Channel Seven's Restaurant Revolution pop-ups open to the public

Ever wanted to review a restaurant in front of a camera for television? A new reality show from Channel Seven is giving you that very opportunity with pop-up restaurants in capital cities around Australia open to the public (and its criticism) from this week.

Hosted by Jock Zonfrillo (executive chef at Orana, Adelaide), Restaurant Revolution charges five teams from around Australia to design and run their own pop-up restaurant. The restaurant's success will be judged each week by how much profit it makes, a panel of experts that includes Neil Perry, and the views of its customers. The team with the most successful restaurant takes home $200,000.

The pop-ups are open for lunch and dinner (no bookings) and you might want to make sure your hair's looking all right if you plan on dropping by as cameras are positioned to capture every corner of the restaurant for television.

Each pop-up has a Big Brother-style diary room which any customer can use to record a one minute review of the food, service and atmosphere of the place. There's every chance the video review will feature on the show and the video will also be sent to your mobile so you can post it on your own social media account. A bit like TripAdvisor but in video form.

The pop-ups will remain ongoing for the "next couple of months" said a spokesperson for Seven. All restaurants are BYO only and teams have determined their own menu pricing and corkage fees. The network is yet to release a premiere date for the show.

Diners should have a lot to talk about to camera if they head to one of the restaurants. Goodfood.com.au went along to the launch dinners at the Sydney and Melbourne pop-ups where aspiring head chef Dom served "farm to table" cuisine in Centenary Square, Parramatta; and Nathan and Maz cooked up Italian in St Kilda.

The teams have been allowed to pick their own furniture (hello RSL-style tables and fake ferns in Sydney), there was a leaking roof in Melbourne's shipping container, which resulted in multiple buckets being placed around the room to catch water. The food in both cities has, err, room for improvement.

It's all in the name of good television though isn't it?

Restaurant Revolution pop-ups are open Wed-Sun 12-4pm and Wed-Sat 6-11pm. For details: au.tv.yahoo.com/restaurant-revolution/