Anton still the clear favourite imo, with Keri now ahead of Oli.
I think with a restaurant like TFD it's probably something that has to be experienced before it can really be determined if it is pretentious or not.
I actually met Anton this afternoon!
What an absolute gent & a lovely guy - his place is few minutes from where im doing some work this week & now I live in west country will def be going for lunch there!
I made him NOT tell me who won & didn't go in today in case I saw clues or someone said anything & ruin the suspense....
But did tell him how wowed we were at all of them & wished him well. .
Did make him laugh though as told him Emma Kennedy tweeted me to my question as to if food is cold by time 3rd dish served? Was it fair?
well no one disadvantaged as they are all cold! It takes 30 minutes to film each dish served up so told Anton not so jealous of MRjr & Greg eating stone cold dishes now!
what was the candlestick thing? It looked really good with the melting ''wax''
I'm guessing it was a prototype dessert. The head bloke broke the top off and it looked like there was chocolate sponge or mousse inside. I'm guessing the outside was white chocolate.
The 'trick' in this case I suspect is they put the candles out before the meal and when it comes to dessert the waiter says 'Actually, it's been in front of you all the time!'
Before ordering you to eat it in a very particular way, or be physically thrown out of the restaurant.
TBF they do that every year. Last time with Ashe and the kids when they went to El Bulli (IIRC) they had 'invited guests' then too.
Jon
Well it does make sense, lmao. I'd be very pissed off if I'd been there and there were bloody tv cameras in for a start
I did get a little emotional, lol. It made me realise for all Heston's omnipresence it's very rare you actually see the inside of the restaurant. If ever?
Am I the only one that thinks this Fat Duck stuff is pretentious bollocks?
Some of the dishes are too gimmicky for my liking, specially the whole earphones thing, I think it´s bullish.
It´d be a nice experience to go and eat there just for the experience, trying things new, but that´s about it. Once the novelty factor is gone, we´d be dying to get back to real food. On the other hand I would not mind eating everyday in other three or two michelin starred restaurants that are not that gimmicky, but not in the Fat Duck.
It is not gastronomy itself, it is a delicate balance between gastronomy, art, science and pretentious bollocks.
Pretentious bollocks is one of the courses on their tasting menu.
However, they aren't REAL Pretentious Bollocks, they're Pretend Pretentious Bollocks (known as PPB on the menu) and made from quinelles of rabbit liver parfait frozen in liquid nitrogen and served on a field of ploughed edible celeriac and thyme soil with vacuum-assisted soused wild flowers and 20 year old onion-water pearls.
Plus an aerosol squirt of the essence of freshly ploughed field and tractor exhaust fumes......
However, they aren't REAL Pretentious Bollocks, they're Pretend Pretentious Bollocks (known as PPB on the menu) and made from quinelles of rabbit liver parfait frozen in liquid nitrogen and served on a field of ploughed edible celeriac and thyme soil with vacuum-assisted soused wild flowers and 20 year old onion-water pearls.
Plus an aerosol squirt of the essence of freshly ploughed field and tractor exhaust fumes......
Some of the dishes are too gimmicky for my liking, specially the whole earphones thing, I think it´s bullish.
It´d be a nice experience to go and eat there just for the experience, trying things new, but that´s about it. Once the novelty factor is gone, we´d be dying to get back to real food. On the other hand I would not mind eating everyday in other three or two michelin starred restaurants that are not that gimmicky, but not in the Fat Duck.
It is not gastronomy itself, it is a delicate balance between gastronomy, art, science and pretentious bollocks.
It is a once in a lifetime thing for most people.
The chances of managing to book a table twice must be very slim indeed.
It's food as entertainment. We had a fairly silly grin on our faces for the whole four hours.
TBF they do that every year. Last time with Ashe and the kids when they went to El Bulli (IIRC) they had 'invited guests' then too.
Jon
They went to can roca, I believe, which is in Gerona, Spain too.
I think of places like el bulli and the fat duck as the equivalent of art performances, not that enjoyable as good honest art but an experience that is interesting.
Never been to either of them, but it looks to me that Heston is pretty much doing what el bulli started over twenty years ago. But since el bulli is no more, I guess there is a need for more!
