Clinical as some might call him, Heston Blumenthal is a man with imagination. His latest dish has been designed to appeal to all the senses – not just the taste buds – and would be more accurately described as an experience rather than a meal. It’s certain to attract customers of a curious and seafood-loving nature.

The Sound of the Sea will feature edible sand down one side of the plate and wave-like foam on the other. And the special ingredient? A soundtrack of lapping waves and seagulls. To cap off the experience diners will sip from a martini glass containing what looks like clear sea water.

Though Blumenthal isn’t taking himself too seriously on this, he reasons that the idea isn’t entirely bogus:

“We’ve been working with sound and its role in the dining process. There’s a serious point about the role of the senses in eating and how the brain perceives all this. But at the end of the day, it should be fun. You can eat good food and have a laugh.”

“This all started with a chap at Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology called Charles Spence. We’ve been doing experiments in the lab, cutting oysters in half and having people try them. If we play the sound of the sea, people find the flavour saltier, more intense.”

Blumenthal’s special brand of cooking earned his restaurant, the Fat Duck, three Michelin stars and the title of best restaurant in the world in 2005. He’s planning to introduce The Sound of the Sea into the restaurant’s tasting menu next month.

“For several years, I’ve been saying how important a multi-sensory approach is to eating,” he goes on. “People can say: ‘I’m not interested in all that funny stuff’ but you can’t detach it. If you ask people their five most memorable meals, it will be about the setting, the occasion, so many things, not just food.”

Yes, but this isn’t just a seaside picnic we’re talking about.

Blumenthal’s sand is made from tapioca and Japanese breadcrumbs fried crisp. Miniature braised and fried eels are mixed in, along with oil made from langoustine shells. Three types of braised seaweed are scattered on the sand, along with shellfish, such as razor clams, abalone, oyster and shrimp. A sauce is made with juices from the seafood and frothed to look like waves lapping on the beach. The drink is made from extractions of seaweed and miso.

He’s even experimenting with using an electric fan dabbed with essential oils to replicate sea breezes, cutlery with ‘rusty’ handles, as if found on the shore, and the food may be served on a sheet of glass above real sand.

While it’s great to see such an effort being made to transform eating into an art form rather than a simple consumptive urge, the artificiality of the whole thing isn’t entirely lost on the author – even if it is on Blumenthal.