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Famous chefs are aligning their brands with cruise lines and offering Michelin-starred cuisine on board for the smallest of supplements
More and more celebrity chefs are lending their names to restaurants on cruise ships: Todd English on Queen Mary 2; Wolfgang Puck and Nobu Matsuhisa on Crystal; Marco Pierre White on the new P&O Cruises’ superliner Ventura; and British favourite, Gary Rhodes, on two of P&O’s other ships, Oriana and Arcadia. So is this trend for gourmet cruises and famous chefs a matter of simply throwing in a few ‘signature dishes’ and collecting a fee? Gary Rhodes, holder of many Michelin stars in his various restaurants worldwide, says emphatically, no! “The P&O Cruises chefs come to us in London [where Rhodes has two restaurants] and we prepare every single dish,” he explains as we tuck into a tangy asparagus, avocado, pink grapefruit and paw paw salad in the refined setting of Oriana Rhodes. “We then photograph the dish. It’s all about consistency; there’s a real family spirit among the crew on P&O and I want to get to know all the chefs who work for me. All the crew are so dedicated. We do this session in London every time there’s a full menu change on board, which is about four times a year. In Oriana Rhodes, there are five or six dedicated chefs who work almost exclusively in this restaurant.” Menus in the onboard Rhodes restaurants change according to the seasons and the cruising area. Although most food is loaded at the beginning of a cruise, Rhodes can’t resist some local ingredients like fresh basil in Italy, or succulent papaya in the Caribbean. “I’d always take advantage of where we are and give a dish some edge with local flavours,” he says. All the menus in all of Rhodes’ restaurants are different, including those in the two onboard outlets. “Although we may find that if something has worked on Arcadia, we’ll try it in Oriana Rhodes,” he says. The chef himself cruises four times a year, mingling with the passengers and offering cookery demonstrations. But cruising being what it is, he claims the service in his restaurants is as important as the food, particularly when the standard of service throughout the ship is so high. “If you have sensational food but the service is rude, you wouldn’t go back to a restaurant,” he says. “First impressions are everything and the restaurant manager is the first and last person a passenger sees in the restaurant. We treat every guest as an individual. We know when to stand back and leave them alone, and which ones want personal attention.” Needless to say, the speciality restaurants on the P&O Cruises ships and all others get booked up very quickly - where else can you enjoy food prepared by a Michelin-starred chef for such a token amount? Dining in Arcadian Rhodes or Oriana Rhodes is a mere £15 a head (about $28). “By lunchtime on the third day of a two-week cruise, we’re sold out,” says Rhodes. So the advice to food-loving cruise passengers is to make your reservations early, as soon as you get on board. You know it’s going to be spectacular, so think ahead and book for more than one evening!
The copyright of the article Celebrity chefs, gourmet cruising in Cruise/Island Vacations is owned by Sue Bryant. Permission to republish Celebrity chefs, gourmet cruising in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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