“I made a reservation for 5 of us”… quipped Deon.
“Where is that?” I asked.
“Fat Duck, UK. You cannot say no, because we have to make reservations 2 months ahead online and I was there at its website at 9am when “bidding” opens.”
Coincidentally, an article said that Fat Duck will be closing for renovation and they will be moving to Melbourne for 6 months staring from Febuary 2015. Yes, you still have lots of time. 🙂
I asked David, Food Guru what should I be expecting as it costs 195 Pounds each for god sakes, (this man has practically eaten everything that breathes, walk, crawled and slithered.)
And in his Ohmmness, he told me “ohm…… You will forget half of what you have ate the moment you stepped out of the restaurant…ohmmm”
Whats that suppose to mean ? I guess, I just have to check it out for myself.
And so we took a train to Maidenhead station from London. 45 minutes ride. I guess many of us must have seen this road and the little cottage that houses the restaurant on numerous TV programs.
Had my trusty Sony Nex 7 with the 35mm F1.8 lens. The restaurant feels cozy and lazy… perfect for the 4 hours degustation that I was about to go thru. The place not brightly lit though, and everyone seems so relaxed… hesitant to use my flash… a pop flash in the eyes in a setting like this will not be pleasant…. well… will make do with it.
“Its all about the 5 senses…. The smell, the taste, the look, the feel, the sounds…” *rambling like a little butterfly*
“Dude, I just want to eat….”
First came this whipped cream like thing. Have to make a choice between vodka and lime or Campari soda with orange. The whipped thing is submerged into liquid nitrogen which solidifies it into a ball of I-dunno-what. The lime zest is then squeezed which shoots its juices thru a flame before it splatters onto the I-Dunno-What.
Get it ? I don’t. Our meal has started. My senses are supposed to be awaken .14 course menu. Am getting the Ohmmm……
Ah-hem…*shahhh….* And came the vapors of dry ice. Very Dramatic. Dissolve the film of Oak Moss in your mouth, taste the chicken pate and the truffle toast… All very earthy I must say.
The cutest was the Mad Hatters Tea Party. A theme from Alice in Wonderland. You get to dissolve the “pocket watch” into a bowl of soup housing the turtle 🙂
My hosts werehaving a good time.
For this dish, an iPod is put inside a seashell…. No, you are not supposed to eat the shell. But listen to the sound of the sea while enjoying an array of seafood.
Finally decide to use the popup flash of the Sony Nex 7 for that Salmon thing, looks pretty good isn’t it !!?? All in that small camera body!
Desserts were the best parts for me. A hot and cold lemon tea in the same glass at the same time. Very clever I must say, to play with liquids of different densities to create this.
Eggs but not Eggs but chocolate in fact, all the way down to the mock egg yolk. Nice.
I decide to use my flash again……. Love the camera!
Dimitris from the restaurant was nice to give us a little short “view” at the entrance of the kitchen. That is a very small kitchen…..I am impressed by how they manage to squeeze in the people to do this 14 course lunch !
Back on the train to London, I left with mixed feelings. 4 hours is too long for me to consume everything. Some dishes I liked, some I don’t. I kind of lost interest before the dessert came and towards the end….it was little bit of a drag. Perhaps my senses were overloaded….
And yes Food Guru, you were right. I forgot about half of what I ate…but only after a few days… 🙂
urbanarchiver 