After nearly a week Heston Blumenthal’s famous three Michelin star Fat Duck restaurant in Bray is still closed as they try to establish the cause of the large scale food poisoning outbreak. Over 400 customers have now confirmed that they experienced symptoms ranging from vomiting to diarrhea and stretching back to January.

The restaurant is said to be co-operating with the enquiry in full and the HPA said “The restaurant’s management is co-operating fully with the investigation and closed voluntarily last week after a number of people reported being ill soon after eating at the restaurant in Bray (in Berkshire, England). The number of possible cases reported to the restaurant has risen since media coverage of the outbreak, to about 400, going back to late January and mostly through February”.

This comes as a huge blow to one of only 3 establishments with the coveted 3 Michelin stars in the UK and it remains to be seen how this will affect the rating of the restaurant which in 2005 was voted best place to eat on Earth by Restaurant magazine. The closure has also reportedly cost the restaurant 100,000 in lost earnings already with a meal generally costing in the region of 130 pounds per person. We will be watching developments on this one over the coming week and can only hope that such a great restaurant can get it’s reputation back in order as soon as possible.