FRENCH cuisinier and heart-throb TV chef Jean-Christophe Novelli will be the dish of the day at this year's Christchurch Food Festival.

The Gallic charmer is heading the menu of celebrity chefs serving up an appetising array of masterclasses as the hors d'oeuvre to the town's seventh annual gastro extravanganza in May.

Novelli will be presenting two masterclasses on Friday, May 11, at the Rangemaster demonstration kitchen to be set up in a marquee in Saxon Square over the first three days of the festival.

It will be a welcome return to the area where he cut his English culinary teeth at the five-star Chewton Glen Hotel in 1983 and later earned his first Michelin star at the Gordleton Mill in Sway.

As well as showcasing his culinary prowess, his many TV appearances have included a special version of The X-Factor: Battle of the Stars, where he formed part of a group with fellow chef Paul Rankin.

Belfast-born Rankin will also be appearing at the festival, demonstrating recipes from his award-winning restaurant in the marquee on Sunday, May 13.

Sandwiched between Novelli and Rankin will be fellow Ready, Steady, Cook! presenter and food festival patron Lesley Waters, who will be holding sway in the tented kitchen on the Saturday.

In addition to her own demonstrations, Dorset-based Waters will also be judging the cookery skills of Christchurch schoolchildren as part of the festival's educational programme.

The fourth star chef to make an appearance will be Mitch Tonks, whose seafood empire includes the Fishworks restaurant in Church Street.

Food festival founder and president Mary Reader said: "I am really excited by the line-up of celebrity chefs we have attracted this year.

"The festival just goes from strength to strength thanks to the sponsorship from local business people, who this year have been most generous and have enabled us to get chefs of this calibre to come - which shows just how prestigious an event it is becoming."