Today is a good day for Australian food. English chef Heston Blumenthal has opened his pop-up version of the iconic UK restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The groundbreaking masterchef, who prefers his snails with porridge and his salmon with liquorice, is serving a 15-course degustation to guests for $525. The newly-announced menu, which everyone is losing their minds over, shows the courses pay homage to Blumenthal's original three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, while incorporating an interesting Australian twist.
Here's the Fat Duck menu. pic.twitter.com/mDnIu8myjG— Fairfax Good Food (@goodfoodAU) February 2, 2015
The big reveal has seen Blumenthal using local produce for some of the iconic dishes -- such as whisky from a Tasmanian distillery in the whisky gums and a Golden Gaytime in the lolly bag -- along with his well-known recipes.
The much-lauded dishes 'The Mad Hatter's Tea Party,' which includes mock turtle soup and an edible fob watch, and 'The Sound of the Sea,' which includes earphones to incorporate sound into the dish, are both featured on the mind-blowing menu.
Blumenthal is known for his experimental style and not allowing the normal barriers associated with food to come into play in his meals. To achieve this he often plays with the senses, such as sound and sight, to create a different taste experience. The kitchen of the restaurant in Melbourne's Crown Towers is being headed up by Ashley Palmer-Watts and will remain open for six months with 14000 diners sitting down at the cream booth tables.
But not just anyone can swan in the door, you had to win a prized ballot spot late last year and many Aussie foodies that missed out on tickets are spitting chips at release of the magical menu.
Anyone dining at the Fat Duck tonight care to let me kiss them on the mouth? #thefatduckmelbourne #HestonBlumenthal— Britt (@brittquinan) February 3, 2015
Must be my table manners . I can't get into Fat Duck. @3AW693— Denis O'Kane (@DenisOKane3AW) February 3, 2015
And others are pretending they don't care.
I think my $$ were better off buying a Thermomix. || The Fat Duck Melbourne opens doors at Crown http://t.co/GrRZdP6UtV— Pam Stange (@Big_Gigger) February 3, 2015
$525 for egg and bacon icecream? I'd rather have Maccas: Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck opens in Melbourne http://t.co/tjVjT0gKdS via @theage— Cheryl Critchley (@CherylCritchley) February 3, 2015
Is Fat Duck the biggest, most overblown thing in the history of everything?— YeahNo (@_YeahNo_) February 3, 2015