What is Chef's Table experience??

[Straughn]

On 2/24/2019 at 3:45 PM, Cruisin4ABruisen said:

We have done it on the Eclipse. It was hosted in Murano. It was a unique menu with multiple courses. Each was served with a matching wine. The food was really good, and it was a fun experience -- overall, I would absolutely do it again. At the end of the dinner, they provided a picture of the dining group, as well as a signed copy of the menu. If anyone is curious, I can try to find it.

This was exactly my experience on Silhouette last December. We met in Cellar Masters, had a glass of bubbly, took a tour of the galley with the Chef, and then off to Murano. We were a group of 10,  4 couples, solo me, and the Front Desk supervisor. Also, the wine flowed freely.

[Jim_Iain]

Here’s a couple pictures

 

 

 

 

 

Appetizer 

 

 

Cezar Salad

 

 

Lamb Filet

 

and had to shoot all the deserts

 

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've had the chocolate sphere in Luminae many times but what is the dessert just below it?

[Aralim]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Is this essentially the same thing as "The World", which is served as a standard dessert in Wonderland on Royal's ships? I did Chef's Table on Freedom of the Seas last year and they served that for dessert.

 

I was going to book Chef's Table for my Iceland and Greenland cruise on Summit next year, but I have to say that as I'm seeing the price other people are quoting for their Chef's Table on Celebrity, I'm having second thoughts. I'm a major foodie and love good wine, and I understand that the meal also includes a galley tour that I didn't have with my experience on Royal... but that price is more than double the cost per person of the CT that Royal offers! Yes, X has a premium price over Royal, but that's one heck of a premium! 😱🤑

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We've had the chocolate sphere in Luminae many times but what is the dessert just below it?

If I recall correctly it was a citrus custard with a meringue top and chocolate cigar. 

[cruzzzinma]

@Jim_Iain

We had:

Octopus Cerviche (cerviche flavors delicious, octopus had been in citrus too long ) 

Lobster risotto 

Something missing,  maybe

Lamb Chops

Filet Mignon

Chocolate Brandy thing set on fire

[ebtrip]

This was the menu we had in January 2016. Found it in the lovely cookbook that was presented to us at the end of the evening.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Another good option on Celebrity is the 'Chef's Market' tour.  In the morning you go around the local market with one of the ship's chef's [and maybe have some other touristy sites plus lunch], then in the evening you meet up onboard for champagne, a galley tour, and a special dinner that reflects the local cuisine.  We did this last month in Cozumel and it was terrific!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Host Jazzbeau, Glad you liked the Chef's Market Discovery in Cozumel, we booked it for our November cruise.  We liked the one in St. Maarten before the hurricane.  Tried to do it in St. Lucia and Jamaica but they were both cancelled.

[Gracie115]

15 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Here’s a couple pictures

 

 

 

 

 

Appetizer 

 

 

Cezar Salad

 

 

Lamb Filet

 

and had to shoot all the deserts

 

 

 

 

 

NONE of our courses looked like this.....we might have enjoyed much more if they had.

[Baron Barracuda]

We did CT on Infinity a couple of years back.  Were fortunate to have small group, just one other couple plus HR Mgr.  Really enjoyed meal and wine pairings.  HR mgr provided great insights into shipboard life, including bringing in sous chef and head waiter to discuss their career paths.  Only negative (minor) was finding room in suitcase for that big cook book.

[Jim_Iain]

It is amazing to hear that they have so many different menus.    At our dinner they were not allowed to light the chocolate spheres on fire with brandy due to the sprinklers in the room.  All in all I was impressed with the food, presentation and above all the Service.  

[eyelovcrusin]

We have done two Chef’s Table dinners. The first was on the Equinox probably about 4 years ago and it was a great experience. Started in Cellar Masters with hor doublers and champagne. Tour of the galley followed by dinner in Muranos wine room. Great food and special wines which flowed freely. We received a photo and cookbook along with a thank you note for attending. Last CT dinner was on Eclipse a year ago. It was nice but definitely not the special experience we had first time. Food was good but not great and wines were very average. Think some were $12-15 retail per bottle. No cookbook. Did not feel it was worth the money we paid $279 per couple. I feel Celebrity has cut back too much to make this something we would choose again.

[cangelmd]

I’ve done 2 Chefs Tables, one on Princess in 2013 and one on Celebrity in 2018. I’ve posted a long dissertation comparing and contrasting the 2, and I won’t repeat that.

In summary, celebrity had a fascinating ships galley tour, an elegant dinner that was nicer than Murano, but not head and shoulders better than Murano, excellent wines (we are wine people, these pairings were not all overly expensive wines, but well paired, and some were expensive vintages). It was a smaller group than Princess, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing, because you could not escape “those people”. The officer was the IT guy whose dinner conversation was a spiel for Celebrity plus a defense of the website, he failed miserably.

 

Chefs Table was a one and done for us, it is expensive, and next time I want to pick my dinner companions! We are hopefully going to do a Chefs Market dinner next August.

 

you do not get a cookbook anymore.

Edited February 27, 2019 by cangelmd