The Fat Duck

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Restaurant Information
Established	1995[1]
Head chef	Heston Blumenthal
Dress code	None
Rating	Michelin Guide, 2004[1]
Street address	High Street
City	Bray, Berkshire
Country	England
Website	www.fatduck.co.uk

The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in Bray, Berkshire, England. The restaurant is known for its menu of unusual dishes, created following the principles of molecular gastronomy: examples include "snail porridge", "sardine on toast sorbet", "bacon and egg ice cream", and "salmon poached with liquorice".

Contents 1 Style 2 History and awards 3 Food scare and closure 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Style

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.

[edit] History and awards

The restaurant was opened in 1995^[2] and is one of only three in the United Kingdom and Ireland that hold a three-star Michelin Guide rating; this has been the case in 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine^[1] and Best Restaurant in the UK in 2008 and 2009, scoring a maximum 10 out of 10 in the Good Food Guide.

[edit] Food scare and closure

On 27 February 2009, Blumenthal closed his restaurant indefinitely after a number of customers reported feeling unwell along different times.^[3] By 3 March the source of the outbreak was still unclear but sabotage had been ruled out. A spokesman for the restaurant said "All this leads us to believe that it [the health scare] has not come from the restaurant and we expect to be given the all clear."^[4] On 6 March it was reported that 400 people had stated they had felt unwell after eating at the restaurant.^[5] Boxing promoter Frank Warren said he was "very disappointed" with his treatment after becoming sick following his visit. He said "Everything was fabulous about the evening - the food, the setting, the service, it was unbelievably good but unfortunately, afterwards, all of us were ill".^[6] The restaurant reopened on 12 March 2009.^[7] The causes were later given by the Health Protection Agency as staff members working while infected with Norovirus and sewage-infested oysters from an Essex supplier and the restaurant was criticised for its cleaning methods and response to the incident. Reports of illness totalled 529 from "late January"^{[8] [9]}

[edit] See also

• The Big Fat Duck Cookbook

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Fat Duck official site
• Food Scientist Rachel Edwards Stuart investigates the molecular make up of flavours for Heston Blumenthal

Coordinates: 51°30′28.46″N 0°42′6.43″W / 51.5079056°N 0.7017861°W / 51.5079056; -0.7017861