Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park)

Inspired by Heston Blumenthal’s fascination with historic gastronomy, Dinner is one of the world’s most celebrated restaurants. First conceived in the late 1990s, the idea for Dinner sprung from Heston’s fascination with the savoury ice creams of the late 1800s, the theatre of the Tudor dining experience and the dishes featured in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Through his research, Heston realised that obsession with food is no modern day phenomena, and together with Chef Director Ashley Palmer-Watts worked with food historians and the team at Hampton Court Palace, as well as reading cookbooks such as those by the royal chefs of King Richard II. The result is Dinner’s thrilling menu, which perfectly fuses the historic with the contemporary in a uniquely exciting manner.

Providing the ideal backdrop to the menu, the restaurant’s interior is contemporary and innovative, yet mindful of tradition. Through floor-to-ceiling glass walls, diners enjoy a view of the kitchen and its unique pulley system, which has been modelled after a version used by the Royal court, and rotates the spit over an open fire. Ivory-painted walls are decorated with custom-made porcelain wall sconces in the shape of antique jelly moulds and, of course, the uninterrupted views of Hyde Park, King Henry VIII’s former hunting grounds, bring the historical connection full circle.