The Fat Duck

The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in Bray, Berkshire, England. The Fat Duck has received the highest honour a restaurant can get—three stars in the famous Michelin Guide—and is one of only three restaurants in the UK and Ireland 2004 guide with three Michelin stars ("exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey"). In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by "Restaurant" magazine, and it came second in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Unlike most of the top ranked restaurants, which are located in exclusive districts of major cities, The Fat Duck is to be found in a modest cottage-style house in a country village. Bray is also home to Michel Roux's Waterside Inn, which was ranked as the sixth best restaurant in the UK and the nineteenth best in the world.

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.

Blumenthal has a deep interest in the history of food, and the French culinary traditions in particular. The Fat Duck began as a bourgeois French restaurant, and many of the dishes are variations on traditional French dishes, such as "petit sale" — a method of cooking poultry by steeping it in spicy salt water. As of May 2008 there are two menus; A la carte costs £95 per person and the tasting menu costs £125 per person, excluding wine and an optional 12.5% service charge. A selection of eight wines to accompany the 16-course tasting menu can be had for £90 per person, with alternative selections of more expensive wines available for £165. In addition, at the end of the meal there is a tea menu with a selection of herbal and fine Chinese teas in the £5 to £50 per person price range.

External links

* [http://www.fatduck.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060211.KATES11/TPStory/?query= Article from Toronto Globe and Mail]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,740821,00.html Heston Blumenthal's chip recipe]
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/59 'The Molecular Gastronomer to the Best Restaurant in the World'] Freeview 'Snapshot' video by the Vega Science Trust.