Guest Chef Pia Quintana

[OneSixtyToOne]

We are on the Viking Jupiter for the Along Europe's Western Coast cruise departing on 4/25.

I made a Chef's Table advance reservation last week and today I noticed the reservation now has the following entry:

Pia Quintana / Mexico

 

A quick Google search brought up a blog about the Viking Sun World Cruise and the Chef's Table :

"...the food was great. It featured Mexican cuisine by Guest Chef Pia Quintana. I don’t think I’d ever had beef cheek before."

 

Anyone have any insight on the food? Was the Chef aboard or did she just create the menu?

Edited March 4, 2019 by OneSixtyToOne

[Peregrina651]

Good question. Have never encountered this before. Maybe the folks at TellUs can jump in with some insight for us.

[CCWineLover]

10 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We are on the Viking Jupiter for the Along Europe's Western Coast cruise departing on 4/25.

I made a Chef's Table advance reservation last week and today I noticed the reservation now has the following entry:

Pia Quintana / Mexico

 

A quick Google search brought up a blog about the Viking Sun World Cruise and the Chef's Table :

"...the food was great. It featured Mexican cuisine by Guest Chef Pia Quintana. I don’t think I’d ever had beef cheek before."

 

Anyone have any insight on the food? Was the Chef aboard or did she just create the menu?

 

Don't know either.  We just experienced the Chef's Table Mexican menu on the Viking Sea last week and it was quite delicious!  And very unique - highlight was not just the special tamale with verde sauce but the Short Ribs.   Wish I had taken a picture of the actual detailed menu!   We also booked Chef's table but can't remember which night or which menu it was.

[Orangegurl]

I think this is the menu. We will be enjoying this meal on our upcoming Homelands cruise in May.

[OneSixtyToOne]

5 hours ago, Orangegurl said:

I think this is the menu. We will be enjoying this meal on our upcoming Homelands cruise in May.

 Thanks.

With the exception of the octopus appetizer, this sounds great.

[CCWineLover]

57 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 Thanks.

With the exception of the octopus appetizer, this sounds great.

 

 

That is indeed the menu we had last week.

I can tell you that the appetizer was quite tender and quite delicious.  I actually like octopus and it didn't even taste like octopus.  The tamale was quite good, and delicate.  But the short ribs and the desert were to die for.  I took some pics and will post shortly.   Just looked at our reservations - it is for Day 6 (April 30) and now shows it to be Asian Panorama.  When we made the reservations, they did not show which menu was on which date, so it was a bit blind.

[CCWineLover]

Here are pics I took last week of the Mexican meal at Chef's Table aboard the SEA.   The Short Ribs in Mole, along with the Chocolat Dessert.   Quite excellent!   And of course, we had excellent service as well and some very good wines to pair with the meal.  Hope this whets your appetite.

[Orangegurl]

2 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Here are pics I took last week of the Mexican meal at Chef's Table aboard the SEA.   The Short Ribs in Mole, along with the Chocolat Dessert.   Quite excellent!   And of course, we had excellent service as well and some very good wines to pair with the meal.  Hope this whets your appetite.

Thanks CCWineLover! This looks delightful. We board in 75 days - can’t wait!

[Dauntless]

12 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

 

That is indeed the menu we had last week.

I can tell you that the appetizer was quite tender and quite delicious.  I actually like octopus and it didn't even taste like octopus.  The tamale was quite good, and delicate.  But the short ribs and the desert were to die for.  

 

Let me say that if you have had these foods before and didn't like them, don't go with an attitude.  I do like salmon anyway I have had it but on the Northern European menu it is featured.  Both of us were not fans of previous salmon but we honestly did not even taste it in the dish it was featured--or so it appeared from menu description.  Theses are sampling presentations and so you aren't eating 'chicken fried steak' portions.  This is the experience that you might not do at home(I'm one of those because serving this way usually comes with a hefty price tag at gourmet restaurants and I don't want to stretch the t be disappointed).  For the price it's worth the adventure since you're on an "explore's' adventure.  There is plenty of other food around if you want other options. once you leave.

[CCWineLover]

14 hours ago, Dauntless said:

 

Let me say that if you have had these foods before and didn't like them, don't go with an attitude.  I do like salmon anyway I have had it but on the Northern European menu it is featured.  Both of us were not fans of previous salmon but we honestly did not even taste it in the dish it was featured--or so it appeared from menu description.  Theses are sampling presentations and so you aren't eating 'chicken fried steak' portions.  This is the experience that you might not do at home(I'm one of those because serving this way usually comes with a hefty price tag at gourmet restaurants and I don't want to stretch the t be disappointed).  For the price it's worth the adventure since you're on an "explore's' adventure.  There is plenty of other food around if you want other options. once you leave.

 

Yes, Dauntless, we agree with you.  The Chef's Table is great since it is an experience we don't normally have at home, and being on a cruise like Viking's is a great chance to try things you wouldn't normally have - plus it's fun to learn about the different preparations and different wine pairings.  A truly enjoyable experience everytime we've eaten there.

As for the portions, we found there was plenty for us to fill up.  Of course, for those who eat more volume, one can always go to the World Cafe afterwards and get more food and/or do room service.

I always try to book the Chef's table early, and find that we can get additional reservations in the back half of the cruises when people who don't like the experience, cancel out of their reservations.