The Sous Chef at Taplow’s historic Cliveden House hotel has won a major competition.

The Kikkoman Masters competition 2018 was held in the Competition Theatre at The Restaurant Show, Olympia.

Fergus Wilford beat 10 other finalists competing in this highly regarded contest for top chefs after devising a two-course menu and preparing it in front of a live audience in 90 minutes.

His menu consisted of soy marinated mackerel with cucumber wasabi, fennel slaw and a ponzu dressing, followed by koji aged duck breast poached in stock, butternut squash and fermented king oyster mushrooms.

Commenting on the award, Cliveden House’s executive head chef André Garrett said: “I am immensely proud of Fergus.

“This is a great achievement and a well-deserved win, it shows his tenacity and drive.”

Fergus’ prize is a week long trip to Japan where he will be able to further develop his career, meeting and sharing ideas with top chefs working over there.