Up and coming Chef forges a path to the festival stage #News

Victoria Hayes
19th July 2021

Rising Star and local Head Chef from The Forge, Curtis Tonge, is joining the star-studded line up for Chester Food and Drink Festival 2021. The festival will go ahead this August Bank Holiday (28^th – 30^th August) at Chester Racecourse.

Curtis will join a line-up of high-profile Celebrity Chefs; John Torode, Paul Rankin, Chris Bavin and other local chefs, Stuart Collins, recent star of the Great British Menu and Brian Mellor, local Chef ambassador and educator. 

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. Curtis has worked alongside Liam Mccay at The Chefs Table, Chester 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.

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

“Sustainability is so important in everything that I do. 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.” Curtis said.   

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.

To buy tickets for the festival or for more information about the event head to chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk