Heston Blumenthal’s Tough Challenges And Wild Eccentricities


Heston Blumenthal, the British celebrity chef, is always making extraordinary efforts to delight foodies around the world. The famous world-class chef catered to foodies in Melbourne by setting up four pop-up restaurants whose locations were kept a strict secret. Enthusiastic people were given clues that were posted on the social media pages of the MasterChef Australia TV program. Lucky diners who managed to track down the locations were rewarded with the opportunity to enjoy a unique dining experience offered by Heston’s restaurants, which popped up for only one night.

Earlier in 2015, Heston delighted food lovers in Melbourne by opening his renowned Fat Duck restaurant at Crown Melbourne. The famous restaurant, which was open for only six months, entertained nearly 15,000 diners who enjoyed Heston Blumenthal’s 16-course multi-sensory menu. It seems that Heston has fallen in love with Melbourne as he has also set up his award-winning Dinner by Heston Blumenthal restaurant in the city. Good Food reports that Heston Blumenthal, who also features as a guest chef on MasterChef Australia, spoke about Melbourne being his second home.

“Coming on MasterChef Australia over the years has always been amazing fun, but this time, out of the studio and into this great foodie city that I love, popping up with MasterChef Australia, is even more exciting.”

Heston Blumenthal is known to be an eccentric chef and the “mad scientist” in the world of gastronomy. The Herald Sun reports that Heston challenged the contestants in MasterChef Australia to cook a two-course meal for 80 diners visiting his pop-up restaurant at the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.

In yet another challenge, the contestants were required to surprise beach-goers in a bizarre way by setting up ice cream stands at the Brighton Beach bathing boxes. News Australia reports that the contestants were required to serve Heston-inspired spicy ice-cream blocks to eager ice-cream lovers at the beach. The contestants were also required to prepare a three-course chocolate desert aimed to delight 30 foodies dining in a subterranean space at the Melbourne University.

The contestants also pleased the history-loving Heston by preparing a four-course dinner at Melbourne’s historic Rippon Lea Estate. These challenges highlight various nuances and facets of Heston’s personality. According to the Herald Sun, Brett Carter, a pilot from Perth and a contestant on the show, spoke about the wonderful personality of Heston Blumenthal.

“Heston’s just like a kid in a candy shop and at the end of the day, he’s a wonderful person who just looks at the world from a different angle and asks why, and how and what if about everything to do with food.”

It is by now well established that Heston Blumenthal is passionate about churning out iconic dishes for true foodies to relish. However, the world-class chef is particular about one thing. Broad Sheet reports that Heston is opposed to the practice of diners taking photos of their food in the restaurant.

Heston believes that the camera disconnects a person from both the food and the ambiance, which is to be enjoyed throughout the course of the meal. In his opinion, taking pictures with a camera during dinner prevents a diner’s gastronomic senses from enjoying the delicious recipes prepared by the chef.

Additionally, Heston believes that taking pictures while sitting at a restaurant table is an invasion of privacy of other diners. Camera flashes in a restaurant, especially in the evening, go against the ambiance and the environment that other diners have paid good money to enjoy.

Even though he restrains himself from taking photos of his own food, Heston Blumenthal confesses to indulging in things other chefs wouldn’t even dream of. In one of his bizarre experiences, Heston milked a reindeer in Siberia and prepared an ice cream out of the milk. On another occasion, he drank milk that came straight from a camel in the desert. The famous chef has also discovered unique ways of sucking the head of Red Prawns found in Spain and Italy.

Despite his eccentricities, Heston Blumenthal is so popular that he has been hired as a brand ambassador for Shiro, an Australian home appliance company that will launch barbecues and charcoal grills that have been specifically designed by Heston. According to Eater, Heston has named the product range Everdure, and the products are scheduled to be launched at a trade show in Germany later this year.

[Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images]

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