IT was as if we had stepped into the pages of a Lewis Carroll novel. Students at Bournemouth & Poole College brought the author's classic children's tale to life when they hosted a special Night in Wonderland event.

The evening at the Escoffier restaurant had been organised by BTEC National Extended Diploma hospitality students, as part of their final examination.

Within minutes of arriving in the entrance hall, I came face to face with the Queen of Hearts (also known as course tutor Josephine Pearce) shouting, "Off With Her Head!" - I know I was running a few minutes late but this seemed a little drastic.

Fortunately I could see the doorway to the restaurant ahead, which had been designed by Kelly Bailey, chef patisserie and event co-ordinator Chloe Coxhill (aka Alice) to look like a rabbit hole adorned with army camouflage, flowers, fairy lights and toadstools.

As I rushed into the restaurant I was greeted by Stephen Boyes, the restaurant supervisor dressed as the Mad Hatter who guided me to a table where I was presented with a small bottle labelled Drink Me!, a cocktail of vodka, crème de cassis, blueberry juice and lime cocktail concocted by Franco Sun, the White Rabbit.

If you've never dined at the college restaurant at the Lansdowne campus then you're missing a treat. These themed evenings are always spectacular and each one is unique - you never know quite what to expect.

The food is always creative and beautifully presented and on this occasion the menu had been dreamt up by Jazmine Amey, head chef assisted by sous chef, Robbie Campbell.

Rather than a conventional bread basket we were presented with a selection of mini scones, either cheese or herb, served warm with pats of butter.

Our Eat Me Appetiser was a small beetroot, goat's cheese and chive salad, followed by Mad Hatter's Tea, a consume served in vintage cups and tea pots with wild mushrooms, black pudding, sun dried tomato and a mini scotch egg on the side.

Although it sounded like a suitably bonkers concoction, it was a magical blend of different flavours and textures followed by a palate cleansing cherry and raspberry sorbet.

The Queen of Hearts main course was a ham hock and pea pie with pomme puree, carrot, swede and tender stem broccoli. The pastry work was stunning and looked as though it had been sculpted by one of the art students.

Although each evening is unique, the dessert course is always one of the highlights of these nights. A selection of sweet treats served on a large white platter including raspberry jelly, set vanilla custard, orange marmalade on toast and ice cream followed by petit fours, jam tarts, Turkish delight, mini battenberg and themed biscuits.

The evening entertainment was provided by Half Eight, a brilliant local barbershop quartet.

Safe to say, that by the end of the night we were all smiling like Cheshire Cats.