APPRENTICE contestant Luisa Zissman managed to get back into Lord Sugar’s good books tonight after her team served up a comfortable boardroom win.
The challenge in episode nine was to come up with a new ready meal, which the candidates had to pitch to three leading retailers in a bid to bag the most orders.
This week the ambitious St Albans businesswoman shied away from taking the lead, which gave her the casting vote to choose between Francesca and Neil who both wanted a shot at project manager.
Despite saying of Neil: “I get called aggressive? What the hell is Neil? He is a bloody pitbull - he should be illegal!” she went ahead and handed him the top job.
Evolve then settled on the idea of creating a dish aimed at students that would fuse together different cuisines.
But the trio looked to be heading for a recipe for disaster when nobody wanted to be on the cooking team. Luisa professed: “I can bake, but I sure as hell can’t cook. I would not claim to be any kind of expert on savoury ingredients at all!”
In the end a reluctant Francesca headed off to the kitchen with Lord Sugar’s aide Karren Brady noting: “Luisa was very clear this morning; ‘I don’t have knowledge of savoury food, I don’t cook’.
“We’ve come to a kitchen and she’s all over the food, it’s clear she has knowledge.
“But Francesca’s in the kitchen. She’s going to have to cook, she’s going to have to taste. I hope she’s up to the job.”
The next day despite being disappointed with the taste of their spicy noodles, named ‘Oh My Pow’, Evolve had to pull together and pitch their product to supermarket chains and an online retailer.
Her efforts prompted Karren to admit: “She has stopped game playing and is coming together with her team… I think I am finally seeing a serious businesswoman emerge.”
Luckily the food did not leave a bad taste in all of the experts’ mouths when it was announced Ocado and Asda had placed orders bringing their total to 2,800.
Team Endeavour’s ‘Deadly Dinners’ had only generated 1,000 orders, which meant this week Alex found himself on the losing side and his days were numbered.
As a treat Lord Sugar sent Luisa and her triumphant teammates for a spin in a Ferarri around Bedford Autodrome.
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