Top News

Beloved TV chef Heston Blumenthal has announced the closure of his two-Michelin-star restaurant after 15 years of business. Thankfully, loyal diners still have time to book a table at the eatery and enjoy their menu staples, including the Meat Fruit and the Tipsy Cake, because they don't close their doors until 2027. The experimental cook, 59, who has become a household name through his various TV appearances and collaboration with Waitrose, will close his respected restaurant, Dinner at The Mandarin Oriental, next January.

The BBC chef has already announced a celebratory eight-course tasting menu to mark the restaurant's 16th anniversary across the month. This service will include dishes that have become quintessentially British over the span of five centuries, before Dinner by Heston closes at the end of January 2027, 16 years after launching in 2011.

The establishment, which is renowned for its chicken liver parfait disguised as fruit and instant liquid nitrogen ice cream made at the tableside, is just one of four restaurants owned by the dad-of-four.

His other restaurants include another Dinner location in Dubai, as well as the Michelin-starred Hind's Head and his flagship three-starred restaurant, The Fat Duck, which are both located in Berkshire.

His upcoming closure ties in with the end of the restaurant's tenancy at the luxury Hyde Park hotel after a six-month extension to celebrate the Dinner's milestone birthday.

Ahead of the announcement, Blumenthal spoke to The Times about facing Dinner's final months of service. He told the outlet, "I've got a year to wrap my head around it.

*** Ensure our latest showbiz headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. **Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings. ****

"There are some huge feelings there; sadness. It's bittersweet, but it has run its natural course. We are effectively tenants in a building and our tenancy is finished."

Blumenthal, who is widely regarded as one of the country's top culinary experts, famously installed a glass kitchen at Dinner and elevated every aspect of service, including the number of steps from pass to each table.

It's fair to say his attention to detail paid off, with the eatery picking up its first Michelin star less than 12 months after opening. The following year, it secured a second place and went on to spend the next 10 years in the top 10 of the World's 50 Best Restaurants list.