Catering competition success

Sammie Dale, 19, from The Finches, Hollie Buss, 19, of Reginald Road and Ross Powell, 19, who lives in Shepherds Close, study catering and hospitality at the college.

They, with three other students, beat 16 other colleges nationwide with their Sussex inspired concept and menu to become one of the five finalists.

The 21st Nestle Toque d'Or is a national competition that links education with the catering industry and is the first time that Sussex Downs College has been in final. The 21st Nestle Toque d'Or is the ultimate and most prestigious competition at this level.

Their next challenge is to run a high class restaurant for a day. In preparation, the students will now be mentored be a leading Michelin starred chef in the run up to the finals on 14 June. They will then serve 100 paying customers at the BBC Good Summer Food show at the Birmingham NEC.

Sammie said: "We're over the moon that we got to the finals. We had put in a lot of hard work, and can't wait to get up to Birmingham. Our restaurant concept is Provenance of Sussex; we have designed a menu and restaurant concept around things belonging to our county. We want to offer nutritious, well balanced food with county traceability and low carbon foot print, and that is what impressed the Nestle judges so much."