ADVERTORIAL
The call of the sea
Serving over 9000 guests and 3500 crew daily, P&O Cruises corporate executive chef Uwe Stiefel has
his work cut out for him.
Chef Uwe Stiefel has spent the best part of
25 years at sea. Set to mark a decade with
local cruise ship company P&O Cruises, he
has seen firsthand the boom in numbers of
Aussies wanting to head to sea, resulting
in a fleet expansion, with the Pacific Jewel,
Pacific Pearl, Pacific Eden, Pacific Aria and
new Pacific Explorer under his watch.
restaurants and food outlets. Exclusive to
Pacific Explorer are two new ‘fast-casual’
dining options: Luke’s, a poolside grill by
Australian chef and restaurateur Luke
Mangan, and 400 Gradi, a traditional
Neapolitan pizzeria by award-winning
Melbourne chef Johnny Di Francesco.
“The ships got bigger and at the same
time we offered more options for our
guests including the restaurants,” he says.
“But we always stick to the same vision
we had at the beginning that we wanted
to be an Australian product reflecting our
guests who are locals.” Guests can dine in the ship’s Waterfront
Restaurant, try a taste of la dolce vita in its
Italian restaurant Angelo’s, relax in the sultry
atmosphere of the pan-Asian restaurant
Dragon Lady or be spoilt for choice in The
Pantry, an international marketplace of nine
fresh food outlets already popular across
the P&O Cruises’ fleet.
The cruise company’s latest ship,
the Pacific Explorer, has 22 different Smaller groups can relax and bond in
Pacific Explorer's elegant new small bar,
The Bonded Store, featuring a cocktail list
created in partnership with Sydney-based
award-winning Archie Rose Distilling Co.
Working across so many food outlets, and for
voyages that last weeks, presents logistical
challenges beyond just learning to deal in
tonnes rather than kilos. Bucking the trend,
the ship’s kitchen brigade make pretty much
everything from scratch, from bread and
pastries through to stocks and sauces.
“A couple of weeks ago my executive chef
and I calculated that every single night we
serve well over 300 different plates of food
across the restaurants,” says Stiefel.
Pacific Explorer also has one of the fleet’s
largest conference spaces, the Marquee
Showlounge, accommodating 540 guests.
www.cimmagazine.com Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 6, 2017 13