Raymond Blanc names the winners of ‘The Restaurant’

Raymond Blanc has named JJ Goodman and James Hopkins as the winning couple in the third series of The Restaurant.

The duo, who ran the Summer House restaurant during the show, beat Christopher Hackett and Nathan Gooding to the title after the series’ final challenge during which they served a banquet for Lord and Lady Arran and their guests at their stately home in Devonshire.

Blanc, this year’s Catey lifetime achievement award winner, was joined on the show by Michelin-starred restaurateur David Moore and former Clapham House director Sarah Willingham, who will also invest in Goodman and Hopkins business.

He praised the winning pair, whose restaurant concept is food paired with cocktails, for their consistency.

"One of you has got something, something which kept you consistently in the competition,” he said when announcing the winners.

"It is the idea which truly excites you. And even in the final, concept saved you."

Goodman and Hopkins said they were “over the moon”.

They said: "To be opening a restaurant with Raymond Blanc is a dream come true and we hope we can live up to his expectations and those of industry experts Sarah and David. We hope it will be an incredible partnership that will stand the test of time."

The third series of The Restaurant began with nine couples competing for the chance to run their own restaurant, facing challenges from working in high street chains to organising a tea dance and holding a cookery masterclass in front of a live audience.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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