by Caroline Dalzell

Created on: February 23, 2009

Heston Blumenthal is a gourmet genius. Failing food-establishments which Blumenthal cannot revive are not worth their salt. Which is why I was so surprised Little Chef scrubbed up so nicely by the end of the programme.

The idea for the TV series was a simple one: can Blumenthal rescue Little Chef from the brink of its Olympic-Breakfast-soaked demise by modernising the menu and improving the quality of the ingredients? Oh, and all to a very tight budget?

Little Chef: the red and white sign of yesteryear, past by on many a motorway, glanced at while munching on an egg or tuna sandwich, never once willing your parents to stop. Or maybe that was just me. I never was a fan of the place; I have only ever stopped there once, and that was to use the bathroom.

Heston Blumenthal: the world-renowned culinary genius whose restaurant The Fat Duck has won three Michelin stars and been heralded "the best restaurant in the world". Famous for his mind-boggling creations such as egg and bacon ice cream, and snail porridge, Blumenthal views cooking as an exact science, an experience to be enjoyed by all the senses.

My antipathy towards Little Chef was not helped by its Chief Executive, Ian Pegler, a smug little man with limited charisma who certainly did not give me an appetite for the food chain. Pegler kept changing the goal posts, wriggling out of any tiny commitment Heston wanted, causing Heston to worry that Pegler had no intention of rolling out the new and revamped menu, which was being trialled in Popham, to all the other UK stores. I have to say, Blumenthal dealt with Pegler admirably. I cannot possibly write what Gordon Ramsay, for example, may have expelled in Pegler's face in reply to such management nonsense as "I want more blue-skies thinking". What tosh. Pies-in-the-sky thinking, more like: Pegler wanted Fat Duck-calibre meals on the new menu, for around ten pounds. And I want a mansion in central London with easy access to the countryside, and countries in general, via my own private helicopter parked on the roof...

All the nostalgia for the roadside cafe that Blumenthal enthused on the show was baffling to me, but it certainly made me care about the project; I rooted for its success, albeit mainly for Blumenthal and not Little Chef.

I did, however, find myself starting to wish prosperity upon Little Chef towards the end of the programme because of the team members in the Popham branch. Initially cynical, manager Michael was not keen on the first attempt to revamp the

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