Big Chef Takes on Little Chef

Who would have thought that plonking the "best chef in the world," in what is, lets face it, the worst 'restaurant' on the planet, could be such an enjoyable piece of programming.

When i first started watching i assumed this "kitchen Nightmares" style mash up would involve Heston barging into a run down little chef and barracking the employees because they can't cook an omelet.  Turns out Heston doesn't roll that way, oh no, this guy is no Ramsey, he's a pro, he really cares about his food, so much so that creates ridiculous combinations that have been celebrated world wide. 

To be honest the real enjoyment in this program came not from the regeneration of little chef because lets face it, who cares whether that blot on Britons roads had a simultaneous chip fan fire and no one could find the damp towel.  The real enjoyment came from the managing directors ridiculous, pompous and frankly insulting diatribe, born from sitting in four and half million management seminars. His catchphrase was "blue sky thinking;" something i assume means... urm... you know! thinking outside the box... catching the first light of the morning. 

Ian Pegler the aforementioned managing director, was the kind of man you would laugh at if he turned up in a hostage video pleading for Gordon Brown's help, only to have his head sliced off on a grainy internet web page; not only was everything he said taken from one of the huge folders you get when you secure a job at a crap high street mobile phone shop, he was also completely unafraid to lambast Heston's painstakingly created culinary masterpieces that he makes in a science laboratory. 

Against all odds Heston somehow succeeds; he rebrands the little chef we all know and love (dead earwigs down the back of your seat) and makes it into an american diner with meeting place seats and a slightly better menu.

The only problem for Heston is that he couldn't re-brand the staff; because lets face it they all looked like members of Leatherface's family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre; sniveling, educated by dusty bin; and the kind of people you wouldn't want cooking your even if you were forced at gun point by Jack Bauer. 

Suffice to say Channel 4 managed to create a fab program, by simply creating a huge culture clash that they knew could only end in, well, conflict.