Fat duck restaurant.

Not far from London, in the village of Bray, is the restaurant The Fat Duck, which in 2005 was recognized by Restaurant magazine as best restaurant peace.

English hinterland, a modest building, an unremarkable interior and ... a table reservation three to four weeks in advance. That's really amazing. What is the restaurant known for, why such popularity among not only local residents, but also guests.

This is a relatively young establishment. The Fat Duck was founded in 1995. And almost immediately earned himself fame among the population. His profile is the so-called "molecular gastronomy", although the chef prefers not to use this term, which is not understandable to everyone, and therefore frightening. First of all, The Fat Duck ( fat duck) is famous for its unusual, extravagant dishes. It's not every day that you get to eat sardine sherbet, snail oatmeal, or crab cake. Heston Blumenthal, the restaurant's chef, experiments with dishes based on chemical processes and complex formulas. In 2005, several episodes of the Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal program were even filmed and shown on Discovery. The main idea of ​​the restaurant's cuisine is the combination of what is customary to share. It is unlikely that you will be served caviar with white chocolate or ice cream with bacon anywhere else.

Waiters like to surprise visitors with visual deception. So, for example, when serving orange and red jelly, it is recommended to first try beetroot jelly, and then orange. The visitor, putting a red slice in his mouth, realizes that it is orange jelly, and orange is beetroot.

One of the most popular dishes in the restaurant is skinless pigeon with pistachio sauce. A special cooking method allows the use of ingredients - pigeon meat and pistachios - the tastes of which are considered incompatible in cooking. The secret lies in panacetta - Italian bacon - in which the pigeon is wrapped during cooking. Thus, "connecting threads" appear between two incompatible products by definition.

A real gourmet is simply obliged to visit The Fat Duck at least once in his life in order to personally appreciate the uniqueness of dishes and flavor combinations.

The Fat Duck Restaurant - PHOTOS

Such gastronomic masterpieces as “Edible Snow”, “Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh” wine lozenges, “Christmas Tree” are not only original and tasty, but also meet the highest quality requirements. However, the composition and technology of their preparation is kept secret. For example, new year's dinner, which includes these unusual dishes, cost about $480.

This restaurant is located in the county of Berkshire in the village of Bray, not far from Windsor Castle - the residence of the English kings. Despite the remoteness from London, its regular visitors are true connoisseurs of the exquisite table - the most famous aristocratic families of England and the richest businessmen.

The Fat Duck restaurant is known for its culinary experiments, as its dishes are prepared in a "molecular kitchen" that looks more like a science laboratory.

Fair saying of one of the physicists:

"The trouble with our civilization is that we are able to measure the temperature of the atmosphere of Venus, but we have no idea what is happening inside the soufflé on our table."

Therefore, here they experiment with taste, based on the most complex chemical formulas and processes that occur in food during cooking. And the experiments justify the expectations of visitors. Each dish is a culinary masterpiece.

Such unusual, extravagant dishes as snail porridge, crab biscuit, sardine sherbet, partridge jelly, cucumber ice cream, fish, bacon and eggs will pleasantly surprise you.

By the way, in the 19th century, in the era of Queen Victoria, ice cream was prepared with a spicy taste. For example, cucumber ice cream served with thinly sliced ​​fresh cucumbers, parmesan or crab ice cream were served at the end of the meal.

But there were dark days in this restaurant, after the mass poisoning of customers in 2009. Then 529 people were poisoned by spoiled oysters. The owner explained this with malfunctions of the cooling system and some deviations from the hygiene rules by the staff. The establishment had to close for 3 weeks. But after the opening of the English restaurant "Fat Duck" again began to delight its visitors with high-quality and original dishes, which has been doing with great success for over 60 years.

On a note: The Fat Duck restaurant is open all days except Sunday and Monday. A table should be booked 2-3 months before the visit.

Gourmet paradise opens its gates. Are you ready to taste oatmeal with snails, caviar with white chocolate, soups of veal head and smoked bacon, combined with sweet ice cream? No, no, no need to be scared and think about the prospects of poisoning. This is not a herring with milk.

Each dish, no matter how incredible it may seem, is prepared in accordance with the principles of molecular cuisine. The owner of the Fat Duck restaurant Heston Blumenthal is an ardent supporter of this culinary trend. The scientific revolution has reached the kitchens. The most modern chefs are now paying attention to the physical and chemical processes that occur in food during cooking. As one of the founding physicists said: “The trouble with our civilization is that we are able to measure the temperature of the atmosphere of Venus, but we have no idea what is happening inside the soufflé on our table.” A fair saying, I also have no idea what processes are going on inside dumplings or cans of canned food, but I know for sure that you won’t be full of the atmosphere of Venus.

