The Fat Duck
The World’s second best Restaurant.
According to The S.Pelligrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurants.
Heston Blumenthal has been called a “magician, scientist, artist, culinary alchemist and a gastronomic messiah.” His creations served at The Fat Duck capture the imagination. “When classic dishes like Snail Porridge and Egg and Bacon Ice Cream” made headlines in the early 2000s, his fame was sealed.
The Fat Duck opened in 1995 and was awarded its third Michelin star in January 2004. Two years later Blumenthal was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Reading for his research, and was also admitted to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Blumenthal has also been awarded an OBE, has written several award-winning books and more recently ha completed a BBC TV series In Search of Perfection.
Blumenthal adheres to the principles of molecular gastronomy, according to which the quality of the diner’s experience can be enhanced considerably when the physical and chemical processes that take place in cooking are understood. This approach to studying and designing food at The Fat Duck results in the discovery of unconventional and often bizarre-sounding dishes. For example, the restaurant’s tasting menu, a tour of Blumenthal’s signature creations, features “snail porridge”, “sardine on toast sorbet”, and “salmon poached with liquorice”. These unusual juxtapositions are attributed to logical reasoning about physical and chemical properties of foods. While liquorice and asparagus is not traditionally an appealing combination, their flavours are chemically similar, and so the two ingredients should, theoretically, complement upon the palate.
Beyond applying the results of chemistry and physics to cuisine, at The Fat Duck, Blumenthal exploits psychology, experimenting with the diners’ perception. Among the starters in the restaurant’s tasting menu is a “jelly of orange and beetroot”, a serving of two separate jellies, where the red has been made using blood oranges, and the orange from orange beetroots. More generally, dishes at The Fat Duck suggest the notion that expectation biases perception: call it frozen sardine soup, and it will taste one way; call it sardine on toast sorbet, and it tastes sweeter.
With attention-grabbing dishes from The Fat Duck’s legendary Tasting Menu tending to steal the limelight, it’s easy to forget that the restaurant is a fine-dining establishment which also offers a traditional à la carte menu and where service is of the upmost importance.
According to the Restaurant Magazine
The Fat Duck is also a showcase for Blumenthal’s passion for exploring “multisensory dining, and the effects of smell, taste and texture and sound on the palate, senses, memory and emotions. Inspired by his research with food historians, new dishes will be launched this spring in a bid to re-introduce dishes from the British past – albeit with his trademark modern twist. These include Chocolate Wine; a velvety-frothy drink that dates back to 1710, made by whisking a strong wine like claret or port with sugar and chocolate, and Flaming Sorbet; ice cold sorbet served on a leather plate surrounded by flames.”
While some dishes are developed with the help of petri dishes and liquid nitrogen, Blumenthal uses a centrifuge to separate the solids in preparation for his latest molecular gastronomy.
What they say:-
Toby Young, ES magazine
“Heston Blumenthal is like a cross between Professor Branestawm and Willy Wonka and, contrary to all appearances, this ordinary-looking room in the heart of the Home Counties is his psychedelic chocolate factory.”
“Heston Blumenthal, the Michelin-starred chef and kitchen chemist who gave the world egg and bacon ice-cream, has won another award for his latest Frankenstein food — warm chocolate wine. The velvety, frothy drink is made by whisking a £48 red dessert wine with sugar and chocolate.”
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