Elevated cuisine set for Regent Cruise's Seven Seas Splendor
Arriving at Eric Barale Culinary Center for a sneak peek of the menu for Seven Seas Splendor, Regent Seven Seas Cruise's ship set to debut in February 2020, I was filled with anticipation at what to expect.
Upon entering the beautiful Center, named for the Apollo Group's Senior Culinary Director and Executive Chef Eric Barale, it was evident this would be a special evening when I spotted the numerous bottles of Veuve Clicquot on ice.
Watching the team working in the open kitchen, under the direction of Bernhard Klotz, culinary director of Regent Seven Seas as they prepared our seven-course meal was equal to a symphony in perfect harmony. These are the delicious dishes we enjoyed.
My favorite of the passed bites was a mini version of the Croque Madame sandwich with a beautiful sunny side egg on top.
We started the meal with two Amuse Bouche, one-bite appetizers that consisted of a sweet potato and oat tart a plant based blend of roasted cauliflower, broccoli, pine nut-basil pesto, cashew cheese and fried capers followed by the Siberian Osetra caviar with smoked haddock mousse and lemon cream. Both packed tremendous flavor into that one bite. 200 plant-based items are planned for the Seven Seas Splendor menu.
Appetizers followed with a fresh, colorful assortment of sashimi including tuna, salmon and hamachi first, then it was on to the seared diver scallop with cured pork belly confit and orange pomegranate sauce and ending with the applewood smoked salmon steak with asparagus in a tamarind-whiskey sauce.
Before I move on to describe the entree I want to note that we were served individual portions of all the courses which I appreciated. It was easy to sample everything this way because next we had the main course, a veal rack loin with caramelized endive, grape chutney and walnut veal jus. Had they served a full portion of this I would not have been able to finish.
And believe me, I wanted to finish because the floating island of french meringue with pink praline and creme anglaise was a beauty both on the plate and on the palate.
I loved every bite of this meal and I am sure passengers of the Seven Seas Splendor will too once it sets sail in February 2020.
