The line-up for the regional finals for this year's Roux Scholarship has been announced.
There will be a total of 18 young chefs competing for a place in the finals, 14 of whom are entering the competition for the first time.
The two regional finals will take place on 10 March at Birmingham College of Food and Thames Valley University in Ealing, west London.
The challenge for the first stage of the competition, now in its 28th year, was for chefs to submit a monkfish recipe for four people, accompanied by a rice dish and a green vegetable.
In the regional finals each of the contestants will have two-and-a-half hours to cook their dish along with a dessert from a bag of secret ingredients.
A total of six chefs will then go through to the national final, held in London on 18 April, and will receive £1,000 each in cash thanks to the Savoy Education Trust. The winner of the 2011 Roux Scholarship will win a three-month stage at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant and a £5,000 cash prize.
Judges will include TV chef James Martin; Andrew Fairlie; David Nicholls; Gary Rhodes and Brian Turner, who will be joined by brothers Albert and Michel Roux and their sons Michel Jnr and Alain.
The 18 regional finalists are:
Mark Birchall, L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
Richard Edwards, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Wiltshire
Viresh Singh, The Connaught Hotel, London
Carl Chappell, The Montagu Arms Hotel, Beaulieu, Hampshire
Frederic Aumeunier, Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Richard Cullen, The Spotgate Inn, Staffordshire
Andrew Wong, Bumbles Restaurant, London
Thomas Brockbank, Self-employed working with Compass Group
Pramod Ghadge, Restaurant Associates, London
David White, Restaurant Associates, Barclays Wealth, London
Nick Whatmough, Restaurant Associates, Barclays Wealth, London
Matthew Whitfield, The Montagu Arms, Beaulieu, Hampshire
William Best, Wiltons Restaurant, London
Neven Vanderzee, Galvin at Windows, London
Matthew MacDonald, Vinoteca, London
Oliver Farrar, Haymarket Hotel, London
Quinton Bennett, Haymarket Hotel, London
Mark Berdin, Umu, London
Roux Scholarship 2011 launched >>
Baxter Storey chef Kenneth Culhane is the 2010 Roux Scholar >>
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By Kerstin Kühn
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