Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud….opinions?

[capsplace]

Just booked the Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud.  Any opinions?  This dining event is not the Chef’s Tour event (which we did in Naples in May, and it was phenomenal.). 

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, capsplace said:

Just booked the Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud.  Any opinions?  This dining event is not the Chef’s Tour event (which we did in Naples in May, and it was phenomenal.). 

We have it booked for an upcoming cruise. Looking forward to seeing if it meets the expectations. It's one way to use the OBC. 😉

[go.without.you]

I did it last November on Equinox and really enjoyed it. Pre Covid they were giving a tour of the kitchen plus a cookbook but we didn't get either of those. It was a really great meal with a LOT of food. It did take over 2 hours so plan for that.

[CK57]

What night of a cruise is this offered and how is it booked?   Have not seen it mentioned for our Sept cruise.   Thanks

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I have not tried it. This is chiefly because I read a copy of his book from the library on Silhouette. It was not until page 380 that I found anything I would want to eat.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Sorry, we hated it. And this was years ago so it may be different. Since Chef Boulder made dishes for Luminae, they just served us different plates from that menu.  When we did it on Princess, the chef may a special amazing dinner just for us. Would never do it gain on Celebrity. 
 

But that is only my opinion. You may really like it. I think we were just spoiled on Princess. I think this is one of the three things that Princess does better.  Celebrity wins all the others!

[capsplace]

The description of the Chef’sTable by Daniel Boulud in the Plan Your Cruise link states we will be notified once on board of the date, time and location for the dinner.  We were hoping to select the date of our anniversary celebration, but it appears this will be a “group” event, which is fine with us.  I spoke to Celebrity about also getting our 15% discount for Elite Plus.  Told we will need to go to Captain’s Club on board to get the discount in OBC, which doesn’t make sense to me.  I’ll wait a bit longer and call again.  Not sailing until Aug 2023.

[goofysmom99]

Rather than the Daniel Boulud Chef's Table, my suggestion would be to book the Veuve Clicquot champagne dinner instead.  It costs more but is a much finer dinner.  It can't be prebooked but I always hot-foot it to a maitre d' or Cellar Masters very first thing upon boarding to be put onto the list.  It's the one thing I book every cruise.  Veuve Clicquot controls the menu, not Boulud.  The pairings, the glassware, the presentation, are all many steps up from Chef's Table.  

 

 

[LuAnn]

3 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

Rather than the Daniel Boulud Chef's Table, my suggestion would be to book the Veuve Clicquot champagne dinner instead.  It costs more but is a much finer dinner.  It can't be prebooked but I always hot-foot it to a maitre d' or Cellar Masters very first thing upon boarding to be put onto the list.  It's the one thing I book every cruise.  Veuve Clicquot controls the menu, not Boulud.  The pairings, the glassware, the presentation, are all many steps up from Chef's Table.  

 

 

I've never heard of the Veuve Clicquot Dinner...is it something new? Also is the Chef's Table on every ship? Thanks!

[C-Dragons]

36 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

I've never heard of the Veuve Clicquot Dinner...is it something new? Also is the Chef's Table on every ship? Thanks!

At the Veuve Clicquot  dinner they serve different Champagnes which are matched to each course of a specially planned meal. It is pricey $$$.

[sn2792]

4 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

Rather than the Daniel Boulud Chef's Table, my suggestion would be to book the Veuve Clicquot champagne dinner instead.  It costs more but is a much finer dinner.  It can't be prebooked but I always hot-foot it to a maitre d' or Cellar Masters very first thing upon boarding to be put onto the list.  It's the one thing I book every cruise.  Veuve Clicquot controls the menu, not Boulud.  The pairings, the glassware, the presentation, are all many steps up from Chef's Table.  

 

 

We did the Veuve Clicquot on Constellation and I agree, it’s better than Chefs table. Unfortunately, they don’t offer it on every ship. Equinox doesn’t offer it. 

[vickykay]

What are the prices of both?  Thanks.

[goofysmom99]

32 minutes ago, sn2792 said:

We did the Veuve Clicquot on Constellation and I agree, it’s better than Chefs table. Unfortunately, they don’t offer it on every ship. Equinox doesn’t offer it. 

