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Dinner by Heston in Melbourne is taking reservations

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

Heston Blumenthal at Fat Duck, Crown. The site will reopen as Dinner by Heston on October 20.
Heston Blumenthal at Fat Duck, Crown. The site will reopen as Dinner by Heston on October 20.Patrick Scala

If you were one of the thousands of unsuccessful applicants for a table at Fat Duck Melbourne, you should have received an email on Thursday with a link to priority booking for Dinner by Heston, opening at Crown on October 20.

Exactly when the booking system will open to all and sundry is still being finalised by Crown, however goodfood.com.au understands it will be around September 17.

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I made a booking three hours after receiving the "lines are open" email. The online reservation system showed the first few weeks of Dinner services were already booked out. I selected Sunday, December 6 and the only table left for two was a 10pm sitting. No one wants to eat that late on a Sunday, but hey, it's Heston.

It was annoying to check the booking site later in the evening, then, to find a bunch of more civilised times had become available for the same night. I made a new booking for 8pm, cancelled the old one over the phone (you can't amend an existing booking) and felt much happier, albeit still slightly perturbed, about the situation.

Dates unavailable in the morning had also become open by the evening, too. It turns out reservations were released in a staggered manner.

Dinner by Heston's signature meat fruit.
Dinner by Heston's signature meat fruit.Ashley Palmer-Watts

"If all tables were released [at once], every allocation would have been exhausted straight away, before the rest of the EDMs [electronic direct mails] were sent out," a Dinner spokesperson said. "This would have meant that those who received the email later would have not stood a chance to get a table."

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So, dear reader, if you did make a Dinner booking and it wasn't your first choice, you could be in luck.

And if you're thinking about eating there, but haven't quite committed, let me tell you the Dinner by Heston thrice-cooked chips are the greatest example of fried potato you will ever eat.

dinnerbyheston.com.au

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Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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