Now when something comes with a reputation of being possibly the world's best it is setting itself up for a fall. When it is a restaurant which offers only one menu (admittedly an eleven course taster menu) and charges the price of a decent holiday for the privilege of dining, you would think that disappointment was unavoidable. Your correspondent can bravely report that he was utterly taken in and charmed by the Fat Duck experience. We can sagely report that Heston Blumenthal is a bloody genius. It was worth the three year wait to get a table. Do it if you can. Cancel Umbria and head to glamorous Bray, http://www.fatduck.co.uk/ . And when you get there go for broke and have the full monty - that is not just the food (about which you have no choice anyway) but the accompanying wine tasting menu, which earns you the attention of a sommelier at eight assiduously timed intervals in the four hours at table.
What can I tell you? The theatricals start and end the meal, liquid nitrogen used to cook both opening and closing dishes at the table : Nitro-Poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse; Nitro-Scrambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream. Some of the combinations sound vile but taste quite beautiful - Salmon Poached in Liquorice anyone?
I have the palate of a stray dog but can authoratatively say that the 2001 Barolo La Serra, Roberto Voerzio, is the nicest thing I have ever drunk.
Can I think of anything bad to say about the place and the experience? I suppose I did wake the next morning with a slight sense of guilt at the expense but bloody hell we won't be doing it again. To cap it all it was just me and my favourite person in the world, Sharon. We were treating ourselves. It wasn't a corporate freebie. As the guru Joe Walsh so wisely crooned - life's been good to me so far.
What can I tell you? The theatricals start and end the meal, liquid nitrogen used to cook both opening and closing dishes at the table : Nitro-Poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse; Nitro-Scrambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream. Some of the combinations sound vile but taste quite beautiful - Salmon Poached in Liquorice anyone?
I have the palate of a stray dog but can authoratatively say that the 2001 Barolo La Serra, Roberto Voerzio, is the nicest thing I have ever drunk.
Can I think of anything bad to say about the place and the experience? I suppose I did wake the next morning with a slight sense of guilt at the expense but bloody hell we won't be doing it again. To cap it all it was just me and my favourite person in the world, Sharon. We were treating ourselves. It wasn't a corporate freebie. As the guru Joe Walsh so wisely crooned - life's been good to me so far.
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