
and the fettuccine Alfredo on there.

It's very good you've done that,
because this is your USP.

Yeah. This is what Jeremy
is looking for.

He wants to see whether there is a
restaurant idea here

that can go around
that cheese wheel.

We're hoping he'll see
something in it.

OK, well, I wish you good luck.

Thank you very much. See you later.
OK, see you later.

Ten minutes before service,
the investors are back in.

I think it's really clear that
we want everyone

to have the same
Hollings experience.

They're all VIP, James. All VIP.

Some nice boiling water, there, for
us. Yeah, it's almost up to temp.

Graham and Ronnie and James
are opening to the public

for the last time.

Afternoon, guys.

How are you doing, are you well?
Good, thank you.

How are you today? Good, yeah.

Today, the investors will watch
the restaurants in full service.

How was that, ladies?

Excellent. All good?

They'll expect to see a smooth
operation and happy customers.

He wants to move his product from a
successful street food business

into something with wider appeal.

To do that, he needs to extend
that menu.

He's capable of that,
as a chef, without doubt.

Where I try and understand today
is how he can translate that

into The Cheese Wheel,
which is his chosen vehicle.

That connection is where
I'm a little bit concerned,

so it's going to be really
interesting how that progresses.

Nice fritters, William.
Very nice fritters.

It's far from a done deal,
to be honest.

I'm quite excited
from yesterday's chat,

and it'll help me to see them
in action.

The quality of what we consumed
yesterday was super.

The reality now
around seeing them as a team

that we could invest in and develop,

it's led us to a lot of
deliberation overnight.

Anything is possible.

We are prepared to invest another
two hours of our time

to go and spend some time
with the guys.

We have an open mind.

If Atul and Imbiba both like what
they see today,

they will go head-to-head in a
bidding war to sign Hollings.

Hello.
Hello, sir. How are you doing?

How are you, guys?
You came back!

One sweetcorn, one focaccia, Will.

We've got some pews at the bar,
if you'd like to jump down, sir.

I'll take this one. Fantastic.

The dish is very hot.

There's your sweetcorn tempura.

Give me one fried oyster
and one portion of lamb.

Oui, Chef.

There's certainly a buzz about the
kitchen. Definitely.

Fish and chips and venison
gone, yeah?

It's probably best to pick a couple
of snacks

and pick up a couple of Tiny Tinis
and then just go from there.

Table two. Yes, please.
Table two. Nothing else? That's it.

Two cheese wheels!
Two cheese blocks today, yes.

Wow! How are you using
the second wheel?

We changed our menu a little bit
to adjust for the new one.

OK, cool. We added on the mushroom
rigatoni. It's a lovely little dish.

It's going to be fantastic
on the wheel. Great.

Rigatoni, yeah? Rigatoni.

OK. Here we go. I hope you enjoy.
Lovely, thank you.

How are you enjoying it?
Yes, it's very good. OK.

Better without the brandy?
Better without the brandy, yeah!

HE LAUGHS

The new dish that Graham put on
in the second wheel

was very, very good, actually.

It's certainly good to see that he's
capable of coming up with solutions.

In the context of business
problem-solving,

that's very important.

Chicken burger? There you go, sir.
Thank you so much...

..and your fries to go with that.
Thank you.

Delicious. I can't fault it.
I can't fault it. It's really good.

Thank you.

Unfortunately, the guys have just
had a meal returned

from the other table. James?

Have you got any champagne here?

We've got English sparkling white...
Can I request four glasses?

Yes, certainly. For yourselves?
On that table. In the corner?

Yeah. Restaurant is about
hospitality, it's about generosity.

It's about making people happy
and giving them a good time.

I'm Atul Kochhar. Hi.

Got a difficult table over there.

I heard that your food
didn't go well.

So, apologies on the house.
And we've brought you a glass...

That's very kind.
..a glass of bubbly.

Chicken thigh is good enough
for my dog,

it's good enough for the burger,
yeah?

If you do chicken thighs
as a burger,

one in a hundred
is going to come back.

Because they eat at KFC.

I was a little disappointed,
I think,

from the reaction from both of them.

I would have expected a little bit
more warmth and that lacked.

If you put on the menu
that it's made with chicken thighs

then people can choose.

How's the customers?
Everyone enjoying themselves?

Everyone. OK, good stuff.

I don't know, it's just like typical
pasta and cheese.

I don't know if it's blowing
my mind, but it's nice.

It's something I would like to eat
on a winter evening.

It is really nice. It is starting
to get a little bit samey now,

but that's because I didn't have any
toppings - and that was my choice.

How are you, Jeremy? Are you OK?

Very well. Having a good lunch? Some
really good cooking going on here.

Do you think that there
is a business

based on these cheese wheels?
Certainly. It's very visual.

And you see people smiling as they
walk past, which is all a good sign.

It's just whether the business
translates

into a real restaurant scenario.

Tough decision you've got to make,
Jeremy. It IS a tough decision.

I don't want to be in your shoes
right now.

THEY LAUGH

There is absolutely no doubt
the guy can cook.

Bye, now.

The cheese wheel can be a very good
visual feature

but I'm not 100% sure, really, yet,
whether it is enough.

I think the big thinking I've got to
do this afternoon

is to understand whether
I can overcome in my mind

Graham's slight inexperience
as a businessman -

to run that business -
over his ability as a chef.

Cheers, mate. Thanks very much.

James, great job, great job. Thank
you very much. Thank you. Cheers.

I definitely like the product.

I definitely like the people.

Maybe attitude could be an issue -
but we can work on it.

They seemed pretty chuffed, though.
Yeah, they liked the puds.

Whether I go with
full-blown investment

or I do a small investment on them,

I need to weigh up how much training
I would need to give them

to run a proper restaurant.

