Culinary spectacular on cruise

Genting Dream Cruise

Guests onboard Genting Dream recently got to dine on exquisite culinary by celebrity chefs Mark Best and Shane Osborn.

It was gourmet paradise on the high seas for fans of Netflix’s reality cooking competition “The Final Table”. Internationally acclaimed celebrity chefs Mark Best and Shane Osborn partnered up to offer their expertise via “The Final Table @ Sea” on the award-winning Genting Dream cruise ship.

This exclusive culinary spectacular saw the dynamic duo embarking on a five-night cruise from Singapore to Vietnam. They also conducted enrichment talk to share their experience filming the reality TV series in Los Angeles, as well as cooking demonstrations and tasting sessions of the famous Thanksgiving Turkey Burger that were complimented by Hollywood stars Dax Shepherd and Colin Hanks on the TV show.

During this special sailing, Best and Osborn were joined by over 20 media representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines. During shore excursions in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, they visited local markets and learnt the makings of Vietnamese delicacies through an afternoon culinary lesson and explored the cities.

Best is universally recognised for his critically acclaimed Sydney-based restaurant Marque, followed by further success with Pei Modern in Melbourne and Sydney. His cooking is world-renowned and he is among a distinguished few to achieve 19/20 in the Good Food Guide, an independent, anonymous and unbiased annual restaurant guide published by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Meanwhile, Osborn is one of Australia’s greatest chef exports and was the first Australian to be awarded one and then two Michelin stars while he was head chef at London’s acclaimed Pied a Terre. In 2014, Osborn opened his own restaurant, Arcane in Hong Kong, a 32-seater with lush greenery and an impressive kitchen garden, which won its first Michelin star.

When fellow Australian chef Osborn first told Best about The Final Table, his initial reaction was “cynicism” – the self-described approach he applies to everything. But scepticism quickly turned into something else.

Best had recently closed Marque at the time and being asked to team up with Osborn was a huge compliment. “Shane could have asked anyone … on a personal level, it was gratifying,” recalled Best.

Best and Osborn travelled to Los Angeles for casting along with hundreds of other hopefuls. Showbiz is cut-throat, and so was the culling of potential contestants. “Once you had gone through the process, very few were selected,” explained Osborn. “Half of the chefs that went to LA were sent home straight away.”

The pair continued to progress until they were selected to participate in the show, joining 12 teams of two chefs from countries including India, New Zealand, Brazil, France, the United States, Japan and Ecuador.

Genting Dream Cruise

When asked how they dealt with cooking under a time crunch, Best compares the challenges to some of the most intense experiences he’s had in the kitchen.

“It was the hardest service you’d ever done and the most amount of pressure,” said Best. “Shane and I pushed ourselves to the limit to come up with quality dishes that fit the criteria. And then there were things I’ve never worked with like cassava. Professionally, we just had to use our skills to work with things we weren’t familiar with to decode them and turn them into something edible.”

“It showed professional people working their absolute hardest,” concurred Osborn. “I think people resonated with watching people at the peak of their craft.”

Calling the show “one of the greatest experiences of my professional career”, Osborn added that response from their fans has been incredible, especially on social media. “I think that our deep friendship – or rather bromance – came through, and people just responded to it. They also responded to our professionalism, and how we stayed calm under pressure.”

In regard to Genting Dream, the two chefs curated a four-hand six course menu for guests. This collaboration also marked the first post-show partnership between the dynamic duo, while Osborn had his first-ever cruise travel experience with Dream Cruises. “My first cruise experience with Genting Dream was amazing,” enthused Osborn in an interview with the media.

“It has totally exceeded all my expectations with great Asian hospitality in a world-class five-star environment. It’s great working with Mark again and I particularly enjoyed our daily interactions with the ship culinary team and passengers. I look forward to working with Dream Cruises again in the near future,” added Osborn.

Being experienced chefs, what is the duo’s advice to young people who are keen to follow in their footsteps?

“The industry has changed a lot since we first joined,” replied Osborn. “It has now become cool to be a chef. However, many young people join the industry for the wrong reason, wanting to become celebrities.

“In the 80s, it was not uncommon for young chefs to be bullied … fortunately the culture has changed. If you are a young chef, you need to find good mentors like Mark and me; you need to find the best possible chefs to learn from,” said Osborn.

Added Best: “It’s a long journey to become a good chef. Besides cooking well, a good chef is about managing people and public relations, having a certain level of maturity and being able to handle criticism.”

In collaboration with Dream Cruises, Best brings his culinary creativity offshore with his first-ever restaurants at sea across the Dream fleet, including Explorer Dream, the fleet’s latest addition which will be homeported in Sydney and Auckland from now till March 2020.

Seafood Grill by Mark Best offers guests uniquely styled dishes with Australian influences, while enjoying the relaxing ambiance of al fresco dining under the southern stars.

During Explorer Dream’s Australia deployment, Best will also host a series of Market to Table experiences, whereby guests will have the opportunity to join Best in visiting local markets, meet resident farmers face-to-face and source local produce at various ports.

From there, guests may enjoy exclusive and immersive cooking classes where Chef Best will create and demonstrate a selection of dishes with the produce sourced at the markets.

Taking the first step to evolve Dream Cruises into “Asia’s Global Cruise Line” by sailing outside Asian waters, Explorer Dream will begin her homeport deployment in Sydney and Auckland (which started from October), where she will embark on a variety of seven-night weekly itineraries to “Down Under” destinations.

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