In Come Dine with Me: The Professionals, teams of professional chefs and restaurateurs will take on each other in a bid to be crowned the best independent restaurant in their town, county or city.

Each self-contained episode will feature three local eateries competing to claim the prestigious CDWM:TP award and a cash prize shared among the winning restaurant's staff. Each restaurant will be represented by a partnership of two – for example the owner and head chef – who will welcome their rivals for a meal that they hope will impress. The dinner takes place during a normal service, so the visitors will have the chance to check out the atmosphere, the food and the service. At the end of each meal, the visiting restaurant pairs will score the evening out of 20 with the highest scorers overall scooping the prize. Iconic CDWM voiceover Dave Lamb will be bringing the action together as narrator of each programme.