so it wasn't his lovely grub after all:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/20/fat-duck-heston-blumenthal-norovirusHeston Blumenthal puts Fat Duck closure down to norovirus
The health scare that forced the closure of Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant may have been caused by the highly infectious norovirus bug, the chef has disclosed in a magazine interview.
The £130-a-head eaterie in Bray, Berkshire, was shut for a fortnight after 40 people complained of diarrhoea and vomiting. Blumenthal closed the restaurant as a precaution while tests were carried out and samples taken from staff and diners.
He told Australia's Hospitality magazine the cause was "categorically not food poisoning" and that "the only thing that has come up is that three staff and five customers have been tested positive for something called norovirus".
The virus is known more commonly as "winter vomiting disease".
Support from potential customers had been incredible, he said.
"It's affected the restaurant big time because we had to cancel 800 people because of the closure, but in terms of the business and people wanting to come in then no."
He said: "For the past five years we've been sending food off every month for sampling and I don't know of any other restaurant in the country that does that. We also have a company that has been looking after our health and safety stuff for the last five years."
The restaurant, which has three Michelin stars and employs 45 chefs and 25 front-of-house staff, has a 17-course taster menu, costing £130, and can take three hours or more to finish. It is also renowned for Blumenthal's gastronomic inventions, such as snail porridge and scrambled egg and bacon ice-cream. Among those taken ill were the boxing promoter Frank Warren and the television sports presenter Jim Rosenthal.
The Health Protection Agency, which said it had received a total of 400 complaints after the media publicity, gave the all-clear while continuing investigations. Last week, it said the Fat Duck had complied with its recommendations, including a risk assessment of all food storage and preparation.
The agency's website says norovirus is the most common cause of infectious gastroenteritis in England and Wales. Its effects are generally mild, with people recovering in two to three days.
