So, everyone in Australia is going quacking mad over Heston Blumenthal's restaraunt The Fat Duck.
The experimental three-Michelin star restaurant is relocating from Bray, England, to Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 3 for six months. On Monday, tickets were released after a month-long ballot process. Those who didn't get a ticket -- only 14,000 diners were chosen out of 89,179 entries -- totally lost their minds.
"Thank you for entering The Fat Duck ballot. Unfortunately, your entry was not selected..." pic.twitter.com/H81f4TTF4z— Julie Bee (@Ragesplosion) November 10, 2014
Whatever, Heston. Deny my ballot entry for the Fat Duck, see if I care. I can buy a lot of Big Macs for $525.— Jason Whittaker (@thetowncrier) November 10, 2014
Did anyone get a table for The Fat Duck? I got rejected hardcore but I will take ANY seat on ANY strangers table.— Amelia C (@ameliacc) November 10, 2014
They wanted nothing more than to pay A$525 to munch on the iconic Sound of the Sea dish, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party or perhaps some Snail Porridge.
Heston's style of cooking, which involves a desire to stimulate all the senses and studies the brain's influence over food, has a cult-like following. In the late 1990s, he discovered the effect perception has on taste -- when he realised the taste of crab ice cream changed if it was described differently to the diner. From that moment, his experiments involving scientific factors became more exploratory.
Heston questions the norms. This can be seen most prominently in his Sound of the Sea concoction, where he sought to discover what food sounded like. He used his multi-sensory cooking technique to explore the notion of using all your senses to appreciate food, especially sound. This followed his discovery that listening to the sound of crispy chips crunching could in fact make stale chips taste fresh. It was with this in mind, he inserted an iPod with the sound of squawking seagulls and waves crashing into Sound of the Sea dish and created an experience that tantalised the tastebuds with sound.
Ridiculous meal at The Fat Duck today. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/6PG2d4SX9K— Jason (@h20gony) November 8, 2014
So this guy is unique among the foodie scene. He is breaking rules, questioning logic and turning the whole culinary experience on its head. No wonder Australians are losing their minds. Oh and you can't even score yourself a second hand ticket when someone realises A$525 is a little bit expensive for a meal, as the tickets are not transferable. It is time to let the dream go.
So for those of you not lucky enough to be experiencing these absurd culinary delights in Melbourne, here is some food porn to torture you some more ease the pain. And if that isn't enough, you can always think about the 1,050 starving people you could feed with that money.
Amazing dinner at the #fatduck. Dry ice makes any dining experience better pic.twitter.com/ss2lDAjYrj— Anna Tolhurst (@t0lly) November 6, 2014
The Fat Duck #yummy #delicious http://t.co/RfHUNnwuoj pic.twitter.com/YbQ595vcXJ— AngieLuv Foods Photo (@LuvieAngie) November 6, 2014
Nitro poached aperitifs & snail porridge we celebrated the new @LGUK G3 S at Heston's The Fat Duck! #yum @MichRainey pic.twitter.com/227myl5o2S— LOOK magazine (@Lookmagazine) October 29, 2014
