The Fat Duck 2007

[JudyB]

An unexpected pleasure, but I’m off to the FD tomorrow – my first time.

Even though I have followed the menus and tried making a number of the dishes, I feel very unprepared; like going into an exam.  Creepy!

I shall try to resist the temptation to spend my entire meal writing notes and try to concentrate on the food.

We shall probably have the tasting menu, but really can’t be bothered with the fast changing tastes of the matching wines.  I prefer to have consistency as a foil for the flavours of the dish (although I might have a change for the salmon in liquorice).  We prefer red, generally French and nothing fruity.  Any suggestions as to what we should try?

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We have had the tasting menu with matching wines and they did an excellent job, but it could be overwhelming. I think that the Fat Duck has a fairly good selection of French wines, but my advice would be to ask the sommelier. They should be able to give you the best advice for what is currently on the tasting menu.

[Tim Hayward]

An unexpected pleasure...

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Excuse the odd question but wherefore 'unexpected'?

The odd thing is that about half the people I know have been to the FD went 'unexpectedly' when someone else dropped out of a corporate entertaining gig and the vacancy was offered to a nearby foodie.

I'm intrigued by this. Is it just the FD?

[Baggy]

Point 1. I hate putting myself in the hands of a sommelier – it assumes I know what I want, what to expect and how much to pay; and besides does he/she and I really have the same taste? I would rather go with a (somewhat) informed choice.

Point 2. Unexpected because I didn’t arrange it, but I would have if I had thought about it…

[bakerestates]

Point 1. I hate putting myself in the hands of a sommelier – it assumes I know what I want, what to expect and how much to pay; and besides does he/she and I really have the same taste? I would rather go with a (somewhat) informed choice.

Do you think a sommelier will be uninformed then? Surely a good sommelier will be able to pair what you like, what your budget is and how surprised you want to be with the food you are going to eat.

Are they not better placed to do this given their knowledge of the whole wine list and the food, especially in a situation like the Fat Duck, rather than members of this forum.....not that any suggestions here should be discounted.

Maybe you have had a bad experience......

Edited December 19, 2007 by bakerestates (log)

[Paul Reynard]

The wine selections at the Fat Duck are also highly inspired. When I last went there (two years ago this week as it happens) I had the wine pairings witht he tasting menus and had wine from all over Europe (except England) and even a sake from Japan to go with the Sardine sorbet. This Sake was the most inspired pairing I have heard of.

They also now have 3 wine pairing options ranging from £95 to £295 per person. This could be seen as catering for all levels but I think it's just a wallet pinching exercise in all likelihood.

[ajnicholls]

My experience of the sommelier at the Fat Duck was not an overwhelmingly impressive one. The wine list there is a tome that you could pour over for hours. As I wasn't paying, but my girlfriend knows little about wine, I was wanting to work within a budget and have something that would work with as much as the meal as possible. The sommelier just seemed disinterested. Not what I expected, given how amazing the service was in every other area of the meal that night.

If I go back (which I definitely would if I can ever get a table again) then I would go with the matched wines. The selections do seem extremely good and are from all over the world. I have to say though, that even the best sake in the world couldn't make the sardine on toast sorbet taste good. That dish still makes me feel ill - very glad it is no longer on the menu.

Adam

[Paul Reynard]

The sorbet was amazing in my view. Completely unique and it tasted really quite good. Now if a course should go it should be the Salmon in liquirice which I fortunately changed to the scallop when I went. Another course to go should be the sherbert foundtain and the parsnip cereal which really did taste as bad as it sounds. My friend had the salmon and it was not good at all (although it did look very impressive). Think I might start a campaign to bring back the sorbet.....

Edited December 20, 2007 by Paul Reynard (log)

[fisherman]

So the sorbet goes from 'amazing' to 'really quite good' in the space of two sentences, how good will it be on your next post?

[FDE]

We visited the Fat Duck again recently. It was our third time (pretty much once a year). I always thought going back to this kind of restaurants again would not be as good as previous times because you already knew all the surprises. I came back for the third time all because of this new creation:

Sound of the Sea

I first thought it was just a gimmick, but it turned out pretty well. More photos here:

www.finediningexplorer.com/fatduck

[RDB]

I loved the sorbet, but then I love sardines on toast!!!

