SERGIO Cinotti, chef at the Gemelli and Gem 42 restaurants in Newport, will represent Wales in an elite cookery competition next month.

The annual Battle for the Dragon contest pits teams of top chefs from Wales, England, and Scotland against each other.

Mr Cinotti will be part of the eight-strong Culinary Team Wales that will be put through its paces at Coleg Llandrillo Menai, Rhos-on-Sea, on October 29-31.

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There will be national pride at stake, and the event will also give participants a chance to hone their skills ahead of the Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart next February.

At the Battle for the Dragon contest, teams will be tasked with producing 90 covers each for evening service on separate days.

Then, again on separate days, each team will produce a chefs’ table of food – a new element introduced for the upcoming Culinary Olympics.

Culinary Team Wales has been preparing for the contest by meeting twice a week at its training base in Welshpool. The team's manager, Nick Davies, said he was delighted by the progress being made by chefs in the Welsh squad, which is captained by ex-Royal Air Force chef Alun Davies.

Joining Mr Cinotti and Mr Davies in the Welsh team are Dylan Wyn Owen, executive chef at Manchester City Football Club; Rhys Williams, from the RAF in Lincolnshire; pastry chef Will Richards, from Cambrian Training; freelance chef Matthew Smith; Mark Robertson from Coleg Cambria, Wrexham; and Jay Humphris from Coleg y Cymoedd, Ystrad Mynach.

“This is the perfect opportunity for the three teams to compete to Worldchefs standards and receive feedback on their dishes from very experienced judges,” Arwyn Watkins, president of event organisers Culinary Association of Wales, said. “The evening service in the hot kitchen and the new chefs’ table are designed to replicate the competitions at the Culinary Olympics next February.”