Heston Blumenthal

[naguere]

On 'Richard and Judy' Wednesday evening Heston showed off two new ideas.

The first was for the diner to wear earphones with microphone attached so as to experience the crunch of the food all the better. His idea was that it would be only used on one course.

The second was fruit placed in a container with dry ice and then sealed for some time (up to 2 hours). The fruit, grapes, bananas, apples absorbed carbon dioxide and became efervescent when eaten.

Richard and Judy found the fruit a fantastic experience but the earphones were just interesting.

[Matthew Grant]

I've said it before and I'll say it again Why does he persist with promoting the novelty aspects of his food when there is so much more to it?

Edited September 30, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[reuvens]

On 'Richard and Judy' Wednesday  evening Heston showed off two new ideas.

The first was for the diner to wear earphones with microphone attached so as to experience  the crunch of the food all the better. His idea was that it would be only used on one course.

The second was fruit placed in a container with dry ice and then sealed for some time (up to 2 hours). The fruit, grapes, bananas, apples absorbed  carbon dioxide and became efervescent when eaten.

Richard and Judy found the fruit a fantastic experience but the earphones were  just interesting.

←

sorry but as a german could somebody explain to me what "efervescent" means

thanx

[hathor]

Bubbly.

[reuvens]

Bubbly.

←

thanx for the quick reply. have you ever heard of PETA ZETA? it's a kind of candy which pops in your mouth in connection with liquid. i heard heston is doing choc truffles with that PZ in the ganache. kind of the same !?

[MobyP]

I've sid it before and I'll say it again   Why does he persist with promoting the novelty aspects of his food when there is so much more to it?

←

I remember you saying this before and thinking maybe you'd missed the point. Now I think maybe I did. After a while, I just want to be left alone with my knife and fork to get on with it.

A man, a knife and his fork, damnit.

thanx for the quick reply. have you ever heard of PETA ZETA? it's a kind of candy which pops in your mouth in connection with liquid. i heard heston is doing choc truffles with that PZ in the ganache. kind of the same !?

←

Yes - same family of experience.

[pedro]

I've sid it before and I'll say it again   Why does he persist with promoting the novelty aspects of his food when there is so much more to it?

←

Probably because that's what attracts media.

[Matthew Grant]

I think promoting his food like this probably just alienates people. Most people probably find out it costs £90 a head (or whatever it is these days) and think that it is a silly price to pay for novelty food.

Generally the people going to the Fat Duck are people that are into food.

Generally people that aren't into food are not going to start their fine dining restaurant experiences at 3 star Michelin restaurants however they are promoted.

thanx for the quick reply. have you ever heard of PETA ZETA? it's a kind of candy which pops in your mouth in connection with liquid. i heard heston is doing choc truffles with that PZ in the ganache. kind of the same !?

←

A couple of years ago he was talking of taking this off the menu as too many people had started to copy it. Is he still serving it?

[sandra]

"Generally people that aren't into food are not going to start their fine dining restaurant experiences at 3 star Michelin restaurants however they are promoted."

Then again, most people who are not "into" food probably won't know that it is a 3 Michelin star - or what a Michelin star is, for that matter.

Or imagine, for one moment, that out there, there are people who don't have the foggiest idea what "molecular gastronomy" is all about, maybe not even heard about it...

That's where Richard and Judy come in....

Edited September 30, 2004 by sandra (log)

[Matthew Grant]

?????? This is exactly my point! People who don't have the foggiest about "molecular gastronomy" now think that its all about fizzy fruit and listening to yourself chewing? Not a very good representation of Molecular Gastronomy OR the Fat Ducks cuisine if you ask me.

[alexw]

Isn't this what the FD is all about.

The headphones thing is an old one, watch Discovery channels "kitchen Chemistry" of a few years ago, and Heston eats custard whilst listening to a crunchy apple being eaten. I assume that he has bought some tasteful earphones however.

As for showing this on Richard and Judy though, perhaps not the ideal target audience show.

I think the FD has got to the point now where people know what they are in for, like el bulli, it's not somewhere you would pop for a casual lunch.

Alex.

[Gary Marshall]

"Generally people that aren't into food are not going to start their fine dining restaurant experiences at 3 star Michelin restaurants however they are promoted."

Then again, most people who are not "into" food probably won't know that it is a 3 Michelin star - or what a Michelin star is, for that matter.

