A struggling chef enters an illustrious cooking competition in an attempt save his failing restaurant. Along the way he’ll be faced with an eclectic group of contestants and various cut-throat challenges, both inside and out of the kitchen.
INTRODUCTION
The Grand Kitchen is a fun and edgy, crime-laden food drama involving larger than life characters that we'll experience through the eyes of a single parent and chef called Sidney.
After the loss of his wife, Sidney is failing to keep his restaurant afloat whilst struggling to take care of his eight year old daughter, Violet. He is an amazing chef, but doesn’t necessarily make the right business choices and has fallen into a hole since his wife passed, becoming depressed, lethargic and unfocussed. Just when it seems that he won't be able to get out of this rut, Violet enters him into The Grand Kitchen cooking competition and gives him the opportunity to make a positive change for them both.
The Grand Kitchen is a London-based restaurant that is considered a great British institution. No restaurant in the world comes close to The Grand Kitchen in terms of prestige. Created 100 years ago by former Royal chef, Edward Duke, it has been passed down through the Duke family, the most renowned family of chefs to ever exist.
After mysteriously being closed for five years when the current owner and head chef, Edwin Duke, disappeared, an announcement is made that it will soon re-open. The winner of a brand new, televised cooking competition will earn the position of Head Chef of The Grand Kitchen for one year. The entire nation gets caught up in the hype and every London chef clamors to be a part of it. Like Willy Wonka opening the doors of his chocolate factory for the first time, The Grand Kitchen competition has become a once in a lifetime opportunity. Luckily for Sidney, he has his Golden Ticket moment and is chosen to be one of the ten chefs that will compete. To win, he'll have to avoid elimination through the multiple rounds of outrageous cooking challenges in order to secure the grand prize.
The Grand Kitchen will play out like a classic underdog sports drama where we'll see the idle but passionate chef attempt to rise to the top despite being faced with insurmountable odds. What starts out as a wholesome, family-friendly cooking show will slowly become cutthroat, chaotic and crazily unpredictable. We'll witness various shocking moments of crime, including corruption, kidnapping, violence and backstabbing… both literally and figuratively.
Influenced by the work of directors like Edgar Wright, the Coen Brothers and Bong Joon Ho, The Grand Kitchen will have a larger than life, colourful and fun tone with the universal joy of food being at the centre of everything.
In each episode we'll see the ups and downs that Sidney and the other competitors are faced with both inside and outside of the television studio. Rounds of tense, cooking-based challenges that keep you on the edge of your seat will be interspersed with behind-the-scenes drama that will organically inform the characters' actions in the competition. Plotlines that explore family troubles, gang warfare, immigration issues, wealth disparity, love and artistry will fill each emotionally driven episode and serve to heighten the twists and turns.
With Sidney at the centre, The Grand Kitchen will allow us to believably explore a diverse collection of characters that celebrates the multicultural nature of London, giving us eyes into the rest of the world. As the show grows, it is our intention to expand the scope of the cooking competition, past London, opening it up for the rest of the World. This will allow us to explore different cultures in greater detail, and have a lot of fun with different restaurants around the world.
In summary, this will be the greatest and most exciting food-drama ever to exist... and that includes Ratatouille.
CHARACTERS
OWNER OF THE GRAND KITCHEN
EDWIN DUKE
The Duke family has long been known for their exceptional culinary talents, having opened the London restaurant, The Grand Kitchen, over 100 years ago. Passed down through generations, there has never been a chef in their lineage that has under-achieved, with each one becoming a household name in their own right.
The current owner, Edwin Duke, is the most famous chef in the World and because of his and the restaurant’s reputation, people would travel thousands of miles just to eat there. Then, five years ago, at the height of its popularity, The Grand Kitchen closed. No advance warning or explanation was given, just a note that was stapled to the front door reading:
"Closed until further notice".
With this, Edwin Duke suddenly disappeared and hasn't been seen since. The whole thing had become a worldwide mystery and nobody knew whether Edwin Duke or The Grand kitchen would re-emerge. And just like that, when people had almost given up hope, the closed sign on the door was taken down and replaced with a new one:
“The Grand Kitchen will re-open under new management.”
At a press conference, in which Edwin Duke makes his first public appearance in five years, he announces The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition and reveals that he closed the restaurant as he had simply lost his love for food. With the competition, he hoped to discover a chef that would bring back his passion and as an added incentive, the grand prize for the winner would be a year long residency as the Head Chef inside The Grand Kitchen restaurant.
Even though Edwin Duke will be rarely seen, his influence over the show and the competition will be great. He is in charge of everything and the producers and presenters must ultimately answer to him. His story for the first season will culminate with a realisation that cooking is not necessarily about the food, but about bringing joy to others.
