The competition, in association with Restaurant Magazine, was looking for the best game dish in the country.  Simon entered a dish of Steamed Mallard Breast with White Truffle Dumpling and Root Vegetable Bouillon in the competition.   Bonwick impressed the judges with his approach to local sourcing and traceability plus use of seasonal ingredients and execution of the dish.

Bonwick said: “Everybody does duck but nobody does wild duck and there’s some great wild duck available locally”.  If he can’t get wild duck he happily replaces with pheasant or wood pigeon.  Bonwick continued: “I love working with game, it is such a wonderful product to cook with.”

Bonwick wins a cash prize for his dish and his full recipe can be found here.

The competition attracted a high standard of entries and some of the judges favourites included: 

• Saddle of Local Venison with Beetroot, Rosemary and Perroche Cheese Dauphinoise - The Wellington in Hereford
• Breast of Pheasant Wrapped in Pancetta with Glenmorangie Jus - The Queen’s Head Inn, Suffolk
• Ravioli Cups filled with Quail and Mixed Vegetables - Incanto, Middlesex
• Pot roasted partridge - The Cross Inn, Llanon
• Partridge and Smoked Eel - The Bildeston Crown, Suffolk
• Stuffed Venison Loin – The Annandale Arms Hotel, Moffat
• Roast Haunch of Eaton Estate Venison with shallot, glazed turnips and buttered fondant potato – Restaurant 1539, Chester

If you would like further information on competitions, training days and work-shops please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it