All language subtitles for The.Hidden.World.of.Hospitality.with.Tom.Kerridge.S01E08.1080p.WEBRiP.x264-DARKFLiX

Check on two covers.
Two set soup, follow two cod.

I'm Tom Kerridge,

and I've been working in hospitality
for over 30 years.

Behind, behind, behind, behind.

Standing shoulder to shoulder...

Happy? I love it, mate. Good.
Right, four beef now.

..with some of
the country's most skilled

and inspiring professionals.

You've got this, mate.

I'm Tom. Nice to see you.

I wouldn't want to be doing
anything else.

But how much do our customers
really know about what it takes

to deliver a warm welcome,

amazing food and great service?

In this series, I'm letting
the cameras into my world.

We have got 1,500 people
to serve lunch.

And I'm going
behind the scenes

in dramatically different
businesses across the UK.

You're amazing. Oh, thanks.

From a plush city-centre hotel...

..to a hideaway rural retreat.

From a fancy Michelin-starred
restaurant...

..to a century-old fish
and chip shop.

And from a huge wedding venue...

..to a buzzing street food festival.

I'm lifting the lid on our industry
like never before...

We've actually got vinegar
for blood, by the way.

..to reveal
the side of hospitality

our customers rarely see.

Six hours until we open
and as you can see...

..nothing's here!

How we operate...

Lady boss!

..our trade secrets...

300 portions of gravy.

When you ask for more gravy,

just think about that.

..the gambles we're taking...

So, what's your timescale?

Four weeks.

Up and over!

..in the face of huge
challenges.

The fallout of the last few years
of Brexit and Covid,

it's real in this industry.
It's massive.

This is UK hospitality
and this is our inside story.

Service!

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

Let me hear you scream!

CHEERING

This time...

..how do hospitality professionals
create and deliver

quality and quantity for
the most special days in our lives?

This building and the people
in it never, ever seem to stop.

In Wolverhampton, I'll meet
the dedicated folk working

around the clock to produce
massive-scale weddings

and parties day after day for
the people of the Midlands.

It's a big wedding venue,
so you could accuse them

of being like a production line,

but Ferraris and Lamborghinis
come off a production line.

The pressure's on, as my team
try to recreate

our high-end restaurant dishes at one
of Twickenham's biggest rugby matches

of the year.

We've got 1,550 covers.

I want every single plate to come
and look like that, please. Yeah?

And in the Highlands of Scotland,

a chocolate chef seeks perfection...

It requires a steady hand.

..as he creates award-winning treats

fit for the finest special event.

OK, last tray.

Your world of celebration,

your world of great times,

is about our industry.

Today, I'm in Wolverhampton to visit
a 364-day-a-year event space.

Grand Station is a weddings
and events venue

based in the heart
of the city.

This former railway station was left
unused and derelict for 45 years,

but is now one of the area's most
in-demand spaces,

hosting hundreds of events a year
for the diverse local community.

The big challenges preparing
for an event are actually

the infrastructure behind
the scenes,

getting everything together,
getting everything right,

coming together at that sheer
volume and scale.

You need all those tables,
all those chairs, cutlery,

glassware, all the crockery,
decorations, flowers, DJ or the band.

I am so looking forward to seeing
how they put all of that together.

What a grand space it is.

Gorgeous.
It's big, it's lovely.

Outside, it looks like
the old station.

Inside, it looks amazing.

To cater for the large number
and scale of events here,

they employ hundreds of temporary
staff through the year,

but at the core are
the in-house event managers.

I just need the stage carpeted,
nothing else,

because I've got obviously the decor
going on there after, later on.

So if you just crack on with that,

that'd be brilliant.
No problem. Cheers.

Manni Mander specialises
in Asian events,

working with each
client to meticulously plan

and deliver every single detail.

Hey guys. Hello.

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello.

Hello, are you Manni?
I'm Manni. How are you?

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I'm good, thank you.

This is an amazing space.
Oh, thank you.

Thank you.
Honestly, it's incredible.

So what have we got going on today?

So we've got an Asian pre-party
going on today.

So what does that mean
by an Asian pre-party?

So it's not the actual wedding.
It's the pre-party.

So it's an event that's done
before the wedding day.

It's an event before
the actual event?

That's correct. I love that.
And how many people is that for?

So we've got it for 250
people here today.

There's 250 today,

but how many can you do in this room
for a major wedding?

So, as you can see, it's a very
big room here.

We can hold anything up to 750 max
in this room. 750?!

750, and we have got a smaller venue
next door as well,

which can hold up to 150.

So we've got two rooms,

so we have two parties
going on at the same time.

You can be operating them
at the same time? Yeah, yeah.

Mate... Nine out of ten we are.

That is, I mean, that is colossal,
isn't it? Yeah. That's a huge amount.

And how often does that happen?

Most weekends, to be honest,
Fridays, Saturdays,

we'll have a party on
in the small hall

and a party on
in the big hall as well.

It's a challenge, because
we're finishing at, like, one,

two o'clock in the morning.

12 o'clock a party finishes

and we've got to strip
the whole room out, hoover it,

get it cleaned,
and get the new decor out,

get the new tablecloths out.

So every brief,
every event's different.

And was there an event last night?
There was, yeah.

There's always an event on.
So there's always an event?

Yeah. I mean, how many events
do you do a year? We do...

For an example, for this year
we've done 343 events.

I mean, that's incredible. Yeah.

That's almost one a day.

So you're juggling plates
all the time

and it's on such
a vast scale.

Yeah. You're amazing.

Oh, thanks.

What's your favourite thing
about your job?

It's got to be meeting the brides
and grooms

and being part
of their big dream.

Every Asian girl is excited
about her wedding,

just like I was 13 years ago.

I think with the bride and groom
at the beginning,

when I first meet
them in the space of an hour,

I'm like their best friend.

While Manni's responsible

for many of the venue's
Asian weddings and events...

Dance floor,
let's put it in the middle,

and then the DJ is just going
to be facing us this way.

