was Grade II listed by English Heritage on 2 May 1989. When the Fat Duck opened in 1995, the kitchen was staffed by Blumenthal and one other employee. It served meals in the style of a French bistro, such as lemon tarts, and steak and chips. Blumenthal later said that science had already begun to influence the cooking at this stage, as already on the menu were his triple-cooked chips, which were developed to stop the potato from going soft. The restaurant came close to going bankrupt, and Blumenthal sold his house, his car and many of his possessions to keep it open. 1999—2005: Michelin stars After four years, the Fat Duck was awarded its first Michelin star in the 1999 list. Blumenthal worked with Professor Peter Barham of the University of Bristol, and developed a menu of dishes through experimentation such as slow-cooked lamb which avoids shocking the fibres in the meat and causing them to seize. By 2000, techniques were being used such as cooking vegetables in mineral water after discovering that the levels of calcium in tap water causes their discolouration, and freezing cuttlefish to break down the molecules in them in order to increase their tenderness. In 2001, the Fat Duck was awarded a second Michelin star, and was also named restaurant of the year by the Automobile Association. In 2004, the Fat Duck was awarded three Michelin stars, becoming one of three restaurants in the United Kingdom to hold that level of recognition alongside the Waterside Inn, also in Bray, and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. It was the fastest that a restaurant had gone from one to three stars in the UK. In the same year, the Fat Duck was ranked second in the world behind the French Laundry by the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The restaurant also received the title of Square Meal BMW Best UK Restaurant 2004. That year, food and safety officers found "borderline" levels of listeria in the foie gras and expressed concern that "no core temperatures of the meat are taken". In 2005, the World's 50 Best Restaurants named the Fat Duck the best restaurant in the world. At the first Front of House Awards in 2007, the restaurant won the awards for Overall Service and Front Desk of the Year. In 2008, Blumenthal published The Big Fat Duck Cookbook. 2009: Norovirus outbreak On 27 February 2009, Blumenthal closed