Our Chef Table experience was out of this world, none of us would have believed that the next three hours would be such a gastronomic delight.
There were eight of us who met at the International Cafe a 7pm. The Maitre d' Hotel, Generoso Mazzone greeted each of us and we donned our white coats and made our way through the Michelangelo Dining Room to the galley. There we stopped to wash our hands before proceeding on into the galley.
Generoso pointed out to us about the cold side and the hot sides of the galley where the food is prepared. He shared with us that the hardest to please passengers were the 1200 crew members who are of a variety of nationalities. They have a different menu for the crew every 30 days. He took us to an area where we met the Executive Chef, Michele Cozzoli.
Michele told us that on the Princess ships they make everything from scratch. While we listened to Michele the waiter assigned to us and Generoso helped serve us Champagne and hors d'oeuvres while we were listening to Michele in the galley. Then we were taken back through the galley and led through the dining room to our table.
Everyone was watching us wondering what the hoopla was all about. Later on the group at a table near us was leaving and asked if someone had gotten married thinking we were the wedding party.
At the table we were handed over to our own personal waiters to serve us for the rest of the evening.
Then we were served the Asparagus Risotto and Groth, Sauvignon Blanc wine. Once we finished the second course we cleansed our palate with the Lip-Smackin' Bloody Mary Sorbet with Grey Goose Vodka, ahhh wonderful!
Now we were ready for the main course which was presented by the Chef and the Maitre d prepared at our table in a Brandy flambé. It was fabulous.
Our next course was the Potted Stilton with Port Wine Reduction and then the Pastry Chef, Andrea Rove came out and presented our dessert which was magnificent.
Everyone at the table was able to ask questions of the Executive Chef, Maitre d, and Pastry Chef. They were very accommodating as far as answering our questions.
At the end of our dinner the ladies were each presented a single red rose and a cookbook that was signed by the Executive Chef, Michele and the Maitre d, Generoso. We were all thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed our evening's experience.
The food and wine menu for the evening is below:
First Course
Second Course
Third Course
Fourth Course
Fifth Course
Sixth Course
Seventh Course
The concept for the Chef's Table was developed by the Maitre d Hotel, Generoso and Executive Chef, Michele on the Emerald Princess and is now being rolled out fleet wide. We definitely recommend doing this. It is a totally different experience. We are so glad we did this and will be talking about it for a long, long time!
You can see our pictures of the evening here.
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