Star UK chef redesigns menu for dieters on skinny jabs

When Michelin-starred UK chef Heston Blumenthal turned to skinny jabs to lose weight, his appetite evaporated and he realised the popularity of such medications risked biting into restaurant sales.

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Chef Heston Blumenthal outside The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, west of London, on November 19, 2025. — AFP

(AFP)

So he devised a menu-lite, offering small plates of his star menu -"The Journey" priced at £350 ($467) per person at his Fat Duck restaurant in the village of Bray, west of London.

His website describes the new "Mindful Experience” menu launched in October, costing £275 per person, as "a journey into the culinary creativity and Wonka-like wonderment of Hestonland".

It says the menu is "a scaled-back version of each dish", allowing diners to explore "mindfully, slowly savouring every mouthful, taking the time to detect flavours, textures, aroma".

Following the United States, injections to treat diabetes and weight loss soared in popularity in 2025 in the UK, where they can be bought after consultations at a high-street pharmacy or even prescribed by doctors.

There are no official UK figures for the use of the new generation of such appetite-suppressing drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which include the brands Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. But some studies say more than 3.5 million Britons could be using them.