The Fat Duck, an Illustrated Review in 15 Courses
From left: Third course (oyster, passion fruit jelly, lavender); eighth course ("Sound of the Sea," made with sand of tapioca and fried bits of eel, layered with hide cockles, oyster, razor clams, seaweed). Photographs from the Ulterior Epicure's Flickr stream
Although Heston Blumenthal's storied Fat Duck restaurant has some strict picture-taking protocol (“No Flash Photography” and “Keep Your Lens Trained On The Table"), the Ulterior Epicure was able to document every nibble of his 15-course feast.
I approached The Fat Duck as a skeptic. None of my encounters with molecular gastronomy (“m.g.”) in the U.S. had impressed me: alinea, moto, wd~50… The Fat Duck was not only my first full-frontal m.g. experience outside the U.S., but it would be the first m.g. restaurant I visited that bothered to use the Shift key.
Why would I want to drink my donut? Why do I need to eat off a wire protruding precariously near my eye when I’m capable of picking things up? Why would I want my foie gras tied in a knot? Why?
Would the m.g. skeptic go back? "I suppose," he says, "though the menu seemed a bit stale."
Warning: your finger has a lot of scrolling work to do on this entry; it's a long one. At least try to get to the sixth course: snail porridge.
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5 Comments:
"Then there’s gimmickry. I hate gimmickry. It makes me feel like I’m at the circus - or worse, in kindergarten."
Then why, in god's name, would you seek out and eat at molecular gastronomy restaurants? It's a gimmick wrapped inside a fabricated olive surrounded by a foie gras foam!
onalark at 12:37PM on 01/30/09
onalark: A critical mass has raved about molecular gastronomy. I'm trying to understand (and possibly appreciate) what is so appealing about the movement to so many. On paper, I've always known the theory and ideas driving the fanaticism and fascination, but The Fat Duck was the first experience where I actually saw those theories and ideas transfer successfully onto the plate. Perhaps the most important thing I gained from my meal at The Fat Duck is a confidence to say that I "get" molecular gastronomy, but don't enjoy such experiences as much as classic- and tradition-based styles and modes of cooking.
ulterior epicure at 1:00PM on 01/30/09
And, yes, everyone, apologies for the lengthy review. It's just difficult to digest 15 courses in a short summary without leaving out essential elements and thoughts. Thanks for indulging my verbiage.
ulterior epicure at 1:02PM on 01/30/09
I should add, then, that I appreciate the length you went to review. My eyes may have been glazing over, but as someone who has yet to make it to the Fat Duck (much less England), it's an interesting read.
onalark at 1:05PM on 01/30/09
I should also add that I'm not the die-hard skeptic, never to be pleased or appeased. To be fair, I did state this at the end of my review:
"Of all of the m.g. restaurants I’ve visited, The Fat Duck has been the most successful at hitting the sweet spot where the brain is connected to the stomach. Through subtle clues and queues, it did a better job of eliciting a dialogue between the food and me than its peers. There’s a process of discovery at the table and afterward. One’s curiosity is not beyond scratching.
Given my relatively low expectations, the food at The Fat Duck impressed me. Most of it was interesting and quite tasty. Where gimmickry and theatrics were employed, they had a demonstrable purpose and directly contributed to creating the food. Sure, parts of it did seem like the circus, but in those moments, The Fat Duck made me feel more like a kid wanting to be a kid rather than an adult being humored.
...
Did The Fat Duck convert me to being a proponent of molecular gastronomy? Certainly not. But it did stir my gray matter. And, as stated at the beginning of this novel, the fact that I walked away with a new perspective on food was a reward worth the wait."
ulterior epicure at 1:12PM on 01/30/09