..the man charged with driving
the whole business forward

is Danny Thompson.

This is our other suite.

So this is the Brunel Suite.

The Asian-style weddings,

is that something where
you specialise in?

Is that how the business
was built in the first place?

Yeah, we did start it off,

but only doing Indian weddings.

Over the years,
the venue's changed.

We started with Muslim weddings
and then Caribbean.

As a venue, we have to try
and represent what's in the area

and we try and change our packages
to suit.

The venue's known locally
for its range of wedding packages.

But they fill their calendar
with other events - corporates,

birthday parties, even school proms.

We also do Christmas parties.

We do Christmas parties
for six dates in December.

We cap it at 500 people per night.

They're great, big,
extravagant balls.

But the idea behind the Christmas
parties isn't to make money.

It's the marketing.

Then hopefully over
the next few years,

either they'll have a wedding,
a birthday, a party,

and that hopefully brings
in the next load of events

for the future.

We are constantly changing,
adapting to what's around us.

We have to do this to ensure
that the business continues to grow.

Back in the main hall...

..and the space has been transformed.

See, look at that!

That's a dance floor, innit?

I mean, it does look amazing.
It does, doesn't it?

The strobe lights going,
we've got the dance floor.
Looks lovely, doesn't it?

Yeah, we've got the smoke
machine going.

So, 250 tonight.
To me, that sounds like a lot.

But for you, this is quite
an easy one, no?

It's a small job for us.

A small job! Small job.

The room's filling up.
There's a good buzz to it.

There's plenty of people
turning up, which is great.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, you know,

that midweek
market is huge for this business.

It's clearly a well-oiled machine,

but with so many events
day after day,

I want to know how they can possibly
make each one different

and every guest feel special.

Hospitality is so important
in our lives,

from just the normal day to day,
whether it's the coffee shop

or the sandwiches at lunchtime.

But most importantly, all
of those celebrations in your life

pretty much have been
wrapped up in hospitality.

Sharing those celebrations
is a perk of the job.

And there's one date in my calendar
that for me fulfils

a childhood dream -

the Six Nations Rugby Championship
at Twickenham.

I went to watch one England game
when I was a young kid,

when I was about ten
or 11,

and thinking it was the most
incredible, amazing experience.

And to think there now that I go
and cook

and be a part of the process,

and you're so privileged
to be at Twickenham

before everybody else.

At this year's England-France game,

the crowd's expected to reach
82,000 people

and we're serving
1,500 of them

a four-course lunch.

It's huge!

The logistics and infrastructure for
this event take months to set up

and we begin to prepare the food
well in advance of match day

at our very functional
but less than glamorous

central production unit
in High Wycombe.

All right, Will. All good?
The green are out.

Make sure you're getting
your sizes right, mate, yeah?

Not too big, and if you get
any pieces like that,

make sure you take them out.

Overseeing the complex food
requirements for the event

is Kieran, the exec chef
of Lush, my event catering company.

We stagger the mise en place
for a job like this

over a couple of weeks.

It's all about keeping the quality,
so anything that the quality

won't drop out in the freezer,

then that's what we tend
to get ahead on.

Then on the week we're doing all the
fresh things like poaching rhubarb,

making custard,
compressing apples

and making our terrines.

Everything that we do in the next
three or four days will give us

on Saturday, hopefully,
a nice, simple day.

For Warren, my group exec chef,

his role is slightly different.

The genius of logistics is Kieran.

He makes everything happen.

But I enjoy looking at what we do
in a restaurant and then seeing us

replicate it for such a massive
amount of people

and seeing the quality go out
and, you know,

people enjoying those dishes
the same way as we hope
they enjoy them in the restaurant.

It's brilliant. I love it.

Hey, boys and girls.
Are we all all right?

Hey, Tom. You all right? Hey, chaps.

How are we?

Just going through Twickenham.

OK. Starter, so it's a take on
the classic Hand & Flowers terrine.

So we've got country-style pork
and mushroom terrine,

burnt apple
and black garlic ketchup.

We're not going to lay the jelly
and the mushroom like we do

at The Hand,

because when we try and cut and sit,
it just won't happen.

Falls over. We've taken the jelly
and made it into a gel

so all the flavours are still there,

we've just slightly built it
differently. OK.

So it works for 1,500 people
rather than... Exactly.

Yeah, so you've not got jelly
coming out.

The more things that are on the
plate, the more complicated it looks,

the more sloppy it gets.

So we simplify on vision the amount
of things that go on the plate,

but we try to overenhance,
big seasoning, big flavours

and great quality produce right
at the beginning,

to just make sure that anything that
you think visually

that it might be short on

is massively compensated by
with flavour.

Main course, so we've got
fillet of beef,

a treacle-glazed short rib,
celeriac, wild garlic emulsion,

red wine sauce.

How many fillets of beef is that?

So we've got 382 fillets coming in.

Probably about 50 of them
will go back

once we grade them on Wednesday.

Just because the size
and sometimes

you're going to
get too large, too small.

When we're cooking that many
numbers,

obviously the size needs
to be the same.

We want them all the same,
so they're all uniform,

so that everybody's dish
is exactly the same.

And then what's the dessert?

So we've got Yorkshire rhubarb,
tonka bean and amaretto trifle

with salted oat crumble.

So, George at the minute is making
the 110 kilos of tonka bean custard.

Which he's really happy about.

TOM LAUGHS

Yeah, loving it.

Loving it. Yeah, which he'll be
happy about!

While Kieran, Warren and the team
focus on the food,

I've another all-too-familiar side
of my job to do, signing books.

Today, there's 450 of them.

So, my role on the day is actually
fronting it up, being a face,

smiling, saying hello,
welcoming the guests.

Moving into a room
with 1,500 people in it

actually makes me
a little nervous.

That weird sense of celebrity

and I don't...I'm quite
uncomfortable with it.

