Blumenthal Opens London Restaurant With Lion Dance, Pig Ears
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Chef Heston Blumenthal cut a ribbon and dotted the eyes of a Chinese lion yesterday as the opening of his first London restaurant was marked by a dance to the sound of drums and cymbals at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.
Blumenthal has achieved such fame through his television appearances that it’s easy to forget that he owns only one other restaurant, the Fat Duck, which first welcomed diners in 1995. His other two venues, the Hinds Head and the Crown, also in the village of Bray, west of London, are pubs with dining rooms.