Working in the Operations team for Ocean Village, it’s not every day you get to spend time with celebrity chef James Martin, but last week I happened to be on board when he was cruising with us. It was great fun for me and the passengers who bumped into him around the ship.
James joined the ship in Cephalonia a day after me to catch up with his crew in his restaurant The Bistro, and even managed to don his chef whites and squeeze in a cookery demo on deck. We usually have a bit of healthy rivalry in 'cook-offs' between The Bistro and La Luna, but this time it was all about James. In his usual laid-back style, he made panfried scallops with a pea shoot salad and at one point he even pretended to use his tea towel to blow his nose. Don't worry though - he quickly covered his tracks by producing the famous hand sanitiser we all know and love for a quick hygiene lesson! Nevertheless, as you can imagine the end result looked delicious, leading to a stampede in the direction of the buffet lunch!
James showing off his stuff
Whenever I’ve seen James on the ship he’s always a massive hit, and this time was no exception. It was pretty obvious he’d arrived on the ship when I found a huge queue in the Village Square waiting for him to sign his cook books, and the Bistro was buzzing the whole time he was onboard. I overheard one diner saying they could even watch him and his team cooking their dinner in the galley on the TV screens mounted on the walls, so I guess he’d stopped joking around by then! In fact, I was even told that James had mentioned to the Hotel Director that he was so happy with his team in the Bistro that he was going to book them all onto a helicopter ride as a thank you. Now, that’s the kind of boss I want!
Before he left the ship I managed to catch James for a quick pint in Connexions but he was soon off chatting to passengers, posing for photos and signing autographs. Hopefully I’ll be able to grab some more time with him when he’s next on board Ocean Village in September.
Paul
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