I don't know if it was in the news here, but for about 10 days in March I was getting my news from the International Herald Tribune and the Fat Duck was closed for about two weeks. A HUGE number of patrons got violently ill. The owner voluntarily closed it, but they didn't find any source of food poisoning. A stomach virus was going around the UK at the time, but it was still quite a few people who ate there who became ill.
I can't remember the exact price that one article said the average meal cost there, but it was unbelievable! For my 40th last month my hubby took me to France and we went to our first Michelin 1 star that night. It's not just the food when you get up the scale, rather it's the service, presentation, etc, but even that was a fraction of what I saw they said the average Fat Duck meal would be.
French Laundry is on my list of to do's. Eveyone I know who has gone has said it was just phenomenal!