The Fat Duck at 30: How Heston Blumenthal changed fine dining

Heston Blumenthal’s 30-year journey at The Fat Duck has been a remarkable and historic one in British gastronomy – not least because of its humble beginnings.

With £10,000 in his pocket borrowed from his dad, Heston found a pub for sale in the small Berkshire village of Bray.

Three decades on, he is a household name and one of the globally most recognisable chefs thanks to his groundbreaking TV shows, bestselling books, and eye-catching flavour combinations.

From a ‘dodgy’ pub to three Michelin stars

Less than two weeks after opening in 1995, the pub closed its doors, as the young chef realised work was needed for the locals to see what he was trying to achieve.

After somewhat of a refurb, it soon reopened. A few years later, The Fat Duck would become one of the most well-known restaurants in the world.

“I found this pub called The Bell in Bray,” Heston began.

“Unbeknown to me, it was a pretty dodgy pub. I ran it for 10 days as a pub - I was behind the bar and then someone pulled a knife out on someone else in the back yard. The police came and gave me a list of faces to look out for. All the dodgy people in this area had heard there was some naïve young man that had bought this pub.

“After that, I shut it.”

The décor when it reopened was sparse: ironmongers’ chairs at £50 each, no tablecloths, matting on the floor — and an outside toilet powered by a bicycle pump.

“That was August 1995. Now it is 30 years of The Fat Duck, which is quite incredible,” said Heston.

“I moved into a village where I'd say The Beatles of cooking for England, the Roux brothers, their restaurant was there.

“Had I had any idea that I'd end up with three Michelin stars, I don't think I would have moved here.

“But I didn't have those plans.

“There was, and still is, only one door, no car park. It defied working.”

He continued: “In 1999, the first Michelin star, I thought I deserved that.

“The second star came in 2001 and then in 2004, the third star came and all hell broke loose.”

The childhood memory that changed British dining

While the opening was humble, Heston’s ambition was anything but. A childhood holiday in Provence gave him the spark.

“I grew up in London and we used to go to Cornwall for our holidays,” he recalled.

“My memories were sitting in the back my parents’ car with the boot open, wrapped in a towel, coming off the beach, cold sea, wet sand, eating a Cornish pasty.

“One year my dad’s business did well and we went to France, to a three-star restaurant called L'Oustau de Baumanière in Provence.

“I didn't know what an oyster looked like. I'd never eaten lobster. So there I was sitting there amongst a deafening noise of crickets, an intoxicating smell of lavender, the noise of the feet of the waiting staff crunching on the gravel.

“I had this experience and I thought - this is what I want to do, I want to cook.”

He continued: “When I was writing The Fat Duck Cookbook, I realised the real drive in me creating what I now call multisensory gastronomy was I wanted to recreate the emotion I had in France.”

The birth of multisensory gastronomy

‘Question everything’ is the motto The Fat Duck operates by.

For Heston, that came from his desire not to follow the norms, but push boundaries.

“The crab ice cream was a groundbreaking dish for several reasons,” he said.

“I realised when I called it crab ice cream, people loved it or hated it. If I said it was a frozen crab bisque, it was much more acceptable.”

A university study proved the point: when smoked salmon was served as “ice cream” rather than “mousse”, diners perceived it as 15% saltier, as they were expecting sweetness.

“That taught me a lot. I thought, wow, just naming a dish can change the flavour of the dish,” said Heston.

That gap between expectation and delivery became a playground for Heston’s creativity - and the beginning of a new way of thinking about flavour.

“Once in a lifetime”

Critics at the time were stunned. Matthew Fort, then at The Guardian, remembers going to The Fat Duck for lunch, and then staying on for dinner.

“Normally I could look at a menu and see whether the chef was influenced by the French or Italians for example,” he recalls.

“I had absolutely no idea where Heston’s food was coming from. It was a complete revelation and it was incredibly exciting because I thought you will only ever come across something like this once in a lifetime.”

He added: “There was a sense of playfulness, humour, a joy of experimentation about the food.

“For many outside the industry it was completely baffling and the subject of national jokes.

“The consensus among the serious restaurant critics was that something pretty extraordinary was going on in Bray.

“I knew that this man was literally transforming the face of cooking in this country.”

Rivalry, recognition and relentless pressure

The early 2000s placed The Fat Duck on the world stage. In 2005, it reached number one in the World’s 50 Best list, as an unspoken battle ensued with Ferran Adrià of El Bulli.

