The Fat Duck Melbourne | Heston Blumenthal

It's been a work in progress since last year, when Heston Blumenthal announced that he would be taking his award winning restaurant, The Fat Duck, to the renowned Crown Towers located in the cultural hub of Southbank, Melbourne.

0248 - The Fat Duck Journey Jigsaw Complete low res

Yesterday the doors officially opened and Heston said: "Finally, we are opening The Fat Duck today after years of preparation and months of build. This has been an incredibly ambitious project, bringing the whole Fat Duck team to Australia, designing a brand new Fat Duck restaurant with original features whilst at the same time embracing the feel and energy of Bray.” Every bite of the multi-course tasting menu, every whisper of nostalgia and emotion, every aspect of the flawless service, and every team member have moved half the world away making Australia home. Food enthusiasts from 27 different countries will attend one of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants in its holiday home with Heston’s iconic dishes such as Sound of the Sea, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and Snail Porridge right at their fingertips. There is one addition to The Fat Duck that will be exclusive to Melbourne and truly a once in a lifetime experience – a Chef’s Table. Multi-sensory dining becomes super-sensory with the opportunity to get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse. For a limited time during The Fat Duck’s tenure, four guests per service will be seated in front of the pass, witnessing the kitchen’s inner workings and interacting directly with the chefs throughout service.

Design features include a nineteen and a half thousand piece jigsaw which involves the participation

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in an intriguing way of every guest who attends and to celebrate the sojourn of the Fat Duck there's a mad hatter style time piece. Not everything however is at it seems, instead of measuring hours and minutes the bespoke clock measures the number of days until The Fat Ducks return to Bray. At the end of the final service in August, the clocks mechanism will stop forever. The clock will return to Bray as a lasting souvenir of the teams time in Melbourne. Other elements will be revealed only to customers who will dine at the restaurant even the entrance to the restaurant itself is not what it seems. Heston visited Australia in 2003 and his love for the country’s beauty, diversity, produce and people was immediate. For over a decade, he had his eye on opening a restaurant there, so it was with unabashed excitement that he revealed The Fat Duck Melbourne’s opening date and how to reserve a table at his first Australian restaurant.

A ballot system was implemented to ensure the fairest possible way for guests to secure a table. With only 14 thousands seats available over 250 thousand guests applied for a reservation. Following The Fat Duck’s return home to the UK in September this year, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will take up residence within Crown Melbourne permanently, becoming the only restaurant the chef has in his portfolio outside of the UK. It joins ranks with The Fat Duck, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal located in London, The Hinds Head, The Crown at Bray, and The Perfectionists’ Café. See more images on our Facebook page

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