Maida Vale chef Oli Williamson is down to the final six for the prestigious Roux Scholarship.
The Fat Duck chef served up a winning combination of hake, clams and leeks at the regional semis last week for judges Alain Roux, Michel Roux Jnr, and Angela Hartnett - among others.
Now on October 25 he will bid to win the scholarship, which includes £6,000 and an all expenses paid placement in a three Michelin star restaurant anywhere in the world.
"I'm ecstatic to get through, it's pretty incredible," said Oli. "It was a tough day, my first time doing any kind of competition and I was totally out of my comfort zone. The judges gave some helpful tips on what went well and what didn't which I will take to the final."
A panel of judges led by Björn Frantzén, from three-star Michelin Restaurant Frantzén in Stockholm will set a blind challenge to cook a classic dish at Westminster Kingsway College.
"You are going in blind, it's a curve ball," adds Oli. "Usually a classic dish of the type that I don't cook at The Fat Duck. You have to rely on your training so I will be going into work on my days off practicing and doing research."
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