Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will close at the end of January 2027, almost exactly 16 years to the day it opened.
Confirming the closure in an interview with The Times, Blumenthal said that the restaurant will mark the occasion with a celebratory eight-course tasting menu served throughout January that will span five centuries of historic British food and which will see the return of dishes from Dinner’s culinary archive alongside classics such as the mandarin meat fruit, tipsy cake, and rice & flesh.
Dinner by Heston launched at The Mandarin Oriental in January 2011 with Ashley Palmer-Watts as head chef. It was awarded its first star by Michelin in 2012 and won a second star in 2013.
It is known for its cuisine that takes inspiration from facts, events and recipes dating as far back as the 13th century and which include the meat fruit - a chicken liver parfait wrapped in a mandarin jelly designed to look like the fruit; earl grey tea cured salmon with gentleman’s relish and pickled lemon salad; salamagundy - smoked confit chicken, salsify, marrowbone, horseradish cream and pickled walnuts; and tipsy cake, a dish made using pineapples roasted on a huge spit in the kitchen in view of the dining room.
The restaurant is also known for its liquid nitrogen ice cream trolley.
The closure will mean the loss of a yet another two Michelin star restaurant in the UK, which follows the closures of London restaurants Claude Bosi at Bibendum and La Dame de Pic, and the temporary closure of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire.
The timing of the closure coincides with the end of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal’s tenancy at the hotel. The contract was initially set to end this summer, but was extended by mutual agreement for six months to celebrate the anniversary, according to Blumenthal, who told The Times: “There are some huge feelings there; sadness. It’s bitter sweet, but it has run its natural course. We are effectively tenants in a building and our tenancy is finished.”
Dinner by Heston at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai, which opened in 2019, is unaffected by the closure.