Shopping with Celebrity Chefs on a Cruise

Some people thought that Seabourn were taking a big gamble with their very first “Food & Wine” Cruise.  Not so – it paid off handsomely! Voyages late in the season in the Mediterranean are notoriously difficult to fill and the trip from Monte Carlo to Rome could have been the same.  So why not theme the cruise and indulge in the wonderful Food & Wine of the area? Add a few Celebrity Chefs and Seabourn were on to a winner.

Joining the ship in Monte Carlo on a bright late October day were Chef Patrice Olivon, Program Director of Culinary Arts L’Academie de Cuisine and Chef Alfio Longo, Executive Chef at Circo NYC. Add to that Seabourn’s corporate chefs Lucca di Matteo, Tony Egger and Executive Chefs Graeme Cockburn and Neal Anthony Breen – this was to be a culinary experience to remember.

© Mike King 2017 Celebrity Chefs enjoying some light hearted banter

Joining the ship in Monte Carlo on a bright late October day were Chef Patrice Olivon, Program Director of Culinary Arts L’Academie de Cuisine and Chef Alfio Longo, Executive Chef at Circo NYC. Add to that Seabourn’s corporate chefs Lucca di Matteo, Tony Egger and Executive Chefs Graeme Cockburn and Neal Anthony Breen – this was to be a culinary experience to remember. At the sail away all the chefs were presented to the guests which as always when food is mentioned, brought cheers of joy!  So to shopping with the Chef. A simple concept where guests are invited to go ashore with the chef and buy fresh previsions for the cruise. In Livorno we were privileged to be with Executive Chef Neal Breen and Seabourn’s Lucca Di Mateo.

© Mike King 2017 Shopping with the Chef

Neal’s task was shopping for fish – and Neal certainly knows his fish.  Chef Neal is passionate about his food and says “never trust a skinny chef”.  We were given his pre market talk about what he was looking for and away we went looking for fish.  Inside the market were all the locals buying their fresh produce and the sight of a bunch of passengers from a cruise ship made them stare. But Neal was determined.  His was on the hunt for Monk Fish which were learned was in short supply that day.  In the end he bought all the Monk Fish available.

© Mike King 2017 Shopping with the Chef

© Mike King 2017 Monk Fish Chef Neal

© Mike King 2017 Seabourn Executive Chef Tony Egger with guests from the Seabourn Sojourn

© Mike King 2017 Shopping with the Chef – Amazing Foods

© Mike King 2017 Alfio Longo and Lucca di Mateo messing around and sharing Cannoli

Then it was off to finish a busy day of food shopping with a little fun with Cannoli purchased from Laboratorio Pasticceria di Lanza Domenico in Messina.

All in all, a recipe for Success.  Well done to Seabourn, a great concept that really worked.  We never doubted it really.