Episode 3

By the start of the new millennium, the three chefs had changed British dining forever. Episode three of Rise of the Rockstar Chef follows what happens when the rivalry that made them gets harder to walk away from than to feed, and brings them together for the first time in decades. The final episode of the series explores how each man handled the success he had fought for.

Marco Pierre White steps away from the kitchen and hands back his stars. Gordon Ramsay turns a restaurant into an empire and himself into a global name. Heston Blumenthal keeps pushing the boundaries of what cooking can be, while feeling the mental pressure of the heat of the kitchen. Their paths have taken them in very different directions, but the old fights, fallouts and feuds have never quite faded. Food critics, maitres d' and former colleagues reflect on the legacy of an era that reshaped British restaurants, and on whether the chefs ever truly left it behind.

Next is the story that sums up how deep the divide ran. Decades ago, Marco asked Heston to throw Gordon out of The Fat Duck so that the two men would not have to share the same space. It was a moment that showed how far the friendship had fallen, and the three have not sat together in the same room since. For the first time in decades, they will. Each chef offers one of their most iconic dishes, a plate that tells the story of who he is and how he got there, for the other two to taste. Sitting around one table, they revisit the defining moments of their careers, the arguments that were never settled and the things left unsaid. Food has always been how these men prove themselves, and this time it is also how they face each other. As the plates are passed round, the pride, the nerves and the old competitive instincts come to the surface.

The reunion asks whether three of the greatest chefs of their generation can leave the past on the table, and whether respect can sit alongside rivalry. Can they find common ground and a chance to settle old scores, or do the scars of their unfinished business run too deep? Three chefs, three very different legacies and one shared story about the era that put British food on the map.