As we reported a couple of weeks ago 30 year old Nicole Benham-Corlette who was bought up in Hope Cove won a place in the finals of The Roux Scholarship which was judged by Michel Roux Jr, Brian Turner CBE, James Martin and some other top chefs.

Although she missed out on getting through to the National Finals she won high praise from Michel Roux Jr who said he respected and commended her after she refused to put out the dish after forgetting to put the potatoes in the oven.

The six chefs left in the competition including Sam Lomas from Glebe House near Exeterwill compete for the title of Roux Scholar 2023 on April 3.

Nicole’s success in getting as far as she did attracted the attention of the first female winner of Young National Chef of the Year Ruth Hansom who decided to offer her the dream job of Sous Chef at the Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire which will be the next stop for the ambitious Nicole.