First look: Dinner by Heston, Melbourne

Heston Blumenthal's first permanent restaurant outside the United Kingdom is less Alice in Wonderland, more upscale bistro, albeit with a historical thrust.

Diners who missed out on a seat at the Fat Duck pop-up were given first option for a reservation at Dinner by Heston at Melbourne's Crown, and so even before bookings opened to the public on Tuesday, October 20, seats were booked out until January.

Does it look different from the Fat Duck incarnation which resided on the site? It does. The inky black entrance corridor is now purposefully perfumed with the scent of leather and the woods. The room has been stripped of its plush purple carpets, thick linens and interactive puzzle/mural featuring Blumenthal in galaxy print pants.

It's now dark wood, mossy chairs, and tan banquettes. Two extra rooms off to the sides up the capacity from 45 to 120. The glass statue that once stood at the reception desk has been replaced by a cockerel with a serpent's tail - one of three David Bromley statues dotted around the room.

Do you still get the drama? It's certainly arresting to see the funnels of fire erupt outside the windows of Crown while someone churns your ice-cream with liquid nitrogen table side, but Dinner is also a la carte. They serve steak, cocktails and Bordeaux, and there's no doubt that for many this is how Dinner will come to be used.

If you're a Heston fan, you'll likely have read the hefty Historic Heston cookbook, detailing the medieval and Victorian-era dishes that inspired much of what you see on the menu at Dinner. Perhaps you've also seen the TV shows, and so you know that dishes are all influenced by recipes found scratched onto calf-skin scrolls in the kitchens of kings, but have been drastically reimagined with modern equipment and technique.

Much has been made of this historical inspiration, and on eating at the restaurant (Good Food was a guest on opening night), it becomes clear that the historical aspect of Dinner is relevant only if you care.

Your menu comes wrapped in a band with fun facts and there's a glossary listing the origins of most of the dishes, but there are no lutes being plucked, and dishes are several steps removed from their roots. For good reason.

The frumenty – grilled octopus in a citrussy-smoked sea broth, with samphire, ice plant and spelt – originally called for dolphin.

The most recognisable dish, the meat fruit – chicken liver parfait enclosed in a skin of mandarin gel so it exactly resembles the fruit – eats like any other brilliantly executed parfait with a sharp citrus kick from the skin.

Not getting hung up on the theme helps make sense of the bigger picture of Dinner.

You could argue that the message is lost in translation, moving the operation to Australia. But in Melbourne they've added an Australian spin to the menu. So far there's a lamington cake on the menu, and kangaroo tail replaces beef in one of the dishes. But the tie-in is still somewhat loose at this stage, borne more from the affinity the kitchen has with working with Australian produce after six months running the Fat Duck.

Having said that, Blumenthal and head chef Ashley Palmer-Watts are promising an evolution of the menu as Dinner settles in.

"We've scoured the country, and you learn new things as you meet each supplier," says Palmer-Watts. "We're hoping that people come forward with stories and we can work from those as inspiration."

Blumenthal explains that this ties in with his original process. His quest started after meeting two food historians at a symposium in Oxford. "Food historians try to replicate the dishes exactly," he explains. "They fit their kitchens with only the right equipment. They dyed their clothes with onion skins.

"What we're trying to do is just capture the essence of the dish. Find elements of the story."

Will there be a dim sim? Blumenthal tells us "it's on the list."

For now, if you've got your finger poised over the booking button, the important take homes from this first impression are: the service is similar to the formal, balletic style at the Fat Duck. It's Palmer-Watts' show, so don't expect a Heston encounter. You should order the tipsy cake – a dumpling-style pudding in a cast iron skillet, basted in brandy, cream and sugar while cooking, and served with a wedge of the scored pineapples you can see roasting on the spit through the massive open kitchen. And you still need to bring a fistful of cash to cover the cocktails from the bar at $24 a hit, the entrees that sit around $35 and the mains that run to $50.

Dinner by Heston, Level 3, Crown Casino, Southbank, dinnerbyheston.com.au

Gemima Cody dined as a guest of Dinner by Heston.