All-star chefs: an inside perspective of the world-famous chefs designing today's cruise-ship menus

Cruise Travel, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Lynn Seldon

From the start, Palmer took a hands-on approach with Seabourn's dining experiences--training the line's chefs in his restaurants ashore, personally attending the introduction of the line's completely new menus in its open-seating restaurants. His "progressive American cooking" brought bold flavors, a focus on fresh seasonal ingredients, and playful presentations to Seabourn guests.

Jacques Pepin, pubic television cooking star and much more, has a similarly tasty situation with Oceania Cruises. Pepin oversees all culinary programs for the line, including the creation of menu offerings, wine lists, and the training of onboard executive chefs. In addition, he sails aboard the ships of the line several times each year, working with ship chefs, conducting culinary demonstrations, lectures, specially designed "Epicurean Excursions," and even the line's first Culinary Arts Festival At Sea this past August (another is planned for 2005).

"For me to work with an organization like Oceania Cruises, something has to click and something has to click in terms of philosophy of cooking," says Pepin. "Quality, of course, is extremely important for a chef and certainly extremely important on a cruise ship."

Silversea's ongoing relationship with Europe's Joachim Koerper recently extended into the introduction of alternative gourmet dining venues. The restaurants, known as Saletta aboard the line's smaller ships and Le Champagne aboard the larger vessels, offer signature culinary creations by Koerper, who is considered one of Europe's finest chefs and has achieved a coveted Michelin two-star rating with Girasol in Moraira, Spain. Popular dishes in Saletta and Le Champagne include Koerper's Foie Gras with Fig Chutney as an appetizer, Fresh Red Mullet with Chorizo Iberico and Tomato Confit as an entree, and his classic Petit Four "Girasol" for dessert.

Over in China, Martin Yan developed distinctive regional menus for Viking River Cruises and its China Yangtze Cruisetours. With the pioneering cooking show, "Yan Can Cook," as well as numerous cookbooks, Yan brings almost 30 years of star-chef experience to cruise-ship cuisine. "The name Martin Yan is synonymous with Asian cooking," says Jeff Dash, president of Viking River Cruises. "Because he has decades of expertise in preparing Eastern cuisine for Western audiences, it made sense to partner with him in developing the menu for our new China cruises."

Yan personally created four distinctive family-style meals, each comprising eight dishes highlighting tastes from a variety of China's regions. He also trained Viking River Cruises chefs. Dinners generally feature Chef Yan's specially designed menus alternating with Western-style meals, including an ondeck barbecue.

Another recent development on the star-chef skyline was the announcement that Master Chef Rudi Sodamin was named culinary consultant for Holland America Line's fleet. "Chef Sodamin has a long history in the cruise industry and is a highly respected culinary innovator and leader," says Stein Kruse, president and chief executive officer of Holland America Line.