Heston Blumenthal's dinner left in the oven

It was partly modelled on a 16th-century kitchen so it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a few snags.

But Heston Blumenthal could not have foreseen he would be forced temporarily to close his restaurant only six months after opening.

The celebrity chef's Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel will shut for three weeks for planned essential maintenance work and refurbishment.

The restaurant has proved a hit, receiving rave reviews and winning several awards. Staff said its sheer popularity had proved "overwhelming".

The kitchen needed to close for most of next month - and no bookings had been taken - for necessary repairs and alterations. It will look the same and not have extra covers. "The only way to do it was to shut completely," said a hotel spokeswoman.

Designed by Adam D Tihany, Dinner was a major construction project, two restaurants being stripped out and replaced by floor-to-ceiling glass walls with views over Hyde Park and into the open kitchen.

A steel pulley system was based on a 16th-century design for the Royal British Court's kitchens.