Bennett, head chef at Simpsons Restaurant in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, also won the special award for the best meat course. Over two days 20 chefs from across Europe had battled it out at the Horeca Life show in Brussels to win one of 12 qualifying places for the world final that will be held at the Sirha exhibition in Lyon from January 29-30 2013. They took five and a half hours to prepare and serve their two dishes using set ingredients. The meat dish had to include Label Rouge certified Blue Foot chickens served whole, with three garnishes of the chef's choice. The fish dish had to include fillets of sole, brown shrimp to be served whole on the plate, with three garnishes of their own choice. An elated Bennett said soon after the announcements: "Our goal was to get into the top 12 and I'm absolutely delighted with the result. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far, so I can't wait to find out what Lyon is like. "I'd like to pass on my thanks to the supporters who've helped me through the last three months and give a special mention to those who came out to Brussels." He was supported by commis chef Kristian Curtis, also from Simpsons, and coach Nick Vadis, UK executive chef at Compass Group. His fish platter consisted of ballotine of Dover sole, mousseline of shrimp and Cornish lobster, salpicon of shellfish, seaweed butter, royale of wild garlic and parsley root, saffron potatoes with creamed leeks, timbale of scallops and crab with courgette flower and red pepper. His prize winning meat platter consisted of roulade of free range chicken with truffle, mushroom and tarragon; casserole of chicken leg, cockscombs, veal sweetbreads, morels and pearl barley, asparagus royale, with celeriac, boudin of foie gras, jelly of maury, leek terrine, smoked quail egg. Orjan Johannessen representing Norway won the Bocuse d'Or Europe 2012 first prize and €12,000. Sweden's Adam Dahlberg came second and was awarded €9,000, while Denmark's Jeppe Foldager came third and received €6,000. The special award for the best fish course went to Sigurdur Haraldasson from Iceland, and the best commis chef accolade was awarded by the Bocuse d'Or Winners Academy to Julie Lhumeau from France. The 12 European countries that will compete in the grand final are: 1 Norway 2 Sweden 3 Denmark 4 France 5 Iceland 6 United Kingdom 7 Switzerland 8 Belgium 9 Hungary 10 Finland 11 Estonia 12 Netherlands The fourth Bocuse d'Or Europe will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, in April 2014.