Mwakulua carries off Avenance prize

The title of Avenance Chef of the Year 2002 has been awarded to 30-year-old Dennis Mwakulua, head chef at London law firm Meyer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, following a cook-off at Lloyd's of London last month.

Winners of five regional heats, held for the first time this year, plus the two best runners-up overall, competed in a two-hour final during which they had to prepare a main course for four covers from a mystery box of ingredients unveiled minutes before the cook-off.

The ingredients included rabbit, magret of duck, pancetta, lobster, red mullet, Agen prunes and a selection of vegetables, dairy products and dry goods.

Judges, including Mark Edwards of Nobu, Andrew Turner of Browns, Mark Hix of the Ivy, Chris Galvin of the Orrery, Avenance executive chef Rob Kirby and last year's winner Lee Forbes, agreed that each dish was unique and showed great skill, flair and passion but that Mwakulua's dish of rabbit and lobster "surf and turf" won the day.

"Given the ingredients available, I could have gone for an easy option but I decided to take a risk and combine the lobster and the rabbit in one dish," said Mwakulua. He began his career with Avenance seven years ago and was a member of the gold-medal-winning Avenance team at this year's Hotelympia.

"The rabbit was cooked in herbs and wrapped in pancetta and the lobster poached in clarified butter and garlic. Then I complemented the two flavours with broad beans, tarragon and a Madeira jus," he said.

Mwakulua's prize is a trip for two to Dubai including a bespoke course at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management.

Runner-up and winner of a £250 meal voucher was Anthony Liddy, head chef at Manchester Innovations Incubator Building, who prepared paprika-smoked Gressingham duck with Agen prune jus. In third place and recipient of a Global knife set was Cedric Dinger, head chef at Accenture, who offered a dish of red mullet, poached and fried with fennel and watercress.