“We pretended there wasn’t (a rivalry), but there absolutely was,” Heston admitted.

“From 2004 to 2008 I had a surge in creativity. El Bulli were doing their thing, we were doing ours, but we were paired together because we were both changing gastronomy.

“It was competitive and friendly.”

But it was holding a third Michelin star, which came in 2004, which gave Heston more sleepless nights than competing with El Bulli.

“After the third star, I spent a year questioning why we got it and what happens if we lose it,” Heston said.

“The Michelin stars caused pressure in development because you become fearful.

“In the Hinds Head by the fireplace there’s a quote: fear knocked at the door, faith answered and no one was there.

“If your belief is stronger than your fear, you can continue.”

The dishes that defined an era

Some of Heston’s creations have now become iconic.

At The Fat Duck, there are dishes such as Sound of the Sea, Mock Turtle Soup, Counting Sheep and The Sweet Shop, all built around the idea of multisensory gastronomy, and how hearing or smelling something can alter how you taste it.

Alongside that, Heston also pioneered the now ubiquitous triple cooked chips and runny scotch egg.

“My belief is that Heston and the Fat Duck changed food in this country,” said Matthew.

“What he made possible was for chefs to cook like themselves.

“He broke the shackles of the foreign dominion over our cooking and gave liberty to a whole range of immensely talented young chefs to go off and cook the way they wanted, and to really change the way in which we all relate to food in this country.

“I think it's almost impossible to underestimate the profundity of the effect that The Fat Duck and Heston had upon food, not just restaurant food, but the food we eat at home as well.”

Creativity, pressure and resilience

Across a range of interviews this year, Heston has been very open about his story of living with bipolar, which led to him being sectioned in November 2023.

Asked if he feels that has affected his creativity, Heston said: “Not necessarily.

“We live in France, but come over a lot, I've never done so much tasting in my life at the Duck.”

Matthew added: “Almost every chef I know looks up to him.

“What he illustrates is the toll that maintaining those standards and creativity can take on an individual - if you’re going to succeed at the highest level as a chef, the pressure it exerts.

“He has also shown that even if you do have problems and so on, what you can achieve if you are determined enough and talented enough.”

Karl Jaques: carrying the torch in the kitchen

Now running the kitchen as head chef is Karl Jaques, responsible for turning Heston’s ideas into reality.

“We have this perception sometimes that all of our techniques are out there and crazy, but it's all founded off the classics, off the basic understanding of an ingredient and the cooking of it,” he said.

For Karl, leading The Fat Duck is deeply personal.

“First of all, I never thought I’d get a job here,” he admitted.

“Growing up, I watched Heston on the telly with my mum after school. This was always a place that was out of this world. To work my way up to head chef is a real pinch-me moment.

“Heston was a huge inspiration for me to get into the industry and I love the crazy flavour combinations and the techniques he was doing in search of perfection.

“To be working alongside Heston and Jocky, particularly in the 30th year, I couldn’t ask for a better job.”

Legacy and looking forward

Today, the next chapter is being shaped by Heston, along with his long-time collaborator James 'Jocky' Petrie, now global culinary director, who has returned to The Fat Duck after 10 years away.

“The Fat Duck has always felt like home,” Jocky said.

“For me, it’s about keeping the spirit of curiosity and creativity and continuing that legacy.

“The ultimate goal for us is not to be perceived just as a restaurant. We’re in the business of emotions. You step through the front door and decompress — the blinds are down, each table has specific lights, there is no artwork or music. We want you to forget the outside world and immerse yourself in the experience.”

Jocky has refreshed some of the offerings at The Fat Duck, including reintroducing an à la carte menu, as well following up on Heston's idea to create a ‘topsy turvy’ menu, which starts with the bill and dessert, working backwards. Also for the first time there will be a ‘top seat’ concept, where a single diner can sit at the pass during their meal.

“The Fat Duck will never stand still,” said Jocky.

“It will always be about discovery and taking risks. The future isn’t about what’s next — we are doing the next now.”

Heston added: “There are so many dishes people don’t realise I’ve done, and I’d like them to realise.

“The continued development of the old dishes will keep on lifting the quality up.”

Thirty years on, The Fat Duck remains what it has always been - a restaurant that asks: “Why?”