It's an essential part of my job
these days,

but ultimately, none of
the meet and greet will matter

if the food
isn't up to scratch.

The guests that are coming
are spending over £1,000 a ticket

for this match.

So the most important thing
is obviously the rugby

and England win,

but we're the added value
three hours before the match.

We're the entertainment,
we're providing that food,

so it's an awful lot of money.

So we need to make sure
that everything is amazing

and exactly right.

So they're all plugged in now,
yeah?

Back in Wolverhampton

and the team are gearing up for
a Grand Station festive special.

Oh wow, these look nice.

I've not seen these before.

It's opening night of their
New York-themed Christmas party,

the first of three this weekend,
with nine planned for the season.

We've got a band, a DJ, a compere.

We've got showgirls,
fire performers.

We look to get 500 people plus
per night.

With entertainment
and a three-course meal included

in the ticket price
of around £50,

these nights sell out fast.

Unlike most events here,
there is no client.

This one is a Grand Station special.

It's really a marketing opportunity.

Everybody that attends, all
different businesses from the area,

they come down,
they have a great time,

and then this should help for
our wedding and corporate enquiries

over the next year.

But this is the first of these events
since before lockdown.

The stakes are even higher
than usual for Danny.

Anxious, nervous at the moment.

Not doing this event for
three years, since 2019,

the majority of the staff are new.

There's only really three
staff here

who have worked on previous
Christmas events.

The Christmas parties are
my favourite time of the year

and also the bits
I hate the most.

If the events go wrong,

it could be a disaster with us
across social media.

It could ruin our reputation
overnight.

Ideally, get this table pushed over.
Yeah. Shove it over there.

Danny's had 50 members of staff
working around the clock

to set up for the event,

but there's still
a lot to do before the doors open.

I'm not sure about
the table numbers.

There's a few floating candles,
they may help,

and it depends
what's going to go on these.

I'm not sure.

Oh, we haven't got the chairs
out either.

That's another concern.

The room needs to be finished,
set with the decor.

That's not there.
AV's not sitting here yet,

let alone
in the ticketing hall.

And also we're going to light
outside,

which I haven't even started yet.

The in-house technical team
need to rig 100 lights,

50 LED screens,

and set up audio equipment
for the live band,

compere, and DJ.

Let me see there.

Let me see why these are
not working.

I guess you work faster
under pressure, eh?

The show has to go on.

As if it wasn't enough to be staging
a huge party,

the team constantly need to plan
ahead for future bookings.

Today, Manni has a couple
coming in

who've booked a top-tier
wedding package for the spring.

Hello? It's the first chance
for her to start building

the event brief.

OK. I've got so much passion
about, like, weddings

and, like, about throwing
different ideas and stuff.

They get excited
and it gets me excited as well.

Asian weddings
are the big weddings.

The reception party can go up to
anything to 500, 600 people.

Hi, guys. Are you OK?
Hi, Manni. You all right?

Hiya, you OK? How are you?
You OK, Gina?

The couple, Harpreet and Gina,

are joined by the father
of the bride-to-be.

This could be Manni's chance

to nail down those
all-important numbers.

Probably looks different,
doesn't it,

from when it was before? Yeah. Yeah.

So, yeah, we're just setting up
for a Christmas party today.

Everything can be moved
where they want, so, like,

even with yourself, like,
if you want the stage at the end

or in the middle,
it's up to you guys.

We can move it wherever
you guys need to.

So how many guests are you guys
looking at roughly?

Planning meeting now in
the calendar.

We're still fighting our numbers
at the moment.

So, yeah, OK.

We're looking around probably
600 people.

Definitely the DJ's going
to have to go right at the back

against that wall just so that we
can get all the 60 tables out here.

So if we have the DJ there.

Are you guys thinking
about having an LCD screen?

Yes, an LCD screen. Yeah. Yeah.

And then just whatever looks good.
We'll leave that to you guys.

Oh, good.

MANNI CHUCKLES

Getting that steer on numbers means
Manni can start plotting out

the other elements,

but there'll be plenty more meetings
to come before the big day.

Let's go.

Right now, it's all about Christmas.

We haven't done a Christmas
party for three years.

We can show that
we're Grand Station.

This is what we do.
This is what we represent.

Let's have everyone leaving
with a great big smile.

Let's see all big smiles
from everyone tonight.

Let's work together as a team, guys.
Let's smash today. Yeah? Yeah.

After all the preparation,
it's time to get this party started.

Everybody's coming now
and everybody seems fine.

A couple of little problems
have been solved.

It's just really the food service.

That's the next big worry,

sorting everything out.

To help achieve the affordable
price point,

they've kept their menu simple -
a three-course turkey dinner.

But for this many guests,

it's still a challenge
for the kitchen.

Can you bring the veg, yeah?

About 20 minutes behind schedule,
but we can make that up.

Tonight's small delay to food

doesn't seem
to have dampened any spirits.

And with many a selfie taken on
the dance floor, festive cheer

will be spread around social media,
all tagged to Grand Station.

These are the last few mains
going out now.

Job done.

Successful night. Things have
gone to plan.

We're really pleased.

Danny and the team have pulled
a cracker of a party tonight.

But there's no time to rest up.

They'll need to do it all again
tomorrow.

It's the morning of match day at
Twickenham and a rare chance

to step out into this temple
of rugby.

I can't get too distracted by the
fact that I'm at Twickenham

and it's an amazing event going on
and it's England versus France.

We have got 1,500 people
to serve lunch first.

We've got a partnership with
Twickenham and my name

is actually attached
to the ticket sales.

So it's really important that
we get everything right

because there is a reputation
at stake here and it's mine.

Morning chefs. Hi, Chef. You OK?

Yeah, good thanks, how are you?

I'm very good, thank you.
Are you sure?

I'm sure. Catch up in a minute.

How you doing, chief? You all right?
Nice to see you.

If you're spending big money, four
figures for a guest experience

that is including an
international rugby match,

you've got to have food
that matches it.

