BUDDING chefs had their first taste of competition in a cook-off that was judged by restaurant managers.

Darlington College hosted the North Yorkshire Hospitality Centre of Vocational Excellence learner competition, with students going head-to-head in the kitchen and on the restaurant floor.

Competitors had two-and-a-half hours to design, cook and serve a three-course menu from a mystery box of ingredients.

Trainee waiters answered questions about champagne and coffee before laying a table for dinner.

John Schwarz, head chef at Judges Country House Hotel, Kirklevington, near Yarm, its food and beverage manager, Helen Smith, and Douwe Egberts coffee area sales director John Broad judged the contest.

Students from Darlington College, York College, Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, and VT Training took part.

Darlington College student Helen Wood, of Catterick, won the food service contest.

She is a learning advisor at Darlington College but wants to teach catering and is taking a qualification in kitchen and larder.

"I am aiming to become a catering tutor and am thrilled to have won the food service part of the competition," she said.

York College took the overall £500 prize, thanks to the efforts of chefs Tom Spenceley and Ben Allnutt, who were first in the food production element of the contest.