I did go on Equinox in August. It wasn't advertised.  Upon embarkation, I asked a maitre d' to please include me, if held.  It was held in the private room in Murano.  On Summit, it was held in the back of Tuscan.  On Equinox the apricot souffle was prepared properly, gluten-free (only egg-whites to hold it together).  On Summit, they included wheat in its preparation.  They've never been able to prepare a souffle for me on M-class, but that's how they're all prepared in Murano.  Must be the ovens on S-class vs M-class.  Don't know about E-class.

 

LuAnn, Veuve Clicquot dinners have been around at least since Edge's inaugural.  They're $200+ per person.  You have to ask, in person, as a rule.  It did appear later on the app on one or more of my Nov/Dec Summit cruises, as I recall.  Don't remember if it was clickable, though.

[cangelmd]

All the small group dinners are very dependent on the group, often there will be a couple of participants who monopolize the conversation or get smashed on the expensive wine or just don’t understand what this was going to be like - luck of the draw. When it is a good group,it can be the highlight of the cruise.

Both the Chefs Table (Boulud dinner now) and the Champagne dinner have good, done to order meals. I agree with the poster above, I’d give the edge to the Veuve Cliquot, more because the wines are set, so they match the food, while the Chefs Table serves excellent wines, but they may run out of the original pairings (especially right now) and the pairings are separate, so you can go with lesser wines, which may be an advantage if you aren’t a big wine person. 
Also, as someone said above, Celeb used to not do such a great job. Princess’s dinner was better, partly because it was much much better than the routine food, a real knock your socks off level. Celebrity had a much better galley tour with the dinner, super informative, but of course that’s been suspended for Covid. Celebrity has upped their game with the dinner, although all of these are one and done for many people.

if you are a foodie, try a Chefs Market Discovery dinner - it includes both lunch and dinner, a tour during the day to food related venues (ours was Cozumel), including a local market and an asst chef tags along, so you get to talk to him on the bus during the day. That evening, you are served a special family style meal, using something bought at the market. It’s a more casual affair altogether.

[MamaFej]

We did a back to back on the Connie in May. The first cruise, we were with friends, and ate dinner with them every night. Because I had heard they can sell out, we made sure to book the Veuve Clicquot dinner for the second cruise as soon as the departing passengers were off the ship.

 

We were so excited to do it! The day of the dinner, we were called to say it had been canceled, as not enough people had signed up. 

 

In June, we did a Chef's Table dinner on the Azamara Pursuit for half the price of the VC dinner on Celebrity. It did include Veuve Clicquot with one course. That dinner was absolutely phenomenal! We'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[Elvis1209]

We've done it twice on RCCL.  It has always been a good time!  Meet some great people and had some great food!

 

Elvis

[LuAnn]

On 7/2/2022 at 2:31 PM, goofysmom99 said:

I did go on Equinox in August. It wasn't advertised.  Upon embarkation, I asked a maitre d' to please include me, if held.  It was held in the private room in Murano.  On Summit, it was held in the back of Tuscan.  On Equinox the apricot souffle was prepared properly, gluten-free (only egg-whites to hold it together).  On Summit, they included wheat in its preparation.  They've never been able to prepare a souffle for me on M-class, but that's how they're all prepared in Murano.  Must be the ovens on S-class vs M-class.  Don't know about E-class.

 

LuAnn, Veuve Clicquot dinners have been around at least since Edge's inaugural.  They're $200+ per person.  You have to ask, in person, as a rule.  It did appear later on the app on one or more of my Nov/Dec Summit cruises, as I recall.  Don't remember if it was clickable, though.

Thanks Ruth! Is the Chef's Table then not advertised as well and you have to inquire when you board?..I'll be on the Sillie for the Fall T/A. 

[cookiersmom]

We did Chef's Table in My on Eclipse.  It included a tour of the galley by the Chef. The food was amazing.  

[patty1955]

3 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Thanks Ruth! Is the Chef's Table then not advertised as well and you have to inquire when you board?..I'll be on the Sillie for the Fall T/A. 

I'm booked for the Chef's Table on the Summit repositioning cruise in October.

[goofysmom99]

6 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Thanks Ruth! Is the Chef's Table then not advertised as well and you have to inquire when you board?..I'll be on the Sillie for the Fall T/A. 

