It's been awfully quiet around the Fat Duck camp but it seems that, contrary to common belief, no news isn't always good news.
After hopes were high that Heston Blumenthal would be given the green light to reopen his three-Michelin-starred restaurant this week, a spokesman for the chef told me yesterday that tests are still ongoing and no reopening date has been set.
Heston closed the Fat Duck on 24 February after 40 diners had been afflicted with a mystery illness resulting in vomiting and diarrhoea. Following the media coverage of the outbreak, the number of potential cases leapt to 400, increasing its scale and complexity on an unprecedented level.
I can't help but wonder whether there's a bit of jumping on the "Fat Duck bandwagon" going on and Stephen Minall, managing director of consultancy Moving Food, shared the sentiment.
"With food poisoning people will usually be affected within a space of a few hours, while viral infections take no more than 48 hours so it seems highly unlikely that with the Fat Duck being a 40-cover restaurant a number as high as 400 could be accurate," he said.
What should be encouraging to Heston and his team, however, is the support they have received from their loyal customer base. Take a look at some of the messages posted on the BBC website by Fat Duck diners from as far afield as the USA.
And here's a letter Caterer received this week from Caroline, a restaurateur based in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, in support of Heston:
"I really feel for Heston Blumenthal right now. Everything he has worked so hard for is potentially in jeopardy. He has handled this terrible affair totally openly and admirably. However, it does not help when the national news programmes this week interviewed people like Frank Warren saying that he had eaten at the Fat Duck and was very ill that night. This is totally irresponsible and sensationalist.
"As a fellow restaurateur located not too far away from the Fat Duck, I know that if customers are ill after eating at a restaurant they automatically blame it on the last thing they ate. However, environmental health officials always want to know what someone has eaten within 24-48 hours before the sickness.
"I hope this all resolves well for Heston Blumenthal as he a great ambassador for British cooking, and people should stop jumping on the bandwagon and let him try to get to the bottom of this problem."
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