Best Cruise to Spot a Celebrity Chef- Part I

By: Kim Michele

Ever wondered where the best place was to spot a celebrity chef? Who would have guessed it would be onboard some of the worlds most luxurious cruise ships!

These days, the trend is for world-renowned culinary artists to lend their name and menus to onboard specialty restaurants. Their brand image brings a certain prestige to the table and the cruise lines are willing to pay for it. Following this trend, a number of exclusive five and six star cruise lines have ingeniously expanded their onboard culinary experience – offering celebrity chefs on a platter (so to speak).

Culinary cruises feature some of the industries most celebrated celebrity chefs from all over the globe. Days are filled with cooking demonstrations, tastings, seminars and hands-on classes as the chefs delight passengers with their mouthwatering creations and entertaining commentary. Very rarely will you get the opportunity to mix, mingle, and most importantly learn from the experts in such an intimate setting. This is a privilege awarded passengers only.

If you want to spice up your cruise and add some flavor to your life, this would definitely be the way to go. For those culinary experts and enthusiasts out there, something is definitely cooking on the high seas and journeyPod’s got some ideas for you!

Crystal Cruises entered the world of culinary excellence by partnering up with several world-class chefs over the years and their ships play host to some legendary restaurants. The Crystal Serenity being the first in the fleet to showcase celebrity Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s famous Asian dishes in restaurants Silk Road and the Sushi Bar. The menu is the sole creation of this culinary artist and to ensure things are up to standard, even the onboard chefs are ‘Nobu-trained’. The success of the restaurants inspired Crystal to debut two more restaurants onboard the Crystal Symphony during her 17-day trans-Pacific cruise from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on March 3^rd. (And yes, Nobu will be overseeing the launch personally.)

Having come a long way since opening Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills in 1987, and owning Nobu Restaurants all over the world (the high seas included) – Nobu Matsuhisa is not the only celebrity Chef partnering with Crystal Cruises. The Austrian sensation, Wolfgang Puck’s culinary creations can be found at Chinois Restaurant onboard the Crystal Symphony, while the entire fleet features Italian cuisine by Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino Restaurants in Prego. If you want to ‘hob-nob’ with celebrity chefs and sample some of the world’s finest dishes, hang out onboard any one of Crystal Cruises’  ships!

But let’s not stop there, the cruise industry certainly hasn’t!

Check out Part II of “Best Cruise to Spot a Celebrity Chef”!