Covering eight very stressful months of Gordon's life, the show charts Gordon's path from one famous London restaurant, Aubergine, to start up his own. His mission is to win the most prestigious culinary accolade in Europe, three Michelin stars. The celebrated chef already holds two stars, but will have to impress the Michelin judges to earn the coveted third. If he does win it, he will be the youngest chef ever to do so.

With the pressures of personally financing his self-named restaurant, the pressure is on Gordon to maintain his hard-earned reputation. To keep the bills paid he resorts to 'at home' photo shoots for a celebrity magazine and endorses a variety of apple. It's clear these activities makes him uncomfortable as a professional, and the stress of it all begins to take a toll.

Things heat up both inside the kitchen and out. Between getting bad press for his famously furious outbursts and kicking a famous restaurant critic out of his restaurant the door, Gordon continues to tweak his menu while the president of Michelin unexpectedly takes a seat at Table 6. Gordon's very career hangs on the dinner he serves while tempers flair, insults fly, and chaos reigns in the kitchen.

While Gordon waits several months before finding out if he got the third star, life goes on and Gordon loses his father, gets sues by his former restaurant, and the financial pressures continue.