Or imagine, for one moment, that out there, there are people who don't have the foggiest idea what "molecular gastronomy" is all about, maybe not even heard about it...

That's where Richard and Judy come in....

←

ok so they're not foodies,

but they want to spend £90 a head ?

and they're prepared to wait, what a month for a table?

because they saw it on richard and judy?

hmmmm.

[CheGuevara]

this is all getting too tired. cooking has always been about chemistry, and cooks centuries ago acknowledged it albeit in a different manner. it's great that people like heston and adria do what they do, whether you like it or not. it's the PR spin that tries to bring it down to everyone which messes and misconstrues it all.

-che

[pedro]

I think promoting his food like this probably just alienates people. Most people probably find out it costs £90 a head (or whatever it is these days) and think that it is a silly price to pay for novelty food.

Generally the people going to the Fat Duck are people that are into food.

Generally people that aren't into food are not going to start their fine dining restaurant experiences at 3 star Michelin restaurants however they are promoted.

A couple of years ago he was talking of taking this off the menu as too many people had started to copy it. Is he still serving it?

←

I'd say that the relationship of media exposure with occupation in a restaurant is much more complex than what you suggest, Matthew. Your assumption is that people who are into food would probably be alienated by the focus in the novelty aspects of Heston Blumenthal's cuisine. But I'd say that the sense that something different is happening at The Fat Duck is a key component in deciding to visit it.

Most of us, I believe, would qualify TFD as a place where new dishes and techniques are being developed and presented to the customers very frequently. Nonetheless, a closer look to TFD's thread will reveal very little variation in its menu since 2001. I'm not stating that there's anything wrong with it, I'm just pointing to what I believe is a mismatch between the image of TFD perceived through the media and what is actually in the menu.

[tony h]

Its not just about food anymore - but also theatre.

Pay 90 quid plus and I'd want to be entertained too.

Mind you, wish he'd change the tasting menu

[sandra]

oi!

my response to Matthew was deleted, which would have addressed Gary's question before he asked it... did anyone see it??

what's going on?

[FaustianBargain]

about the earphones thing..i had made a previous post on the subject of noise and appetite here.

The author of the book quoted someone else. Unfortunately, the name of the researcher and his work slips my memory at this time.

[fisherman]

i would guess the richard and judy thing (which i was lucky enough not to see) was not so much about attracting diners willing to pay £90 a head, and more about promoting the book he's about to launch.........

daytime tv scum would no more pay £90 for a meal than they would eat pilchard ice cream. give them a book for £15 that will make them look trendy in their DFS furnished houses in front of their mates with bleached hair and they'll lap it up

[FaustianBargain]

i would guess the richard and judy thing (which i was lucky enough not to see) was not so much about attracting diners willing to pay £90 a head, and more about promoting the book he's about to launch.........

daytime tv scum would no more pay £90 for a meal than they would eat pilchard ice cream. give them a book for £15 that will make them look trendy in their DFS furnished houses in front of their mates with bleached hair and they'll lap it up

←

I'd never..NEVER..understand why Blumenthal would go about selling...wait..maybe the word we are looking for here is...ermm..what word should i use that bring up a nice visual for you..err..i dont know..pimping? his wares..A BOOK EVEN!...to and I quote..daytime scum!! Its a mystery, I am telling you..a bleeping mystery!

people who cannot drop 90 bucks per person for a meal have NO business spending 1/6th cost of afore mentioned meal on a book. i hear you, brother..what the HELL are they thinking...trying to look trendy and sitting in furnished homes instead of living on top of trees...my skin crawls! tell you what...you really ought to pick up a paper and pencil. sit by the window, get yourself a bottle of beer, roll up your sleeves and you lick that lead well, my good friend. write a letter to the chef himself. ask him and i am serious here... ask him to STOP selling books to people who do not visit his restaurant. write it in bold. underline it in RED for effect! then..and here is where you shouldnt be shy...and then, you go right ahead and tell him who you really think he should be selling books to....especially NOT to folks with bleached hair!! that killed my appetite for three days just seeing it on the screen! why stop with one letter. make it a glorious campaign! good luck!

[tony h]

daytime tv scum

←

not a little snobbish if you don't mind me saying

[nimzo]

Although the tasting menu may not have changed much on paper , it does in fact change in a subtle way on a very regular basis. The changes may be simply small refinements but taken as a whole over the entire menu they do their work on the palate. Don't believe everything you read on the menu, suck it and see!