CONTESTANT #1
SIDNEY FLETCHER
Sidney is a down-on-his-luck, single parent who lives off the meager income that he earns from his small restaurant. The restaurant was a joint venture between Sidney (whose father is a popular chef) and his wife, Kate. Everything was set for it to be a success when, on the eve of opening, Kate died in a tragic accident.
Now, many years later, the restaurant barely makes enough to remain open, let alone provide enough for Sidney to look after his daughter, Violet. Violet is Sidney’s biggest fan, but is constantly being let down by his apathetic and forgetful attitude which is a side effect of his ongoing mental health problems.
Despite the weight of his past, Sidney has a somewhat child-like nature, often playing the fool. As a defense mechanism, he makes light of difficult or intense situations in order to help himself and other people get through them.
Sidney has always tried to resist abandoning his dreams and get what he considers a ‘sell-out job’ at someone else’s restaurant in order to provide a consistent income. When he’s faced with the news from the bank that he’s going to lose his restaurant, Sidney is forced to take a cover-job as an assistant chef at renowned restaurant “The Cornered Fox”, run by prestigious restauranteur, Phyllis S. Windsor. On his first day, he is humiliatingly fired by Phyllis for attempting to change one of the dishes to “make it tastier”.
At his most down and out moment, Sidney realizes that he cant afford to send his daughter on a school trip with her friends, disappointing her further. He’s also paid an unexpected visit from his estranged father and popular restauranteur, Benedict Fletcher, who calls him a bad parent. Sidney will have to pull himself together for Violet’s sake, even if it isn’t easy. Violet will do anything for Sidney and it often feels like she is the one who looks after him.
Sidney has an emotional tie to the Grand Kitchen. Five years prior to this show, Sidney and Kate managed to get a reservation for their wedding anniversary. Being foodies, and soon to be restaurant owners, this was a HUGE moment for the couple, especially as it was almost impossible to secure a seat. However, his wife never showed up and he later found out that she was involved in a life-ending car accident.
Throughout the season we’ll see Sidney experience many highs and lows on his journey, a lot of which stem from his tendency to run away from responsibility, especially if it causes stress. He’ll be evicted from his home for not paying bills, get temporarily disqualified from the competition for failing to follow rules and he’ll even turn up late for a live broadcast. However, by the end, with the support of Violet and after reconciling with his father, he’ll pull himself together and make it to the final of the competition. Not only will this lead to him providing a better future for his daughter, but it will also validate the pride she has always felt for him.
Although Sidney doesn’t win, he will be at the heart of the competition, often assisting those in need and doing what he believes is the right thing to do. We’ll learn about the other characters through Sidney’s eyes as he forms fulfilling relationships with a number of the other competitors. Rounding off the season, we will see how his relatable struggles and compassion for the people that surround him will capture the heart of the nation as they root for him in the cooking competition.
Signature dish - A ham sandwich.
CONTESTANT #2
YUM YUM SU
Yum Yum is a socially anxious, Korean native who was sent to England by her parents’ to train at a prestigious law school. What they don’t know is that she dropped out after a week due to being lonely, overwhelmed and completely unhappy with the vocation that was pushed upon her. Yum Yum stayed in London, renting a spare room in a gentle old man called Hubert’s house. Due to her anxiety and fears of being alone in a foreign country, she never leaves this room.
Rather than rely on her parents’ money, Yum Yum sets up a website for people to order food that she cooks in her room. Instead of delivery, she would lower the meals out of the bedroom window with a pulley system, which only helped grow the popularity of her quirky establishment. Even though the unconventional takeaway restaurant became popular around the world on social media, nobody has ever seen Yum Yum’s face, aside from Hubert.
We’ll later learn that Yum Yum’s reason for entering the competition was born from a surprise visit from her parents, who traveled to London to see the high-flying law school life she had promised. After being forced to confess the truth about dropping out, she’s overwhelmed with guilt and thinks that by winning the competition she will make them proud and maybe then they’ll accept her choice of profession. What she doesn’t realise at first is that the shame is self-inflicted and perhaps she’s doing it for herself, after all.
Yum Yum is so shy that in the competition she wears a blonde wig and sunglasses to keep her face hidden, feeling she can only able to operate from under a 'mask'. During the first round, Yum Yum will have a breakdown and refuse to compete. This is when she forms a bond with Sidney, as his compassion helps her to face her fears. They’re an odd couple but will become good friends, supporting each other throughout the show. Yum Yum will gradually develop a romance with a persistent but charming production assistant on the show, called Norm, who she will eventually marry. By the end of the first season, Yum Yum will come out of her shell and learn she has a place in the World outside of her bedroom.
