The Fat Duck, Architecture AU, March 2015

Polite and playful: The Fat Duck Melbourne Projects | Words Cassie Hansen

Made from foamcoated resin, the central sommelier’s table has undulating vertical waves, replicating the folds of a table cloth. Image: Karon Photography

Heston Blumenthal's culinary odyssey The Fat Duck comes to Melbourne and its interiors by Bates Smart are a lesson in balancing politeness and playfulness. In the fickle Melbourne food landscape where fine dining has been declared dead, exceptions are guaranteed when it comes to Heston Blumenthal. Serial slashie (chef/scientist/gastronomer/rulebreaker) Blumenthal temporarily closed the doors to his flagship restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray, England, to complete renovations there. In the meantime, he relocated all of his staff to Melbourne for a sixmonth stint at Crown. Architecture firm Bates Smart was given the task of designing The Fat Duck Melbourne and the brief was a lesson in balancing politeness and playfulness. On entering the restaurant, guests travel more than ten metres up a gently sloping ramp in a dark corridor. Bates Smart director of interior design Jeff Copolov used his background in set design to play with perspective in this long and narrow entry space. Due to tricks in the flooring, the space seems to compress as guests walk up the ramp. This compression of space is heightened by a cunning “doorway” at the furthest end. The doorway shows a busy kitchen in action, but as guests approach closer it becomes clear the doorway is in fact a small television screen playing footage of the kitchen staff at Bray. The ramp journey concludes with a door sliding open to reveal the host desk and dining room. While it is most definitely rich and sumptuous, the fiftyfiveseat The Fat Duck Melbourne is decidedly dark, playing on the idea of chiaroscuro – the art of contrasting light and dark. In the dining room, clothed tables have been purposefully downlit to emphasize the dining experience. The effect is best viewed at night, where the tables seem to hover in the space. Chairs have been upholstered in a deeppurple velvet, to match the carpet.

cream fails to excite the senses, and I could have lived without the Not So Full English Breakfast's 'cereal' with parsnip milk, but not if it meant foregoing my liquid nitrogen scrambled eggs perched on top of a perfect bacon strip and sweet brioche. The Fat Duck is exciting, it's inspiring, and most of all, it's fun. The pleasure isn't just in the food but the whole experience service is perfect, with staff pushing their intriguing trolleys like elegant, magical tea ladies and it's obvious that thought has been put into every aspect of the experience, from the silverware and crockery that has been brought from its UK home to the quiet, satisfied hum of the dining room that is randomly punctuated with gasps of delight. As we settle the bill after our sixhour extravaganza, leaving with the giggly, giddy exhilaration of a child who's been to the circus, neat type at the bottom of the receipt invites us to 'Please come again'. I wish I could, Heston, I really wish I could. Recommend

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