If you hadn’t guessed after reading my many foaming at the mouth with pure unadulterated glee reviews of The Restaurant (Grand Final! Tonight on BBC Two, 8pm), I’m a bit of a fan. Sadly for me, my favourite couple from the show were voted off, a hair’s breadth away from reaching the final. Of course, I’m talking about Grant and Laura, who, with their Jacques Tamson’s eaterie, created dazzling grub and, more importantly, many moments of cracking TV entertainment. I caught up with the pair and talked about deep fried Mars Bars (I know, I’m a walking cliché machine), one man’s last ever meal and the future…

Grant. Laura. How’re doing?

GC – We’re great, Laura had our second daughter – Millie on the 3rd of October so we’ve been up to our eyes in nappies.

LC – It’s great to be home, the restaurant was a wonderful experience but it certainly took it out of us… even watching it took it out of us!

In The Restaurant, you managed to finish third whilst having a bairn and another one on the way… how on earth did you manage?

LC – The BBC helped us out with a great nanny. and of course it was very difficult saying goodbye to our little girl every day but we knew we were doing it for her, and for number 2.

Speaking of the number two, we’re down to the last couple of couples now… I really wanted you to win, but sadly, you were released back into the wild last week. Who would you like to win now?

GC – Thanks mate – nice to know we had some support. As for the final, we’re going for Jess and Laura. When we met the other couples we were surprised at how many professional chefs there were and considering Jeremy has cooked with Gordon Ramsay… so I think we’d automatically plump for the girls, they’re very much the underdogs in a cook-off

That seems to be the general consensus. Of all the couples, you were the only ones who really managed to come across as both business-like and still likeable…

LC – Well that’s very kind of you. We both work in quite sociable industries so always try to enjoy our work but still keeping an eye on the bottom line.

GC – Laura’s worked for crisis management on The London Underground so her training has prepared her for a bit more drama than someone complaining about their fish. Lee Cash (one of Raymond Blanc’s sidekicks in the show) kept banging on about the responsibility and stress in the trade and he just runs a pub! I’d love to see the stress he’d be under if he got a job doing more than pulling pints.

Haha! Meow! What was it like dealing with Raymond Blanc? How was it when he turned up at your kitchen?

GC – Raymond Blanc is fantastic, he’s been called the gentleman of the kitchen and he’s that and more, no wonder you can trace so many Michelin starred chefs back to him. When he turned up at the kitchen I was exhausted, we’d only had 4 hours sleep after service the night before and then Windsor was taken over by a triathlon so none of our staff could get there. But he was great, he let us get on with the service and was offering the kind of advice that proves invaluable.

How does it feel to be the only chef in the world to serve the Raymond Blanc a deep fried Mars bar?

GC – I call it the Glasgow Gourmet – We served it with a dulce de lecce sauce and Italian ice cream as a kind of nod to the Italian chip shops in Glasgow. I always meant the dish to be a bit of a gimmick in amongst the finest Scottish produce like Aberdeen Angus, Balmoral venison, hand dived scallops, langoustine… the list goes on… and then diners could round off the meal with something they’d all heard of, but never tried. And it was a huge winner, more than half of all our dessert orders were for the Mars Bar and of course Monseur Blanc tried it. In a way, his trying it was one of the safest things i could have given him, as he’d never tasted it before… imagine if I’d tried serving him a creme chocolate fondant! The man invented that!

I’m actually salivating now. Please tell me that this isn’t the end of your culinary adventure…

LC – We’re definitely going to carry on in the restaurant trade – we’ve already started looking for funding and have set up www.grantandlaura.co.uk to keep people posted on our progress.

GC – I think Jacques Tamson’s II will probably happen in Edinburgh, that way we can stay truest to the produce.

Book me a table. I want Cullen Skink. Running a restaurant must be filled with loads of interesting scenarios… what was the most weird and wonderful thing that happened to you during the show?

LC – In the second last weekend, a couple arrived off the street. Grant had met them when putting out the menu. The gentleman communicated by writing on a pad as he had advanced throat cancer and was due for an operation the following day that would see his ability to consume food limited to intravenous tubes. They chose to eat at our restaurant and the gentleman had cullen skink for what would effectively be his last real meal – and he loved it! That accolade means more to us than any other we could have dreamed of – it made the whole experience worthwhile.

That’s incredible! I’m surprised that didn’t make it into the show. Speaking of which, with the BBC in the middle of a crisis with editing and the like, do you think we saw a fair representation of Grant and Laura?

GC – Well the camera doesn’t lie but editors can certainly choose to focus on certain characteristics. I think they had in mind a certain stereotype for a Glasgow Chef so showed a lot of that kind of thing, but i don’t mind. Every week people were claiming to be passionate about what they were doing… I showed that passion.

The Restaurant – A life changing experience?

LC – A fantastic experience, wonderful people and some friends for life. It was a great chance to change our lives as much as we want, we just have to get on with it now…. that’s our latest challenge.

Click here to read my interview with Martin and Emma from The Restaurant. AND REMEMBER! GRAND FINAL – TONIGHT – BBC TWO – 8PM