Signature dish - The Yum Yum Bun
CONTESTANT #3
PHYLLIS S. WINDSOR
Aristocrat Phyllis S. Windsor represents the elite and is the cousin of Edwin Duke, The Grand Kitchen's owner. The culinary focused Windsor family have always lived in the shadow of the Dukes and because of this they developed an irrationally bitter one sided rivalry with them. From a young age, Phyllis was raised by her parents to become a chef who could finally outdo the Dukes and bring prestige to their family... Even though they are already respected chefs in their own right.
Phyllis has had a long and illustrious career and although she hasn't yet reached the heights of Edwin Duke, she has cooked for the World's most respected food critics from her Chelsea-based restaurant, The Cornered Fox. When Phyllis hears about The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition, she dedicates every waking hour to it so that she can become the owner and the most famous chef in the world, finally outdoing Edwin.
Although Phyllis is confident in her cooking ability, it’s actually Sidney (who had a temporary job at her restaurant) that makes the dish that gets her into The Grand Kitchen. Phyllis knows this and her insecurity starts to show in his presence during the competition. She’ll target him verbally and with underhand tactics in an attempt to make herself feel better.
Phyllis has a snooty and arrogant persona and is not afraid to stoop to truly sinister levels if the need arrives. She’ll also work in cahoots with Derek, the presenter of the competition, to aid her chances further. Because of this, she undeservedly makes it into the final round.
Although Phyllis is the show’s biggest villain, we’ll get glimpses into her sad and lonely life. She’s been pushed to achieve a meaningless goal by parents who care more about their social stature than their daughter’s happiness.
The show will end with Phyllis repenting in prison and creating a cookbook for criminals. In this unexpected way, she will achieve what she always wanted: a level of fame that she could have never imagined.
Signature dish - Grilled Dover sole with a side of wilted spinach in an Earl Grey Jus
CONTESTANT #4
HENRYK STORM
Henryk is a pale, sinister looking, Polish man who wears a black suit and specialises in cooking offal, earning his nickname ‘The Offalman’.
Henryk grew up in an orphanage in Poland where he was fed 'low quality' offcuts of food. He sees the beauty in nature’s most disgusting things and treats the cast-offs in the same way he has always wanted to be treated. Just because something may not look normal, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t beautiful.
Henryk is quiet and likes to keep to himself. His unusual demeanor comes off as creepy, only amplified by how he will create sickening-sounding dishes such as Red Velvet cake coloured with elk’s blood. He’ll obsess over his knives, spending hours sharpening them and he also claims to hate the taste of water saying it makes him sick to the stomach because it’s too clean and lacks flavour.
As the competition starts, the chefs will experience many odd and sinister occurrences such as food being taken out of freezers to spoil, salt being secretly tipped in deserts and characters will be mysteriously poisoned. When it comes to accusations, everyone points their finger at Henryk. We’ll then find out about his tragic life and how all he ever wanted was to be included with everyone else. At this moment we’ll feel sympathy for him for the first time in the show which leads to him becoming a fan favourite all around the World.
Midway through the competition, Phyllis discovers that Henryk is actually an illegal immigrant.This results in him facing deportation and the producers make the decision to disqualify him from the competition. Upon hearing about this, his fellow contestants and the public begin to protest. Sidney organizes a strike amongst competitors and everyone, aside from Phyllis, joins his cause.
As public unrest grows, a large gathering of protestors emerge outside the television studio with signs declaring ‘FREE HENRYK STORM’. At this point the producers have no choice but to back down and allow him back with the Government granting him special permission to stay in the country until the end of the competition.
Henryk ultimately goes on to take the grand prize in a shocking victory. Alongside the adoration of the general public, he is given a standing ovation from his fellow contestants. For the first time in his life, he feels as if he’s finally found his place in the world. However, this doesn’t last long as moments later he suffers an injury at the hands of another contestant which leads to him being taken to hospital with an almost-fatal stab wound.
Henryk develops a close bond with a young orphan called Billy, who is also competing in the competition. Having a similar upbringing they bond over their woes of growing up in orphanages without a family. By the end of the season, Henryk vows to adopt Billy so that neither of them have to be alone anymore.
Signature Dish - Calf brain stuffed with rabbit gunk.
CONTESTANT #5
MARIA BLANCO
Maria is the young, beautiful wife of the local mob boss, Florenzo Blanco. She has a pizza restaurant that is extremely highly regarded but the general public tend to stay away, knowing that it’s often filled with gangsters who are working for Florenzo. Florenzo will do anything for Maria and she knows it and is more than happy to exploit him to get what she wants. She wears expensive clothes and jewelry and will often be seen in the studio toilets snorting cocaine.
Maria has always loved children but isn’t able to conceive so she is instantly drawn to both Billy and Violet. Through Violet, Maria starts to spend more time around Sidney, conversing with him in her usual, innocent but flirtatious manner. Florenzo doesn’t like this and is happy to threaten Sidney, which starts to make his relationship with Maria on the show particularly awkward.
During a mid-season episode, Maria will suddenly drop dead from a suspected heart attack. An autopsy finds that she has a copious amount of drugs in her system so they rule it an accidental death... But her husband, Florenzo, doesn’t believe this, and suspects someone did this to her.
Florenzo is invited to the next show, that’s dedicated to his dead wife, and it will end with him on a trail of vengeance trying to find the truth. Alongside his heavies, he’ll hold everyone at gunpoint live on air until someone admits to poisoning his wife. Nobody admits to it and the standoff continues in a tense and thrilling manner. Sidney tries to reason with him, relating his own experiences of losing his wife and how he dealt with it. Florenzo doesn’t back down but it buys enough time for the police to infiltrate the studio and restrain Florenzo and his men before anyone is hurt. As he’s being put in cuffs and taken away, Phyllis gives him a knowing wink, all but admitting that it was her that killed his wife.
Signature Dish – Grandma’s margherita pizza.
CONTESTANT #6
JEAN JEAN MOSQUITE
As one of the most talked about chefs in the World, Jean Jean Mosquite considers himself a ‘culinary artiste’. He’s pretentious and self-absorbed but incredibly charming with his flamboyant nature.
His restaurant opens for just one night every year and he spends the time in between crafting and perfecting a single meal which will be served. This extremely exclusive event is treated like the opening of prestigious art exhibition and Jean Jean treats it as such, considering his creations to be the highest form of creativity. Tables are auctioned off for exorbitant prices, with only a few being saved for food critics who are guaranteed to support his ego by issuing 5-star reviews. Or at least most of them do…
When we first meet Jean Jean he’s undergoing a crisis of confidence, having received a 4 out of 5 review for the first time in his life from renowned food critic Ludwig Du Fleur. Following this, Jean Jean berates Ludwig in the press and decides to enter the competition in order to prove that he is indeed the best and is worthy of nothing but top marks. In a shocking turn of events, Ludwig is announced as a guest judge on the show and as an act of revenge, eliminates Jean Jean from the competition early on.
Later in the show, Sidney will seek out Jean Jean after he realises he needs training in order to better his chances of winning. What he finds though is a broken man who has completely turned his back on food and the limelight that he used to crave. He no longer cares about food and now survives by eating cold spam from a tin as it’s “all he deserves”. He even reveals to Sidney that his real name is John Mosquito.
Sidney must persuade Jean Jean to train and mentor him if he is to have a chance at winning the competition. Although Jean Jean is initially reluctant, he sees a spark in Sidney’s talent and love for food that reminds him of himself when he was a young chef. Just like in sports movies, this inspires Jean Jean to break out of rut and help his new friend.
Jean Jean soon recognises that if Sidney is to achieve greatness he must make peace with his past and overcome the anxieties that are holding him back. Jean Jean ultimately helps Sidney accept his past trauma and he’ll enter the final more confident than ever. In the process, Jean Jean has found peace with himself, learning to love the food he creates and forget about what critics think.
Signature dish - Une soirée d'hiver sur la Côte d'Azur avec un être cher tout en portant un bonnet tricoté.
CONTESTANT #7
NEENA LAL
Neena Lal is an Indian chef who hails from Mumbai but has lived in London for a lot of her adult life. Ten years ago, her only daughter, Priya, went missing and even though all others have given up hope of finding her, Neena continues to search. Sidney seems to be the only other person that believes Priya might still be alive somewhere.
Neena runs a restaurant on the London Underground called The Flying Chai. Set in a working train carriage, it constantly moves around the tube lines and has the aesthetic of the Irani cafés that Neena used to frequent whilst growing up. Neena actually set up the moving restaurant in the hopes that one day, Priya would smell the traveling aroma of her chai tea and come back to her. The search for her daughter is also the reason why Neena enters The Grand Kitchen. She uses her inclusion on the show as a platform to promote her search.
When Neena is eliminated halfway through the competition, Priya shocks the world when she steps out from the crowd to greet her estranged mother. Even though the cameras make it seem joyful, there’s something amiss. Neena doesn’t trust this is actually her daughter.
Sidney will later be invited to eat at The Flying Chai between episodes of the show, but when he arrives he is ushered in by an agitated Neena. The restaurant is empty aside from Priya, who is restrained with a bloody nose. Neena proceeds to tell Sidney that this girl is not her daughter, but a fraud.
Neena had asked Sidney to come so that he could help her get the truth out of Fake-Priya. As the train rattles along, Neena ‘questions’ the girl by rubbing spices into her wounds until she admits that she is an imposter. Derek was employing her to act as Priya in order to help boost ratings. She’s an amateur actress called Meryl who has no family, no work and no home. Rather than admit the truth, Meryl continued to keep up the charade, enjoying working alongside Neena and having a home.