But enough science, because this is not a lecture at a culinary college, but an essay about a famous restaurant. The Fat Duck or The Fat Duck is one of the best restaurants in the world. I had hoped to visit him during my current trip to England, but it didn't work out. Fat duck from that category of establishments Catering where you have to book a table a few months before the visit. In this regard, absolutely everyone is equal, that is, those people who can afford to dine with local dishes. Although, in fairness, I note that the prices in the Fat Duck, although impressive, but a middle-class Briton can easily afford to spend an evening here with his beloved.

The Fat Duck has been awarded three Michelin stars, I'm not a great expert, but such a level indicates the fact that Bershire is worth visiting if only for the sake of visiting this restaurant. It is also important for a gourmet to visit it, as for a tourist who came to the UK for the first time, to visit the Tower.

This time I didn't manage to hit the Fat Duck. Two months of waiting for a table. Oh, in two months I will be able to be in the UK only if I am kidnapped by the secret services of Her Majesty, or in one of the Scottish castles my other non-existent billionaire uncle departs to the world. But I visited the Fat Duck a few years ago, after the infamous poisoning of five dozen visitors at the same time. This event took place in 2009 and was a serious blow to the institution's reputation. It was closed for a short time to understand the reasons. As a result, stale clams and a faulty cooling system were blamed for everything. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason was experiments in the field of molecular cuisine - some kind of swallow's nests in gravy stuffed with fertilized trepangs in gravy from silkworm pupae.

The Fat Duck restaurant even has its own laboratory, where alchemist cooks invent immortality pills and the most incredible dishes. The experiments pay off. Unlike most expensive restaurants, when you go to Fat Duck, you know for sure that you will get something tasty, unusual and beautiful for your money. Each dish is a masterpiece, an edible analogue of the Mona Lisa. It is not a pity to pay 100 pounds for a dish that can only be tasted in one single place in the world.

By the way, that time I got into the Fat Duck only because the restaurant had just opened after a sad incident with shellfish and the former excitement was temporarily absent. But now the situation has leveled off.

In general, if you are a gourmet, then you definitely need to visit the Fat Duck, if you are not a gourmet, then you should still visit the Fat Duck, as it is worth it. Please note that the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays and tables must be booked in advance. So I forgot to do it and was left hungry. But nothing, hunger is also useful.

Maria Ivanova
PR manager at Fat Duck

We are a truly honest single food restaurant. Our menu contains duck dishes from all over the world. There is also a traditional Chinese Peking duck, and Italian bruschetta, and duck stew with a French motif, and rich soup with meatballs in the Russian way.

And we will also blow it into a decoy if you order a whole baked duck!

Interior

The spacious hall for 50 seats is designed according to the sketches of Moscow architects in best traditions family European restaurants. Brickwork, an abundance of wooden finishes, discreet pastel colors, upholstered furniture, delicate lighting and a little vegetation - everything is extremely concise, unobtrusive and pleasant. At the same time, there is something for the eye to catch on: funny portraits of aristocratic cats hang on the walls, and charming handmade knitted ducks are placed throughout the restaurant.

Menu

The menu includes dishes of European, Asian and Russian cuisine made from duck. The absolute hit is, of course, Peking duck. Here it is cooked as authentically as possible according to a traditional Chinese recipe.

Among the really unusual offerings are duck creme brulee as an appetizer or a real bird spring roll.

And also, if you can’t stand the duck for unknown reasons, he will still come to the restaurant, they will be able to offer him several fish, vegetable or meat dishes. The same steaks, for example.

November 25, 2008 I happened to visit the world famous British restaurant « Fat Duck", which in translation from English sounds like "Fat duck". The restaurant is located in the town of Bray, which is a seven-minute drive from Windsor. The owner of the restaurant and its chef is the consummate culinary alchemist Heston Blumenthal. Next to the restaurant is Heston Blumenthal's taste lab. From this laboratory, the chef broadcasts the recipes of his cuisine to the whole world, and also talks about the “alchemy” of various culinary products.

I ordered a 20-course test menu at a restaurant. All this pleasure cost me about 140 British pounds, including wine and excellent Chinese oolong. The spectacle turned out to be unforgettable, and the whole action was most likely like a show. I have not felt such emotions and pleasure from everything that happened for a long time. Sitting next to me were Chelsea footballers, English show business people and just culinary gourmets, probably Michelin scouts.

The restaurant seats about 37 people. It looks like a house of the Victorian era, nothing superfluous and everything is as functional and rational as possible. Reservations must be made in advance. I made a reservation 2 months in advance.

