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Hotel chefs clinch ‘Great North Menu Challenge’

Three chefs from popular North East hotels have been crowned this year’s winners of the ‘Great North Menu Challenge’ which saw some of the region’s top young chefs battling it out in a cook-off.

Paul Johnson from Close House, Stephen Cawley from Marriott Gosforth Park and Adam Westgarth from Maften Hall were the eventual winners.

Paul’s starter of local lobster, blood orange and fennel, Stephen’s main of taste of Northumberland lamb and Adam’s Sand Hutton new season Champagne rhubarb and custard assiette were the winning dishes and will be served to hundreds of guests at a special dinner organised by the North East Hotels Association (NEHA).

The ‘Great North Menu Challenge’ was held for the second year running, organised by the NEHA and Darlington College to allow the region’s young chefs to showcase their skills to their contemporaries and to encourage more young people into hospitality and catering.

Fourteen chefs from hotels in the North East took part in the cook-off (on Thursday October 31st) with their individual dishes being judged by well-known names including celebrated North East chef and restaurateur Terry Laybourne, James Butterfield- from Darlington College, Paul O’Hara- executive chef of Rockliffe Hall and Simon Devine, executive chef at Gosforth Park.

The winning dishes will be prepared for hundreds of guests at the annual NEHA Excellence Awards dinner being held at Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel on 27th February 2014, which is attended by some of the hospitality sector’s leading names.

All of the major hotels in the North East are members of the NEHA which works to promote tourism in the region, to constantly improve standards and to encourage more people into the industry.

Nick Holmes, a founding member of the NEHA and MD of Rockliffe Hall in Hurworth, worked with Darlington College to organise the event. Nick said: “The NEHA strives to not only put the region on the tourist map, but also encourage people into our industry. We can often have difficulty recruiting the right staff and we work hard with local colleges to attract enthusiastic, talented people. The Great North Menu Challenge is a great way of showcasing the excitement and passion in our industry. The standard this year, like last year, was very high and we have some superb winners using local produce.

“Darlington College has an outstanding catering and hospitality department and it’s great to work with the team there to show young people that this sector offers varied career opportunities and this has been met with real enthusiasm from both the hoteliers and the chefs involved.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison Associates .