Transparency in Crisis Communications: How the Fat Duck prevented a fat debacle.

When you’re the chef-owner of a restaurant widely considered among the top three restaurants in the world, I’d imagine you get used to the constant media buzz surrounding every move the business makes. But even with scores of interviews under your belt and oodles of media training, nothing could be scarier than hearing that a lot of people got sick after eating at your restaurant – and that this news is going to be published in media outlets the world over.

In late February, the famed Fat Duck was shuttered by its equally famous chef, Heston Blumenthal, when more than 40 diners had reportedly fallen ill after eating there. The food world was shocked at the closure, but sympathetic to Chef Blumenthal. Then, the news seemed to only get worse when health officials reported that as many as 400 individual illnesses in Britain could be linked to the restaurant.

Even with the closure and subsequent investigation into the pathogen that wreaked havoc on the diners (as well as Blumenthal’s business – reports speculated that he lost $140,000 a week while closed), the cause for the outbreak took weeks to determine. Health investigators concluded that staff at the restaurant were likely infected with an airborne norovirus, or “winter vomiting disease,” as all tests ruled out food poisoning – some good news, proving that the kitchen was likely not at fault.

While health investigations were still ongoing, the restaurant re-opened on March 12 to full lunch reservations and a very happy Blumenthal. Surprised by the full dining room after all that seemingly “bad” press? Don’t be.

Though many in the food media were initially surprised by Blumenthal’s reaction (as Ruth Reichl tweeted: “Honest, yes. Wise, possibly not. Was Heston right to close the Fat Duck?”), his move to shut down the restaurant – from a PR vantage point – was the smartest thing he could do.

Time and time again, transparency and a “public welfare first” approach has been proven essential when it comes to crisis communications. Blumenthal’s many interviews with the press, as well as his publicized full cooperation with health officials, reassured the public that the restaurant was doing everything they could to determine the cause of the sickness, and more importantly, to do their best to ensure it didn’t happen again. Blumenthal came across as genuinely distressed over the situation: The chef told the U.K. Independent he felt “dreadful, absolutely dreadful,” and that in closing the eatery, “I made the decision to be transparent about it. Who knows if it was the right or wrong decision to make. But my gut reaction, the moral feeling about it all, was that's what we had to do. It was an incredibly emotional decision.”

In an AP article published March 12, Richard Harden, co-editor of Harden’s restaurant guides said, “Heston Blumenthal is the only U.K. chef who is, on a worldwide level, of any interest as a chef. My hunch is the ‘no such thing as bad publicity’ aspect of this will outweigh any negative.” For Blumenthal, I’d add that he turned otherwise bad publicity into good publicity by showing the kind of business owner and chef he is.

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