The 2003 Roux Scholarship has been won by Simon Hulstone, head chef at Cotswold House hotel in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.
Hulstone, who becomes the 20th scholar in the competition's history, beat off the challenges of five other chefs at a cook-off at London's Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel.
Chairman of the judges, Michel Roux, said: "We had a clear winner in Simon - his dish was very flavoursome and everything in it was beautifully cooked."
Roux added that for the first time in the competition's history, the judges had been unable to pick out a clear runner-up and that the five other finalists would share the second prize of £1,500 between them.
Hulstone's main prize is a three-month stage in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant of his choice anywhere in Europe. "I'm chuffed to win. I've been a bit nervous of this competition in the past because I haven't had the confidence in myself that I could produce the [classic] style of cooking that you need for it," he said.
By Joanna Wood
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 3 - 9 April 2003