Episode one headed south to Tasmania to dine with Burnie sweethearts, Caz and Damo, where guests were treated to a music-themed pop up called ‘Sound Check.’

As they got busy in the kitchen, the contestants got to know each other and the wine and flirting flowed freely. Were they sparks we spied between a certain bearded man and spunky blonde who confessed to being able to flirt with even a pot plant? Perhaps we’ll have a side order of inter-team romance this season?

Damo and Caz had high hopes for their cauliflower and truffle soup with rustic crusty bread. Self-confessed “arrogant” foodie, Tyson, suggested that soup was playing safe for entrée. He expected more.

Sadly, he was proved somewhat right when Manu commandeered the grater and a large knob of truffle and helped himself generously. The lesson? Never be tight fisted when serving truffles to a Frenchman.

While the chefs cracked on with duck fat potatoes and scotch fillet steak with béarnaise sauce, the guests cracked on with the laughs and banter. Well, all but Tyson and Amy who remained cadaverously poker-faced until a discussion about cooking methods got a minor spark out of him.

Sous vide or grilled steak was the debate between he and Man Mountain, Kyle, but at the end of the day it didn’t matter because it was all about the grill in the ‘Sound Check’ kitchen.

The steak and potatoes were a bit of a downer for Manu and Pete, but they came home strong with the béarnaise sauce. Was it enough enough though to carry the dish? Overcooked steak is overcooked steak and Tyson was trés underwhelmed. He came here for a challenge.

Dessert was an unusual mélange of apple crumble cheesecake with stewed rhubarb, which felt like they couldn’t make a decision, and sadly as an overall dessert the judges were not impressed.

Although there were some good textures and lovely flavours, the delightfully jovial pair pulled a disappointing score of 62 out of 100. They were stoic and we saw no tears this early on.

Scoring:

Teams:              28/50
Pete:                  Entrée 8/10; Main 5/10; Dessert 3/10
Manu:                Entrée 7/10; Main 6/10; Dessert 5/10
Overall Score:   62/110