As the season nears its end, Sidney is able to help Neena obtain DNA evidence that confirms that her daughter has been dead for some time. Rounding off her arc, she pays a visit to Meryl, who’s on probation following her arrest. Neena offers Meryl a job aboard The Flying Chai in an attempt to help her out. Although she’ll never be a replacement for Priya, she seizes the opportunity to help a struggling girl who needs another chance to succeed in life.
Signature dish - Bun maska with spicy chai.
CONTESTANT #8
BILLY
Billy is a ten-year-old orphan who’s never had a family. He has lived in an orphanage since he was born and doesn’t even have a surname due to the fact that he has no known heritage. From a young age, he grew a disdain for the ‘slop’ that was fed to him and took it upon himself to learn how to cook, subsequently becoming head chef at the orphanage at the age of seven.
Many people have speculated that Billy is the illegitimate son of two of the most celebrated chefs in the world and throughout season one we get hints that his father could be the owner of The Grand Kitchen, Edwin Duke. Regardless, Billy seems to have a natural talent for cooking. His meals have become so sought-after that ‘The Orphan Keeper’ set up a restaurant inside the orphanage that is fully booked every night. Unfortunately it also meant that Billy didn’t get the time to do things that normal children do.
Not only does Billy bond with Henryk but he also develops a friendship with Sidney’s daughter, Violet. Being the only two kids in the studio they are immediately drawn to one another and throughout the series we’ll see Violet educating Billy on how to be a kid.
When Billy is eliminated from the competition and finally shows his age by breaking down in fear of being punished by The Orphan Keeper, Henryk is the first to comfort him and vows to adopt the boy so that they can both finally have the family they have always wanted. Using money that’s donated to him from Henryk and his new sponsorship with ‘Mr Brainz Chicken Livers’, Billy is able to buy the Orphanage, allowing other abandoned children the chance to learn how to cook. The restaurant remains open, but all employees are now paid appropriately. They now pride themselves on having no pay disparity between the gender of orphaned employees.
Signature Dish - Assorted meats pie with a reduced soluble aspirin glaze.
CONTESTANT #9
EZEE GOLD
Ezee is a twenty-year-old aspiring rapper who washes pots in his Uncle’s Jamaican restaurant. Ezee is desperate to raise his profile so when he hears about the competition, he decides to enter. Unfortunately he has never cooked a meal in his life so is completely out of his depth. Ezee asks his uncle to create the qualifying meal that he then passes off as his own and somehow makes it into the competition. Ezee, however, is the first to be eliminated when his fraudulent behaviour is exposed. Despite this, he achieves his goal of thrusting himself into the public eye and not only rockets up the music charts but also becomes the face of a ready meal company whose slogan is ‘Make it, Bake it, Fake it’.
Signature Dish - Baked beans and sausage in a mug
CONTESTANT #10
FERN VANDERNOOT
Fern is a joyful Belgian lady who owns a kitchen that sells inexpensive but creative meals to those who are hard up. It’s impossible to dislike Fern as she’s always smiling and trying to help those around her. She enters the competition for the simple reason that it looks like ‘a fun thing to do’. Fern tries to help every other competitor, even though she is competing against them. Fern is eliminated in the first round due to being paired up with Ezee, but she leaves with a smile on her face knowing that she’ll soon be back with her regular customers.
Signature Dish - Skinless sausage boiled in vinegar and onion
PRESENTER / HOST
DEREK DICKENS
Derek Dickens is British TV personality and producer. He rose to fame as a celebrity food critic in the 90s with the public admiring his relatability and charm.
Coming off the back of a few recent failures, Derek Dickens is announced as the face of the Grand Kitchen cooking competition, something that he hopes will revitalize his career. To him, the success of the show has become his utmost priority and he’ll do anything to make that happen. Being the puppet master behind the scenes, he’ll make controversial decisions, manipulate judges, influence results and even cut a deal with Phyllis to aid her chances.
Derek is, simply put, a grade-A cunt. He’s over the top, super-confident and doesn’t care who he upsets or offends with his straight-to-the-point attitude. He’s a hilariously despicable human being who just so happens to steal every scene that he appears in.
However awful Derek is, he still has the ability to turn on his charm instantly when the cameras start rolling, giving him a split Jekyll and Hyde-type personality. The public idolises him, thinking he’s a warm, cuddly presence, having no idea what he’s like in real life. He realises that he’s not a nice guy and the presence of smartphones is a daily threat to his career. He’ll often be seen slapping them out people’s hands on set to make sure they don’t capture anything incriminating.
Sidney’s humble and good-natured character is a constant thorn in Derek’s side and, as the competition progresses, their rivalry will only grow more intense. Before the finale of the competition, an exposé is published about Derek and his methods. His boss, Edwin Duke, finally finds out about his unethical behaviour and immediately fires him.
