COOKING STARS WITH 'C' SEA
Food is a big draw on many cruises — but only one lets guests feel like a “Top Chef” contestant. Celebrity Cruises’ “Top Chef at Sea” program gives travelers a chance to compete in cooking challenges, hang out with other foodies, pick up cooking tips and try some of the dishes you’ve seen prepared on the Bravo show.
Best of all, you get to spend quality time with some of the past cheftestants from the reality competition show.
On a recent sold-out cruise on the 2,158-passenger Celebrity Summit, sailing from Bayonne to Bermuda, my name was pulled out of a hat to take part in a Quickfire competition. Fans of “Top Chef” will recognize the challenges — in which contestants have to cook a dish meeting certain requirements in a short time frame.
My heart started pounding, but I managed to climb up on stage in front of the hundreds of vacationers packed into the ship’s theater. I was given a white apron and tall chef’s hat and introduced to my partner, a passenger from Canada, and our celebrity coach — the wiry Spike Mendelsohn, who
appeared on “Top Chef: Chicago” and “Top Chef: All-Stars.”
Our taskk was to quicklyi kl pullll rosemary leaves from a bunch of stalks, shred a huge chunk of cheese, peel a large bowl of potatoes, squeeze enough oranges to fill a pitcher and separate eggs and whip them into a stiff meringue.
Armed with a table full of ingredients and equipment — big knife, peelers, safety gloves, graters, bowls — we sized up the competition, teams of other passengers coached by the intense Angelo Sosa (“Top Chef: Washington”) and the amiable Ash Fulk (“Top Chef: Las Vegas”).
And then the clock started ticking.
I was a wreck. Maybe it was Mendelsohn’s whispering instructions in my ear (“Hold the stalk tight when you pull the leaves…”) that had me flustered. Or maybe it’s just that preparing food to beat the clock is not easy.
With the audience cheering us along, and the ship’s cruise director and TV chefs bantering, we got through the tasks. My partner showing amazing skills for potato peeling (he says he learned in the Boy Scouts). Our arms began to ache as we took turns with the cheese grater.
We messily squeezed orange juice, got drenched in egg whites and thought we had this contest in the bag until — well, Sosa cheated (moving his team ahead by adding water to the orange pitcher).
Still, I was relieved when I realized I did not have to go onto the next round. A few days later, a final cookoff round went down on the theater stage between the remaining two passenger contestants, with considerable help from the “Top Chef” stars — an entertaining event for the rest of us on board. A beef dish, made with Fulk’s assistance, got one passenger declared the winner.
Another winner was the cruise itself. Sailing to Bermuda, where the ship docked for three days, sipping martinis, lounging in the sun and indulging at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub made for a great vacation. Plus, you can immerse yourself in all things food.
Carrie Barnard, a teacher from Queens, was giddy about the chance to hang out with celebrity chefs.
“I was so excited. I watch the show and my grownup kids watch it too,” says Barnard, adding she only heard about the “Top Chef” theme after she booked the cruise.
Barnard was among passengers who splurged on a private cooking class offered by each of the “Top Chef” con-
testants ($150, including a three-course lunch and wine at the ship’s fancy specialty restaurant, Normandie).
“I like Angelo which is why I am doing his cooking class,” Barnard says. “I’m not much of a cook myself, but I love the fact that I’m on a trip and there’s something unique to do.”
In the class, held in the ship’s main galley, Barnard and 19 other passengers stood at stations as Sosa instructed on the creating of a sashimi tuna dish with candied wasabi.
Between giving tips, like sharing that sugar and wasabi are a delicious combination, Sosa — the chef/owner of the Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant Añejo in Hell’s Kitchen (with a second location now open in Tribeca), shared fun tidbits from “Top Chef.”
For instance, he said he got on the show after kicking his chair across the room during his final audition — claiming his anger was something the producers were looking for.
The celebrity chefs also did complimentary cooking demonstrations in the theater, keeping crowds enthralled as they prepared dishes and talked about food and the show.
Picking items from a pantry on stage, Fulk — chef de cuisine of Hill Country Barbecue, with locations in Flatiron and downtown Brooklyn — even improvised a steak and grits dish after asking audience members what they like to eat.
The chefs were visible throughout the cruise, posing for photos, stopping to chat and making the rounds in the main restaurant during a complimentary “Top Chef” menu night. You could spot them by the pool, in the casino and at the latenight disco.
Clearly having a good time during a meet and greet with passengers, Mendelsohn, who’s planning to go national with his award-winning burger joint Good Stuff Eatery, had everyone pose so he could tweet a selfie.
Passengers looking for more exclusive experience could pay $195 for an intimate dinner in Normandie with each chef, boasting four courses with accompanying wines chosen from dishes the chefs prepared on the show.
During his dinner, Mendelsohn sniffed that one of the dishes featured on the “Top Chef” restaurant menu was the hearts of palm salad that got him kicked off the show.
The celebrity chefs regularly offered up behind-the-scenes details like this, with Fulk sharing that it’s not uncommon for contestants on the show to be plied with alcohol in the “stew” room and go before the cameras inebriated.
“They got us drinking on the show in the hope craziness can happen. I hope I’m allowed to say that,” Fulk said. “On my show, we were all very professional, but there were a few good moments.”
He added that when the cameras aren’t rolling, contestants sneak over and taste everyone’s food, which can be quite intimidating. “I tasted one dish and it was so good I was like, ‘WTF,” he says.
Sosa clearly ate up the passenger attention. “I want to share my passion with you, for you to appreciate me. Food is me,” he said to one guest. “I look at my cooking as the art of seduction.”
There’s one more “Top Chef at Sea” cruise left, so act fast. The 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection (Celebrity Cruises’ newest ship) sets sail from Miami Nov. 15, stopping at San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
The celebrity chef-testants onboard will be Hosea Rosenberg, winner of “Top Chef: New York” (Season 5), as well as Shirley Chung, finalist of Season 11, “Top Chef: New Orleans,” and Casey Thompson (Season 3, “Top Chef: Miami”) and Tiffany Derry (Season 11, “Top Chef: Washington D.C.”)
Expect cooking demonstrations, Quickfire challenges, a “Top Chef”themed menu evening in the main dining room, and exclusive activities with chef-testants including the Private Dinner and Private Cooking Class, both subject to availability.
You’ll likely come home with a tan — and some new cooking skills.