A COUNTY Durham chef has been crowned as one of the winners of the Great North Menu Challenge.

Michael Parkinson, 23, who is a chef de partie at Ramside Hall, near Durham, produced the winning starter in the competition.

His dish of salt baked heritage beetroot and cerney goat curd starter with candied walnuts, watercress and truffle honey got approval from the panel of judges.

The Northern Echo:

Michael Parkinson, a chef at Ramside Hall, Durham

The winner of the main and dessert courses was 33-year-old Chris Donaldson, a chef de partie at Hilton Newcastle Gateshead.

The competition is aimed at finding the region's best up and coming chefs and was judged by restaurateur Terry Laybourne, Roger Crosby and Mal Farmer.

Head judge Mr Laybourne said: “We saw lots of creativity, originality and personalisation throughout the competition. It was also good to see several entrants paid close attention to the brief, which isn’t easy.

The Northern Echo:

Michael Parkinson's winning starter of salt baked heritage beetroot and cerney goat curd starter with candied walnuts, watercress and truffle honey

"Each dish has to look good, taste fantastic and take into consideration the fact they will be served to hundreds of guests in a banqueting format, therefore practicality in the design and execution was essential.”

The winning dishes will be served to more than 400 industry leaders and high-profile guests at the annual North East Hotels Association Excellence Awards in May.

The winning main was a thyme-infused chicken dish accompanied by sweetcorn, textures of carrot, celeriac, parsnip and a chicken jus.

This was followed by a white chocolate panna cotta with zesty raspberries, lemon shortbread and a raspberry profiterole.