Britain’s favourite daytime cooking competition is back for a new series, and for the first time it is professional chefs battling for glory on Come Dine With Me: The Professionals.
Liverpool got its first professional appearance on the show on Tuesday 5th July featuring Lu Ban Restaurant in Cains Brewery Village, the city’s Italian Club Fish, and Crosby’s Seafood Kitchen.
With the series filmed all over the country, each episode has three restaurant duos who take it in turns to host the others over a 3-course dinner, serving up an evening of food and entertainment, with fun and drama at the centre of the secret scoring to bag the £1,000 cash prize.
Cooking up a storm in the Lu Ban kitchen, executive head chef Dave Critchley served fellow restaurateurs a menu of Tianjin inspired dishes at the lively and interactive Chef’s Table, starting with a traditional Chinese Yin and Yang hot and sour soup, a main of Szechuan grilled lobster followed by the stunning Cherry Blossom dessert of ruby chocolate, Morello cherry and apple blossom. Guests were also treated to a traditional Chinese Lion Dance.
Italian Club Fish kicked off the competition with married couple Rosaria and Maurizio providing their guests with a proper Italian night out before Crosby Seafood Kitchen’s Vicky and Ashleigh wowed with a seafood platter main course. Day three was the turn of Dave Critchley who was assisted by Lu Ban’s super professional front of house guru Dimitri. While the group were enthralled by Dave’s tales of China and the hot and sour soup blew Rosaria’s mind, it was also the third night of lobster! The Lu Ban Cherry Blossom dessert was served as a work of art and as the Chinese Lion Dance brought the evening and the competition to a close, Italian Club Fish were announced as the winners and received the £1,000 cash prize.
On Lu Ban winning the runner up spot after the secret scoring, Dave Critchley said “We went into the competition to showcase Liverpool as a brilliant place for visitors, to highlight independent restaurants and our stunning restaurant. Congratulations to Italian Club Fish and Seafood Kitchen, they did themselves and the city proud. We’re very happy that we got to showcase great Chinese food and entertainment, plus we managed to have a lot of fun along the way”.
To give guests a chance to be part of the TV experience, Lu Ban has launched its ‘Come Dine With Me’ menu at the restaurant which is available for pre-booking on Thursdays and Fridays at £49.50 per person at www.lubanrestaurant.co.uk/come-dine-with-me
Find Lu Ban at Cains Brewery Village, Stanhope Street, Liverpool, L8 5XJ.