I need to go away
and do my numbers, as well.

There was some really good feedback,
lots of happy faces.

We've done our bit.
It's over to them now, isn't it?

Now we're waiting. Yeah.
Pint of Guinness.

For us, if we could find them an MD

and if we could work with them
on a business plan,

that's a different story,
but on face value today,

their business plan isn't finished

and they're not
the finished product,

so that makes it really conflicted,

because we'd like to try and do
something with them.

Nice one. That's it, we're done.

Fantastic, Lee.

Lunch is over.

Now the pressure
is on the investors.

They have to decide whether
the idea is worth their money.

How was lunch? It was really good.
Went very smooth for us.

Look, well, that's it.
That's the end of the three days -

but now the pressure's on them.

Jeremy Roberts has a deadline.

He has one hour to come back
and make you an offer.

If he comes back...
Fingers crossed. ..game on.

If he doesn't come back,
it's game over. See how it goes.

Graham came here
looking for £500,000.

If Jeremy Roberts doesn't return
with an offer of investment by
6:30,

he'll walk away with nothing.

Have you ever had a moment in your
life like this,

where everything could change in the
space of minutes?

I've never had this moment
in my life. I've never...

..come to a position of competing
like this in anything, you know?

How does it feel now?
Tried to cook as hard as we could,

so, hopefully it was enough.

Graham. Yeah?
The time is up, I'm sorry.

It means I go back
to the drawing board,

putting some more work
into the concept.

That's the way it goes. Yeah.

Graham's concept, at street food
level, is really strong,

but translating that into a
full-service restaurant

based around that, I think there's
just not quite enough there.

It's not something
I can invest in right now.

It's just too much of a risk.

Look, you had a go.

It was really good to see the food
going out and happy customers.

Feedback was fantastic and that's
what gives us inspiration as a team.

If we get our little restaurant
going,

you know, try and grow it
more organically,

I think that might be
more suitable for us.

Now it's Hollings' turn.

James and Ronnie came here
looking for £200,000.

The deadline is eight o'clock.

Will one or more investors walk
through the door?

What's your gut feeling?

I think someone is going to walk
through the door. You think? Yeah.

What's it like to be so close?

It's like sitting outside the chef's
office for my first interview.

When I was 16.

Really? Yeah.

HE CHUCKLES

Yeah. He made me wait, an' all.

Five minutes.

Five minutes? Well, well...

It's ticking on. Oh, well...

Hi, guys. Atul.
Sitting dry inside, nice and warm.

Nice to see you. How are you?

Chef. OK. Take a seat.

Thank you.

So, you have come here
to make an offer?

Out of courtesy
for the second investor,

we'll have to wait a
second until the time is up.

Imbiba have one minute left to walk
through the door with an offer.

Gentlemen, the time is up.

There's something special
in Hollings.

That said, Hollings' business
isn't ready for investment.

It would be remiss and negligent
of us to look to invest

at a point where the business simply
isn't ready for investment.

So, guys, let me start by saying

that it's been a pleasure meeting
you both. Thank you. Thank you.

I do have an offer to make.

OK. I could get your restaurant,
Hollings,

in the exactly the locations
you wanted,

up and running within a few months.

Yeah. I'm working
with a hotel chain,

and it will need an
investment of about 200,000.

Mm-hm. It will be your Hollings.

Yep. You have to drive it. Yeah.
I will only be the pillion rider...

..but more than money,
I need your commitment. Yeah. Mm-hm.

If we make one successful,
we can really roll out this concept.

Who knows, you know?
Ten years down the line,

you could be sitting on
your ten, twelve Hollings

and saying,
"OK, we did a good deal here."

It would be probably remiss of us
not to confer.

Would that be OK? Yeah, absolutely.

Atul's new offer is to set Hollings
up as a flagship hotel restaurant

and then roll it out
on the high street.

Sorry to keep you.
Thank you for your patience.

No problem.

Obviously, big decision

and we need to make sure
that we get it right

for all parties concerned.

Our gut feeling is
I think we'd probably...

..somewhere along the line,
I think we might fall out.

You don't want to set off on...

What's scaring you
that we'll fall out?

I'm not scared, by any stretch
of the imagination.

It's very difficult to describe.

We just don't quite have
the right...

..feel for it... I understand.

..and I think it would be unfair
for us to get into an agreement

with...with that nagging against us.

If you already don't have
a gut feel, don't go into it.

Fine by me. It's appreciated.

Honour to have eaten your food.

Pleasure to meet you.
Thanks for coming.

Good luck. Have an exciting journey.
See you soon. Take care, thank you.

I actually am quite stunned.

I don't know what happened there.

In their shoes, anybody would
actually jump at this offer -

would want to work with me,

and I'm giving them
their restaurant...

..but if it was a commitment issue,
then I'm actually very happy

that they declined it now

than me running after them
and screaming after them

that you guys are not focusing
on the business.

He had £200,000 on the table.

Yeah. Mm-hm.

Set you up for
your first Hollings...

Yeah. ..and he was talking about
ten years down the line

with ten, twelve Hollings. Yeah.
What's wrong with that?

There is some sort of nagging thing
in the back of our minds.

Good call, and well done.

Right decision. Definitely. Yeah.

It's really flattering, obviously,
respected restaurateur,

and if he's interested in Hollings,
that's fantastic... Massive...

Massive deal.

..but you've got to trust your gut.

Fancy a pint? Yes, very much so.

This is the red curry with tofu
puffs and butternut squash.

Tofu, generally...
You don't like? ..pretty bland.

This is worse than the actual
Trap Kitchen at home.

We've got a new set of service
coming in in 20 minutes,

which means that every single diner
in this restaurant

has to be out in 20 minutes.