Watching the Christmas dinner show last night reminded me of how exciting it can be eating Heston's food for the first time, especially seeing the diners reaction of awe and wonderment.

It was definitely the best Christmas dinner I have ever seen. Will it be on offer in the Fat Duck every Christmas now? Magnus???

[Paul Reynard]

Doh, doh, doh!!! Completely forgot to watch that. Is it being repeated?

[RDB]

Yeah Paul think it is repeated on Saturday afternoon at 2.45?? Check your Christmas radio times

[Bapi]

Watching the Christmas dinner show last night reminded me of how exciting it can be eating Heston's food for the first time, especially seeing the diners reaction of awe and wonderment.

It was definitely the best Christmas dinner I have ever seen. Will it be on offer in the Fat Duck every Christmas now? Magnus???

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I have loved all three of my meals at the Fat Duck, but have always wondered why, with Heston's obvious talent, the menu rarely changed. Such that invention seem to have possibly been sacrificed in favour of honing his dishes to perfection.

But last nights programme was just brilliant; Heston's invention at its very best. I defy any of you to watch the goose dish being pepared and not try and crawl into the telly. I am booking a table for the New Year for sure.

[Andy Fenn]

It was wonderful. Absolutely brilliant. I agree with RDB - the reactions of Richard E Grant were pure astonishment. Which is why the atmosphere at the FD is so fun - everyone is smiling and enraptured.

But I'm still not sure the main dish and dessert were THAT inventive - the goose preparation was similar to his pigeon dish on the FD tasting menu and the dessert was pretty much bacon and egg ice cream but with reindeer milk and mincemeat pain perdu.

That said, the starter and sorbet were incredibly inventive, and it was fascinating to see him put all the courses together at the last minute.

I know what you mean Bapi - when I have food that good I just want to go back. Last time, I swapped in 4 dishes from the a la carte. I'm running out of dishes to try! But I do think his approach gives better results for the first time visitor, in stark contrast to el Bulli, where it felt that the pressure to come up with something new every year created a menu of novelty, with very little that actually tasting good.

I have a table at the FD for 6 for dinner on 16 Feb. I can't wait.

[Matthew Grant]

I felt the same Bapi, one of the best demonstrations I have seen of his food, way better than his current series for giving you an idea of what the restaurant is all about.

[Baggy]

Had lunch at the FD yesterday and got back in time to see the Christmas special – just like eating lunch all over again.

I’ll put some thoughts together on our visit in the next day or so.

[Baggy]

I'd say that you were the perfect combination of imperfections. I'd say that your nose was just a little too short, your mouth just a little too wide. But yours was a face that a man could see in his dreams for the whole of his life.

(Kind Hearts &Coronets 1949)

It would be true to say that I have been giving a lot of thought to our experience at the FD. I looked again at the tasting menu and the previous posts; there is nothing new I could add to the descriptions already given.

I considered a review in the style of elBulli (so avoiding having to say anything about the food), relaying the bizarre taxi journey from the station, cutting underground through office car parks to escape the one-way system of Maidenhead. And flying across the flood plains of the Thames past rugby clubs, golf ranges and all kinds of leisure activities to arrive at the calm and tranquillity of Bray and the FD.

I was pleased to find that the cold weather had been taken into account, and the napkins had been wrapped into cylinders, hand muff-style. However, given the coolness outside, I did wonder if there was a plot to keep me wrapped in my coat as freezing vapours of liquid nitrogen and dry ice settled across the table, and like the mists of the Oak Moss & Truffle Toast, settled uncomfortably in a low hollow (otherwise known as my lap).

Also, I have wondered if there is some deep meaning behind the reappearance of such a definitive taste as oyster in the menu (in Oysters, Passion Fruit Jelly and again in the Sound of the Sea). And beetroot (in Beetroot & Orange Jelly, and the tuile in the Mango & Douglas Fir Purée). Earl Grey tea appearing, if not starring in the Hot & Iced Tea (an experience not dissimilar to going to the dentist), and again shortly afterwards as Tea Jelly in the Nitro-scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream dish. But then I’m probably judging with a more classic menu structure in my head.

And the playful Beetroot & Orange Jelly, Parsnip Cereal, or Whisk(e)y Wine Gums which, compared with the surrounding dishes, seemed one-dimensional and rather poor jokes that don’t stand repetition.

