The Chef's Table...Throw Away the Calorie Counter!

We enjoyed a couple of sea days…read books, napped, played trivia. We had another formal night where the guys are now balking at suits/tuxes and ties.

Gina’s creation of the day…it made me laugh when I walked into the room. She is so talented!

And then it was St. Patrick's Day…the ship was nicely decorated.

There were lots of food decorations too! 

Flowers made out of turnips…

Yum! Cake!

On our last cruise we really enjoyed the Chef’s Table and Barb and Ed were game to try it. Our invitation…

It began with a tour of the galley at dinner time. Jayson, one of our favourite waiters…strangely, on St. Patrick’s Day, it was Italian night!

Giovanni explaining how the kitchen works…

Spotless kitchen…

The waiters stop at each station to pick up the number of servings they need.

Hamming it up for us!

Patricio, the sommelier, spoke English very well. When we asked him where he learned to speak such good English, he said "Winnipeg" (or Winter-peg as they affectionately call it!). He was born in Chile, but grew up in Canada.

The champagne was excellent. You could have as much as you want, but it’s best to pace yourself!

Ice sculpture…

Enjoying our champagne…

The Chef, Remo Bolis, serving us steak tartare. It’s not normally one of my favourites, but it was delicious.

After the appetizers, we headed into the dining room, where we had a special table with flowers and candles (usually a no-no).

Our first course was actually a mushroom risotto accompanied by a wonderful white wine, but I forgot to take a picture. It was followed by strawberry sorbet with black pepper.

To which the Chef added a full jigger of vodka…

The next course was steak, lamb, lobster tail, scallops…it was amazing and served with a smooth red wine.

The Chef doing the final cooking of the steaks…

And then everyone jumped in to plate it…

The steak was to die for…

Next course was cheese…I would say by now we had about two hours in.

Scurrying to get it ready…

The Chef was wonderful. He said it is so nice to actually see people enjoying his food. Normally, they are so busy in the kitchen, they don't get out to talk with the passengers.

Barb looks like she has fallen in love. Sorry, Ed!

The baked camembert…

Roses for the ladies and signed cookbooks…Remo was the nicest person. He was always smiling and so happy to talk to everyone.

Biscotti and amaretti…served with dessert wine.

And the Pastry Chef presenting his pièce de résistance…

A work of art…it’s all edible. The bowl is made of sugar. Fantastic! It got a round of applause.

An 8x10 photograph for a memento…

And a copy of the menu…fantastic evening!