Simply Abu Dhabi VI

1 8 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I A ll chefs love flavours, of course, but none are quite like Heston Blumenthal. He is a man absolutely driven to discover the finest andmost exciting new tastes, always on the cutting edge of gastronomic developments. Blumenthal has gained critical acclaim for his fantastic food, and his appearances on television have made him a household name: who could possibly forget dishes like snail porridge, or turkey bacon and eggs ice cream? These were the extraordinary concoctions that Blumenthal created at his Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, The Fat Duck. But what Jordana and I were really excited about is that he has now brought his world-renowned culinary expertise to London: his new establishment ‘Dinner’ is located at the city’s Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel. There’s a long story behind the seemingly simple choice of name: Blumenthal has said that he wanted something that represented historic British gastronomy, but was also fun. He was interested in the way that the idea of ‘dinner’ has changed within British society, reflecting the country’s quirky history and tradition of linguistic playfulness. ‘In the past, the main meal – dinner - was eaten at midday, before it got too dark,’ Blumenthal has explained. ‘But affordable candles and, later, gaslight saw dinner shift. By the mid-1800s people were dining later. People working in the cities were taking a 'lunch' to work and having their main meal at 5.00pm when they got home, while in rural areas the main meal was still taken at midday. Even today, depending where you are in the British Isles, 'dinner' might be served at lunchtime, suppertime or, indeed, dinnertime!’ Main Image: Meat Fruit