Miles Jupp’s radio comedy In And Out Of The Kitchen did so well a TV version was made. That was about a year ago and since then it seems to have sat on the shelf. It finally starts this week, which makes one wonder what caused the delay. Had the recipe gone off in the transfer from audio to video? Will it now seem a little stale?
The good news is that it still seems to be pretty tasty to me. Jupp plays celebrity chef Damien Trench, who lives in north London with his partner, ex-banker Anthony (Justin Edwards). Trench has decided to let the cameras in on their daily life, hence the title of the series. And, of course, daily life with the quietly neurotic chef is full of comic incidents as well as cooking.
In the first episode he has the builders in. Not some kind of euphemism, he really does have two genial builders in. This happens to coincide with Anthony deciding to go on a strict courgette soup diet, which creates a rather unpleasant odour in the downstairs kitchen. Meanwhile Damien has decided to swallow his integrity and pen a lucrative nutritionist-bashing column for “Waitsburys” supermarket magazine.
It takes a lot of skill to interweave multiple plots like this in a single episode. Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm do it best, but Jupp does pretty well too as he tries to make his life run smoothly but only ends up getting into a pickle and making things worse. The courgette soup is not the only thing that creates a stink. If only life worked out as well as one of his menus.
Jupp is very good, always on the cusp of boiling over but usually managing to keep a lid on things. There does seem to be a bit of a continuity issue though. He has curly hair in his attic office but straight hair in the basement. Maybe filming was stretched out or maybe he has GHDs in the hall. Pretentious modern cuisine and first person telly is a doddle to send up – “fizzy beef” anyone? – but this series does more than poke gentle fun at the Nigel Slaters of this world. I’m looking forward to next week’s second helping.
Wednesdays, 10pm, BBC4.
