20 More Celebrities Are Subjected to Gregg Wallace’s Opinions as ‘Masterchef’ Returns

Cooking doesn’t get tougher than this, twice a year, minimum

Celebrity Masterchef 2020 returned to the U.K.’s screens last night, as 20 more public figures start a culinary journey that involves being critiqued by chef-restaurateur Jon Torode and one-time greengrocer and husband Gregg Wallace. In the first episode, comedian Judi Love, Death In Paradise actor Shyko Amo, singer Myles Stephenson, footballer John Barnes, and Apprentice contestant/Gregg Wallace emulator Thomas Skinner were dispatched to Soho Turkish restaurant Yeni and Patrick Powell’s Allegra in Stratford, in between having their dishes critiqued by the judging duo. Thus far, Wallace and Torode seem to have upped their judging knowledge from the days of “crispy rendang,” judging dishes of jerk chicken and prawns with sweet plantain and green banana on their own terms. The next episode is on Friday 3 July, at 7:30 p.m.

And in other news...

• Swift, one of London’s best cocktail bars, flies east for the summer with a new opening in Shoreditch.
• Remembering pioneering restaurateur Saima Thompson, who used her platform to build visibility and ownership for women in the Pakistani community.
• London restaurants gather their thoughts before they are allowed to reopen on 4 July.
• Heinz wants the U.K. to pay £15 for an ice cream recipe that it’s giving away for free.
• Theatres are reopening their bars and restaurants, despite not being permitted to stage plays. [Guardian]
• Good tweet: