The Fat Duck

The Fat Duck is Heston's Blumenthal’s restaurant in Maidenhead in Berkshire. Renowned for its eclectic food, here's what Heston has to say about the menu,

"The food at the Fat Duck has come a long way since opening in August 1995. It began as a Bourgeois French restaurant, serving dishes such as Petit Sale with Lentils, Steak and chips, sauce Bordelaise, Rillettes of salmon and lemon tart.

We are part of a growing group of chefs, scientists and psychologists that are looking at food and the way that we eat from a different angle, the approach being more holistic and with new controlled experimentation one that does not automatically take historic kitchen lore and tradition for granted.

Hopefully, this approach will herald a new era of communication between chefs and academics alike; one that will become a breeding ground for new ideas and techniques, continually questioning the way that we prepare and eat our food. We have started to look at the ritualistic aspect of our mealtimes and the way that the brain can almost pre-determine the taste of something.

For example, eat sardine on toast sorbet for the first time, confusion will reign as the brain will be trying to tell the palate to expect a dessert and you will therefore be tasting more sweetness than actually exists."

You can find out more about The Fat Duck by going to www.fatduck.co.uk