Speaking about the event Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said: “Josie Wheeler played a blinder. She is a worthy winner and I know all the judges really enjoyed what she created. The brief was to create something ‘grab and go’ and a mini Black Forest was such a clever idea. This year’s competition has blown us all away with the creativity on display and the number of entries from different age groups. We’re going to keep the competition like this from now on,”

Simon Coulson, HR Director at Hotel Café Royal said: “It is so important to us at Hotel Cafe Royal to host events like this. It is great for students to see what it’s like in a leading professional kitchen, to get support from great chefs but also to see what it like to work in a place like this, at the top level. It is so important to find and develop the next generation of chefs and hospitality professionals.

Daniel Pearse said: “All the entries were high and showed some great skills. All the judges were impressed. We just felt, overall, that Josie Wheeler’s Black Forest was the winner.”