Michel Roux replacement named!

[RLM77]

Celebrity Cruises Taps 'Rising Star' Van Staden as VP, Food & Beverage

 

Celebrity has named Michel Roux's replacement. Link to press release below!

 

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070605/cltu060.html?.v=88

[Kapricorn]

Interesting! Many thanks for the link.

 

I am looking forward to Jacques Van Staden's cuisine on my next cruise, and to find out how it compares with what I've enjoyed on past Celebrity cruises.

 

Donald.

[LeftcoastBC]

He's certainly been "Touted" by some people that should know. I hope he stays with X longer than most of his previous endeavours.

[Host Joe]

Wow, big news! Thanks for posting it!

[CruznTom]

For a brief History - Link

[cruiselover68]

Jacques Van Staden's biography link:

 

http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2005/las_vegas/html/j_staden_bio.shtml

[mason525]

Thanks for posting this. I especially appreciated the bio & photo. He's quite handsome! Meg

[florisdekort]

He is not Michael Roux's replacement (and nowhere does it say so in the press release). Van Staden's position and responsibilities are quite different.

 

Michael Roux lended his name to Celebrity, created some of the menu items, trained the ship's executive chefs at his UK restaurant, and visited the ships once every two years to check on quality.

 

Van Staden however is accepting a full time management job at Celebrity.

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[FinelyCruising]

Well my read of the release tells me he ain't gonna be no pencil pusher!

[ocngypz]

VP of F&B is a desk jockey position in Miami. Think Contracts Manager.

M. Roux's position was not the same.

[excitedofharpenden]

Well my read of the release tells me he ain't gonna be no pencil pusher!

That's my read of it too, Cheryl. The words "Van Staden now will oversee Celebrity Cruises' food and beverage operations across the fleet, and will play an integral role in shaping the line's evolving culinary program" seem to confirm that.

 

It will be interesting to see what the changes are.

 

Phil

[oldmovieguy]

Thought it may have been Jamie Oliver replacing Roux!

[GORDONCHICK]

Thought it may have been Jamie Oliver replacing Roux!

 

The "Naked Chef" could have redone the menu and dress code all at the same time!

[uktog]

well he is better than FFFF G Ramsay

[SwampThing]

Sure hope that he knows how to cook aligator. We love aligator.:D

[6502programmer]

well he is better than FFFF G Ramsay

 

Ya know, I wouldn't mind seeing him on a cruise. I think it might be quite entertaining, as long as I wasn't one of his staff! :eek:

[bigwally]

Sure hope that he knows how to cook aligator. We love aligator.

 

Hmmmm! Me too....in a nice jambalaya. :)

[Nonna and Papa]

If Mr.Von Staden has accepted a VP position, then I would be very willing to bet that he will not be a working Chef. Michel Roux "oversaw" the Celebrity food service by writing menus and training the different executive chefs that run the various ship's kitchens. He visited the ships at intervals, but unless he entertained by doing a cooking demonstration, his was, for the most part, an occasional hands on supervisor. And of couse, he had a culinary reputation that brought added weight to an emerging higher standard sought by Celebrity.

 

In the hierarchy of the commercial kitchen, the executive chef has a staff of chefs de cuisine, sous chefs, pastry and grade manger chefs, to name a few. These are the professionals (hopefully) that do the day to day meal preparation. The staff also consists of various cooks and other ancillary staff that assist with salads, and prep work.

 

I would venture an educated guess that the new VP will be a decision maker with a culinary background, and an interest in broading his name recognition by being associated with Celebrity, as they further tout their food service.

 

Mary

[RLM77]

The fact that X issued a press release on Mr. Van Staden's hiring indicates that he is the marquee name that they were seeking to replace Chef Roux's. It seems virtually certain that there will be no high profile consulting chefs on board as long as Mr. Van Staden is around.

 

RCL obtains some real benefits by having their star chef on the payroll (as an employee) rather than on a consulting contract. Chef Roux likely had no reason to focus on anything but quality. His name was associated with Celebrity and he was likely being paid a fixed price for his name and expertise. There was thus no reason (or incentive) for him to focus on anything other maintaining his good name by insisting on a high quality product.

 

In contrast, Mr. Van Staden is a high level employee and is no doubt eligible for stock options, cash bonuses, etc. if he meets or exceeds certain objectives. One of these objectives is almost certainly to reduce costs without negatively impacting bookings. I therefore expect that he will be much more focussed on the cost side than was Chef Roux.

 

The thing to watch is whether or not anyone outside of RCCL management notices. If Mr. Van Staden does his job right, food costs will be reduced and few, if any pax will see a difference. Some passengers may even see improvements, as it appears that Mr. Van Staden is more innovative than the very traditional Michel Roux. If passengers notice a decline in quality then Mr. Van Staden has overdone and the company may suffer as a result.

 

This is a change that bears watching. It may turn out to be a step forward for X, or it may pull the line down to RCI/Princess food quality standards. In any case, I expect that X's food costs will increase less over the next few quarters/years than their other expenses.

 

Rich

[BILLP1]

It still comes down to the per diem rate per person paid on Celebrity that will decide what is on the menu.. You get what you pay for.

[Davey Interweb]

well he is better than FFFF G Ramsay

 

Oh god, having Gordon Ramsey on board would be all kinds of awesome. He's a better businessman that anyone at the X executive level could ever hope to be.

[Sparkle 123]

Just got back from the Century, and the maitre D in Muranos told us the new chef to replace Michel Roux is a lady. Her first name was Isabel but I can't for the life of me remember her surname (sorry). As we are from the UK it wasn't a familiar name to us but maybe if she is well known in the US you may know who she is.

Apparantly the new menus in the specaility restaurants are going to be introduced by September but thankfully they are keeping the Goats cheese souffle!

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

He's certainly been "Touted" by some people that should know. I hope he stays with X longer than most of his previous endeavours.

 

In the food and beverage business, moving around is how a young professional learns a broad range of skills. I would not consider that to be a negative.

[Davey Interweb]

In the food and beverage business, moving around is how a young professional learns a broad range of skills. I would not consider that to be a negative.

 

Yep, and neither would I. This applies to many fields. I'm a software developer for a very specific industry, and after four years working for the same company (and an outstanding one to work for, at that) I feel like one of the senior citizens within the company. The era of working a lifetime for a single company is over; the norm in my field is two or three years and an employee's corporate loyalty has all but vanished -- and probably for the best. I offer my company a specific skillset that they need, they in turn give me plenty of money and free time and I pick up additional skills I can use to pad my resume. It's win-win. I'd think that it'd be no different a climb for a skilled, ambitious chef.

[2ladies]

Oh god, having Gordon Ramsey on board would be all kinds of awesome. He's a better businessman that anyone at the X executive level could ever hope to be.

 

Well said!! Celebrity could do with a shake-up - and he would most certainly do that:D