You can't just give them
a slice of pizza.

We have to be up there by putting
quality, flavour-led ingredients

that make people think this food
is absolutely fantastic

and we haven't even got
to the rugby match yet.

Massimo, can you go across and
stand with lock four?

In the main central kitchen, Kieran
is briefing his team of 40 chefs.

Right, everyone. So we've got
1,550 covers in here today.

We've got four kitchens.

You've all been divided out
into your kitchens.

You all know who your lead
chefs are.

Starters are all finished.
This is it.

So it's country style pork terrine
we've all been plating it up

this morning.

Dill pickles, black garlic and
burnt apple ketchup and then some

red chicory on that as well.

OK.

It's so, so important to get
those briefings clear, concise,

and don't overload people
with things that they don't

need to know.

We're going to show you the
main course.

The waiters are going to come
along with the plates.

The first move on the plate
is beef going down.

Second move is the celeriac.

Then they're going to move down.

Then we've got the
treacle-glazed short rib.

The last move on the plate is
the wild garlic emulsion.

And then they come down to the
lead chef who's going to sauce.

The thing that becomes the hardest
as you start getting up to

100, 150, 200 is we lose
concentration about where

each element goes.

I want every single plate to come
and look like that, please, yeah?

Call that 6 o'clock and that
12 o'clock then you know

exactly where you're going.

So I'm going to turn the plate.

You are now the customer.

OK. That's how we want it dressed.

Plate one, plate 400,
exactly the same.

Thank you very much.

This is one of the big main
restaurants.

We've got two sites that are
the same size as this.

And that one kitchen there
does over half of it.

And we walk towards the other end
where there's another

satellite kitchen, and that will
be doing the other half of it.

Right, guys. We need everybody to go
and check their tables...

You can hear as you walk past then,
that infrastructure of Kieran

having talking to the chefs,
it's the same for front of house.

So you can see it's a huge army
of people to get everything

going to make it all work.

The length of this room goes all
the way, pretty much half the way

around the stadium.

I mean, the scale is just colossal.

And the way that I go to look at
this is...

..it's just the same as doing 45
people at The Hand and Flowers.

Just a few more.

As tens of thousands of fans
stream towards the stadium,

a huge range of food and drink
providers spring into action.

13,000 people are booked in for
corporate hospitality alone.

That's 27 kitchens like ours,
serving a staggering

50,000 plates of food.

First customers will be in in about
the next five or 10 minutes

and then we start. That's it.

And once it starts, it doesn't stop.

It goes on solid for two
and a half hours then.

So this is the bit now it's all
about timing now.

Getting stuff ready just at the
right point where we're not

too far ahead, but we're never,
never behind.

Because once you're behind,
you don't catch up.

Excuse me. Excuse me. Sorry, Chef.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

So on here, yeah, not too much,
you're getting way

too much here. Get a pinch out
of each one for me, yeah?

And then Parmesan on top again.

And added pressure and complication
for us at this event is that each

table will be served individually.

Motor on those salads.
Let's get them done.

Meaning it's the guests, not us,
that choose when the meal begins.

How are we looking, George?

Short ribs done. We've got...we've
got crispies on?

No, all glazed up.

Get them up. Get crispies on them,
mate. Crispies on them now.

All four kitchens just
need to be ready.

That's it. That's it. Nice.
All the way over.

Great. And then they can go
into the hot box.

Right. There we go.

Some of the starters head
out from the pass, but not

from every kitchen.

It's not happening quickly enough,
and kickoff is looming.

We've normally done quite
a few guests by now.

The more it gets compact, the harder
service will become, and everyone's

beginning to get a little bit
tetchy and nervous.

We've not even sent the main
course yet.

Cleared any starters yet?

No starters cleared yet.
You haven't cleared any starters?

LOW WHISTLE

Hit a little bit of a bottleneck.

Ten to two,

I haven't sent a main course
in this kitchen yet.

The other kitchens have started
sending main courses,

so our room's come in
a little bit late.

It might get hairy.

HE LAUGHS

Might get hairy.

So, you see the room is beginning
to fill up.

There's an energy and a noise.

But there's still, at this minute,
a lot of standing around and drinking

rather than actual eating yet.

What we're doing, I think they're
going to blanket the room now, Chef.

So they're going to,
anyone who isn't arrived,

they're going to put the
starters down on their place.

We start dictating timings.
Exactly that.

At the front, it's always got to feel

like it's calm and it's in control

and there's no problem,

everything is running
really nice and smoothly.

But actually,
you open those kitchen doors,

and sending 1,600 main courses

looks like chaos.

Four meat.
Yeah, four meat, guys. Yeah.

Clean your spoon and your trays.

Will, start speaking, please.

And it can feel like chaos
if we've got it wrong.

Let's go.
You have to speed up, right?

You have to really
speed up now, guys.

Quicker, quicker, quicker, quicker.

Hold it, hold it, hold it.

Push, go on, squeeze.

Squeeze and lift as you do it,
like that, all right?

Like this. Look, watch.

And let it fill out rather than
lifting up like Mr Whippy, yeah?

You see what I mean?

But the reality is, if you've got
the structure right,

you've got the flow right,
it should just roll.

At just after 2:00,

we're fully underway with the mains.

Will, can you do me one beans,
no crispy onions, please?

So you can see that factory line,
the way that it works.

Even if the bit of celeriac's moved,

the garlic puree is not a
perfect blob,

but they still taste amazing.

We're happy.

Happy enough.

With the kitchen team
now in full flow,

it's time for me to kick into action.

OK, so where do we want to go?

We will just head out here and down.

Watch out, behind,
behind, behind, behind.

Sorry. Thank you.

I recognise that a much bigger
part of my role now

is being much more connected to
guests, to guest experience.

Thank you so much.
Hey, it's a real pleasure.

Lovely to meet you.

Can I get your signature?
Of course you can, yeah.

Not fussed about
these rugby players.

There we go. Amazing.

Honestly, it's an absolute pleasure.
Really good.