Chef's Table available online.

[chemmo]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:46 AM, MamaFej said:

 

 

We were so excited to do it! The day of the dinner, we were called to say it had been canceled, as not enough people had signed up. 

 

 

You could ask on your roll call next time if anyone else is interested. If a group of you book together less chance of cancellation.

 

On 7/3/2022 at 12:18 AM, cangelmd said:

All the small group dinners are very dependent on the group, often there will be a couple of participants who monopolize the conversation or get smashed on the expensive wine or just don’t understand what this was going to be like - luck of the draw. When it is a good group,it can be the highlight of the cruise.

 

if you are a foodie, try a Chefs Market Discovery dinner - it includes both lunch and dinner, a tour during the day to food related venues (ours was Cozumel), including a local market and an asst chef tags along, so you get to talk to him on the bus during the day. That evening, you are served a special family style meal, using something bought at the market. It’s a more casual affair altogether.

Yes, agree, we enjoyed one nice experience and then we dined with Mr Knowitall and Mrs Drinkitall…Whilst now we laugh about the experience at the time we felt we had spent a lot of money to sit at a table we couldn’t wait to leave. If we were to do it again I think it would be when we were cruising with friends.

 

Really fancy the market tour. Friends of ours tried it and really enjoyed.

[5waldos]

Where is the Market Tour advertised? Is it listed as an excursion someplace? 

[canderson]

1 hour ago, 5waldos said:

Where is the Market Tour advertised? Is it listed as an excursion someplace? 

Market tour with dinner to follow?

If they offer one, yes, it will be an excursion.  It will typically be held at only one of the port stops on a given itinerary.

 

Example for our TA, in Cartagena, Spain:

 

[lexmiller]

QUESTION ABOUT THE SCHEDULING OF THE DINNER:

We have booked the "Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud” dinner on our upcoming August 31 Canadian/NE cruise on the Summit.  The X website states, "Your restaurant location and dining time will be confirmed in your stateroom on embarkation day”.  I have read that on your “My Calendar” after you reserve the dinner, that the dinner shows up on your personal schedule for a random time as a placeholder until the dinner is officially scheduled.  In our case, in our “My Calendar”, it shows up as noon on embarkation day - which is fine, as we know it’s a placeholder.  HOWEVER, when we go into the Daily Planner for the cruise on the app, the schedule that everyone sees, the “Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud” dinner shows up for 7pm on embarkation day in Tuscan.  We aren’t sure now if this is accurate, based upon all that we’ve read and what in fact the X booking site states - we thought the dinner happened later in the cruise.  We don’t want to have the Chef’s Table dinner the first night.  But with it showing up on the Daily Planner, looking all official timing wise, we are thinking that if it is actually the first night, then we will cancel.  Anyone with insights on the scheduling, would appreciate your input, thank you!

[Kteacher]

11 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

QUESTION ABOUT THE SCHEDULING OF THE DINNER:

We have booked the "Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud” dinner on our upcoming August 31 Canadian/NE cruise on the Summit.  The X website states, "Your restaurant location and dining time will be confirmed in your stateroom on embarkation day”.  I have read that on your “My Calendar” after you reserve the dinner, that the dinner shows up on your personal schedule for a random time as a placeholder until the dinner is officially scheduled.  In our case, in our “My Calendar”, it shows up as noon on embarkation day - which is fine, as we know it’s a placeholder.  HOWEVER, when we go into the Daily Planner for the cruise on the app, the schedule that everyone sees, the “Chef’s Table by Daniel Boulud” dinner shows up for 7pm on embarkation day in Tuscan.  We aren’t sure now if this is accurate, based upon all that we’ve read and what in fact the X booking site states - we thought the dinner happened later in the cruise.  We don’t want to have the Chef’s Table dinner the first night.  But with it showing up on the Daily Planner, looking all official timing wise, we are thinking that if it is actually the first night, then we will cancel.  Anyone with insights on the scheduling, would appreciate your input, thank you!

Just sailed the Summit on 7/24. I booked the Chef’s table ahead of time through the shoreside concierge, and once onboard it showed up on my calendar as noon on embarkation day. It did take place on night 1 in Tuscan.