Celebrity chefs are spicing up ships’ feasts
World-famous culinary names and cruise line partnerships on the rise
A couple of decades back, there were few celebrity chefs — among them Graham Kerr, Julia Child and Jacques Pépin. Then TV food shows exploded. Who can forget Emeril Lagasse and his famed signature catchphrase “Bam!” as he threw in the spices? Chefs Wolfgang Puck of Austria and Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans were early rock stars of the kitchen, and now each season a new group of celebrity chefs is born.
Cruise lines have embraced that, and the concept of “celebrity chefs on cruise ships” is heating up.
Pépin was the first famous chef to take to sea in 2011, when the author of 25 cookbooks and side-by-side TV partner Julia Child was snagged by Oceania Cruises. He opened his first restaurant — Jacques — on board the new Oceania Marina; a second location opened two years later aboard the next new ship, Riviera. He remains Oceania’s executive culinary director.
Jamie Oliver, the wunderkind from the United Kingdom and famous for his Naked Chef TV series, has already opened Jamie’s Italian on Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.
Todd English, the first American to lend his name to a British ship, is on the Queen Mary 2. Guy Fieri, he of rings and wild hair, partnered with Carnival and created Guy’s Burger Joint on many ships — beware the burger and home-cut fries, about 1,100 calories, yet oh so delicious!
The Norwegian Escape begins sailing from Miami next month and Jose Garces, owner of 17 successful restaurants in major U.S. cities, will bring his Latin seafood touch to Bayamo and Pincho Tapas Bar.
The latest member of the club is Australia’s Curtis Stone, in culinary partnership with Princess. Remember him from the TLC Channel’s Take Home Chef? Owner of Maude in Beverly Hills, Calif., Stone will open a restaurant on Princess ships called Share. As the name implies, plates will be passed around the table in a homey atmosphere. Princess will roll out Share on Ruby and Emerald Princesses in December, with Coral Princess getting its Share in January and Sun Princess in April in Australia.
What’s next? Wine, and that’s where Holland America and its new Koningsdam — which will set sail in 2016 — are hanging their hat, taking the celebrity chef concept up a notch with a culinary council of internationally well-known chefs including Rudi Sodamin, Jonnie Boer, David Burke, Jacques Torres, Elizabeth Falkner and Mark Best.
FAMOUS CHEFS BEGET FAMOUS WINE
Participation is a big element of travel and BLEND, the coming new wine venue on the Koningsdam, could be a big hit. Taking some well-known vintages from the award-winning Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Washington state, Holland America will have passengers “blend” and bottle their own wines.
That’s right, you blend the wine for your own bottle. You taste from five casks and decide which wines you want to blend. The label bears your name. Then it will be brought to your dinner table or your stateroom.
I expect notable wineries will be lining up to join this concept.
If Julia Child were still with us, would we be enjoying some fine French cuisine on one of the luxury lines? Probably — maybe in partnership with her good friend, Jacques Pépin. Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored by Expedia CruiseShipCenters, 1-800-707-7327, www.cruiseshipcenters.com, for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Phil Reimer may be contacted directly at portsandbows@gmail.com.