TV personality and Love Island winner Amber Rose Gill will appear in a new show that gives three south London restaurants the chance to win £10,000.
Big Money Munch is the UK’s first African & Caribbean cooking competition, where restaurateurs show off their culinary skills and go head to head to win a prize fund.
The purpose of the four-part series is to shine a light on the diversity of black cultures up and down the country, whilst uncovering some hidden gems.
In each episode, radio DJ and presenter Sian Anderson invites a celebrity friend out for dinner – with a twist.
Hopping on the Big Money Munch bus, Sian and her guest go out for three meals, each one taking them into a different black-owned eatery across one city, before deciding which one is awarded the £10k prize.
The first two episodes saw the bus go to Leeds and Bristol, before arriving in London for this week’s, featuring TV personality and winner of Love Island season 5 Amber Rose Gill.
They visited three Caribbean restaurants, all in south London – namely Tribe in Streatham, East of Eden in Brixton and The Guava Kitchen in Forest Hill.
Amber told us why she got involved: “Doing this job I always want to push people forward who might otherwise be overlooked.
“I love that it’s helping to promote black-owned businesses.
“The money could really help someone out and even if they don’t win, hopefully, the exposure from the show will generate interest in these restaurants.”
She added that it was great to venture into the cuisine of the area. “Where I live in London, there aren’t many Caribbean restaurants. And I’m a pescatarian so even though I’m Caribbean myself I don’t actually eat a lot of the food as it’s usually focused around meat.
Luckily for her, the restaurants were vegan. “You don’t usually associate Caribbean food with veganism but it really works.”
The owner of one of the restaurants featured told us she thought it was a ‘hoax’ at first.
Jenny Campbell, who runs The Guava Kitchen said: “They messaged me on Instagram asking if I’d be a part of the show – I thought it was a hoax.”
“I just thought it was just going to be an interview. It was nerve-wracking when I realised what it really was.
On the £10k prize, she said if she won the money would go towards trying to get more customers, as like many food businesses, the cost-of-living crisis has had a strain on their business. “There’s a lot more competition in terms of getting people in – and because we’re a vegan restaurant as well, it’s a struggle.
“So whatever happens – just being a part of it was an amazing opportunity. It’s not all about the cash – it will open a lot of doors.”
Durvayne Denis, owner of Tribe in Streatham, said winning wasn’t about the money but that they enjoyed the food. “I’m used to cooking for people so I didn’t feel the pressure but I haven’t seen their reaction to my food yet,” he said.
To see what went down, catch the episode online on Channel 5 online from Thursday, June 1st.
Big Money Munch is a co-production between Afro-Mic Productions and Motion Content Group for BET (UK), and is executive produced by Emma-Rosa Dias and Francois Gandolfi for Afro-Mic Productions.
Catch up on the first two episodes of Big Money Munch now on My5.