The least I can do
is thank them for coming.

The least I can do is be out
there in the room

and shake as many hands as possible.

All right, Chief?

That's a table of haircuts.

How we doing, boys?

LAUGHTER AND JEERING

214, 215...

We're having a bit of a laugh,
shaking hands.

There's always a really good vibe
at the rugby.

What's her name? Lisa.

Hey, Lisa. I'm here with Tim,
we're hanging out,

just having the best day.

I can't tell you how much he loves
the fact that he's out with the boys

and you're not here.

LAUGHTER

That's wicked, cheers,
appreciate it.

Thank you.
No worries, take care, see you later.

The majority of people
are super lovely.

They're having a lovely
time, and I like it. It's nice.

It adds to the energy.

If you're building that energy,
it's great.

How are you, mate? I'm all right.

Are you here on...? You're flat out.

Well, we've done 1,500 today.

How do you manage it and make sure
that every meal,

individually, is perfect and the
way which we want it?

The same as anything, it's just
training, it's infrastructure,

and it's repetitive.

Have you got to do a lot
of handshaking, then?

There's a little bit of that,
but there's a lot of excited people.

Obviously, it's a massive
game here today.

Are England going to win?
I hope so.

No, no...
Yeah, I hope so, too.

We always hope! That's like saying,
"Hey, I hope so."

Bumping into rugby legends
like Ugo Monye

really brings home how special this
event is for me personally.

They're absolutely
pinch-myself moments

and I really do not take
any of it for granted.

I'm so privileged.

To think that we...we're doing
something for the England rugby.

You know, we're there at Twickenham.

Enjoy your day. No worries.
Take care.

We're done. We're done.

We're done. Yes!

We're done! You can go!

Thanks, mate.

Yeah, we'll see you later on.

With my meet and greet duties done,

I can check back in with the team.

Yeah, very happy, yeah.

Happy with the food,
the way it looks.

The boss is happy and the
guests are happy,

so, yeah, take that as a win.

Lights are off, team are on
breaking things down...

How we doing, boys?

Hi, Tom. All good? Chef.

All good. Room is buzzing.

People have loved it.

Massive, massive hit.

So, amazing, great work. Good.

And these are...? Post-match.

For after the game, just in case
they haven't eaten enough.

Exactly, yeah.
Right, are you getting them in?

We're going to
get them in now, yeah.

We'll go and watch the game.

Get changed, go watch the game.

Come on.

It's a good job our 1,500 guests
enjoyed their pre-match lunch,

because the match itself
was a disaster.

PIANO RENDITION OF
LA MARSEILLAISE PLAYS

CHEERING

Events.

Each one is bespoke,

each one is individual,

and each single one starts
off at the point zero, OK?

And then you build it.

And that sense of responsibility
as the hospitality provider

is massive.

But if you get it right,
it is the most magical experience

that people will have, and they'll
remember it forever and ever.

LAUGHTER

Back in Wolverhampton,
Manni and the team are building

all the component parts for their
biggest Sikh wedding of the year.

And one crucial element
to get right is the food.

Chilli paneer. Yeah.

Veg Manchurian. Yeah.

Fish pakora, cheese kebab,

chicken tikka, lamb masala.

Today, catering company Garden Gate

has been invited in to showcase
a range of dishes for Harpreet,

Gina, and other wedding clients.

Got some chilli chips, fish pakora,

chilli paneer...

..chicken tikka.

Enjoy, guys.

It's a bit...powder.

Too much powder in it.
Too much all down it. Yeah.

Mmm.

Nice, isn't it? Nice flavour.

I could eat this all day.

The couple will want to get the menu
perfect for their 600 guests.

But for the business, it's crucial
they choose one of the venue's

preferred catering companies.

We like to have control
of the events.

If we have our catering,
then it's brilliant,

because we know
we're in control of it.

My biggest fear is when the client
brings their own catering,

because there's more things
that can go wrong,

and it's the reputation

of Grand Station
that is affected by it.

Has this given you some sort
of idea, like, what kind of

food choices you guys want
to go for and stuff? Yes, it has.

I think the only thing
I would probably change

is the chilli paneer
and the veg Manchurian.

OK. Just have one or the other.

They're very similar. They're very
similar dishes, ain't they?

I think we'll probably go for,
like, the chilli... Paneer, yeah.

Chilli paneer, yeah.

Just because it's my favourite.

Brilliant.
We've got to have Gina's favourite.

So far, so good.

The couple love the venue's
chosen caterer,

and with the food decided on,

they can move on to another huge
element of their wedding, the decor.

Many venues would turn to external
designers, but not Grand Station.

So, literally, we design the day.

It's probably one of the most
important things.

Manisha is their
in-house decor specialist,

and she has a huge warehouse
full of every tablecloth,

centrepiece and backdrop imaginable.

It's pretty much, whatever the
couple wants, we can cater for it.

So we've got Gina and Harpreet
coming down today.

I've been told they've got a forest
theme, but I'm going to try

to push them down another route

only because I feel like it will
suit the building better.

Hey, guys, so we're just going
to have a quick look around here.

The couple can choose
from the lavish preset displays

in the spectacular wedding showroom.

Originally, we're thinking
green and white, originally,

but now we want to go for
something different,

looking at all these designs.
Spoilt for choice in here.

Yeah, I know, yeah!

A new range we've just had in,
though, is the Pampas range,

which is just set here.

If you like it...

I think the black went really nice.

Then we're working with, like,
champagne tones, gold, black.

That'll work quite well. Yeah.

It's all about the Pampas now. Yeah.

OK, guys, I think,
shall we go through,

get some things down on paper?

Let's do it.

DANNY: Every wedding is different.

Most people haven't been married
before, so we have packages

where we can recommend
certain things.

But a lot of the times,
guests may have ideas in their head

of things that they've wanted
since they're a young child,

so we look to put those bespoke
elements in place for them.

I saw this thing on Instagram,

and you've got like white carpet
all the way throughout.

