Winner of the Northern regional chef competition held at Darlington College was Tom Barnes (L'Enclume, Cartmel) Runners up were: Adam Handling (Fairmont St Andrews) Chris Kenny (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxford) Ryan Murphy (Turnberry Hotel) Winner of the Northern regional waiter competition held at Rockliffe Hall, Darlington was Claudio Di Somma (The Ritz, London) Runners up were: Sophie Henderson (Coworth Park, Ascot) Carine Jau (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxford) Tobias Klaas (Morcus Wareing at The Berkeley, London) Bob Walton MBE, chairman of the competition and president of the Restaurant Association, said that every year, the standard of entries got higher and higher: "We can be really proud of all these young people who show so much talent. They are the future of the industry." New awards this year are: Waiters: Best Barista - Claudio Di Somma (The Ritz) Best wine knowledge – Sophie Henderson (Coworth Park) Best cheese knowledge – Sophie Henderson (Coworth Park) Chefs: Best original dish – Daniel Taylor (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons) Best dessert – Matthew Worswick (Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham) Best kitchen craft – Chris Kenny (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons) The southern regional chef finals will take place on Wednesday 14th September at the University of West London (Ealing campus) and the waiter's regional finals will follow on Monday 19th September at the Nestlé Business Centre, Maidenhead. All 16 northern and southern finalists win a three-day trip to Champagne Laurent-Perrier. The winners of the national finals also win an educational trip provided by Matthew Clark and Hatch Mansfield to Louis Jadot in Burgundy and Jean-Luc Colombo in the Rhône Valley (this is also awarded to the waiter who demonstrates the best wine knowledge in the competition). The winning chef and waiter also win a three-day visit to the Villeroy and Boch porcelain factory and overnight stay at Chateau Septfontaines, with a Michelin-star dinner, in Luxembourg. The Savoy Educational Trust also presents a cheque to the value of £1,000 each for the national chef and waiter winners, and £750 and £500 for the runners-up in the national finals. Regional heat winners and national winners also receive book prizes presented by the Savoy Educational Trust as well as a bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne. Other prizes include a set of wine glasses presented by Villeroy and Boch to all heat and national winners, a day's experience at one of Sodexo's most prestigious contracts, and a tour of New Covent Garden Market with a voucher to spend on produce, courtesy of Wild Harvest. As before, competitors from the south competed in the northern finals in order to equalize the number of competitors as there are more entries from the south than the north.