ASSISTANT
NORM STURGISS
Norm is a young, wannabe journalist who works as a low-ranking assistant to Derek on the production staff. Barely out of college, he’s eager to please but unfortunately can’t seem to do much right. And this isn’t just because Derek treats him like shit and expects too much – he’s genuinely just bad at the job. Eventually, he will be fired after making a mistake and Derek will degrade him for the final time in front of all the show’s contestants.
Norm will remain a part of the show after developing a relationship with Yum-Yum and a friendship with Sidney. Being young and confident, he reveals to them that he’s been secretly writing an exposé on the behind-the-scenes controversies on the show in his spare time for the zine that he publishes. Although he sees himself as an important undercover spy, nobody takes him seriously.
Norm becomes a nuisance to Derek, regularly appearing at the studio even after he’s fired. They’ll develop a childish rivalry where they constantly try to get one over on each other. Before the final of the competition, Norm releases his exposé on Derek's behaviour, which leads to Edwin Duke finally seeing what a despicable person he is and firing him, much to Norm's amusement.
THE COOKING COMPETITION FORMAT
The cooking competition (the show within the show) is shot and broadcast live in front of a studio audience. This will lead to exciting and tense moments of drama due to the boundaries that it sets for the characters. There are no reshoots and the camera won't stop rolling. The entire nation will be watching every celebratory moment, blunder and controversial event that happens. The fact that everything happens in real time (for the characters) means the nihilistic host, Derek, is able to pull strings to amplify audience engagement and keep the show keyed into relevant cultural events. This isn’t always healthy for contestants, but it means larger viewing figures.
Each round of The Grand Kitchen cooking competition will mostly follow the same format, which involves a main challenge followed by a face-off, where the two worst performing chefs of the week compete to escape elimination.
THE MAIN CHALLENGE
These will be wide ranging and serve to test the different skills needed to be a top chef. Each challenge will result in a dish being served by each competitor that will then be judged.
Here are some examples of the challenges:
Pairs
The first round of the competition sees competitors paired up in order to test their ability to work well and collaborate with others. Each pairing must decide on a dish to create together. This is where we see many of the competitors meet for the first time, and serves as our introduction to a lot of their big personalities as they clash with, or complement each other.
Sushi Chef
A well-renowned sushi chef from Japan, who is known for his high standards and fiery temperament, is brought in to judge the competitors’ ability to make a meal from the World’s most poisonous fish, the Fugu, which has the ability to kill people if it‘s inappropriately prepared.
The dishes are judged by this chef and one slight misstep will result in his untimely death, something that he is happy to risk as he believes that the ability to create a magnificent dish is more important than life itself.
Art
Each competitor must design and create an edible piece of art which is then judged by a famous, disillusioned artist. Henryk, who's not known for creating particularly tasty looking dishes, makes something so disgusting that the artist can't help but admire it for making him 'feel something'.
New Food
Great chefs should be able to innovate, so to prove they’ve got what it takes, the contestants are asked to create a brand new food that has never been seen or tasted before. They can make it by combining any ingredients they want and the winner will also be given the opportunity to patent the dish alongside funding to develop it further after the show has ended.
Pizza Delivery
The contestants are given a phone that will ring at some point during the show with an order for pizza. Not only will they have to make the food from scratch but they also have to deliver it within the allotted time, piping hot and as fresh as when it was made. What follows is a tense episode where the chefs fight against the clock as they quickly prepare the food and race across London to get it to the customer on time.
THE FACE-OFF
After the main challenge, the two worst performing chefs go head-to-head in the face-off challenge to decide who will be eliminated.
The face-off is a quick, simple but nerve-wracking challenge that lasts just one minute and often covers the most basic aspects of cooking to determine the winner.
• Who can crack the largest number of eggs into a bowl in one minute. Any shell is an immediate disqualification.
• Who can slice the thinnest piece of ham (one attempt only).
• Who can taste a spoonful of food and relay the exact ingredients. Most amount of correct ingredients wins.
• After the main challenge, who can clean their work surface the most within one minute.
• Chop a large white onion without shedding a tear.
The face-off challenge is designed to be a simple test that anybody at home can try, both in our real world and the world of the show. People can post their results on social media and enjoy watching people around the world taking part.
SEASON ONE & BEYOND
THE PILOT
The pilot will serve to outline the backstory behind The Grand Kitchen and Edwin Duke, as well as Sidney’s motivations for entering the competition. Other characters that will become central to the story will also be introduced and featured throughout the episode to varying degrees.
The show will open with a montage of The Grand Kitchen in its heyday through the years as we see the bustling restaurant being enjoyed by many people as it hits the headlines all over the World. This will end on the door closing and a sign being placed on it that reads:
"Closed until further notice."
