A LYME Regis chef has scooped a place in the national finals of Young Chef 2004.

Jamie Raftery, 21, impressed a panel of top judges - including Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay - with his culinary skills at Wednesday's regional heats in Birmingham.

Competing against 31 other hopefuls, Jamie was given a mystery basket of food, including a whole rabbit, and told to knock up a treat that would wow the judges.

Said Jamie: "I'd never cooked a rabbit in my life! I looked at it and thought 'what am I going to do with you?' "

Other ingredients included pig's liver, pork fat, chicken breast, polenta and parmesan cheese.

Jamie created a roulade using saddle of rabbit with pork and rabbit liver, rolled in a chicken mousse and parma ham, served on a polenta cake with a sauce made from rabbit stock.

He said: "It was the sauce that won it - it was beautiful. I didn't go over the top, just kept it simple."

Jamie, who works at the Dower House Hotel near Rousdon, will now compete against seven other national finalists at the Restaurant Show at Olympia in September.

And Jamie reckons he's in with a chance of taking the title: "I'm in the right frame of mind to do it, and I've got three weeks to prepare, so I'll be working on my days off until then," he said.

Jamie grew up in Ireland but was discovered by Dower House boss Tim Chew nearly two years ago in the French Alps.

Jamie was working in a restaurant there and Tim liked his food so much, he offered Jamie a job.

This week Tim said: "I'm delighted that Jamie has won through to the next stage.

"I believe he has it in him to win the title Young Chef 2004 and we will give him all the support necessary.

"For someone so young, he really has control of his brigade and his maturity and attitude to his career make me convinced that his is a name to be watched."