At the end of the “meal”, as a token of gratitude for the culinary fairy tale, I presented Mr. Blumenthal with a handmade nesting doll, which I bought the day before in one of the shops on the Arbat. In response, the chef presented me with his new autographed book.

For my readers, I want to tell a little about Mr. Blumenthal, about his "Fat Duck" and about culinary "alchemy". In the Klinaria section, I will post several recipes from Chef Heston Blumenthal.”

The parents of the Englishman Heston Blumenthal in a nightmare could not imagine that their son would earn money on oatmeal from snails. In general, he was not supposed to become a cook - but he did. And one of the most learned chefs in the world.

If not for one trip to France, to be a normal bank clerk for Heston. But when he turned sixteen, his parents took him to Provence, and there they somehow booked a table in a two-star Michelin restaurant. Lobster sauce poured over a soufflé, lamb leg with aromatic herbs… An elderly sommelier with a pomaded mustache… Heston was shocked. He decided that from that day on, this was his life too.

Now, if Blumenthal is told that English cuisine is the worst in the world (after Finnish, according to the French ex-president Chirac), he is not offended, because he understands where this idea came from. When he was a kid, in the 70s, she really was terrible. In Britain then it was almost impossible to buy good olive oil- for a bottle of Italian exrta virgine you had to go to the pharmacy! The British bought bread at once for the whole week.

It was customary to bake meat only for Sunday dinner, otherwise it was long and tedious to cook. In stores, apart from spaghetti, there were no other types of pasta ... In just some ten years, the situation has changed so much that now it’s even hard to believe in all this. And on this new British scene, Blumenthal's Fat Duck, recognized in 2005 as the best restaurant in the world and awarded three stars by the Michelin guide, could appear.

For the past five years, Heston has been occupied with one main question: how does the brain interpret the signals sent to it by various senses? Why does one person love the same food and another hate it? Why is the same taste of a product often perceived differently by the same person? His favorite example of how much atmosphere can affect taste is as follows. You come to France, travel through the castles of the Loire, and there, in the sun, on the banks of the river, you dine in a small restaurant with oysters, washed down with Muscadet white wine. And it's the best Muscadet you've ever tasted! You buy a box right away, come back, invite friends to your cramped apartment, pour wine ... and it's disgusting! But it's not about wine at all - it was the same in the Loire Valley. It’s just that you didn’t bring the freshest oysters, the sun and the splashing of the waves with you ...

In his restaurant, Heston tries to create a special atmosphere. If his customers order the Sounds of the Sea dish, which consists of seafood, he will be served an iPod with the calls of seagulls sounding in the headphones and the splashing of the waves. The dish itself looks like a box with a glass top, inside of which you can see sand with shells. It's not really sand at all, but a mixture of tapioca and fried breadcrumbs ground with fried baby eels, flavored with cod liver oil and langoustine; with abalones, mussels, shrimps, oysters and three types of algae.

Dessert will be followed by coffee and a silver rose bush with edible petals flavored with apple, lychee, coriander and raspberry; and as a digestif - chewing gum with the taste of 18-year-old whiskey. Compared to such a menu, Blumenthal's famous snail porridge (snail oatmeal) looks something boring and outdated.

Blumenthal is a born explorer. For example, he would not mind buying a time machine - his interest in old British cuisine is so great. Two of his friends, historians studying the cuisine of Hampton Court Palace (once the residence of the English monarchs) (by the way, I was also in this palace, though in the summer, and someday I will tell about it and about the “Tudor cuisine”), showed Blumenthal letters and prescription books , from which he made an unequivocal conclusion: in the 18th century, Britain was one of the dominant powers not only at sea, but also in the kitchen.

Chefs then tried to cook everything that came into their hands. Some recipes were extreme - for example, a pheasant dish: they removed the "skin" from the bird, fried the carcass, and then put the skin, along with feathers, back on, and with the help of a mechanical device they set the bird in motion right on the table. The recipe, which Blumenthal likes much less, tells how to roast a goose alive ... No, he does not have the slightest desire to repeat this process - but he would see how the cooks were "creative" at that time.

How creative Heston Blumenthal himself is, one can only guess. He says he can be inspired by anything from a new product to bad weather. Let's say he came up with a hot chocolate drink with red wine when he got caught in the rain and got damn cold.

If you book a table at Fat Duck online, you will immediately be taken to the site, which is a candy store - a small but very rich interactive world. You wander between the shelves, choose "sweets" - and they tell you about the menu and philosophy of the restaurant. After dinner, at the exit, you will receive a bag of sweets that you "clicked" on during the online acquaintance process - quite real. Excellent sweets with the taste of apple pie.

(Information is published based on materials obtained from various sources on the Internet).