Fiery pint-sized chef Patria Weerapan was knocked out of The F Word Best Local Restaurant competition last night, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.
As the final of the competition drew closer Gordon Ramsay set three tough tests for each remaining restaurant. In the first test, designed to reveal the quality of the service offered to regular customers, undercover diners were sent to each restaurant each instructed to create certain challenges for the restaurant teams be altering orders or just being over-chatty customers.
The second test tested the performance of the restaurants under high demand, sending a coach-load of thirty diners to each establishment all arriving and ordering at once... a tough challenge for any kitchen.
The third and final test was held at Gordon’s three Michelin star restaurant at Royal Hospital Road in London. Each kitchen team was to produce one course using beef selected by Gordon to be served to a restaurant of discerning diners and worthy of a three star service.
In the first of Simply Thai’s tests the undercover diners were told to act as if they were short of time, a point that the menu explicitly states can be accommodated if the waitress is notified. Gordon was shocked to see that having been informed by the waitress, Patria herself left the kitchen to question the guest as to exactly how much time they had to eat, and where they needed to be.
Despite the shaky start the quality of food at Simply Thai, and worse service at Greek contender Retsina, ensured that Patria sailed through to the second round of the semi-final and the challenge of feeding thirty diners all ordering mains and starters at once.
In this second test it became clear that Patria is a woman who prefers working alone. When questioned by Gordon as to what starters were being served in the restaurant Patria’s waitress-come-sous-chef seemed clueless, despite Patria’s insistence that her staff had been briefed. From there on in, the pressure began to show.
The demand of thirty orders hitting the kitchen in such close succession and only one pair of hands to deal with them led to a slow start and a very concerned Gordon. As the heat began to rise at Simply Thai communication between floor staff and the kitchen seemed to have broken down. Orders for spring rolls that had already sold out continued to roll into the kitchen and Patria grew increasing ill-tempered.
Things were not looking good for Simply Thai. Their lowest moment in the competition came as Patria stormed onto the dining room floor to retrieve a prawn dish from an unsuspecting customer which had been served unfinished, barely reaching the kitchen before she began reprimanding an oblivious waitress.
Despite this the presentation of the food, which was almost single handedly churned out by Patria herself, was exquisite and most diners agreed that the food was worth the wait. Although having been shocked by the miscommunication of the Simply Thai team, Gordon commended Patria on the love and effort that went into her food. In particular he pointed out that this challenge represented Simply Thai operating at full capacity and that for a service handled by one chef alone, the quality of the food was outstanding.
With Simply Thai’s contender, British restaurant The Pheasant, also having struggled with service in the second test, the competitors were neck and neck. Next on the agenda, and deciding the winner of the semi-final, was the all-important service at Gordon’s Royal Hospital Road restaurant.
Gathering the contestants in “one of the best equipped kitchens in the world” Gordon stressed that in ten years, he had never let another chef take over his own kitchen, and that this part of the competition was really laying his restaurants’ reputation on the line. The pressure to deliver a service meeting a three star standard was on.
Patria opted to serve Panaeng beef curry with coconut rice and a side of caramelised quail eggs with a cucumber and pomelo salad dressed in coriander and lime dressing. Having pre-prepared the curry paste before hand and with only one course to be served the service Simply Thai delivered proved smoother than in round two. Frustration soon resurfaced though as Patria refused to listen to Gordon’s advice during service, resulting in Ramsay deciding to talk to the kitchen wall rather than the hot-tempered Thai chef!
Gordon criticised Simply Thai’s presentation as bowls with curry sauce dripped around the outside were lined up for service. Refusing to accept any wrong doing, and much to Gordon’s dismay, Patria blamed his kitchen for the mess as it did not have the right sized spoon to distribute the curry between the small bowls effectively. Reluctant to accept any criticism from Gordon, Patria also continually blamed her quiet kitchen assistant, Nong, for any mistakes.
In the end it seemed like the talented yet stubborn chef had become her own worst enemy, having failed to work in a team effectively in both her own restaurant and in Ramsay’s kitchen. While the food being served was of a high standard, some diners complained that the panaeng curry sauce was too overpowering and slightly too sweet. Despite this Gordon still described the competition following the Royal Hospital Road service as “too close to call”.
It was clear throughout the competition that Ramsay had a soft spot for Weerapan, having originally described her as “the female Gordon Ramsay from Bangkok”. While he had grown frustrated by certain elements of her character, Gordon admired Patria’s abilities as a chef and the passion that was put into her cooking.
Following the revelation that Simply Thai had not made it into The F Word Best Local Restaurant Competition final Ramsay described Patria as one of the most talented chefs he had discovered on his nationwide search and seemed almost a little disappointed to have to let her go. Still, Simply Thai can leave the competition proud to be The F Word’s Best Local Thai Restaurant of Gordon’s 2009 search.
With Simply Thai eliminated Indian restaurant, Lasan of Birmingham and British restaurant, The Pheasant of Keystone, Huntingdon are left to battle it out to be the winner.
The final of the competition airs tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm.
You can catch up with the show at channel4.com/food
Read more about Simply Thai in our VeryThai F Word Feature.
