Hot Dinners has rustled up everything you need to know about the 2011 Taste of London Festival...

So what is the Taste of London Festival?

It’s all about eating your way round London’s best restaurants in the - hopefully - sunny surroundings of Regent’s Park, spotting chefs off the telly and meeting up with fellow restaurant-obsessives.

Who goes?

Anyone who has even a passing interest in food.

Chefs love it (it gives them a chance for a bit of a social) and for foodies it’s the perfect chance to try out a restaurant’s cooking to see if you want to go the whole hog and book dinner there some time. More than 40 restaurants are taking part this year, with 9 Michelin stars between them.

So I should see a few culinary stars?

Indeed - and not only in the restaurant tents.  You'll be able to attend a number of talks with chefs. This year they include Rene Redzepi, Michel Roux Jnr, Pierre Koffmann, Nuno Mendes and (eek) Gwyneth Paltrow.

So what if I get peckish?

Taste of London is a perfect chance to try out some of the best food London's restaurants have to offer. Your first step once you’re in is to get a booklet of ‘crowns’ with which to buy your tapas-sized meals.

Crowns?  Is this some kind of medieval bash?

Not at all - but the Taste of London festival currency of crowns helps the organisers keep the prices as standard as possible. The exchange rate is £1 for two crowns and you’ll probably find if you buy a package entry deal you’ll get a few extra crowns included in the price.

What will I find at the restaurant stands?

Each restaurant will offer a series of dishes they feel best illustrate the kind of cooking they have to offer, and will price the dishes in terms of crowns. The average dish costs nine crowns – so £4.50, but you can get into a beer tasting this year for just two crowns.

This year, you can dine with food from Scott's, Quo Vadis, Benares, L'anima, Corrigan's Mayfair, Le Gavroche and Petrus among others.  For the full list of restaurants taking part - look here.

Anything I should try?

Best to start with the winners of this year's Best in Taste award. 

A foie gras burger with summer truffle created by Pascal Aussignac, head chef at Club Gascon pipped a veritable champions league of chefs to win this coveted prize.

The judge's second favourite dish was from Helena Puolakka of Skylon who created a warm smoked Loch Var salmon, lemon verbena jelly and pickled cucumber and sweet rye.

In third place was Launceston Place’s Tristan Welch with a rice pudding soufflé with raspberry sauce for two, while there was a special mention for Paramount’s Colin Layfield for his rump of lamb, goat's cheese and white onion tart with sweet pea puree.

What's the best way to get around the event?

Make good use of the Taste of London exhibition guide, particularly the day’s timetable of events – that’s how you’ll find out when certain sections are offering free tastings of food and drink. Don’t rush into spending your crowns all at once. Look through the programme, see what dishes the various restaurants are offering and then plan it so you can intersperse queueing for food with sitting down to watch demonstrations or wandering round nabbing freebies from the various commercial stallholders. Some key dishes - particularly the one that wins Best in Show - go quickly. But we hear that some chefs were taking down mobile numbers and calling people when more of a popular dish was ready.

What's new this year?

The Secret Garden is the ultimate VIP section of the festival. It costs £95 in advance and £125 on the door and for that you get to avoid the queues altogether, sip free fizz and chow down on canapes in your own private part of the park. You also have access to exclusive masterclasses and tastings from the likes of top chocolatier Paul A Young and get up close and personal with chefs like Theo Randall and Michel Roux Jnr.

If money's really burning a hole in your pocket, there's a rare chance to eat a special five-course meal created by Michel Roux Jr, Gary Rhodes, Pierre Koffmann, Chris Galvin and Silvena Rowe with wines paired by Corney and Barrow. Only 400 places are available - there's a champagne and canape reception too - and it costs £395 + VAT for a seat at the table. To book, call 020 7471 1080 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Anything else to watch out for?

Other new features at the festival this year are wine and water-matching classes with top wine bloke Neil Phillips (go on Thursday when he'll be pairing up with Noma's Rene Redzepi for a very special class), beer and tapas masterclasses and special cookery classes from the newly-formed Waitrose Cookery School.

In addition to all the restaurant stalls, there's also a huge amount of food and drink stalls selling their wares.  We can't stress highly enough the importance of staying on red alert for freebies - there are a surprising amount around if you keep your eyes open.

Any last minute tips?

As with any festival, don’t forget to bring waterproofs and suncream depending on the vagaries of the British summer. You might also want to bring a coolbag for any food or booze you buy to take home.

OK, you've sold me. When's it all happening?

The Taste of London Festival 2011 running from 16th - 19th June 2011.

To find out more about the 2011 Taste of London Festival, check out the official site or look at Hot Dinners' coverage of last year's Taste of London Festival for an idea of what to expect.