Cruise Travel...

BEHIND THE SCENES:  CELEBRITY CHEF MICHEL ROUX

For the man who raised the standards of cruise cuisine, life is definitely a menu

With the release of his autobiography, Life is a Menu, Michel Roux has once again brought cruise food to the forefront of public discussion. Possibly more than any other person in the modern era of cruising, Roux has made quality the main ingredient for cruise dining, rather than simply quantity.  Since starting with Celebrity Cruises, the world famous chef has been an incredibly active culinary and wine consultant. Roux continues to create the fleet's award-winning menus, develops the wine lists, and assists with the training of the executive restaurant staff's training.

It all started with a wedding back in 1989. Roux says, "In 1989, the ship owner John Chandris, who co-founded the line that ultimately became Celebrity Cruises, asked me if I would cater for a family wedding in Athens." This was a giant affair of more than 750 people and the success of it drove Chandris to ask Roux if he could do the same for groups of cruise ship passengers. "This meal so impressed John Chandris that he decided I could probably apply that same engineering precision to boats and cruises. Not one ship had yet been built for Celebrity Cruises, but I was brought in as a consultant and had a hand in designing the galleys, cold rooms, etc....all because of one (although not so small) wedding party."

Roux takes at least three cruises a year on Celebrity's eight-ship fleet to evaluate the quality and performance of the entire Celebrity culinary operation. Alternating with his visits, Roux's sous chefs also review the ships to ensure the quality and presentation of the cuisine maintain Celebrity's (and his) high standards. Many chefs who worked with Roux on Celebrity ships or at his famed Waterside Inn in England have gone on to successful careers and restaurants of their own.

Roux revises and updates ship menus approximately every six months, though many longtime favorites of Roux's (and Celebrity's palate-pleased following of repeat cruisers) have been on the ship menus from the start. Roux says, "I'd say there are at least 30 items on the menus at any given time that were on that first ship with Celebrity. I love these dishes and, obviously, so do the guests." Several of these favorites, including goujonettes de sole au sauternes (strips of sole poached in Sauternes), coq au vin a la Bourguignonne (chicken casserole in red wine), and tarte des demouiselles tatin (upside-down apple tart), are also featured in Roux's Life is a Menu.

He is recognized as one of the world's foremost French chefs and has won many awards from the world's most noted culinary institutions. The Waterside Inn, his restaurant near London, is one of the highest-rated restaurants in the UK.  He has authored numerous cookbooks besides Life is a Menu, which has received rave reviews from the food press. We went behind the scenes with Roux aboard the Galaxy for a Northern Europe sailing, culinary evaluation, book signing, and more.

In the Galley & More

Roux has somehow successfully translated his onshore experience at The Waterside Inn and elsewhere into a unique gourmet dining experience on all Celebrity ships. The ongoing result for Celebrity's guests is a gourmet dining experience at sea on par with many of the finest white tablecloth restaurants on land.

Once onboard, Roux is a whirlwind of activity when it comes to quality control. He's constantly roaming the galley, tasting and talking, but he's also busy reviewing menus with his partners from the Apollo Group, a well-known restaurant management company in Miami, as well as with Celebrity Cruises on-board staff. This triumvirate is a team that develops and refines the entire Celebrity dining experience. "From the start, Celebrity has been incredibly dedicated to high-quality dining," says Roux. "How many lines involve their head chefs in board meetings and before ships are even built?"

Along with many galley visits, Roux also tries virtually every dining possibility a guest would experience, often including: both seatings in the main dining room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; various buffet offerings; Roux's evening concept, called 'Gourmet Bites,' where roving servers provide bite-size culinary creations; Celebrity's innovative 'intimate dining' experience (another Roux innovation); the famed midnight grand buffet; cabin service; and more. His popularity with passengers is easy to see, with lines for book-signings and everyone delighting in the chance to meet the master chef.

But it's in the galley that you can see Roux is really in his element. In fact, he actually came up with the idea of shipboard 'mirror kitchens.' There are two identical kitchens on the port and starboard sides of the ships, essentially allowing one kitchen to work on one meal and the other to work on the next. Of course, this doesn't decrease the fresh preparation of any meal (for which Roux is quite proud). "It was a great innovation, in that it keeps preparation of each meal orderly and dishes freshly prepared," says Roux.

These new kitchens help with the numbers games that ships must ultimately play and of which Roux is definitely aware. His Waterside Inn typically serves 140 meals in a night, while Celebrity ships will serve about 2,500. "The volume of food is still truly amazing to consider," he says. "I've calculated that 10 chefs on a ship each spend three or four hours every day simply moving food."

While roaming the Galaxy galley, Roux noted that the ship will typically go through more than 21,000 pounds of beef, a like amount of vegetables, about 85,000 eggs (the French love to cook with eggs!), 30 pounds of herbs and spices, and more than 3,500 bottles of wine and champagne during a typical seven-day cruise. Guests in the know also enjoy Roux's private label sparkling wine, which is made from grapes in his own vineyard in Provence. Of wines, Roux says, "I like all wines: whites, reds, both dry and sweet. I adore wine in general in the same way that I adore food in general."

For an incredible combination of food and wine onboard, the 'midnight buffet’ is still one of Roux's favorites, in that it allows him and his staff to showcase their skills for all of the senses. "Some 50 chefs from different continents work for several days, and their work gives a flavor of each country and continent," he said.  "The end result looks like an international culinary exhibition, a feast for the eyes and palate."

Thus, whether it's in the galley, at a grand buffet, or with his book, Michel Roux's love of food has translated perfectly to cruising for Celebrity Cruises. For him, life at sea is truly a menu to enjoy.