Culinarians from Queenstown, Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch converged on Invercargills Southern Institute of Technology campus recently for the 2003 Southern Lights Salon Culinaire. The weekend encompassed live cook offs and static events for both junior and senior level industry competitors. "Events were full and organizers were very happy with both the turnout and calibre of creativity and skill level displayed over the 2 days of competition," Senior Chef tutor Mr Julian Cummins said.

Blanket Bay set the scene for the Queenstown region, returning with 4 Gold and 4 Silver medals. Executive Chef Jason Dell entering into 4 Mystery Box Live events, placed 1st place in each event whilst Demi Chef Aaron Ballantyne, competing in culinary competitions for the first time, placed 2nd in each of his four Live Cook Offs entered.