CRUISE FOCUS
For example, the line boasts the finest patis- serie, bread and baguettes at sea. The ingredients are expensive – Planchot and Viron flour, Elle and Vire butter – and the personnel who work with it, equally so. Garanger elaborates: “I contacted Mi- chel Galloyer in 2004 to come onboard to improve our bread programme.” French master baker Galloyer, who has a string of prestige patisseries in Paris, now works with Olivier Simon, Oceania’s Corporate Pastry Chef, to ensure optimum quality across the fleet. Garanger continues: “It was a big increase in our budget but the result was such a success Frank del Rio decided to keep it and now it costs $600,000 a year to run the programme.” Following him around the galleys of the vessel, one realises the scale and complexity of the opera- tion. Different galleys have different speeds, moods and rhythms.
A significant number of the senior kitchen bri-
gade are French and, although the lingua franca of the kitchen is English, Garanger slips in and out of his native tongue as he moves around the vessel. The galley servicing the Grand Dining Room is large, noisy and regimented. Garanger hustles among the chefs, steam and the noise, his eyes on pans and departing dishes. Now and again he will stop to sample something. Yet his presence here is more symbolic than
practical; he is there to keep everyone on their toes. He will be back in an hour, having passed by four more galleys and, en route, having run an eye over The Terrace Buffet, the ship’s inside/outside dining venue.
In the adjoining galleys of La Toscana and The
Polo Grill – the latter being a dedicated steak house – the rhythm shifts down a gear, the sounds are more muted. In Toscana’s galley, Franck stops to personally complete the presentation of plump, pumpkin ravioli into deep, warmed dishes.
P “I have a DREAM JOB
that’s UNIQUE in the cruise world – it is 100 PERCENT CREATIVE”
64 WORLD OF CRUISING I Autumn 2011
assing through the Red Ginger kitchen – the ship’s Asian showcase restaurant – he pauses to fine-tune an idea. Then he descends eight
decks to drop in on Jacques. The evening happens to be a corporate affair and Garanger is handed a microphone to address the diners. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name
is Franck and I am from France.” The crowd ap- plaud. His pause is perfectly timed. “Well, nobody is perfect.” The crowd laugh. Garanger flashes his engaging, lop-sided smile, wishes them bon ap- petite and bon voyage and heads into the kitchen, a showman as well as a chef. But his visits to the dining floor have a deeper
objective. “I encourage the executive chefs to go out on the floor and meet the people. It’s invaluable feedback, first-hand information on how the food is being received.” All this activity takes place aboard the 66,000- ton, 16-deck Marina, purpose built to accommodate
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