What's it like to dine at Curtis Stone's new restaurant Share on the Emerald Princess

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This was published 7 years ago

What's it like to dine at Curtis Stone's new restaurant Share on the Emerald Princess

By Keith Austin
Updated
Share by Curtis Stone on the  Emerald Princess.

Share by Curtis Stone on the Emerald Princess.

We are sitting at the communal table in the new Share by Curtis Stone restaurant on the Emerald Princess cruise ship as it plies the English Channel northwards towards Norway when one of the British journalists present asks an unexpected question.

"Who is Curtis Stone? Is he famous in Australia?"

Famous? He's the face of Coles.

"What's Coles?"

The explanation – that it's the Australian equivalent of Tesco in Britain – doesn't seem to fill her with confidence. Perhaps it's a cultural misunderstanding; after all, doesn't Jamie spruik for Woolworths?

More importantly, it throws up a curious realisation: there is no Curtis Stone restaurant in Australia and never has been. Apart from the Surfing the Menu TV show with Ben O'Donohue, the Melbourne-born celebrity chef's career has mostly taken off overseas. In the early days of his career he worked for Marco Pierre White in London and in early 2014 he opened his first restaurant, Maude, in Beverly Hills.

In Australia, on the other hand, it's been all TV shows and Coles ads. Which makes this shared tasting table on the Emerald Princess such a special experience – and it helps that the food is wonderful.

Designed by 40-year-old Stone and put into practice on three of the Princess ships (Emerald, Sun and Ruby) by Christian Dortch, executive chef and Stone's eyes and hands at sea, the menu includes a charcuterie starter, butter poached lobster with caramelised endive, a twice-cooked duck leg, beef cheek pie with porcini mushrooms and tagliatelle with roasted Alaskan crab.

It's a menu that's short – just the one starter plate, four appetisers, five mains and three desserts – but sweet. The charcuterie plate features beautiful jamon Iberico, a piquant fennel-flavoured salami (finocchiona) and chicken liver parfait with house-made pickles, fat green olives and bread.

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The food is fresh, fabulous and simple; the duck leg just crisp enough on the outside yet succulent beneath the skin; the poached lobster is super sweet and still tastes of the sea while the quality beef cheek in the pie, which comes in an enamel ramekin topped with a crusty pastry lid, is robust and tender. I like the theatre of gravy being added at the table through a hole in the pastry.

The roasted crab tagliatelle is excellent, as is a surprising side of melted leeks, confit egg yolk and brioche breadcrumbs, which made a mockery of Stone's plate-sharing concept because nobody was getting near mine after that first mouthful.

The restaurant itself is beautifully realised, finished in muted brown and grey palettes, with regular tables for those who prefer to dine alone and a long, high communal table for the more convivial. On the wall in the private dining room off to one side is a framed copy of Stone's first recipe, a colourful recipe for "humble orange cake" written out in what looks like black, green and red crayon.

For cruisers with little knowledge about Stone, his Share concept or fine dining in general, there is a clever two-hour open house session (with free champagne or mimosas) at the start of each cruise during which the dishes – each one a small work of art – are laid out on the communal table and the waiters and chefs come out to explain each one.

You can eat a la carte but the fixed $39 price a person option, which allows a selection of up to five dishes, is the bargain of the century for food of this calibre. Get two or three people together and you can pretty much cover the whole menu. It's made for sharing, after all.

On the more casual side, the Emerald Princess has the Salty Dog pub where you can get your teeth into The Ernesto, a burger that Cruise Critic Australia recently voted Best Burger at Sea. Designed by Argentine chef Ernesto Uchimura, it consists of a tower of ground rib-eye and short rib patty, grilled pork belly, caramelised kimchi, Gruyere cheese, beer-battered jalapenos and charred onion. Frankly, I didn't know whether to eat it or climb it.

All this is slammed into a brioche bun, which I'm a bit over to be honest, but this is an exception – a dizzying confection of different tastes and textures with a choice of sweet potato or truffle-parmesan fries. For your $19 you also get an appetizer of breadsticks with a cheese dipping sauce and three small gourmet tasting plates from a choice of 11 items. Again, a bargain. The wild mushroom saute and the beef short ribs are standouts. Wash it all down with one of the cruise line's own Sea Witch craft beers; the Denali Red is particularly good.

Keith Austin travelled as a guest of Princess Cruises.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

www.princess.com

THE CRUISE

The Emerald Princess will be transferring to Australia in November to undertake several cruises in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific. For more information about its itinerary and bookings see a licensed travel agent, visit princess.com or call Princess Cruises on 13 24 88.

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