When Celebrity Cruises announced the specialty dining venues for Celebrity Edge, they debuted the Le Petit Chef dining experience produced in conjunction with Skullmapping and TableMotion. When the Celebrity Revolution fleet revitalization project was announced, Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo shared plans to bring the chef to a new home in Qsine on the Millennium and Solstice-class ships. When I was on Celebrity Infinity in mid-November 2018 (read the live blog here), I had the opportunity to meet Le Petit Chef and try his menu.
In this version, the tiny French chef is joined by a Spanish chef, an Italian chef, and a Japanese chef — all of the same diminutive proportions. The four agree to a cooking competition where they’ll each produce one course of a four-course meal. At the end, the audience will judge the winner.
The Dinner
The Spanish chef plays bullfighter and employs the assistance of a bull to produce a tomato salad with a creamy pesto sauce. The Italian chef continues the theme of farm-fresh ingredients and animal labor by having the pig power a millstone to make the ravioli dough. The Italian chef also manages to surgically remove some pancetta from the pig with no impact to the pig at all.
Le Petit Chef takes the stage to prepare the meat course with a pommes frites just like my dad makes. The Japanese chef brings the meal to a close with a matcha green tea cake roll.
With dessert served, the chefs stand back and let the audience select the winner. The audience-favorite chef wins the Golden Chef’s Hat and petit bragging rights for the evening.
The Menu
Like Le Petit Chef on Celebrity Infinity, each course of the four-course meal has two options. One of the options is what the animated chef will prepare and the other option is a backup in case of a dietary preference. The alternative menu options were the same at both Le Petit Chef experiences: French onion soup, sea bass, chicken breast, fruit sorbets.
My Second Visit with Le Petit Chef
While I might not consider any particular instance of Le Petit Chef has high repeatability, the dining experience does have high repeatability across versions. It was happy to see another chapter in the Le Petit Chef story. I could see myself going to a third version of Le Petit Chef to see this character’s new adventures.
Comparing the Restaurants of the Original and its Sequel
When Le Petit Chef takes place in Qsine, the space is enclosed and already has eccentric furniture foreshadowing a unique experience. On Celebrity Edge, the venue is Le Grand Bistro which is open on one wall and has French furniture. I strongly prefer the Qsine venue. If Le Petit Chef is a success, I’d rather see Le Petit Chef on Celebrity Apex take what makes the Qsine space a match for the whimsy of Le Petit Chef and decorate the restaurant to match. That means a more secluded space to insulate the restaurant from the sounds of the Grand Plaza.
Special thanks to Jose for the pictures and videos.
Bottom Line
The chef-produced menu was enjoyable at every course. The Italian chef’s truffle ravioli was the winner for me though I was surprisingly pleased by the Japanese chef’s match green tea cake given the green tea cakes I’ve had at other restaurants at sea. The steak was cooked excellently and the pommes frites, as I mentioned were close to my father’s in a very pleasing way.
I recommend a visit to Le Petit Chef onboard any of the ships the experience is offered on. The chef’s solo meal and the meal made in friendly competition are some very well prepared food with a fun and unique way to enjoy the courses.
Le Petit Chef takes place at 6pm and 8:30pm in Le Grand Bistro for $55 per person.
Celebrity Edge Live Blog - Preamble
Celebrity Edge Live Blog - Embarkation Day
Celebrity Edge Live Blog - Day 2 - Nassau
