Darren Woods from 14North has been crowned this year's I Love Manx Chef of the Year.

He beat stiff competition from fellow finalist Danny Johnson from The Abbey Restaurant to win the award at the annual Food and Drink Festival. Darren, pictured (left) with Danny won ?500 cash, an engraved plaque and ?500 for 14North to spend on advertising.

In front of a large and knowledgeable audience, Darren cooked up a vegetarian delight – made of locally sourced beetroot, goats’ cheese, quails’ eggs, pea puree and walnuts. Meanwhile, Danny served up half a Manx lobster with Niarbyl crab and Ballaugh potato salad garnished with confit tomato petals, asparagus mousse and asparagus tips.

Darren said: 'My career has been a gifted one, working with some awesome chefs from whom I have learned a lot. My inspiration came from the local produce we have available to us. I made it my challenge to use only Island-based products and produce. I wanted to show people that local is better because money spent here is helping the Manx economy to grow, unlike buying from across.'

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