Sod The Chef, save the Duck

Earlier this year, as followed by Channel 4, Heston Blumenthal took on the almighty challenge of resurrecting the once cherished road side café that is The Little Chef.

The three part TV show saw the Fat Duck chef frustrated by the bosses reluctance to roll out his menu across the chain, and uncovered doubts as to whether there was ever any intention of taking on board any of his suggestions.

A conclusion later on this year will reveal all, but in the mean time, Heston’s attention has been reverted closer to home. With a mystery bug now having struck down as many as 400 diners, the doors remain closed while investigations are ongoing.

Bad timing for the chef, with his new series Victorian Feast airing at the moment, Blumenthal is reported to be devastated by the closure of his three Michelin star restaurant, which looks to remain locked up for a while longer yet.

The cause of the illness suffered by diners is yet unknown. Although the restaurant itself carries out its own regular testing, when you’re boiling, freezing, moulding, boiling and blow torching ingredients until they resemble the abstract art that you wish them to, it does make you question exactly what it is you’re spooning into your nervous mouth.

My husband and I are going to a fancy dress party at the beginning of April; a 30th birthday celebration with an ‘H’ theme. With very short hair and black glasses, Mr Blumenthal was an obvious choice for my other half. I wonder though if he’ll be spending the evening alone concocting something with dry ice. Maybe he should go as He-Man instead, everyone loves He-Man.

Can Heston save The Chef?

As a child a stop at the little chef was a treat. A real treat. Pancakes with lemon and sugar - loads of sugar. I'm not quite sure what my usually sane parents were thinking, letting us eat our own body weight in sugar before bouncing us back into the car for the remainder of the journey. I'm sure if it wasn't for our intolerable nagging it would have been a loo only stop - none of the excitement of the pancake stack and complimentary colour in placemat.

These days though as a parent myself I have only ever stepped under the red and white stripy canopy and in through those heavy doors once - and it was an absolutely necessity. It was do or die. A short time after departing from a successful days shopping in Milton Keynes with another mummy friend, our two adorable, hungry, tired, cranky babies demanded food, and it was stop or be stopped - more than likely by the local bobbies for driving without due care and attention.

So when I heard that the almighty Heston himself is set to revamp the over priced, outdated motorway diner-cum-dive that is The Little Chef I had mixed feelings.

Fantastic challenge, can't wait for the next instalment. But, really do I want one of my favourite childhood memories to be turned from the sickly sweet to something more sinister? Because there is no doubt that if I did ever return to peruse the menu, the fluffy yumminess that was pancakes with lemon and sugar would more likely be pancakes with swede ice cream and snails on the side.

Blumenthal of 'the world's best place to eat' The Fat Duck at Bray will be bringing the wierd and wonderful world of his culinary craziness to our screens from this Monday (19th January) in Channel 4 series Big Chef Takes on Little Chef.

I'll be eager to tune in - especially to find out why LC's chief executives turned down Heston's first menu for lacking the wow factor.

I'm also keen to see how Heston brings his scientific approach into the kitchen of a service station eatery - personally the science part for me was calculating the maximum amount of crunchy white hyper inducing goodness it was possible to spread on the surface of one pancake.

Don't miss it - Channel 4, Monday 19th January at 9pm. Even if I never visit a Little Chef again, I still don't want it to close, that would be a sad, sad day…