Summer sizzlers with Heston

MAUREEN MCLEAN catches up with inspirational three Michelin starred chef, Heston Blumenthal OBE, at one of his pubs, The Crown at Bray.

- Maureen Mclean

THE temptation to give Heston a grilling is always there, particularly when he’s introducing us to his latest whizz – a new barbecue range. But as everything sizzles along nicely, Heston is reminiscing about The Fat Duck, the gourmet restaurant opposite his third Bray premises, The Hinds Head.

The Fat Duck used to be a pub known as the Bell or the Ringers. He recalls: “The building had more influence on me than any other thing or person. I’m self taught. When I started out I did 120 hours there a week. I would leave home at 5am and often wouldn’t return home until 2am the next morning!”

It certainly made me smile, sitting in the garden of the Crown. My memories include many an evening spent there and the Hinds Head when 20-something. I’d zoom into Bray in a soft top Triumph Spitfire and then head off to Studio Valbonne at Maidenhead.