Dinner by Heston Blumenthal has begun its exciting new journey in its second home at Crown Towers Melbourne.

Located on the third floor, the 120 capacity dining room overlooks the city skyline across the Yarra River in the space formally occupied for a six month sojourn by The Fat Duck. This marks Heston’s first permanent restaurant outside of the UK.

Entering through a 20m ramp the guests are drawn towards an animated kaleidoscope. The entry has its own signature aroma based on the notes of damp moss, wood smoke and leather. A concealed sliding panel opens to reveal the restaurant and expansive show kitchen. The cocktail bar, exclusively for guests of Dinner, takes elevated dress circle position overlooking the dining room and the entire proceedings. The private dining room is entered through five metre high embossed leather pivoting doors, enjoying perfect views of both the kitchen and city.

The interior features two grand Old Master inspired photographs by Romas Foord, ‘Meat Fruit’ and ‘Snail Porridge’ extracted from the Historic Heston cook book. The deep, sumptuous, rich colour palette of the photographs inspired the decor, influencing the velvet and leather upholsteries and timber choice for the custom designed table tops and waiter station joinery, which are set against rich chocolate brown lacquered wall panelling.

Particular attention has been paid to the lighting, Bates Smart worked with lighting designers Electrolight to craft custom designed fittings and set the mood. Sumptuous pools of light have been created, focusing on the areas that guests inhabit, allowing details such as the food presentation, table tops, bar and kitchen, to emerge from the reduced darker background. The textured ceiling pattern is inspired by the Tudor rose, a motif used in the design of the chandeliers in the London restaurant. Ceramic jelly mould wall sconces from London restaurant are installed above a Sommelier station.

A custom designed graphic by English artist Dave McKean, depicting Australiana, surrounds the chef’s table overlooking the activity of the pass and the kitchen. Guests can watch the chefs brigade prepare their roasted pineapples on the custom rotisserie pulley system. The mechanical time piece mounted adjacent to the show kitchen, designed by Robert Higgs, was inspired by the watchmakers of Greenwich and the royal kitchen of Tudor England.

“Bates Smart principle objective was to create a tableaux that reinforces Heston’s theatricality and delight in the unexpected, but most importantly, the interior is a support act for the feature which is dining experience itself ”, Jeffery Copolov, Interior Design Director, Bates Smart.