After an initial 'paper' judging, Jean-Philippe Bidart, head chef at The Millbrook Inn in South Pool, competed in a nail-biting national 'cook off', where he had to prepare his dish within a fixed period of time, and create another from a mystery box of ingredients, in front of a panel of expert judges. The judges were bowled over by Jean-Philippe's rump of lamb from Lannacombe beach with accompaniments, saying: "Once again, the standard of entries to this competition has been extremely high, but this was an outstanding dish. Jean-Philippe is clearly a very talented and creative chef." Presenting Jean-Philippe with his winner's trophy, Jo Bruce, food editor of pub industry 'bible', the Morning Advertiser, which runs the Awards, said: "As the recession has bitten deep over the past year, food has been a lifeline for many pubs. Those serving tasty, good quality and value-for-money food have continued to do well, despite the overall decline in pub customers."