Celebrity chefs dropped in on an Ealing kitchen last week to cast a critical eye over the culinary stars of the future.
Michel Roux Jnr, Heston Blumenthal, Gary Rhodes, Brian Turner and Andrew Fairlie all descended on Thames Valley University's School of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Studies in St Mary's Road, where the region's 14 most promising young chefs were competing for a coveted Roux Scholarship.
Last Thursday's five-hour Masterchef-style contest required each student to cook a lamb dish and come up with a dessert made with ingredients revealed that day.
The four winners - Chris Golding, from Fulham, Helene Andersen, from Chelsea, Kevin Sutherland, from West Dulwich, and Quinton Bennett, from Muswell Hill, will go on to the national final in April.
Whoever wins the scholarship will be given a three-month 'stage' at a three-star Michelin establishment, £5,000 in cash to help with their culinary studies, tasting trips abroad and knives worth £1,000.
