Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal shut down his London restaurant, Dinner, following the outbreak of a vomiting virus, known as norovirus.
According to the Telegraph, Blumenthal was forced to shut his doors a second time after a total of 24 customers and 21 members of staff became ill with the contagious stomach bug at the two Michelin-starred Dinner restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London's Knightsbridge.
The Westminster Council's environmental health department conducted tests for the food-borne illness at the restaurant. The first reportedly came back as negative, but nine reports of illnesses were recorded. New samples taken last Friday found the eatery positive for norovirus.
"My goal has always been to pursue perfection in the kitchen and to amaze our guests with taste sensations beyond their imagination, rather than expose them to the risk of a really nasty couple of days of heaving," Blumenthal told The Mail on Sunday. "I personally have the experience and knowledge about this winter bug and how to contain it immediately. But to completely and permanently rule out any further contamination takes a few days to be 100 percent sure.... My concern is my guests and staff."
Blumenthal added: "I am very sorry for the inconvenience to those customers affected by the cancellations. However, I will reopen the restaurant safe in the knowledge that we have done everything we can do to continue to strive to create the perfect environment and food for my guests to enjoy.
Rather than take any further risks, Blumenthal shut down his restaurant but said he expects to remain closed for a week.
Blumenthal was previously accused of acting too slowly when meals at his Fat Duck restaurant sickened at least 240 people in 2009 and closed down his award-winning restaurant. The norovirus outbreak was reportedly documented as the largest outbreak in restaurant in history.
"Test results this week have shown that there has been an outbreak of norovirus at the Dinner restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge," James Armitage, Westminster City Council's food safety manager, said. "The operators have now closed the restaurant and we believe this is the responsible thing to do."
