Sad News for old time X fans, Michel Roux passes

[dkjretired]

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

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

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.

[norn iron]

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. 

[mahdnc]

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.

[Jim_Iain]

So sad to hear.   He rally made a positive impact on celebrity menu and food.

 

 

[JFontaine]

His work set the bar of quality in the beginning, something that I believe continues today.  Peace to his family. 

[hcat]

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!

[CGTNORMANDIE]

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.  

[Von & John]

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

[reallyhooked]

Condolences to family and friends 

[Tenderpaw]

"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.

[mygreyhound66]

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!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We remember his food well, especially the swan puff pastries. We were quite impressed on our 1st sailing with Celebrity.

[abritinva]

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

[dkjretired]

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

[dcbiker97]

Does anyone have scans of what the menus were? His recipes were featured on our first few cruises and were fantastic. 

[Host Anne]

Those were the days.....sorry to read this sad news.  Thanks for posting this, Don!

 

[maggie.1008]

I wish I had kept some of the pictures of those meals with the silver service in the MDR. Food was the best !

[Tenderpaw]

Anyone else remember "Celebrity Dressing" for salads?  OMG, i loved that stuff.  I'm pretty sure its gone now...

[ocngypz]

Ah.... those were the days.  Yes, the Celebrity Dressing - loved it!!

 

Respose en paix, Michel.

[BEAV]

Shades of Mercury, February 2000. Dining in the MDR resembled a night in Murano today. Our first Celebrity Cruise. We were blown away. 

[MEcruzr]

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.

[floridatravelersforlife]

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.     

[richsea]

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.

[mahdnc]

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.