Chef's Table, everything you want to know

[Carolyn R]

Each ship has one maitre d' hotel. On the CB, his name is Guiseppe Franchina. Your best bet is to call the consierge as soon as you get to your cabin and ask to be put on the list for the Chef's Table.

 

Of note, no one in our group on the CB was allergic to anything and we had both crab and lobster, as well as caviar. I think that they may have altered the menu if someone was allergic to shellfish.

 

Also, all the women receive a cookbook. Pretty sexist huh? I treated my friend Cathy for her birthday and we both got cookbooks, which are pretty amazing I should say with quite a few favorites from the menu, e.g. Princess' Escargot a la Bourguignonne, onion soup, rack of lamb, eggplant parmigiana, baked Alaska, as well as many other desserts, pastas, chilled soups etc. No twice-baked goat cheese souffle though. I asked Princess for that recipe but have not heard back yet. Amazing!

[Pia1913]

Each ship has one maitre d' hotel. On the CB, his name is Guiseppe Franchina. Your best bet is to call the consierge as soon as you get to your cabin and ask to be put on the list for the Chef's Table.

 

Of note, no one in our group on the CB was allergic to anything and we had both crab and lobster, as well as caviar. I think that they may have altered the menu if someone was allergic to shellfish.

 

Also, all the women receive a cookbook. Pretty sexist huh? I treated my friend Cathy for her birthday and we both got cookbooks, which are pretty amazing I should say with quite a few favorites from the menu, e.g. Princess' Escargot a la Bourguignonne, onion soup, rack of lamb, eggplant parmigiana, baked Alaska, as well as many other desserts, pastas, chilled soups etc. No twice-baked goat cheese souffle though. I asked Princess for that recipe but have not heard back yet. Amazing!

 

Giuseppe Franchina is on the CB? I know him quite well, since we've been on the PP many times and he was on there for years. I wonder whose idea it was to send him to the caribbean instead of the exotics.

 

Pia

[cruisinbuddy]

I also forgot to mention that the Chef presents all of the ladies with a rose, and the couples recieve the cookbook. OK, two ladies, each get a book.

Trinalc, talk to the Maitr'D in your dining room or your head waiter to get your name on the list. The "interview" was to find out if you're healthy and if you'll eat anything. It doesn't matter which dining room. You meet in a specific location, ie., the Inernational Cafe, and the Maitr'd will lead you the rest of the way.

[vickie_bernie]

it is the best "excursion" as it was like a special event to us we had ever done.

 

 

thanks for sharing

 

click on the link in my signature to watch the video of the Chef's Table experience

[TrinaLC]

Thanks for the advice everyone! We sail Sunday, can't wait!

[cruzmaven]

Thank you for the detailed review, it sounds wonderful. We tried to do the chef's table on the Emerald last December but they weren't offering it during our cruise. I asked about it but wasn't given a clear answer as to why. I believe there was a noro threat at the time. I know there were a lot of reports of people getting sick with noro the sailing AFTER us, and on our sailing they were very careful in the dining rooms, no salt and pepper shakers on the tables, etc. I'm not sure though why that would effect the Chef's table. I glad that you got to experience it and were able to share it with the rest of us. Thanks again.

[vickie_bernie]

Thank you for the detailed review, it sounds wonderful. We tried to do the chef's table on the Emerald last December but they weren't offering it during our cruise. I asked about it but wasn't given a clear answer as to why. I believe there was a noro threat at the time. I know there were a lot of reports of people getting sick with noro the sailing AFTER us, and on our sailing they were very careful in the dining rooms, no salt and pepper shakers on the tables, etc. I'm not sure though why that would effect the Chef's table. I glad that you got to experience it and were able to share it with the rest of us. Thanks again.

 

yes we sailed Jan 15 and they had only had the Chef's table back for one sailing before ours. They did say it was because of the Norowalk virus threat and they just couldn't risk it. Guess that is a good reason.

[cruisinbuddy]

Thanks for the advice everyone! We sail Sunday, can't wait!

Well you'll have to let us know how it went, please.

[TrinaLC]

Thanks for such a great, detailed review. I was glad to see that your menu wasn't overly seafood/shellfish. I want to participate in the Chef's Table on the CB in April but am allergic to shellfish. Do you know if any others in your group also were allergic or told the maitre'd/chef that they didn't particularly care for something like during the questioning process?

 

We just did this on the Caribbean Princess. (It was wonderful!). One participant had a shellfish allergy and so for her they replaced the lobster risotto with a mushroom risotto. She had to skip the crab appetizer.

 

We were not asked if there was anything we didn't "care" for. The menu is pretty set and except for an allergy accomodation I wouldn't expect they would change things.

 

My daughter chose not to try the caviar or the snail appetizers, but tried everything else - the Chef was appreciative of how much she did try, and very supportive! My husband who has never cared for caviar actually did try and and liked it. So hopefully adults who participate will try pretty much everything, and young adults will get out of their comfort zone on most things.

[TrinaLC]

Giuseppe Franchina is on the CB? I know him quite well, since we've been on the PP many times and he was on there for years. I wonder whose idea it was to send him to the caribbean instead of the exotics.

 

Pia

 

We just attended Chef Franchina's wonderful chef's table on the CB. What a charming man (and wonderful chef!)

[TrinaLC]

Well you'll have to let us know how it went, please.

 

As you'll have seen from my other posts, it was truly wonderful!

 

We called the concierge as soon as we got into our stateroom (about 12:15), and our names were put on a list. The next day, Monday, we got a letter asking us to report to the Palm dining room where we met with Luis from Mexico as the Maitre d' was tied up. Luis asked about allergies, gave us a general idea what to expect.

 

We then got a formal invitation from the Chef. The dinner itself was scheduled for Wednesday (7 day cruise, boarding Sunday). Others have described in some detail, so won't repeat, but it was really the highlight of this and all other cruises!

 

I hope they can keep these up. It seems that it takes up a lot of time of some very important senior officials - the head chef, the maitre D' and other pretty senior staff. We even had the Commodore who was 'captaining' the CB that week come down to into the galley to greet the group!!)