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Home of the Exploding Oven
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Heston Blumenthal was never trained as a chef. He cooked for a little over a week in a restaurant before leaving to open the Fat Duck in 1995, in Bray—a tiny village near Berkshire, England. He might have been destined to greatness, but things didn’t look that way from the start. On the second day in The Fat Duck, the oven exploded, leaving Blumenthal with a bag of frozen peas strapped to his head for the day. The pipes brought insufficient gas to boil a pot of water in less than several hours, and Blumenthal turned to a physicist at Bristol University, which proved to be the catalyst that would launch him into stardom.
Three Michelin stars later his restaurant received the coveted Best Restaurant in the World, bestowed by Restaurant magazine in 2005. Despite his rocky and untrained origins, Blumenthal’s success was hardly accidental. A team of scientists, including fragrance and scent specialists contributed to the science behind his evolving creations and years of research and study, if unconventionally achieved, still served to perfect his culinary skills.
Walking up to the building, where the menu sits in an unyielding, sharp stainless steel case against gray towering brick, it would be easy to think The Fat Duck a formal and stuffy affair. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Inside, guests smile and laugh their way through a food marathon that challenges the senses. Tastes and textures that make the thoughts reel melt in the mouth to oohs and gasps. Dishes arrive with mist streaming like waterfalls across the table, and desserts bear names like The “BFG” and Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop.
Blumenthal’s trademark seems to be psychological dishes that experiment with patrons’ emotions and thoughts. The unique and unexpected dishes at first seem to be impossible, such as bacon and egg ice cream or snail porridge. However, each dish, meticulously crafted using molecular gastronomical sciences, melts in the mouth or literally explodes with complimentary flavors.
Guests wanting the ultimate experience arrive early and order the tasting menu. This veritable feast of sample-sized dishes lasts over 4 hours and features 12 courses, the tasting menu is a resource consuming affair and must be completed before the dinner crowd, and thus vanishes from the menu after 2 pm.
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The Fat Duck
1 High St.
Bray, England
44 (0) 1628 580 333
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Rating
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89.04
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Rank [category]
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19
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Rank [overall]
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178
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"Best. Dinning. Experience. Ever!"
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