Thinking Differently Hero: Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal. Even his name inspires thoughts of culinary artistry – and in the hospitality word, he is the embodiment of Thinking Differently.

His restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Bray, Berkshire has three Michelin stars and has been voted the best restaurant in the UK for the last four years. Whilst these are amazing achievements by themselves it becomes even more so when you realise that Chef Blumenthal is self-taught.

At the age of 16, Heston experienced his first taste of Michelin starred dining and from that moment, longed to be a chef. He spent his evenings cooking classical French dishes in order to harness the best from his food. He worked as a photocopier salesman and debt collector in order to finance trips to France visiting restaurants and wine estates where he would absorb as much as possible about flavours and gastronomy. His creativity and passion meant that aside from a week's work experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen and a short time in Marco Pierre White's, Heston taught himself the tools of his trade.

Experimenting with the science of the kitchen, Heston followed his natural curiosity testing established culinary rules, seeing which could be bent, and which others could be broken. Finally in 1995 Heston gathered together his savings and purchased a dark and pokey building in the tiny village of Bray. With an outside toilet, a tiny kitchen and a terrible reputation, it was not the ideal location for a restaurant, but it was here that Heston opened his first restaurant.

On the second day the oven exploded, and it soon became clear that the gas pipes weren’t big enough to boil the culinary vats of water… but the restaurant started getting great reviews. It was then that Heston started applying scientific techniques to the wider restaurant experience incorporating flavours and sensations approaching cuisine as a scientist. The result of his ongoing experimentation and creativity was that in 2005 the pokey little ‘bistro’ was declared the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine.

Heston Blumenthal, with his signature dishes of snail porridge, bacon ice cream and parsnip cereal, is truly a culinary pioneer. He has a collection of Michelin starred restaurants that push boundaries, a BAFTA nominated television programme under his belt, a string of popular cookery books and a loyal following of fans. Not bad for a Chef with no training…