Million Pound Menu

Last updated

Million Pound Menu
Million Pound Menu.jpg
Also known asMy Million Pound Menu
Genre Game show, reality TV
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes12
Production
Running time60 min
Production companiesElectric Ray
Sony Pictures Television
BBC
Original release
Network BBC Two
Release17 May 2018 (2018-05-17) –
19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

My Million Pound Menu is a BBC reality tv television series which ran from 2018 to 2019, where budding restaurateurs would present food concepts to a panel of investors in hopes of winning investment. It was presented by Fred Sirieix, a professional maitre d'hotel turned television personality. It was described the Guardian as "Dragons' Den meets MasterChef". [1]

Contents

The programme was broadcast on BBC Two, with the first series of six episodes broadcast from 17 May to 21 June 2018. The second series also comprising six episodes was broadcast from 8 January to 19 February 2019. Although not cancelled, no further series were made, possibly due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Episodes are now available to stream on Netflix. Investment offer ranged from £95,000 to nearly £1 million.

Development

The UK restaurant industry is worth £35 billion a year. [2] The vast majority of restaurants close within a year of opening. Meredith Chambers, managing director of production company Electric Ray, said he came up with the concept after meeting the agent of well known chef who said that it was common practice for prospective restaurateurs seeking investors to make them dinner to demonstrate the concept and their skills. Chambers felt this would translate well to a reality tv format. [3] The show also discussed and depicted trends within the culinary industry in the UK, such as the increasing popularity of vegan food and up-and-coming world cuisines. [4] Million Pound Menu was praised for its depiction of the process of developing a successful restaurant business, with Fred Sirieix commenting: "Everybody in the hospitality industry dreams of owning their own restaurant and they all worry about getting capital but we show it’s important you also meet the right investors and that you have a simple but scalable concept. It’s not just about great cooking, you need knowledge of HR, marketing and basic finance too." [5]

Format

Originally titled Million Pound Menu, in each episode of the first series, a number of participants (it is never shown how many) pitch their ideas via video conference to a table of investors. Two new restaurant ideas are selected to move through to the next stage - their own pop-up restaurant in Manchester for two days in an attempt to gain backing from the investors. [1] [6] Each teams gets a restaurant opposite the other on the same street. The two participants/teams are given two weeks and access to an interior design team to produce a concept that aligns with their vision.

On the first evening, the restaurant runs a soft launch evening service (where customers receive a 50% discount) and serves the investors dinner from their menu. The next day, the participants meet with interested investors individually to go through their business plan and answer questions. At this point, investors who are thinking of investing give an indication of what their proposed investment would likely look like - often the investors are looking for promising concepts to gave spaces in their existing developments. After this, the participants then run a lunch service which the investors also attend, often sitting at the bar so they can observe the kitchen operating. Investors can drop out at any point, but after lunch, they have until 8 pm to decide whether they wish to invest or not. If multiple investors make offers, the team picks the investor they want to work with.

In series two, the format was changed to give investors greater opportunities to interact with the different aspects of the concept. Three concept teams of hopeful restaurateurs prepare their signature dish for four potential investors, who make comments to camera about the value of the idea. By majority vote, the investors select one team to open a two-day pop-up restaurant in Manchester. (Investors can drop out at any point). Once in Manchester, the concept team runs a soft-launch dinner service. The investors dine with each other during this service. On the morning of the second day, the concept team has one-hour business meetings with each investor. Afterwards, the team conducts a full-price lunch, where the remaining investors dine alone and also interview customers. Afterwards, the investors are given a deadline of 7pm to return to the restaurant to present an offer.

Investors

The panel of investors changed with every episode, but included:

Series 2 only:

Broadcast history

Series 1

EpisodeFirst airedEntrepreneur(s)Brand nameInvestment soughtDescription of productInvestment offeredInvestorWebsiteFate
Episode 117 May 2018Ruth Hansom and Emily LambertEpoch£600,000 to open a restaurant in LondonAll-British fine dining £750,000Atul KochharN/ADissolved in 2019 - both candidates took other jobs [7]
Episode 117 May 2018Ewan HutchisonShrimpwreck£100,000 to open a restaurant in ScotlandTempura prawn buns fast casual None offered - Scott Collins offered mentorshipN/A Continues to operate as a street stall (2022)
Episode 224 May 2018Oli, Joe and MichaelFINCA£150,000 to open a restaurant in LiverpoolCuban-inspired street food £150,000Jeremy RobertsN/AUnclear - several residencies
Episode 224 May 2018Chelsea CampbellWholesome Junkies£95,000 to open a restaurant in ManchesterVegan junk food None offered - Chris Miller offered mentorshipN/A Restaurant opened in August 2022
Episode 331 May 2018Ronnie Murray and Jamie RandallHollings£200,000 to open a restaurantBritish chophouse Atul Kochhar offered the full amount for investment, but the participants declined after he required them to give up their additional employments to focus full-time on HollingsAtul KochharN/ADissolved (2019) - Murray opened another concept and Randall started a marketing agency
Episode 331 May 2018Graham BradburyThe Cheese WheelItalian fresh pastaNone offeredN/A Continues to operate as a street stall (2022)
Episode 42 June 2018Lee Bardon and Faai KerpholGreedy KhaoVegan Thai grab-and-go None offeredN/A-Active (2019)
Episode 42 June 2018Prince OwusuTrap KitchenSoul-food inspired takeawayNone offeredN/A-Active (2019)
Episode 514 June 2018Jay MorjariaDynastyKorean fine dining£500,000 and residency in Forte Berlin hotelLydia Forte-Active (2019)
Episode 514 June 2018Rupert Smith and Marita LietzBubble& Bubble and squeak None offered - Atul Kochhar offered mentorshipN/A-Unknown
Episode 621 June 2018Liz and Stew DownBlack Bear Burger£250,000 to launch a national chainPremium burgersNone offeredN/A-Active (2019)
Episode 621 June 2018Jennifer Henry and Hannah AdamsNaked Dough£250,000 to launch a national chainRaw cookie doughNone offeredN/A Operates as ecommerce store (2022)

Series 2

EpisodeFirst airedEntrepreneur(s)Brand nameInvestment soughtDescription of productInvestment offeredInvestorWebsiteFate
Episode 18 January 2019Lee Johnson and Sinead CampbellBBQ Dreamz£350,000 to open a restaurant in LondonFiilipino street food£350,000Charlie McVeigh Opened as Bong Bong Manila Canteen in Hackney in 2021
Episode 215 January 2019Liz Selway and Alec OwenBaba G's£300,000 to open two restaurantsIndian-spiced burgers and friesJamie Barber offered £200,000, Atul Kochhar offered £300,000Atul Kochhar Restaurant opened in Brixton in 2019
Episode 322 January 2019Jamie Duffield, Dave Bone and Anthony PowerPilgrim£400,000 to open a restaurant in LondonSpanish fine dining themed on the Camino de Santiago Matt Farrell offered a place in the Duke Street Market Hall in LiverpoolMatt Farrell Opened in Liverpool in 2019 [8]
Episode 45 February 2019Tanya GohilDevi's£650,000 to open a restaurant in LondonIndian vegetarian and sustainable street foodNone offered - Laura Harper-Hinton offered mentorshipN/A Active (2022)
Episode 512 February 2019Scott De Lima and Lacey MilesTiger Bites£250,000 to open a restaurant in LondonAsian fusion street foodWill Shu offered a spot in a Deliveroo dark kitchen Will Shu-Active (2022) [9]
Episode 619 February 2019Adam Wood and Gethin DaviesCoracle£750,000 to open a restaurant in LondonWelsh-inspired British cookingNone offered - Atul Kochhar offered mentorshipN/A-Dissolved - Wood became head chef at a Cambridge hotel owned by Chris Miller [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 Wollaston, Sam (24 May 2018). "Million Pound Menu review – Dragons' Den meets Masterchef". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. ↑ cycles, This text provides general information Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct Due to varying update; Text, Statistics Can Display More up-to-Date Data Than Referenced in the. "Topic: Restaurants in the UK". Statista.
  3. ↑ "Hot Picks: Million Pound Menu". BroadcastNow. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Million Pound Menu: Big bucks and bigger appetites". BrockPress. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "Million Pound Menu star Fred Sirieix: 'It's brilliant seeing restaurants being born'". What To Watch. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Benji (17 May 2018). "Million Pound Menu review – a daft hodge-podge of recent reality show formats". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "Ruth Hansom's Million Pound Menu restaurant no longer moving forward". bighospitality.co.uk. 14 May 2019.
  8. ↑ ""It's all about inclusivity and community": Pilgrim's founders on their first permanent restaurant". bighospitality.co.uk. 10 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "My Million Pound Menu's Tiger Bites given Deliveroo slot". bighospitality.co.uk. 13 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "Interview: Chef Adam Wood to front new Garden House restaurant in Cambridge". 4 June 2021.
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