It would be pedantic to pick out minor details such as the oversalted Red Cabbage Gazpacho, or the overcooked, watery Salmon Poached in Liquorice (my companion diner’s portion was fine – I tried it), the hint of burned dough in Mrs Marshall’s Margaret Cornet, or the one-dimensional vegetal taste of the Snail Porridge (a dish that went straight onto my list of favourites after I tasted the complexity and depth of flavours when I tried this from the recipe

Or the strangely balanced Jelly of Quail dish, where the Parfait of Foie Gras was so rich as to overwhelm all the other flavours. Or the micro-garnishes, which on occasion were so small as to defy tasting, like the fig tuile mounted like a mini satellite receiver on the quenelle of foie gras in the same dish.

But I’m sure someone will tell me why the Quail Jelly/Oak Moss & Truffle Toast is a homage to Alain Chapel. Do you think he would fully appreciate the Oak Moss film sticking to the roof of his mouth?

And I’m certain it would be churlish to pick on the service; the refusal, polite, but a clear refusal, to slow down the service, the glasses removed before we had finished our wine, or even the mistake on the bill (charged for a glass of wine, but offset by no charge for the extra cheese course).

We greatly enjoyed our experience. Lots to talk about; a true gastronomic treat. It was also fun. Putting the Sound of the Sea seashells to our ears gave a rather different impression from the gulls on the iPod – more like Barry Manilow trapped in a barrel. A truly surreal result.

Now I’m not someone who is easily surprised, and having tried about a third of the tasting menu dishes from published recipes I was, perhaps, too attuned to find the dishes novel. But I didn’t expect to enjoy the Salmon Poached in Liquorice (which I did), or the Sound of the Sea, which having eaten the pebble (oyster) transformed the dish from rather tasteless elements into a very fine salad of seaweed. The cherry sauce with the Roast Foie Gras was exquisite, and the Ballotine of Anjou Pigeon was rich and succulent.

However, I accuse my taste buds of letting me down when it came to the sweet courses. I have a strange dislike of lychees (but not enough to ask for a substitute dish). And when combined with the white rectangular Douglas Fir Purée Bavarois, it prompted me to imagine I was eating a toilet block, not helped by the previous dish, Pine Sherbet Fountain, which for the world looked like a miniature toilet brush (and with the same disinfectant smell). I did, however, enjoy the Blackcurrant Sorbet – not that it seemed connected to the other flavours in the dish.

But the petits fours just didn’t work for me; blue coloured, liquid Violet Tartlet – sour, but not refreshing; Mandarin Aerated Chocolate – dry, tasteless cardboard; Carrot & Orange Lolly – too thin to have taste. At least the Apple Pie Caramel “Edible Wrapper” tasted of something – caramel, although I missed the point of having an edible wrapper; it just delayed the flavour appearing. Perhaps, I missed the point.

Has this changed my view of restaurants? Absolutely. It crystallised the thought that taste comes first in my priorities; concepts, last. Time for Breakfast. Parsnip Cereal, Nitro-scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream, Whisk(e)y Wine Gums???

Was the experience worthwhile? Absolutely. There has been little else on my mind for the past two weeks since going to the FD. Not helped by preparing HB’s In Search of Perfection trifle for Christmas lunch (complex but very rich; not a dissimilar flavour profile to the Nitro-scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream , Pain Perdu & Tea Jelly dish), and wanting to try the risotto (but not having the time).

Next time, I’m going ALC for the Lasagne of Langoustine and the Sole Véronique (a dish that mystifies me as to why it’s on so many top restaurant menus).

And Mr Business Manager of the FD, if you’re reading this (which, as a good marketing person I’m sure you are), how are you going to get a better financial return? Too many dishes, requiring so many staff to maintain a reasonable standard. Everything timed and structured like cabin service. And everyone always seems to leave late – when we left, we weren’t hurried out, but the linen was being ironed on the tables which, I guess, is the upmarket equivalent of putting the chairs on the tables.

Aren’t there some new business opportunities. I really like the FD branding, but I don’t particularly want a paper carrier bag. I would like a coffee mug with the FD logo, though. And as a pointless fact, Star Wars has made more than a USD 1 billion from merchandising, far more than the film revenue – can’t you make a go of it as well?