Heston Blumenthal to open restaurant at Heathrow's Terminal 2

Heston Blumenthal is to open a nostalgic British restaurant at Heathrow's Terminal 2 next year as part of the airport's plans to improve its dining operations.

The, as yet un-named airside restaurant, which will showcase Blumenthal's love for nostalgia and celebrate all things British, will open next June with the completion of the £2.5bn terminal, also known as The Queen's Terminal. 

The Fat Duck, Hinds Head and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal owner is currently working with a team of chefs on a concept and menu for the 443 sq m restaurant which is expected to feature some of the meals which starred in his In Search of Perfection TV series. 

"This is an incredible project,” he said. "There are so many different elements to consider when people are travelling. We want to deliver a broad spectrum of easy to enjoy, familiar dishes from fish and chips to pizza. When we made the ‘In Search of Perfection’ series we spent hours researching the temperature of a pizza oven or the crunch of batter; it’s this inspiration that is behind the menu at Heathrow – with some truly British eccentricity thrown in for good measure."

Blumenthal's new restaurant for which he has yet to appoint a head chef, will join a host of new restaurants and retail units, including the Giraffe and The Restaurant Group concept Wondertree and The Gorgeous Kitchen at the new terminal. 

Terminal 2 will be home to 23 Star Alliance airlines as well as Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic Little Red when it opens on 4 June 2014. The spacious, open terminal will have multi-lingual ambassadors and personal shoppers on hand to help customers make the most of their journey.

 The terminal is the next major step in the £11bn transformation of Heathrow, and will continue the progress the airport has made in recent years with the opening of Terminal 5 and the refurbishment of Terminals 1, 3 and 4. 

"Our brand new, £2.5bn terminal will not only showcase the best of the UK’s art and engineering talent, but also one of its greatest culinary minds," said Heathrow retail director Muriel Zingraff-Shariff. "This new restaurant will certainly introduce a unique and original dimension to the airport eating experience at Heathrow."