As it prepares for its 21st year of operation, Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck has announced it will reopen on 29 September.
The restaurant, located in Bray, England, picked itself up and relocated to a site within Melbourne's Crown Casino for nine months, ending August. This allowed Fat Duck's Bray location, a 16th century building, to undergo renovations including structural maintenance, refurbishments and the introduction of a new kitchen.
Blumenthal said the temporary relocation to Melbourne allowed him to reflect on the sort of menu he wants to deliver moving forward.
“Every dish at The Fat Duck has always had a story, a reason for being. I wanted to evolve more than ever before, those particular elements into a wider, more personal and connected experience for my guests. I wanted to also offer something more individual, with a tailor-made element to the menu which would combine all my discoveries thus far, of story telling, multi-sensory, playful nostalgia and memories," he said.
The latest menu will take the form of a map and uses a nostalgic day in Blumentha's own childhood as a framework.
“It will be a journey, starting from the instant you book your ticket, ever growing excitement for when you arrive and ending after you leave The Fat Duck,” he said. “It is me, describing my childhood holiday memory full of adventure, curiosity, discovery and playfulness that spans a day, from morning to night, breakfast to dreaming and in between; activities like rock-pooling and getting an ice cream from the van near the beach. The menu with all these elements will act as a catalyst to bring your own memories to life. It’s about bringing people together and allowing them to use all the senses to trigger their memories – where you were, whom you were with, what you ate and how you ate it. It then becomes your own holiday journey.
New dishes will also feature from 29 September. Popular dishes like Blumenthal's Snail Porridge and Bacon and Egg Ice Cream will be 'archived' in a "Hall of Fame" with potential reoccurrences for special requests.