A timelapse will show the sign decaying over a period of five years until a person opens the door and replaces it with a new sign that reads:
“The Grand Kitchen will reopen under new management.”
We'll witness a montage of news reports, social media posts and excitement in the streets as the furor spreads, with EVERYONE talking about it. Different chefs across London, some of which will become competitors in the show, will discuss the news. Phyllis elegantly moves around her high class, traditionally British restaurant whilst wearing a false smile. Neena serves a customer aboard her underground train car as it slows to a stop at Paddington station. Maria prepares a pizza whilst two heavies drag an unconscious, bloodstained body through her kitchen. She screams at them whilst throwing utensils as they apologise and duck out of the way.
The montage will end on Sidney, who is asleep at one of the many empty tables. He’s woken up by Violet, who tells him to watch the TV.
The news report explains the mysterious closure of The Grand Kitchen five years ago, and the owner, Edwin Duke's subsequent disappearance. This leads into a press conference in which Edwin Duke makes his first public appearance in five years, announcing The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition and the grand prize, where the winner will be rewarded with a one-year residency as the new head chef inside the restaurant.
Violet is filled with excitement, telling her Dad that he needs to enter. Violet knows he has what it takes, but he has a severe lack of confidence in his ability. To prove a point about Sidney's talents, Violet requests that he make her a ham sandwich. What follows is Sidney confidently moving around his kitchen with joy creating an incredibly tasty looking sandwich. When he's done, Violet proclaims it is better than anything anyone else on the planet could make. Still, Sidney refuses to enter, claiming that his restaurant is doing just fine (they both know it isn't).
With that, the front doorbell rings. Sidney's eyes light up, thinking he has a customer, but his smiling demeanor soon disappears. It's Sidney's father, Benedict, whom he rarely speaks to and isn't on good terms with. Benedict has an opportunity for his son: a junior chef position at a fancy restaurant run by his acquaintance, and Sidney's future rival, Phyllis S. Windsor. He knows Sidney is in financial trouble and is trying to help, mostly for Violet's sake.
Sidney immediately turns down the job offer, proclaiming he has his own restaurant to run and that a 'sell-out' job cooking someone else's dishes isn't for him. Violet again reiterates that she thinks he should enter The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition. Benedict can't hide his amusement at this, scoffing that the show is for "the best chefs". This spurs Sidney on to enter the competition.
In the following days, Sidney and Violet are visited by a customer who they believe is a judge that's assessing him as a potential candidate for the competition. Sidney kicks himself into gear and moves around his kitchen creating an amazing looking plate of food. He serves the food and the judge eats every bite, complimenting the dish before she leaves. Sidney and Violet celebrate, knowing that he did a great job.
The following week, Sidney pays a visit to the bank who bluntly tells him that he's so far behind on his bills that he has no choice but to close his restaurant.
To cheer themselves up, Sidney takes Violet out to get her favourite meal, Korean food at “Yummy Yum Yum’s”. The food at this takeout is served from a second-story residential apartment and lowered down by an intricate pulley system. The chef is anonymous, but the food is sensational (we'll eventually see the chef, Yum Yum, in the competition). Whilst eating their meal, Violet asks Sidney if she can go on an upcoming school trip. His heart breaks when he has to tell her that he can’t afford it. This pushes him into taking the job that his dad offered.
On his first day at The Cornered Fox. An order comes in and he starts to prepare the restaurant's signature dish... But he looks at the recipe and realises that it could be better, so alters it slightly before sending it to the customer. Upon hearing about this, Phyllis blows up and humiliates Sidney before firing him and setting her up as the main villain in the show. As Sidney is leaving the restaurant, he notices the same Grand Kitchen judge that came to his restaurant... and she's eating the dish he was just fired for making.
Sometime later we see Sidney in a coffee bar with a newspaper, circling job opportunities whilst dressed in his 'best' suit. A news report on the television interrupts him. The ten contestants have now been chosen for The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition. We'll get a cutaway to the report as we are introduced to some of them. Sidney watches it with disappointment as his small amount of hope is finally taken away.
'You're All I Need To Get By' by Marvin Gaye starts to play and we see Sidney being accepted for a job. The montage continues as we see him working the kitchen of a trendy new takeout called MUSH, where the food is blended and presented in an almost-liquid style paste, giving the customer 'all of their daily nutrients and all of the taste'. All the while he's being bossed around by someone half his age. We see him walking home from work every day, each time passing his old restaurant, carrying more and more shopping bags every time, showing that he's finally making some money. Then one day as he's walking past his restaurant, something catches his eye. He looks through the glass door and sees a stack of letters, noticing what he thinks could be a Grand Kitchen logo on one of them. He tries to reach in through the letter box and grab it but can't quite get it, so he admits defeat and continues.
