A CHEF from a Faringdon restaurant cooked up a storm last night as he was sent through to the final of a national cooking competition.

Nick Bennett, 27, wowed judges with his fillet of John Dory with lettuce, bacon and pickled clams followed by his nougat parfait, peaches, raspberries and honeycomb during the semi-finals of Masterchef: The Professionals.

His flavours and creativity saw him go through to the last week of the culinary competition, during which five chefs will be whittled down to three for the finale on Christmas Eve.

Mr Bennett, who has worked at fine dining Restaurant 56 as part of Faringdon’s Sudbury House Hotel off London Street, since early 2014, said his first interview for the show was terrifying.

He said: “The next nerve wracking moment was my skills test as I did not expect to see the three judges, Marcus Wareing, Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti.

“But when it came to the invention test I was in my element. The challenge to create a dish of my own with no planning gave me a real buzz.

“I never expected to get as far as the semi-final. Every round I just pushed myself.

“If I could cook with anyone in the world it would be Daniel Humm from 11 Madison Park. His books are a true inspiration and his food style is appealing, and when he finished dishes they look incredible.”

Mr Bennett has beaten 45 professional chefs to make it into the top five in the final.

His experiences of working in a pub when he was 14 ignited his passion for cooking and aged 17 he went to train at Stratford upon Avon College.

He joined the Mallory Court Brasserie in Leamington Spa as a commis chef and after 18 months was part of a Michelin Star kitchen brigade as a demi-chef de partie, working up to junior sous chef.

He said: “I love the pastry section, creating exquisite patisserie items with delicate but truly unusual flavour combinations, all beautifully presented to provide the diner with exciting visual and taste sensations .”

Mr Bennett previously worked with head chef at Restaurant 56 Andrew Scott at Mallory Court and The Curlew Restaurant in Bodiam, East Sussex.

He said: “When I was invited to join Restaurant 56 by Andrew, who was appointed as executive chef, I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to polish myself as a sous chef, aspiring to progress to be a head chef under Andrew.”

Since Mr Bennett’s appearance on the BBC show, Restaurant 56 has been inundated with famous faces.

This week it will be hosting Adam Woodyatt who plays Ian Beale in EastEnders and comedian Rory Bremner who lives in Faringdon.