Innovative chef on frying visit

Heston Blumenthal arrives. Photo / Jason Dorday

Superstar chef Heston Blumenthal breezed into town last night for a whirlwind visit.

The bespectacled TV chef is owner of The Fat Duck, a Michelin three-star restaurant in the village of Bray in England.

The Fat Duck has been voted Best Restaurant in the world and is currently considered the best restaurant in Britain by the prestigious Good Food Guide.

Landing at Auckland Airport from Brisbane, Blumenthal, 45, switched his trademark black-rimmed glasses for casual shades in the Auckland sunshine.

He took to the stage at the ASB Theatre at Aotea Square only a few hours later to talk about and demonstrate his innovative cooking with live scientific experiments.

Quizzed by host Mike Hosking, Blumenthal talked through his humble beginnings to the creation of dishes such as "The Sound of the Sea" with edible sand, logic-defying hot and iced tea, his famous snail porridge and his epic mock turtle soup, which takes three days to make.

And, with nary time to drop a garnish on his last dish, he was out to the airport again and gone.

- Herald on Sunday