RISING star Curtis Tonge has joined the high-profile list of chefs appearing at the Chester Food and Drink Festival 2021.

The festival is taking place over the next Bank Holiday weekend (August 28-30) at Chester Racecourse.

Head chef at The Forge and Chester local, Curtis Tonge, is the latest special guest to be confirmed and joins a star-studded line-up including John Torode, Paul Rankin, Chris Bavin, Stuart Collins and Brian Mellor.

Curtis has been working in kitchens since he was a young boy and has spent his career working with some of the greatest chefs in the UK, with a particular passion for sticking to his northern roots.

He has worked alongside Liam Mccay at The Chefs Table as well as Simon Radley at The Grosvenor Hotel.

Curtis has also trained under Lisa Allen Goodwin of Northcote and had the opportunity to cook at Obsession working alongside 17 of this country’s greatest chefs with a collective 22 stars between them.

Before joining as head chef at The Forge, Curtis was amongst the team to open Ellis Barrie’s Lerpwl.

He is excited to be on the demonstration stage at this year’s festival,

“Sustainability is so important in everything that I do", said Curtis. "At The Forge, cooking, preparing, and eating beautifully and consciously sourced free range and wild meat is as sustainable as it gets.

"It fits into my ethos entirely and I can’t wait to show the public what it is we do here that makes us so special.”

Taste Cheshire, the organisers of the festival, are thrilled that Curtis is joining them at this year’s event.

“The Forge is an amazing addition to Chester’s dining scene – they had been open just a few weeks before being added to the Michelin Guide”, said Taste Cheshire chief marketing officer, Tori Hayes.

“We dined at The Forge when it opened and had a truly wonderful, interesting and inspiring meal, we can’t wait to see Curtis on the demonstration stage”.

Chester Food and Drink festival features over 100 food and drink exhibitors and taking into consideration the current situation, the organisers have moved 90% of the event to the outdoor spaces on the racecourse.

The chef demonstrations will be in the marquee known as The Final Furlong and the seats will be socially distanced as they have been in the recent Chester Comedy Festival run by Chester Bid.