Then one day at work, as he's serving food, he sees a customer's newspaper with a headline about The Grand Kitchen. A contestant has been disqualified before it began and they're hoping to announce their replacement soon. Sidney freezes, thinking about the letter. He throws his apron on the ground and sprints out of the restaurant as the Marvin Gaye track builds to its climax. He runs through London, as fast as he can, until he reaches his restaurant. With the song's end, Sidney runs and jumps straight into the door, smashing it and breaking inside. As he heroically rolls over the pile of bills, he springs to his feet, holding The Grand Kitchen envelope up into the air. He rips it open to reveal an invitation to attend The Grand Kitchen as a competitor. It's only then that he realizes the alarms of the restaurant are sounding as we cut to credits.
EPISODE TWO
Following the pilot, each episode will feature a mixture of televised challenges and struggles outside of the studio, all serving to track Sidney's journey, as well as those of the other characters. Each episode of our show will track a round of the competition and will have a guest-judge as well as the regular host.
We open the second episode straight onto an explosive opening ceremony that involves a cacophony of chopping, sizzling, kneading and stirring as a brigade of chefs prepare a huge feast. Knives get thrown, fireballs rise from the ovens, pizza dough gets thrown high into the air in this spectacular introduction to the show. At the end of the ceremony, the chefs all throw their dishes onto a big dining table, making a huge and colourful tableau of food. The host of the show, Derek Dickens, sits at the table and gives us a loud and flamboyant welcome to The Grand Kitchen Cooking Competition.
This episode is where the real fun and games begin. We are introduced to the surrounding cast and the television studio environment where we'll spend a lot of time. Sidney meets his fellow contestants for the first time, some of whom are familiar faces to him. They are placed into pairs and must agree on collaborative dishes to create for the judges.
Sidney is paired with Yum Yum who’s in the process of having a meltdown after experiencing sensory overload from the opening ceremony. She refuses to compete on air as she hides in the cupboard of her dressing room. As the time ticks down, Sidney comforts her. Through the course of the episode, the duo strike up a friendly relationship which will continue throughout the show.
Ten-year-old Billy is paired up with Henryk, The Offalman. What starts out as a terrifying prospect for Billy ends with them bonding as they share their harrowing experiences of abandonment. Enemies Phyllis and Jean Jean try to make it through without killing each other as they fail to agree on anything. Maria educates Neena about the benefits of marrying a mob boss and finally, Fern is paired up with Ezee Gold. They're an odd couple who surprisingly get on like a house on fire as Fern gives the talkative cheat his first ever cooking lesson.
Unfortunately, it takes Sidney and Yum Yum a while to overcome their anxieties and they fail to finish their meal in time. Because of this they are put into the first head-to-head elimination challenge against Fern and Ezee, who are eventually eliminated, allowing Sidney and Yum Yum to continue their journey.
THE WINNER
After a nail-biting finale that sees Sidney, Henyk, and Phyllis go head to head, we’ll eventually see who is crowned the winner and soon-to-be head chef in The Grand Kitchen. This episode will take place in the Grand Kitchen itself and will be judged by Edwin Duke for the first time.
Phyllis confidently assumes she is going to be named the victor, so when the shock announcement is made that HENRYK IS THE WINNER, Phyllis snaps. Her dreams and aspirations that she’s worked towards her entire life are crushed and we see the darkest side of her character come to the fore as she attacks Henryk, plunging a knife into his stomach. Henryk ultimately recovers in hospital, surrounded by all of his friends and Phyllis is sent to prison for her crimes.
THE FUTURE
Each series will have a built-in mechanic to tell a full and well-rounded story: the competition. However, this is Sidney's story and we want to continue his journey in becoming one of the greatest chefs to ever live, so we aim to track his involvement in the competition throughout the course of the show. From managing his now-thriving restaurant, to becoming the new host of the Cooking Competition, and even training his daughter who wants to enter herself, Sidney will ultimately return to the competition as a contestant in its final iteration to prove that, throughout his journey, he has become possibly the greatest chef to ever grace this planet.
The first season is grounded to London with windows into the rest of the world, but in subsequent seasons we want to expand the competition worldwide. This is an international show and it's always been our intention to explore interesting characters and restaurants from around the world, giving us a good view of a wide range of cultures in a fun way.
It is our intention to build up a number of seasons-worth of fun and interesting chefs who all have intertwining stories. When the time is right, we then plan to have one big finale season to decide the lasting fate of The Grand Kitchen restaurant. All previous winners, plus a few extras will be invited back to compete in one last competition, in which the winner will inherit entire ownership of the iconic restaurant, as well as the title 'The Greatest Chef to Ever Live'.