Oh, yeah. I really want that.

We're going quite light and airy.

Yeah. It's going to look amazing.

Yeah. It really is.

TOM: While Manisha and Manni have
given a gentle steer to the couple

as they build the details
of their wedding package,

behind the scenes,

Danny's been busy with a master plan

to tap into a whole new continent's
worth of wedding business.

So we had a look through the census

to try to find which are the growing
areas that are moving into

Wolverhampton,
into the West Midlands.

We found that the
three biggest growth areas

were the Nigerian, the Ghanaian
and the Zimbabwe people.

So that has to be a market
that we have to target for.

Today Danny's partnered with the
Modern African Wedding Show...

Good to see people already arriving.

..to host the venue's first-ever
African wedding fair.

Hopefully with this event,
we will attract lots of people

in from those communities,
and we can potentially showcase

the Grand Station as well as also
showcasing our new African caterer

that we've got on board, along
with our new African event planner.

So we've got our large backdrop
and we also have florals as well

that are coming through.

Danny's hired in local event manager
Taffy to be the venue's

new African events specialist.

The luxury type of sofa.

Africans will understand
the sofa when they see it.

It's sort of gives that
kingship vibe, princess vibe,

that sort of thing,
which is what we're all about.

At the moment, it's organised
chaos in there, which is fine,

which is absolutely fine.

Today could be a very big
day for the Grand Station.

If everything goes to plan,

we could potentially get some
new bookings for African weddings.

This could then go out
into the community,

which will also help
us to get some new bookings.

Today's event should
see around 200 guests,

viewing everything they need for an
African wedding package.

Stalls, suppliers,
even a bridal catwalk show.

Hi, guys!

You OK?

Danny's drafted in Hayley
from the sales team

to help Taffy secure those bookings.

So, this is the African brochure.

You've got your menu in there
as well, so it gives you an idea.

I saw this place,
absolutely fell in love with it.

I'm from Wolverhampton originally.

We booked the Caribbean package

and we just seen that they do
an African package,

which I have never seen
while searching anywhere before,

which is really, really good.

It's very important because that way
I'm not having to fit into a box

just because a venue doesn't
offer it.

We had some brides and grooms
that actually didn't have a venue

as well, or a date.

So after speaking to them,
they feel it is...

They think, "OK, so if
we're to come here, Grand Station,

"that means the plan is there,
the catering is there,

"the venue is there,
the decor is there."

So I'm hoping,
from speaking to them,

I've encouraged them to set a date.

For next year, of course!

It's gone really well and we look
to have secured three bookings.

One of the positives today
is that all the clients

that I've been speaking to,
they're looking for Monday

to Thursdays during the week,
and they are our quiet days

when we don't have the bookings.

If we can fill these quiet days
with these African weddings,

it helps us to grow the
business as a whole.

This is just the start,
but the signs look really good.

Grand Station has to do a lot
of work in understanding,

and they get it, they get it right.

They do so much research.

And as they keep thinking of new
areas, different cultures to reach,

their business will just keep
going from strength to strength.

As everyone in the event business

and the wider
hospitality industry knows,

attention to detail
is the secret to success.

If you think of staying in hotels,

the little things from
the fragrances of candles,

the whiskies behind bars, you know,

the little chocolates on your pillow
when you get back to your hotel room,

and all those tiny, little quirky
touch points are so, so important.

This is Grandtully, a small
village in the foothills

of the Scottish Highlands.

Not necessarily where you'd expect
to find an award-winning specialist

supplier to the best chefs
and hotels around the world.

People know in Scotland,
"Aw, yeah, whisky."

"Oh, shortbread."

"Oh, smoked salmon."

But little do they know that
we also have exactly

what you need to be a
world-class truffle specialist.

Iain Burnett owns the
Highland Chocolatier.

Just a little bit of texture.

A family-run chocolate shop,

cafe,

and a chocolate kitchen.

We have some of Europe's best dairy,
so we're bringing rare cocoa

and what is, frankly, a rare cream,

combining that, yes, with fruits,

with wonderful heather honey
that we use.

At the end of the day,
it makes people happy.

You know, you see people,
"Chocolate? Oh, you make chocolate!"

You know? So, if you say,
"Oh, I'm an accountant,"

it's not quite the same.

Iain's been perfecting his craft
for 20 years,

winning him international
recognition and awards,

including best chocolate
truffle in the world.

Most of the business-to-business
work that I do

is with Michelin chefs,
five-star hotels...

Some of them, they'll use for
turndown in the rooms.

Chocolates on the pillow type thing,

could be petits fours in the
restaurant after dinner.

The specialty is the velvet truffle.

Truffle or ganache is where
you combine fresh cream

or fruit with chocolate.

So, the velvet truffle is
really unusual.

It has no none of the usual glucose,
sorbitol sugars, additives,

that the big companies put
into their chocolates in order

to extend shelf life or give
you that squishy texture.

But without all of that, you're
really reliant on the science,

and it takes us two to three days
to make the velvet truffles.

It was about three years developing
the recipe at the beginning,

about 140, 150 different variations,
not just to the recipe, but also

to the method,
about how to make them.

Because if you take
the additives out,

it gets technically very,
very difficult.

It takes longer,

but without the additives
in there, you taste more.

Simple as that.

It's early morning on a Tuesday,

the crucial day of the week for
multi-stage truffle production.

OK.

Today, Iain needs to complete
the second stage

for 20,000 velvet truffles if he's
to hit his weekly target.

Every element of the process
is incredibly precise.

The temperature and humidity
of the kitchen is tightly controlled.

Even the warmth of the chef's
hands has an effect

when working with chocolate.

This is the unenrobed version
of the velvet truffle.

Firmer than normal. I guess
it's pretty cold this morning.

So we've got to put on
a little bit of cocoa,

more or less to stop
it sticking together.

So there you have the pure,
pure ganache velvet truffle.

