dkjretired Posted March 12, 2020 #1 Share Posted March 12, 2020 (edited) Michel Roux, Celebrity Chef has passed away. For those who are somewhat new to Celebrity, Roux was in charge of restaurants on the Celebrity Ships when there was only one restaurant, the MDR. At that time, food and service on Celebrity ships was acclaimed in the industry and IMHO better than any restaurant currently in the fleet and this was every night. https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2020/03/12/acclaimed-chef-michel-roux-who-made-british-restaurant-history-dead-at-78/23948380/ Edited March 12, 2020 by dkjretired 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Cruiser 6143 Posted March 12, 2020 #2 Share Posted March 12, 2020 16 minutes ago, dkjretired said: Michel Roux, Celebrity Chef has passed away. For those who are somewhat new to Celebrity, Roux was in charge of restaurants on the Celebrity Ships when there was only one restaurant, the MDR. At that time, food and service on Celebrity ships was acclaimed in the industry and IMHO better than any restaurant currently in the fleet and this was every night. https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2020/03/12/acclaimed-chef-michel-roux-who-made-british-restaurant-history-dead-at-78/23948380/ Sad news indeed. I remember those days. May he rest in peace. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norn iron Posted March 12, 2020 #3 Share Posted March 12, 2020 1 hour ago, dkjretired said: Michel Roux, Celebrity Chef has passed away. For those who are somewhat new to Celebrity, Roux was in charge of restaurants on the Celebrity Ships when there was only one restaurant, the MDR. At that time, food and service on Celebrity ships was acclaimed in the industry and IMHO better than any restaurant currently in the fleet and this was every night. https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2020/03/12/acclaimed-chef-michel-roux-who-made-british-restaurant-history-dead-at-78/23948380/ Thanks for posting djkretired. I saw the news earlier on The BBC website. A sad day indeed. A culinary legend. His Waterside Inn restaurant (in Bray Berkshire) is to this day a fabulous experience in the hands of his son Alain. The food is fabulous, the location sensational. The food on Celebrity when he oversaw it, was the best at sea bar none. I had the misfortune of being on Infinity on the first cruise after Michel's food was dropped in favour of J Van Staden. There was near mutiny onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted March 12, 2020 #4 Share Posted March 12, 2020 That is sad news. I still long for the iconic swan puff dessert. Michel was also involved in rolling out the first specialty restaurants on all 4 Millennium class ships. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted March 12, 2020 #5 Share Posted March 12, 2020 So sad to hear. He rally made a positive impact on celebrity menu and food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFontaine Posted March 12, 2020 #6 Share Posted March 12, 2020 His work set the bar of quality in the beginning, something that I believe continues today. Peace to his family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare hcat Posted March 12, 2020 #7 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Sad news..another great is gone! It was a fabulous banquet every night under his masterful skills! No specialtiy restaurant needed. Celebrity never hit the same high mark with subsequent culinary efforts! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTNORMANDIE Posted March 12, 2020 #8 Share Posted March 12, 2020 26 minutes ago, hcat said: Sad news..another great is gone! It was a fabulous banquet every night under his masterful skills! No specialtiy restaurant needed. Celebrity never hit the same high mark with subsequent culinary efforts! What great memories of meals gone by. I remember the excitement when the fledgling Celebrity announced Michel Roux as the head of their culinary division. As stated above, the meals were exemplary and outstanding. I saved many of those menus and placed them in my ocean liner memorabilia collection. They are classics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Von & John Posted March 12, 2020 #9 Share Posted March 12, 2020 (edited) My first Celebrity Cruise was with my Mother, sisters & 10-month old nephew: Celebrity Century - Jan 2001 Celebrity was specifically chosen because of their Culinary Reputation... The 6 of us had a fantastic trip, the food was nothing short of amazing & the crew spoiled us... The food, under the leadership of Michel Roux, convinced us to cruise with Celebrity in the future. We never were able to cruise all together again & are so thankful for those memories... Until the day she died, my mother displayed photos of us on that trip, in her home; reminisced about the food & yes the Midnight Buffet! On our cruises, Johnny & I raise a glass each evening to our loved ones who are no longer with us... Tonight on land - Cheers Michel Edited March 12, 2020 by Von & John 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reallyhooked Posted March 12, 2020 #10 Share Posted March 12, 2020 Condolences to family and friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderpaw Posted March 12, 2020 #11 Share Posted March 12, 2020 "At that time, food and service on Celebrity ships was acclaimed in the industry and IMHO better than any restaurant currently in the fleet and this was every night." I second this opinion! Food was absolutely amazing in those days which shows what can be done with a little money in the food budget. