Time to leave the playpen

All little boys grow up eventually and put away their childish things and it seems that Heston Blumenthal is no exception. He has signed up to open a new restaurant in London at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge and he has decided emphatically (or perhaps his new bosses have decided for him) that it is not going to be another Fat Duck. Blumenthal has spoken out about the style of food at his new restaurant and says that while there may be versions of dishes from the Fat Duck on the menu, it will not be a larger copy of his Bray restaurant.
He said that food for the new restaurant, due to open in autumn 2010, will be 'challenging, research-driven and inspired by historic British dishes'. Blumenthal dismissed suggestions that would be a larger Fat Duck. “It’s absolutely not another Fat Duck. I’m never going to do another Fat Duck ever. It would break me,” he said. "I’d like to do some gueridon service, maybe some ice cream made at the table with dry ice. There will be an element of theatre, especially if it links in with the historic aspect of the restaurant," he added. With 140 bums to find every night instead of 30 Heston is going in the right direction and anyway he's probably concerned about spending so much time ingesting all those bloody chemicals.