Blumenthal To Open Fat Duck Pop-Up And 'Dinner' In Melbourne

British chef Heston Blumenthal has announced two upcoming projects headed to Melbourne, Australia. First, Heston will migrate The Fat Duck to Melbourne "for a six-month visit," beginning February 2015, which means that the entire staff of the three-Michelin starred restaurant will follow. According to Good Food, the staff of The Fat Duck only learned of the big move a mere four hours before Heston announced the news publicly. 

With the Melbourne pop-up underway, the original Fat Duck in Bray, England will be completely renovated. After six months, The Fat Duck will return home, and the Melbourne location at the Crown Towers Hotel in Southbank will become another location of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. The restaurant's original location is in Hyde Park.

"This is an incredible opportunity and I am thrilled that it has worked out the way it has," announced Blumenthal. "The Fat Duck is part of a Grade II listed building, so I always knew there would come a time when it would need a little attention and the building itself would require a bit of modernization — after all, it was built in 1640. I just couldn't bear the thought of closing for an extended period, though. When we first started conversations with Crown, I saw the potential of the situation and really began to hope. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome."

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.