Alex tackles Amélies, a harbour-side seafood restaurant in the picturesque town of Porthleven in Cornwall. Owner Sam Sheffield Dunstan gave up a high-flying career in London five years ago to fulfil a lifetime ambition of opening a restaurant. However, her dream is turning into a nightmare as she has failed to attract the right head chef to such a remote location. She's now turned to Alex in desperation to help find the right person.

Over a week, Alex will offer up nine candidates to be put through a rigorous interview process. As well as testing their technical cooking skills, all candidates will have a face-to-face interview and a chance to cook a signature dish which shows off their culinary flair. But at the end of the week only one can get the job.

The first three candidates are put through a gruelling hands-on interview process. First off, the candidates are given the local but little-used ingredient of spider crab to test their ability in getting to grips with tricky seafood. Experienced chef Aaron raises Sam's hackles with his over-familiarity, whereas laid-back surfer Tom needs to convince that he's as serious about the job as he is about the waves. Family man Martin warms all of their hearts with his enthusiasm and passion... but can he actually cook fish?