Michelin star chefs flock to Taste of Birmingham festival
If you had suggested it a few years ago, you would have been committed to the nearest psychiatric unit.
At the very least, you would have had a London food writer guffaw into his, or her, gazpacho.
But this summer an international line-up of Michelin star chefs – and a globally respected food organisation – will turn Birmingham into the centre of world gastronomy – albeit for three days.
This summer’s annual Taste of Birmingham food festival will showcase appearances by three homegrown Michelin chefs as well as Michelin-starred chefs from as many as 11 other countries, including Japan, Switzerland and France.
The top cooks will be imparting their knowledge and captivating visitors’ taste buds alongside some of the city’s other established and rising kitchen stars.
The July celebration of all things edible will have a truly international profile because it will coincide with a meeting in the city of the prestigious Délice food network, which represents leading gastronomic cities throughout the world.
Birmingham will be Délice’s “City under the Microscope” during the Taste festival, following on the heels of Gothenburg, Sweden, earlier this year.
The full details of the Taste festival – and the 16 restaurants who will be taking part – will be announced at the Hyatt Hotel, Birmingham on Monday, but the Birmingham Post understands that Brum’s burgeoning culinary reputation clinched the decision by Délice to converge on the city at the same time.
Birmingham’s Lasan, the winner of Gordon Ramsay’s F-Word as Britain’s best local restaurant, will be one of the other big attractions. Opus restaurant in Cornwall Street, renowned for its promotion of regional produce, is also returning to the event.
The Délice gathering will see top-level meetings between Michelin chefs and culinary experts at University College Birmingham on how the fine-dining industry must become more accessible.
Alongside the meetings, Délice’s world-class chefs will demonstrate their skills at Taste of Birmingham, to be held in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston, from July 16-18.
Kitchen maestros from Barcelona, Stavanger, Osaka, Lyon, Brussels, Riga, Leipzig, Madrid, Milan, Genoa and Lausanne will lead workshops with amateur cooks and food-lovers, showcasing the styles and techniques that have won them critical acclaim.
