Blumental cooks up customer data

As celebrity chefs go, he is perhaps one of the most mavarick, but even Heston Blumenthal is turning to established direct marketing methods to give him the edge when it comes to providing diners with the ultimate experience.
The proprietor of The Fat Duck and the man behind such dishes as fish eyeball cocktails to bulls’ testicles fruit, is planning to create a highly detailed customer database in order to help him prepare unique dishes.
Not only will Blumental Google his customers to surprise them with dishes tailored to their nostalgic feelings about food, he is also seeking advice from illusionist and mind specialist Derren Brown to “find out things about people without them being too aware”.
When customers phone in to make a reservation, they will be asked a series of questions, which will be supplemented with online research to build insight into returning diners.
All of the information collected for The Fat Duck – which is due to reopen next month following an extensive refurb – will be used to compile the database, designed to allow the restaurant to play with diners’ expectations.