The next task today,
enrobing each truffle

through a deliciously named
"waterfall of chocolate."

Fire away.
I think we're all set, yeah.

OK.

Then it's on to the final,
delicate part of the process,

carefully applying a cocoa butter
design to each chocolate

using a silkscreen printed sheet.

So these just allow us
to give a little bit of colour

to the tops of the chocolates,
a little bit of decoration.

So, Calum and Rhiannon,

if you want to move on to
raspberry strips, yeah?

With Iain's brother Calum
looking after the next chocolates,

Iain turns his attention to what
you'd think was called the cafe.

So, this is the chocolate lounge.

This is not a cafe.

This is where we are trying to share
with people the velvet truffle

and do tastings.

So, yes, you can have a tea and a
coffee and a lovely hot chocolate,

but you also get to do
a tasting flight.

If you have your mouth just slightly
open, the flavours and the aromas go

through your nose and your mouth
and you'll just taste a bit more.

More and more people are wanting
to come for an experience.

And honestly, if you ever try
chocolate before your breakfast

in the morning when your palate
is fresh, that is actually
the best time.

There is no shortage of people
who are interested in chocolate.

Even during recessions, people
are still enjoying that small luxury

of chocolate
and they're more discerning,

just like they are with coffee.

One small luxury proving
more popular than ever

is their hot chocolate.

That hot chocolate we're serving
in the chocolate lounge is not

just a hot chocolate.
It's actually liquid truffles.

Enjoy that, guys.

So this is a marble thick
hot chocolate. It's the combination

of both ganaches, the white
and the dark into one very small,

rich cup.

Nice and slick.

There we go. Perfect.

Simple as.

Oh, it's definitely the best
thing that we serve here,

if I'm personally honest, yeah!
I have about two or three of these

a day. And, oh, my God,
they're so good.

It's not just the chocolate barista
that loves the hot chocolate.

Iain and Calum's mum
and stepdad often pop in

for a perfect afternoon treat.

I'm not really surprised
that Iain has made a success

in making chocolates.

Iain was always a fusspot.

He liked everything to be just so.

Are you happy with those?

Eh, they could be better.

It requires a steady hand.

And, erm, some days you have
a more steady hand than others.

Things that don't pass the grade,
what happens to those?

We have to eat all the misshapes,
yeah. So that's a requirement

of the job. Anything that doesn't
pass the grade, you have to eat it.

So that gets distributed amongst
the staff, and customers as well.

We are lucky enough to get
the odd chocolate seconds

coming to us.
We limit ourselves to two a day.

Very, very strict.

I'm awfully strict with my husband.

Nice job so far.

All shiny.
All very nice and shiny.

Ah, they're looking great.

It feels good that you're making
something, not just that, yes,

it tastes nice, but actually
is as good as you can make.

When you're serving Michelin chefs,
you can't give them 99

wonderful chocolates
and one that's kind of so-so.

Consistency is the tricky part.

OK. Last three.

There you go. Thank you very much.

Chocolatiers are a very,
very special breed.

It's a different type of chef,
almost like a science,

rather than actually being a cook.
They're trying to make THE best

in the world EVER.

And hospitality needs those people,
those perfectionists.

Bringing them in enhances
your environment, your space,

what you're creating, the individual
little bits that come together

to create the much bigger picture.

It's fine. In Wolverhampton,

it's the eve of Harpreet and Gina's
wedding, the largest of the year

for the venue.

So, yeah, it looks like
a bomb's hit it the moment.

And the sheer scale of the task
ahead is clear to Manni.

Got a party that's going on
in the Grand Hall,

which is finishing in the next
15 minutes.

Got ten to 15 staff members coming
tonight to set up for the carpet.

Normally, it takes us a day
to set this carpet up.

The challenge tonight is
to make sure that the night team

get this carpet done
by six o'clock in the morning.

Three minutes left
for eight o'clock.

So I'm going to go and shut down
this wedding now, and then get ready

for the next one.

Right, guys. That's it.
Party's over.

There's a lot of pressure
for everyone here, a lot of pressure

for the set-up team, to be honest,
because that's the manual work.

I'm just there just with my
clipboard, just to boss them around.

Make sure we get all the decor
from that room

and get it all set up. I don't want
to come in the morning and we're

still doing the carpet. I know it's
a big task, but we need to do it.

I'm always there on their back.

I think it's quite good
that I've got a big mouth

because I'm always shouting at them!

Which I am!

So we can do this. Plenty of coffee
and we can do this, yeah?

Brilliant, guys. Woo!
Come on, let's go.

Avey knows what he's doing.
All the waiters and the staff

know what they're doing. The night
team know what they're doing.

I'm going to get my beauty sleep
and I'll be back at seven o'clock
in the morning.

Manni's team work from dusk
till dawn to lay the white carpet.

Without that done,
nothing else can be set.

Some of the staff here can work 40,
50, even 60 hours plus in a week.

We have to do what we have to do
to ensure that we deliver

the wedding. If the wedding start
time is down for ten o'clock,

then we have to be ready
for ten o'clock.

There is no negotiation. We have
to throw a lot of staff at it.

If the staff have to work
long hours, then we have to do it

because we have to be ready
for that time.

I'm back in Wolverhampton
for the big day.

I know they had a big function
last night.

The guys would have been here
overnight making sure

that they can get everything ready.

But that's a big thing
to turn around, that.

It looks like Manni's night team
have delivered.

The white carpet is down,
pampas grass decor in place,

and tables are beginning to be laid.

The transformation is incredible.

Hi, Manni. How are you, mate?
Hello. I'm good, thanks.

Good, nice to see you. Are you
all right. How are you? Good, good.

What's the aim? What time
do you want to be ready for?

So, guests are going
to start coming at three o'clock.

So, I think about half 12,
we want to be ready.

The scale of this...

..is there anything that you think,
OK, this could go wrong?

I think the only thing that is
concerning me at the moment

is the space. So we've only got
a small walkway here today.

