squaremeal.co.uk � 71

I told them I'd been backpacking around

South-East Asia after university; halfway

through my lunch I was given a postcard

of a � ai Buddha and a wooden box to

construct, stencilled with my name and

the image of a rucksack.

It's left to head chef

Jonny Lake to supervise

the kitchen on a day-today

basis; Blumenthal

describes Lake as the

conductor of an orchestra,

delivering a world-class

performance every day.

Nor is the current menu

set in stone; Blumenthal and Lake consult

on the original idea of a dish, then the

development team and senior chefs move it

forward. Two new dishes of lamb neck and

shoulder with coff ee and garlic, and scallop

with spinach and ceps, are in the pipeline.

SCIENCE LESSONS

As for Blumenthal, his immediate project

is developing a new food GCSE with the

Oxford, Cambridge and RSA exam body

to replace the old food technology course.

One of the things that Blumenthal is most

proud of is that his TV shows got children

excited about cooking. But he also thinks

that food is the one subject that binds

together all other academic disciplines.

"Food covers everything. 13.8 billion

years ago, earth, matter and time came

together in the Big Bang. � at's physics.

Atoms and molecules were created as a

result. � at's chemistry. Some of those

atoms and molecules formed organisms.

� at's biology. And some of those

organisms formed culture. � at's history.

� e only thing that unites all of that is

eating. You take your ingredients and

you do stuff to them: cut them, chop

them, heat them - that's physics. We

produce new molecules and atoms. � at's

chemistry. You then eat them. � at's

biology. And you then evolve the style of

cooking, and that's history."

But an even bigger project awaits.

"� ere are more receptors and neurological

triggers in our gut than in our oral palate

or brain. I think there's a connection

between nostalgia and happiness and the

gut, yet no diet has ever considered things

in terms of digestion. � e gut bacteria eat

the food, and then send the signals up to

your brain, which then

releases hormones into the

body. We're making lots

of connections that have

not been done before. � is

is what I'll be spending

the rest of my life on."

Blumenthal says the

ideas for the new Fat

Duck have been in his head for 20 years.

� e chef turned 50 in May. I have a gut

feeling that he has enough on his plate

to keep him going for the next 20 years.

Turn to p.56 for our review of � e Fat Duck

RESTAURANTS + FOOD

INSTEAD OF A MENU, DINERS

ARE HANDED A MAP AND A

MAGNIFYING GLASS

INSTEAD FROM LEFT: BLUMENTHAL AND PART OF THE TEAM WITH THEIR AWARD;

NEW FAT DUCK DISHES 'WHY DO I HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN

A VARIETY PACK AND A FULL ENGLISH?' AND 'COUNTING SHEEP'

POTTED DUCK

1995 Heston Blumenthal opens The Fat Duck as a French bistro

1999 Wins its fi rst Michelin star

2002 Wins its second Michelin star

2004 Wins the title of Squaremeal's Best UK Restaurant for the fi rst time and

becomes the fastest UK restaurant to win three Michelin stars, saving The Fat

Duck from bankruptcy

2005 Voted number one in the s.pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list

2015 The restaurant relocates to Melbourne for six months while the Bray site

undergoes a £2.5m refi t, re-opening in September with a new £255 menu, a

state-of-the-art-kitchen and no-expense-spared decor touches including a

£150k miniature sweet shop, £10k Japanese lavatories and £3k chairs