Press releases

Take a large helping of restaurants, a generous serving of local producers, add a huge dollop of entertainment and – voila! – you’ve got the perfect ingredients for Taste of Birmingham 2009.

With just a week to go to the final flavours are being added to make this year’s four day food festival the biggest Taste yet held in the city.

There will be 17 restaurants at the Cannon Hill Park festival, held between next Thursday (July 9) and Sunday, offering worldwide cuisine from around the Midlands – la crème de la crème of fine dining at Edmunds and Purnells, a taste of Asia at The Oriental and Italian dining at Filini.

Local producers include Flights Orchard Organic in Herefordshire, Freedom Beer in Staffordshire and Fudge Heaven in Worcestershire.

With three Michelin starred restaurants, a host of great local producers and live music, Taste will be an event Birmingham and the wider area can really be proud of. Children can also join in the food fun with under-16 year olds going free.

Taste of Birmingham is a celebration of everything that’s great about the city’s food and drink. And it’s one that’s fast gaining recognition. Birmingham’s food and drink scene is on the national and international stage with The Times newspaper calling the city ‘England’s second culinary capital.’

It is also award winning with three of the city’s best chefs achieving coveted Michelin stars for their cooking: Birmingham chefs Richard Turner for his new Harborne restaurant, Glynn Purnell for Purnell’s in the city centre, and Luke Tipping has retained his star at Edgbaston’s Simpsons for the fifth year in a row. The clutch of awards from one of the most respected food guides in the world is further proof of the city’s success as a culinary capital. Birmingham’s home-grown talent is thriving, with all the three Michelin chefs still living and working in the city.

The event starts with Taste of Business – the biggest business networking event in the city this year - on Thursday evening, with thousands of the city’s professionals attending.

Neil Rami, Chief Executive at Marketing Birmingham, says: “Following Birmingham’s recent success in the Michelin guide, we feel it’s important to build on what the city’s good at. We’re working closely with restaurants and chefs in the city and throughout the Midlands to ensure Taste of Birmingham showcases the region’s growing culinary offer.”

Roger Allonby, head of tourism and culture at Advantage West Midlands, which is sponsoring the event, says: “Taste of Birmingham really highlights what our region does best – holding great events. The Midlands has a lot to celebrate when it comes to food and drink, from the Michelin stars won in Birmingham to the many local food producers throughout the area.

“Taste of Business will form a great launch pad for the four day event and will enable the region’s business community to get together in what will be one of the biggest networking events of the summer.”