For much of his adult life, Heston Blumenthal spent his days in the same small rooms. First, in the kitchen at The Fat Duck, his world-famous, three Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, which he founded in 1995. More recently, after a week-long manic episode in late 2023, on a psychiatric ward in the south of France, where he remained in confinement for 20 days before a further 40 at a specialist clinic. He described the experience as “prison-like”.
Blumenthal has not been shy about the bipolar diagnosis that followed. His recovery at his home in a small village in Provence, which he shares with his wife Melanie, has been long but rewarding. He mentions that resulting medication led to considerable weight gain, now mostly off again thanks to Mounjaro and “mindful eating”. And after all that’s happened, the chef says he’s now coming out the other side; that he’s getting better, feels liberated and is slowly stepping back into the routine of work.
