Heston Blumenthal on marriage
Heston Blumenthal speaks to Woman and Home about making his marriage go the distance
Experimental chef Heston Blumenthal, 41, and Zanna, 42, have been married for 16 years. They have three children, Jack, 14, Jessie, 12, and Joy, ten, and live in Buckinghamshire.
Zanna: “It sounds corny, but I knew from the outset that I’d found my soul mate. There was a deep connection between us and even though we were just teenagers, we knew we had found something special. I was a nurse and Heston was a credit controller and we had very little money, but for my birthday, he took me for dinner at the best restaurant in London at the time, La Tante Claire. It was the first time I’d experienced fine dining and it blew me away, so food became our shared passion.
Our lives changed when Heston bought The Fat Duck in Bray. I stayed at home to look after the children and pretty much became a single parent because Heston was in the restaurant all the time and I hardly saw him. The hardest times for me were at weekends – I used to dread them because they were so lonely. But I always believed in Heston and he’s always recognised my job as a mother. We have a total mutual respect of each other and still like to be romantic.
A couple of years ago on Valentine’s Day, I sent breakfast up to Heston in bed with a rose on it. He was experimenting with flavours at the time, so pulled the petals off and started eating them rather than the toast! Joy, who’d delivered the tray, shouted downstairs, ‘Dad’s eating the roses!’”
Heston: “When I bought The Fat Duck I’d only done a couple of weeks’ work experience in restaurants and was really naive. If I’d known how stressful restaurants were, I would never have opened it. Overnight, I started working over 100 hours a week and then Zanna and I hardly saw each other.
Zanna is the reason for my success because she has supported me every step of the way. She’s sacrificed so much and has never complained. We’ve had our rocky patches, but the thought of splitting up has never crossed my mind.
When I took my marriage vows, I meant them with all my heart. I love Zanna’s energy, her patience and her beauty, and can’t imagine life without her.”
Heston’s book Further Adventures in Search of Perfection (Bloomsbury Publishing) is out now.