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mygreyhound66 Posted March 13, 2020 #12 Share Posted March 13, 2020 We too, are saddened by his passsing. We were always fans of his and interestingly, we are (or most likely will cancel) the June 7th transatlantic crossing on QM2, which is the food and wine festival, Michel Roux was to be a speaker on the crossing, and we were very eager to see him. He put Celebrity on the map for dining! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHEZMARYLOU Posted March 13, 2020 #13 Share Posted March 13, 2020 We remember his food well, especially the swan puff pastries. We were quite impressed on our 1st sailing with Celebrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abritinva Posted March 13, 2020 #14 Share Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) One of the greatest meals of my life was at his restaurant (La Gavroche) in the 80s. An unforgettable experience. RIP Chef Edited March 13, 2020 by abritinva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted March 13, 2020 Author #15 Share Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) 48 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said: We remember his food well, especially the swan puff pastries. We were quite impressed on our 1st sailing with Celebrity. If you remember, on this board we called it the swan thingie...... Here's a link, post # 15 best represents it during the Roux era. Edited March 13, 2020 by dkjretired 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcbiker97 Posted March 13, 2020 #16 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Does anyone have scans of what the menus were? His recipes were featured on our first few cruises and were fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Anne Posted March 13, 2020 #17 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Those were the days.....sorry to read this sad news. Thanks for posting this, Don! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggie.1008 Posted March 13, 2020 #18 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I wish I had kept some of the pictures of those meals with the silver service in the MDR. Food was the best ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderpaw Posted March 13, 2020 #19 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Anyone else remember "Celebrity Dressing" for salads? OMG, i loved that stuff. I'm pretty sure its gone now... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocngypz Posted March 13, 2020 #20 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Ah.... those were the days. Yes, the Celebrity Dressing - loved it!! Respose en paix, Michel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAV Posted March 13, 2020 #21 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Shades of Mercury, February 2000. Dining in the MDR resembled a night in Murano today. Our first Celebrity Cruise. We were blown away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEcruzr Posted March 13, 2020 #22 Share Posted March 13, 2020 My mom and I were just talking about him this past weekend. I was doing some cleaning for her and on the windowsill were two little tidbit dishes that she bought onboard with his signature. She said, "I should probably throw those away..." I wouldn't let her. Remember when you had 12 pieces of silverware at your setting every night? We talk about how hard the wait staff work... it's nothing compared to what it used to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridatravelersforlife Posted March 13, 2020 #23 Share Posted March 13, 2020 To us, the epitome of Celebrity food was the Normandie restaurant on the Millenium? with Michel Roux recipes prepared tableside by Waiters in Tails. The Dover Sole and Beef Wellington were memorable along with the flaming desserts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsea Posted March 13, 2020 #24 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I remember those days. White gloved service & his fabulous food. I used to have a VHS of the debut of Celebrity’s new ship Zenith, which featured the suave, sophisticated Michel Roux explaining his creations. Everything was made fresh on board. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted March 13, 2020 #25 Share Posted March 13, 2020 2 hours ago, MEcruzr said: Remember when you had 12 pieces of silverware at your setting every night? We talk about how hard the wait staff work... it's nothing compared to what it used to be. Yes, we were able to teach our kids formal place setting etiquette in the MDR! The old Celebrity place settings had an X logo on the rim of the plates. The MDR staff was trained to make sure that the X was always at the 12 o'clock position. A couple times I would demonstrate that for our kids by deliberately rotating my dinner plate so that the X was no longer in that position. Within a few minutes the assistant waiter would rotate it back into place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now