My Million Pound Menu is back on our TV screens tonight with another set of food and drink entrepreneurs hoping to make it in the restaurant business. Show Fronted by First Dates star Fred Sirieix, the BBC Two series sees street food traders and supper club hosts take over a pop-up restaurant in a bid to win over the paying public - and a panel of industry investors. Filming took place at the Corn Exchange, in the former Byron Hamburgers restaurant, last autumn. The grade II listed city centre building - previously The Triangle shopping centre and originally the city's corn and produce exchange - was revamped and reopened as a food and drink development in 2015. It's now home to restaurants and bars including Salvi's, Mowgli, Pho, Wahaca, Cabana, Tampopo, The Cosy Club, Banyan Bar and Kitchen, Gino D'Acampo - My Restaurant, Vapiano, Pizza Express and Zizzi, as well as the Roomzzz Aparthotel and the Escape Hunt escape room. Each episode of My Million Pound Menu sees three wannabe restaurateurs pitch to four hospitality industry investors for the chance to open a pop-up restaurant inside the Corn Exchange.  The entrepreneur with the best concept takes over the kitchen of the former Byron restaurant for a two-day trial to prove themselves worthy of financial backing. As well as the investors, each pop-up restaurant welcomed in real Manchester diners to road test their menu during filming in October. The first episode of My Million Pound Menu airs tonight at 8pm on BBC Two, featuring The Duck Truck, BBQ Dreamz and Jah Jyot.
My Million Pound Menu was a BBC reality tv television series which ran from 2018-2019, where budding restauranteurs 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] 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-19 February 2019. Although no cancelled, not 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[edit]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 restauranteurs 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 businness, 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[edit]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 8pm 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[edit]The panel of investors changed with every episode, but included:
Series 2 only:
Broadcast history[edit]Series 1[edit]
Series 2[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
What happened Finca?Since appearing on the show, Finca secured a residency in Manchester-based restaurant Artisan, however the venue is now in administration. Finca continues to host a series of pop-ups, with events in Liverpool taking place in late January and plans to open a permanent site this year.
Did Hollings restaurant ever open?Unlike most other ideas, Hollings has never traded or opened to the public. It is purely an idea on paper. Chef and entrepreneur Atul Kochhar and Darrel Connell, partner with Imbiba Partnership, are the investors who visit their operation in action.
Where is coracle now?Now both living in London, Davies has since changed career paths to hospitality, and has worked as front of house at Michelin-starred restaurant Portland and its sibling Clipstone.
Who won million pound menu?My Million Pound Menu winners Bong Bong's Manila Kanteen to open new restaurant. Lee Johnson and Sinead Campbell, winners of BBC Two's My Million Pound Menu, have found a new London home for their Filipino street-food concept.
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Where is my million pound menu filmed?
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