He beat off four other top chocolatiers and pastry chefs to take the title and he will now represent Great Britain in the world final at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris in October 2011. Runner up was Ruth Hinks, the competition's first UK female contestant, from Cocoa Black in Peebles, Scotland. The other contestants were: Andrew Gregson-Brown of Andy's Creative Cakes; Graham Hornigold of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London; and Conor McAlonan from Cork City Hall. The World Chocolate Masters, an initiative of leading cocoa and chocolate specialist Barry Callebaut, is a culinary competition dedicated to the art of chocolate. This year the format changed to replicate even more the tough criteria of the world competition. This year's theme was: Cocoa, Quetzalcoatl's Gift – based on an Aztec legend about the origin of cocoa. Over two days, the chefs had to produce a showpiece sculpture with a minimum height of one metre, dipped and moulded praline, a gastronomic chocolate dessert, a chocolate pastry and a creation from a mystery box of ingredients, with this theme in mind. Each chef introduced their individual styles to produce an innovative assortment to highlight their talents. But the showpiece was the pièce de résistance in the contest and Costello's really captured the theme. From a delicate mask made of chocolate, which he produced from a clay mould he had made himself, to an intricate log with cocoa pods and a book of chocolate showing a page highlighting the legend, it showcased amazing attention to detail. A stunned Costello said he was amazed and delighted to win. He will now, with the guidance of Barry Callebaut, compete against 19 other national winners in the international final to claim the title of World Chocolate Master 2011.