Know what you mean. I decided I wanted to revisit because some of the dishes were very slightly different - sandwiches on the Mad Hatter's Tea Party for example.
I am not really sold on the Fat Duck either. The food seems interesting if a bit faffy, it's just the middle class twonks who sit there gurning and squeeing that grate on me when the waiter tells them to stuff things in their mouth while spraying on them? that would annoy me. I don't like having my glass filled even!
I am going to eat my vacuum packed bacon chips aka McCoys!
I liked the scene in Heston's Channel 4 series on Tuesday where he and three of his chefs were tasting packets of crisps and marking them. Hula Hoops came out way in front of the others.
However, they aren't REAL Pretentious Bollocks, they're Pretend Pretentious Bollocks (known as PPB on the menu) and made from quinelles of rabbit liver parfait frozen in liquid nitrogen and served on a field of ploughed edible celeriac and thyme soil with vacuum-assisted soused wild flowers and 20 year old onion-water pearls.
Plus an aerosol squirt of the essence of freshly ploughed field and tractor exhaust fumes......
Comments
I actually met Anton this afternoon!
What an absolute gent & a lovely guy - his place is few minutes from where im doing some work this week & now I live in west country will def be going for lunch there!
I made him NOT tell me who won & didn't go in today in case I saw clues or someone said anything & ruin the suspense....
But did tell him how wowed we were at all of them & wished him well. .
Did make him laugh though as told him Emma Kennedy tweeted me to my question as to if food is cold by time 3rd dish served? Was it fair?
well no one disadvantaged as they are all cold! It takes 30 minutes to film each dish served up so told Anton not so jealous of MRjr & Greg eating stone cold dishes now!
The 'trick' in this case I suspect is they put the candles out before the meal and when it comes to dessert the waiter says 'Actually, it's been in front of you all the time!'
Before ordering you to eat it in a very particular way, or be physically thrown out of the restaurant.
Jon
Well it does make sense, lmao. I'd be very pissed off if I'd been there and there were bloody tv cameras in for a start
I did get a little emotional, lol. It made me realise for all Heston's omnipresence it's very rare you actually see the inside of the restaurant. If ever?
I saw the table we sat at. Happy times indeed.
Pretentious bollocks is one of the courses on their tasting menu.
.....:D
Some of the dishes are too gimmicky for my liking, specially the whole earphones thing, I think it´s bullish.
It´d be a nice experience to go and eat there just for the experience, trying things new, but that´s about it. Once the novelty factor is gone, we´d be dying to get back to real food. On the other hand I would not mind eating everyday in other three or two michelin starred restaurants that are not that gimmicky, but not in the Fat Duck.
It is not gastronomy itself, it is a delicate balance between gastronomy, art, science and pretentious bollocks.
However, they aren't REAL Pretentious Bollocks, they're Pretend Pretentious Bollocks (known as PPB on the menu) and made from quinelles of rabbit liver parfait frozen in liquid nitrogen and served on a field of ploughed edible celeriac and thyme soil with vacuum-assisted soused wild flowers and 20 year old onion-water pearls.
Plus an aerosol squirt of the essence of freshly ploughed field and tractor exhaust fumes......
Enjoy your meal in a field......
You may be on to something there, though.
It is a once in a lifetime thing for most people.
The chances of managing to book a table twice must be very slim indeed.
It's food as entertainment. We had a fairly silly grin on our faces for the whole four hours.
They went to can roca, I believe, which is in Gerona, Spain too.
I think of places like el bulli and the fat duck as the equivalent of art performances, not that enjoyable as good honest art but an experience that is interesting.
Never been to either of them, but it looks to me that Heston is pretty much doing what el bulli started over twenty years ago. But since el bulli is no more, I guess there is a need for more!
It's interesting that isn't it? I've had no huge desire to go back since eating there.
Until tonight!
With their prices they can probably afford to throw them away and use new ones each time.
I liked the scene in Heston's Channel 4 series on Tuesday where he and three of his chefs were tasting packets of crisps and marking them. Hula Hoops came out way in front of the others.
heston is definitely in a league of his own, however it's not for me, i've just seen an excerpt on youtube, whale vomit???:eek::eek:
no thank you!:o:eek::eek:
And posts like that are why I love this thread!