成人论坛

Assistant Producer Claire Hill writes about filming Larkin and Dale’s Takeaway Revolution.

For more than a year we have been following Larkin Cen and Dale Williams working hard to open their first Chinese takeaway.

Masterchef viewers all have an opinion on these talented Welsh chefs and when they turn up at food events or their own pop ups, people are desperate for photos.

But they are both genuine, down-to-earth Welsh boys, ready to have a laugh at themselves and each other. Plus they are impressively passionate and full of self-belief. Which is a good job really; heading into business is stressful and you need to be able to see the funny side of things and really believe in what you're doing from day one.

When we started filming the project there was an opening date for the takeaway venture which shifted quite dramatically and put lots of pressure on the cooking duo. But if you want to see why it all happened and the real story about how hard it is to open a business, you will just have to keep watching the series.

As a small two-person production team, whenever you see Larkin and Dale cooking or eating, that means Emily the producer and I are behind the camera or a sound kit trying to concentrate really hard on capturing everything on film. Some days this is very hard to do when the food looks and smells so good.

But, don’t feel too sorry for us, we generally descend on the leftovers. The food might have gone cold but it was always still really tasty. So we have no complaints and that is especially true when we headed to Hong Kong for three days – you’ll see some of the amazing food we came across in episode two. Sorry we can’t offer you all 'smellivison' or any tasters though.

After more than 12 months of being behind the scenes and seeing everything that goes into opening a foodie business, especially the endless paperwork and red tape, I wouldn’t fancy doing it myself. You’ll see as the series airs that even for Larkin and Dale it has been hard work and graft and that it isn’t all glamorous. So I’ll stick to eating the takeaways.

Larkin and Dale’s Takeaway Revolution is on Friday 3 April at 7.30pm on 成人论坛 One Wales.