Hundreds Sick After Dining at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck Restaurant

Posted on March 6, 2009

The Fat Duck is a famous restaurant in Bray, England run by Chef Heston Blumenthal. Blumenthal is the recipient of three Michelin stars and reservations for his restaurant typically need to be placed months in advance. The restaurant is currently closed because of an illness that has sickened 400 people that recently ate at the reknowned restaurant.

The famous restaurant has a lot of celebritiy diners. The BBC reports that boxing promoter Frank Warren is one of the diners who later became ill.

Boxing promoter Frank Warren said he fell ill after eating at the restaurant with friends and would welcome an apology.

"I really [did] enjoy the experience of it all," he said.

"Heston's obviously a very talented guy, I watch his programmes and I hope he gets it sorted out.

"The people I was with, all of them are still suffering."

The HPA's Thames Valley Health Protection Unit is working with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's environmental health department to investigate the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea

Authorities have so far been unable to find the source of the illnesses. They have not found anything that would cause food poisoning. Health authority director Graham Bickler said, "This is a very complex outbreak. We are working closely with the restaurant."

The incident has been a financial setback for Chef Blumenthal. He has already had to cancel over 500 bookings.

A follow-up study put the blame on oysters. It is known as the single worst restaurant norovirus outbreak according to a study reports the Guardian.

Here's Blumenthal discussing the food scare.


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