SIX top chefs will create a very special menu for a gala dinner to round off this year’s month-long Exmoor Food Fest in the Croydon Hall hotel, on March 17.

Throughout February, Exmoor restaurants have been encouraging patrons to try out new venues and new experiences.

Announcing a sixth chef to cook at the gala dinner, a spokesperson said: “We are delighted that Werner Hartholt, who hosted the very first Exmoor Food Fest launch in 2015 and is now working as a freelance chef and culinary consultant, will be with us.”

The five-course meal will cost £89 per person, or a special discount of £72 a head when booking a table of eight.

Werner Hartholt will start off the meal with an amuse-bouche – a one-bite chef’s appetiser specialty.

This will be followed by a starter from French chef Olivier Certain, who started his career in Michelin starred kitchens.

Since his move to the UK in 1998, he has worked around Exmoor as an award-winning head chef of renowned restaurants.

The fish course will be the creation of Carla Jones and Aidan Forward.

Carla is a head chef with a reputation for culinary excellence and an impressive and extensive hospitality background.

While head chef at the Seacliff Hotel, in Devon, it was awarded three AA rosettes and listed in the Michelin Guide.

She was also head chef of the renowned Idle Rocks, in St Mawes, Cornwall.

Before coming to West Somerset, Aiden worked alongside Carla in the Idle Rocks and is regarded as a great young talent.

Head chef Luke Nunn will be responsible for the main course, while the dessert is the creation of private chef Jade Shorney, who says her style of cooking is ‘very much taking local and seasonal produce and letting the ingredients sing’.