Dave's got culinary world in his Hands.

Byline: Richard McComb

HE'S cooked for David and Victoria Beckham - not to mention screen legend Robert de Niro - and now he's in Birmingham to cook for you. David Hands is one of the star turns at Taste of Birmingham and will demonstrating his sublime culinary skills at the food festival in Cannon Hill Park tonight (THURS) and tomorrow. David, a graduate of the city's College of Food, now known as University College Birmingham, is a protege of Thomas Keller, the founder of the revered French Laundry restaurant in California's Napa Valley, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest chefs in the world.

For the past two years, David, a born and bred Brummie, has been working at Per Se, Keller's threestar Michelin restaurant in New York. The set dinner here costs $275, about pounds 170, and comprises a nine-course "chef's tasting" or a "tasting of vegetables" (for the same price). The price reflects the sourcing of the produce, the exacting preparation of the dishes - and the expectations of the A-list clientele.

"Everything is about perfection," says David. The kitchen, in the towering Time Warner Center in the heart of Manhattan, is like an operating theatre and is staffed by a huge team of 40 cooks. Things will be a little different at Taste of Birmingham .

David will be on his own, cooking in a glorified tent, quite possibly with the rain tipping down. But that's the least of his worries. He will be working in Peugeot's French Flair Kitchen and when we spoke, two days before the show, he admitted he had still got some work to do to fine-tune his dish. David will be cooking a Frenchinspired, Moroccan-style saddle of lamb "en persiade" with cauliflower cous cous, compressed English cucumbers and cumin-scented yogurt.

"If I'm doing it with French chefswatching, I've got to get it right," he said, smiling. "I've got some reading to do." He is temporarily back in the UK, staying with his parents in Solihull, while he waits for hisUSwork visa to be updated. He has been doing some shift-work in kitchens around Birmingham while the paperwork is completed and then he'll be flying back to the States, swapping the frenetic pace of the Big Apple for the madness of Los Angeles. David has been earmarked for promotion by Keller , who wants him to work as sous chef at a brand new restaurant in BeverlyHills. Itwill be the third Bouchon restaurant opened by the superchef, following those in Las Vegas and the Napa Valley. The cooking won't be quite on the scale of Per Se and will be more in line with a French-style bistro. But being in Beverly Hills, it's not going to lack for glamour and style. David's CV so far, and the challenge of his latest transatlantic posting, represents a considerable achievement for a chef who is still only 25.

He said he owes a huge debt of gratitude to his former tutors in Birmingham, who persuaded him to enter - and win - a number of prestigious competitions, including the crown of Egon Ronay Student Chef of the Year 2001. David said: "The college gave me a huge boost in my career." He is also a strong supporter of food festivals, which he believes can help to fire people's interest in the pleasures of cooking. David added: "You cannot have a great restaurant and no customers.

You need the public to be inspired by food and events such as Taste of Birmingham are great." Taste of Birmingham starts * tonight and runs until Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online at www.visitbirmingham.com/taste and in the Birmingham tourism centres at the Rotunda and New Street. Standard tickets are pounds 10 in advance, pounds 12 on the day. Crowns are the currency at the event and are redeemed for dishes at the restaurants at the rate of pounds 1 for 2 crowns.

CAPTION(S):

Birmingham chef David Hands, on a visit to the city centre, after he found employment in New York. Inset, celebrated chef Thomas Keller.