The third annual Taste of Birmingham festival will have a distinctly French flavour this year, as four top chefs from Birmingham’s twin city of Lyon descend to play a starring role.
The award-winning French Chefs, are Joseph Viola from the restaurant Daniel et Denise, Laurent Bouvier of Le Puy D'or, Frédéric Berthod from Le 33 Cité and Olivier Paget of Le Fleurie. Together, they are members of the Lyon branch of Les Toques Blanches, a worldwide network of chefs formed in 1906 to share a passion for food, transfer knowledge, and promote quality regional produce and cuisine.
Visitors to this year’s Taste of Birmingham, taking place at Cannon Hill Park between 10-13 July 2008, will have a unique opportunity to experience the culinary skill of Les Toques Blanches Lynonnaises, by tasting a special three course menu prepared by the four chefs.
The dishes include crosmequis of foie gras, tomato confit, mango petals and herb salad, dumplings of pike with crayfish tails and red fruit craquant with cristallised mint.
Birmingham and Lyon have forged a strong culinary link following Birmingham’s entry to the Delice network earlier this year. Chefs from Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises visited the city in March to cook alongside Andreas Antona of Simpsons Restaurant and David Colcombe of Opus at two celebratory dinners.
Commenting on the return of the Lyon chefs to Taste of Birmingham, David Colcombe said:
“What a great honour to have these four chefs from the culinary capital of Europe coming to Taste of Birmingham. It will be great fun to see Joseph and Frédéric again and a marvelous opportunity for the people of the Midlands to taste a sample of Lyonnaise food. This is what Birmingham’s membership of Delice is all about – the building of strong relationships and sharing city cuisines.”
Les Toques Blanques Lyonnaises will join top restaurants from the West Midlands at Taste of Birmingham this year, including Simpsons, Opus, Lasan, Filini Restaurant at Radisson SAS Hotel, La Becasse, Aria at The Hyatt, Hotel Du Vin, The Oriental, Itihaas, Malmaison and Thai Edge.
Visitors will also enjoy demonstrations from celebrity chefs Antony Worrall Thompson and Aldo Zilli, along with sampling opportunities at the special Taste Kitchen with Sainsbury’s, meeting local producers at the delicious.magazine Producers’ Market and experiencing the Lavazza Aroma Zone, including the Barista-led Aroma Theatre.
Tickets start from £12 and can be bought from the box office 0871 230 5581 or through the website www.channel4.com/taste
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