INNOVATIVE chefs at some of the city’s newest restaurants will showcase their talents at this year’s Taste of Birmingham food festival.

Loves restaurant is among the newcomers together with the experimental cuisine of Matthew’s of Birmingham. There will also be tapas flavours from Café Ikon and brasserie-style cooking from City Café.

This year’s line-up of 16 restaurants was unveiled last night at the launch of Taste of Birmingham 2010 at the Hyatt Hotel. The Hyatt’s own Aria restaurant will be among the eateries at the three-day festival, joined by local produce champion Opus, which is returning to Taste.

International cuisine, local talent and quality fresh produce are the themes of the show. One of the undoubted crowd-pullers will be Lasan, winner of the F Word’s best local restaurant. Head chef Aktar Islam said: “The diversity of the region’s cuisine has always been influential to my cooking and I really enjoy the opportunity this event gives me to meet visitors and share my passion for innovative Asian cuisine.”

The event takes place in Cannon Hill Park from Friday, 16 July to Sunday, 18 July. It will feature a series of master classes and guest appearances, including demonstrations by three of the region’s Michelin star chefs – Simpsons’ Luke Tipping, Richard Turner of Turners, and Will Holland of La Becasse, Ludlow.

The full restaurant line-up is: Simpsons, Opus, Lasan, Loves, Matthews, Asha’s, Filini, Aria, Cielo, Kinaree, Thai Edge, The Oriental, Cafe Ikon, City Cafe, the Great British Eatery and Fusion of Malvern.

Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, said: “Birmingham and the wider region is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to food. Last year three quarters of visitors were newcomers and we are looking forward to welcoming them back.”