Behind The Scenes With Chef Charles, On Norwegian Escape
byDonna Tunney/
在最近从迈阿密的东部加勒比海航行中,乘坐4,200-Guest挪威逃生TMRcontributor Donna Tunney sat down with the ship's executive chef, Charles Fernandez, to chat about cruise cuisine trends.
TMR: What are you seeing in terms of how food choices have changed among cruise passengers in recent years?
厨师查尔斯:我们的更多客人正在寻找健康的选择。我们现在提供更多的素食,以及越来越多种类型的沙拉。今天,我们使用橄榄油与黄油相比。现在,许多人想要烤鱼而不是油炸,而鸡胸肉也是一个更受欢迎的选择。但是,我们最受欢迎的菜单项目仍然是牛排和鲑鱼。
TMR: What about special diets, such as gluten-free and kosher meals?
厨师查尔斯(Charles):我们正在准备更多无麸质餐点,当然,我们一直提供犹太菜。如果客户事先告诉我们任何要求,这将很有帮助。很多时候,旅行社会在客人甚至上船之前让我们知道这些信息,这是完美的,因为我们提前知道,我们可以确保客人正好得到他或她想要的东西。
TMR: How does the line decide what kinds of specialty venues to offer?
Chef Charles: Well, it's all about what the people want. For instance, we added the Food Republic venue, which is a sushi food court, since sushi has become so popular. But we have alternative restaurants to suit many different tastes, like Le Bistro for French cuisine, Cagney's Steakhouse and La Cucina for Italian food.
TMR: In terms of venue choices, how do the alternative restaurants stack up?
Chef Charles: Cagney's Steakhouse is the No. 1 most popular on Escape, and then after that Le Bistro. But all of the alternative venues are fully booked virtually every night of every cruise. On an average night about 2,700 guests will eat in the complimentary dining rooms, Taste and Savor, while the remaining 1,500 or so will choose a specialty venue. The majority of the people who intend to eat in the specialty restaurants will buy a specialty dining package. (Reporter's note: Dining packages start at $69 per person for a three-dinner package.)
TMR: How has Freestyle Dining, which did away with the traditional two seatings for dinner process, changed the way food is prepared in the kitchens?
Chef Charles: It has made a huge difference in how and when meals are prepared because rather than cooking for half the guests all at one time, for each seating, now we prepare each meal as the order comes in from the wait staff, rather than in advance. Back in 2014 we installed a new computer system that shows the chefs, on a screen in the kitchens, every individual order as it is placed. When the wait staff leaves a table with an order he or she goes directly to a computer and puts in the order. Then, in real time, the chefs are seeing that order on their screen. So everything is prepared in an ongoing way – not all at once. This allows the dish to be created in the most fresh way.
TMR: How long have you worked for Norwegian?
Chef Charles: For 20 years, and I've been on Escape for a year and a half.