Fallen Souffle: The Winners Revealed on the Season Finale of "Last Restaurant Standing"

I'm not even sure what to say about Last Restaurant Standing at this point.

Last night's season finale of Last Restaurant Standing ("The Banquet") proved to me that the producers have irreparably damaged this once promising and engaging format.

It's rare for me to go from obsessively loving a series to loathing it from one season to the next but the third season of this culinary competition series (which airs in the UK as The Restaurant) has been so shockingly dismal and so poorly produced that it took all of my energy to keep watching it to the (very) bitter end.

Yes, a winner was named last night for the third season and I can't help but be shocked and depressed by the results, which proves the producers--and quite possibly Raymond Blanc himself--were more interested in concept and uniqueness than in finding partners who could actually, you know, cook.

Just to get to the point: Raymond offered a restaurant to the woefully inadequate JJ and James. While it's not to say that Chris and Nathan were without their faults (Nathan in particular), I have to say that I'm really, really frustrated by this turn of events, which seem to undermine everything that the series is purportedly based upon. What is the point of culinary challenges if the winner of the season didn't need to have cooked at all? What's the point of watching dinner services when the alleged chef is merely expediting orders instead of getting his hands dirty?

Throughout this season, JJ managed to get by without cooking very much... and when he did cook, it was often absolutely disastrous. Last night's banquet dinner was no exception. He produced a glue-like risotto, got lucky with the beef, and failed to produce the requisite souffle, which had been specifically requested by the clients. Yes, JJ was able to create a souffle-like cocktail using egg whites, blackberries, and champagne, which the guests adored, but that wasn't what had been asked for and it certainly wasn't even a dessert course. His lack of experience and knowledge about food was glaringly obvious to everyone he came across.

I don't deny that he can make a mean cocktail because he can; it's clearly his forte, his passion, and his knowledge base. But that doesn't mean that he should open a restaurant with James. They are clearly more suited to opening a bar than beginning a partnership with famed chef and restaurateur Raymond Blanc.

But James and JJ have somehow managed to blag their way into the winners' circle. Sarah said repeatedly that they were consummate blaggers and it's true: these two have pulled off quite an impressive con, considering that they can't cook to save their lives and entered a culinary competition. They're flash showmen, charming confidence men, and exceptionally lucky that their competitors weren't flashier, more charming, or more lucky. (They're also lucky that the talent pool this season was, for the most part, rather shallow.)

Raymond, Sarah, and David seemed more taken with JJ and James' overall restaurant concept than they were with Chris and Nathan's Rags and Riches concept. The former could function--with some serious hard work, marketing, and publicity--as an offbeat restaurant chain concept, particularly if they snag a liquor license. Chris and Nathan's concept--which I take to be fine dining on a budget--doesn't work quite so well in the high street but could work quite well as a one-off with some proper attention and guidance.

But it was the awarding of the top prize to blaggers JJ and James that really made me angry and all but erased any goodwill I have towards this once-fantastic series. What is the point of a culinary competition series when actual cooking ability would appear to have no weight whatsoever? When a competitor can fail to make a risotto or a souffle and still walk away a winner? When someone can squeak out of any cooking duties on a regular basis and still wind up being a partner with Raymond Blanc?

Should the series return for a fourth go-around, I hope that the producers have a serious rethink about the format changes they made this season and the casting directors put out their feelers in more suitable directions and lure in some contestants that not only have a passion for food, and a desire to open a restaurant of their own, but also some genuine culinary skill and ability.

What did you make of this season and of the winners? Would you come back for another season of Last Restaurant Standing or are you ready for the check?

Next week on Last Restaurant Standing ("Winners Story"), the winners of Season Two are followed as they work with Raymond Blanc to transform an old pub into the restaurant of their dreams.