Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc gave a private cookery lesson to one lucky Post reader and her two friends – then joined the trio for lunch.

Louise Parker, 45, from Winterbourne, entered the competition in Crackerjack, the Post's weekly entertainment supplement, after bumping into Blanc in the street and viewing it as a lucky omen.

She said: "Although he was busy, he still found time to stop and chat to me and my friends for about 10 minutes.

"A few days after that, I saw the competition and I entered because I just knew I was going to win."

Louise's entry was drawn at random from among those of hundreds of Post readers who answered a question testing their knowledge about Brasserie Blanc.

Yesterday, she and her two friends Sally Jefferson and Lorraine Osbourne arrived at Brasserie Blanc in Quakers Friars at 10am and were still enjoying themselves at 7pm when they left for home.

After a coffee, they met Blanc, holder of two Michelin stars at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Oxfordshire for the past 22 years, and star of BBC2 series The Restaurant.

He chatted to them for a while before leading them to the kitchen, where he showed them how to make watercress soup, moules marinières and caramel souffle.

Louise said that Blanc was a perfect gentleman, who talked a lot about his mother – the inspiration behind most of his dishes – and charmed them with his easy humour.

She said: "He was just so enthusiastic and so passionate to pass on his knowledge. He spent every minute with us, which was absolutely brilliant. He was a fantastic host and his head chef Clive was also fabulous."

Lorraine said: "He passed on as much knowledge to us as the time allowed. He went off on some tangents and then reined himself back in.

"He was just amazing, so clever and so accommodating."

Sally added: "Raymond was fantastic and very professional."

Restaurant manager Nicholas Windows said: "It was a real pleasure having the three ladies with us and I am delighted that they had such a wonderful time."

He added: "There are not many people who are able to say that they have been shown how to cook by a celebrity chef, especially one who is as world-renowned as Raymond Blanc."