We've got 600 guests.
We've got 20, 30 staff.

We've got bar staff as well.

So this is going to be the main
walkway to go to the guests

at the front, to go to the guests
at the back.

A kitchen is over there as well.
But our bar's on that side.

This is the only...
This is the only walkway.

..because all the tables are quite
close to each other? That's correct,
yeah. Right. OK.

Is there a specific menu?

It's a three-course meal and
a party, so there's a lot of food.

So I think everyone will be happy.
They've got a five-tier cake today.

Five-tiered wedding cake
for 600 people?

That's correct, yeah.

So you can see that the kitchen's
really busy at the moment.

There's a proper sense of
activity now, isn't there? It is.

Everyone's getting ready for
the canapes. As the guests come in

they'll have five canapes
and the drinks reception.

Yeah. So, they're just preparing
that, but at the same time

you've got the chef getting
the starters ready as well.

So, yeah, as you can see,
it's all go, go, go.

Manni, is this the menu on here?
Yeah, so this is the menu for today.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Hold on a minute...

We've got fish and chips, yeah.
Fish and chips!

Everyone likes a bit
of fish and chips. Yeah.

Amazing. Brilliant.
I love fish and chips.

We've got mini kebabs on slate,
so they will be warm kebabs

with a bit of mint sauce on there.

We've got chicken curry
and lamb curry, and then you've got

all your sides, like your rice
and your yoghurt,

and then your naans as well.

What have we got in here?
This looks amazing.

Bright, vibrant colours.
So this is chilli paneer.

We've got two pots of it.

I mean, it's a lot, isn't it?
Yeah.

These pans are so big.
I mean, they're so big!

It's a tight run kitchen,
and impressive when you think

there's just a team of ten

turning out the food
for 600-plus guests.

This building, and the people
in it, never, ever seem to stop.

It's this massive, giant
spinning world of hospitality.

And we have here the sales team

showing a future bride
what their room could look like.

Instead of just looking
in a brochure,

come and see the set-up,
come and see what we can do.

Manni and her team have done
an incredible job.

There's just a few final
touches to go.

I'm a bit late.

And one quite large five-tier one.

Oh, that looks lovely already.

The venue, the food,

and the bride...
Are you happy with everything?

Yes, it's lovely. Yeah?
...are already.

The guests won't be coming in here
until another 20 minutes.

We're in a good place.

You made it. We made it,
we made it, yep!

Guests out in the ticketing hall
are finishing their welcome drinks

and canapes.

Right, guys, we're ready.

Open the doors.

Now, it's showtime.

Let's welcome Harpreet and Gina!

GUESTS CHEER

MUSIC PLAYS

Out front, everyone is partying.

But for Manni, this is crunch time.

So the compere just said
to everybody, get to your tables,

starters are coming.

So everything now is about
to come piling out of this kitchen.

So we're just preparing now. Salad's
already for the waiters to get out.

I love kitchen energy.
I love it, I love it,

I love it, I love it! The noises,
the energy, the space, the fact

they're all in their line,
they know what they're doing,
they're all ready to go.

Soon as we get the go ahead
from outside, I'm going to help

in the kitchen today, because
it's 600 people. You're helping

in the kitchen? Yeah. We've got
three event managers. I'm going

to get the two on the floor and I'm
going to help in the kitchen and get

the food out as soon as possible.
OK. Everybody knows what's going on.
That's it, yeah.

Food service begins,
and the carefully choreographed flow

is clear to see.

The best way of describing flow
within a kitchen

is having an understanding
of the pass, a little bit

like a runway at a busy airport.

Make all the trays, then you do
this side and she'll do that side.

You have planes
that are scheduled for landing.

Planes that are scheduled
for taking off.

You are air traffic control.

Come on, keep moving them down.

And you are moving things
in and out...

Go.

..trying to keep that flow as smooth
and as quickly as possible.

And it works.

The waiting staff are navigating
that tight central walkway to serve

the bride, groom and guests
those carefully chosen dishes.

Some big wedding venues,
you could accuse them

of being like a production line.
And essentially they are.

And that's what they have to be.
But Ferraris and Lamborghinis

come off a production line.

Hey, mate. Hi, how you doing?
How has that gone?

That's gone brilliant, yeah.
We've got the mains out.

Everyone's enjoying their mains,
and then we're going to get
the desserts out.

But, yeah, it's going really well.
I saw you running that kitchen. Oh!

You were like, bossing that,
you're like a machine.

You have to be, you know, to get
the food out for 600 people.

Last thing we want is the food out
for the people at the front

and not food at the back.
So you need someone boisterous

in the kitchen that can get
that food out straight away.

Well, you've done an amazing job.

I do really, really enjoy my job.

I can't see myself doing
anything else.

I love attending all these weddings!

That's not surprising
when the weddings are like this.

Tonight's headline act
is one of the biggest names

in the Punjabi music scene.

Jazzy B.

You really can see that Harpreet
and Gina had spent so much time

and effort and energy,
and obviously money as well,

trying to create
the most memorable, magical day.

It was like they'd opened
this box of, right,

what wedding accessory delights
can we have?

All of them, please.
We'll have the whole lot,

throw the whole thing at it.
And it was amazing.

I've just had the best time.

What a vibe, what a space.

But actually, this is different
every single day,

every single event.
Everything about it is bespoke,

and they pull it off.

What these guys do is incredible.

I take my hat off to them.
Fair play.

Hey, boys and girls.

Over the last 12 months I visited
a huge range of businesses

across the UK.

The energy of kitchens,
they're amazing.

It's been a privilege to witness
great passion and skill...

He's a big boy.

..unwavering dedication
to customer service...

By all means, grab a table.

..and a willingness to take risks...

That's what it's going to look like.

..in the face of the most
challenging times we've seen

in years.

Oh, no!

I'm struck more than ever
by how amazing and inspiring

the people who work
in this industry are.

It gives me hope and faith
for our future.

Cheerio, chaps.
I'll see you next time.