With Remy Restaurant on the Disney Dream fine cruise ship dining just gets better.
The original Disney cruise ships introduced a new dining concept to the cruise world called rotational dining. Each passenger dines in a different restaurant nightly, but the group of diners and the wait staff all go to the different venues together. The idea is to change the tableau, but not the mixture of people involved. This is the dining format included with the cruise fare, and Disney Dream is the same.
Disney Magic and Wonder, as well as Disney Dream, also offer the optional fine dining room called "Palos" featuring the cuisine of Northern Italy. Palos on Disney Dream seats 90 people and charges $20 for either dinner or brunch.
But Disney Dream will be the first ship to present a dining experience unique to the world of cruise ships - the French inspired Remy Restaurant with a menu created by two accredited chefs, one from the Champagne region of France and the other from America.
The first chef du cuisine is Arnaud Lallement, executive chef for the Michelin two-starr restaurant l'Assiette Champenoise in the Champagne region of France. The other chef du cuisine is Scott Hunnel of Victoria and Alberts, the award-winning (the AAA Five Diamond award) Orlando restaurant at Disney World's Grand Floridian Hotel. Together, the two chefs created a French-inspired menu for Remy which is overseen onboard by executive chef Patrick Albert, trained in Bordeaux and with 11 years experience in the Michelin two-star restaurant Tulfarris House hear Dublin.
Needless to say, a Michelin star is considered the highest honor for a chef in the world. The Michelin guide started in France and only started awarding stars to restaurants in America in the year 2000. Three stars is the highest Michelin honor for any chef, but even one Michelin star puts a chef on a very exclusive list.
Like most famous chefs worldwide, Arnaud grew up in provincial France in a restaurateur family. His father earned the first Michelin star for l'Assiette Champenoise - but it was lost in 1994. When his son, Arnaud, returned from his culinary studies in Vienna in 1996 he re-earned the first Michelin star and received a second one in 2005. At age 29, Arnaud was the youngest chef to be recognized by premier Michelin three-star chef Alain Ducasse for a special demonstration of provincial French cuisine.
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The three chefs of Remy
Langoustine in Remy
Smoked Bison with Fennel and Blood Orange
The Remy Experience
The décor of Remy Restaurant is inspired by the animated Disney film Ratatouille, wherein a talented Parisian rat - pronounced "rah" in French, makes a young, aspiring Parisian chef into a culinary master by hiding within his chef's hat and directing his every move. There are subtle bits of homage to the movie throughout the restaurant décor - with a rendering of the original kitchen from the animated movie the most noticeable work of art.
I was privileged to attend a tasting in Remy Restaurant during my Disney Dream preview. Both chefs du cuisine, Lallement and Hunnel, along with onboard executive chef Albert, were present to answer our questions. The "star," Arnaud Lallement, was born and resides in France, so Scott Hunnel did most of the talking. He described the process of creating the menu, including the challenges of being on a ship at sea with sometimes limited proximity to the all important provisioning, as well as working in an all-electric kitchen because open flames are not allowed.
The Remy kitchen is divided into two separate areas, one for the creative cuisine of each contributing chef. Both have 12 people to prepare the food nightly. Onboard, everyone is under the ultimate command of Chef Patrick Albert while Lallement and Hunnel plan to visit the ship every few months to review and revise as needed.
Guests who book dinner in Remy are invited to meet the Remy sommelier in advance to taste and pre-select their wines. There are two wine lists: one with 200 vintages from throughout France, and Remy's Vault with rare wines from all over the world.
Additionally, during the dinner service, sommeliers select 22 wines from Remy's Vault to create that evening's wine list, presented in an elegant velvet-lined book with the name of each wine engraved on a silver-plated plaque. A 1947 Ch�teau Cheval Blanc, considered one of the best vintages in the world, is available for $25,000. That wine is depicted in the movie "Ratatouille" as the vintage requested by the movie's food critic. There is also a 1964 Chateau Latour for $13,000. These are likely the two rarest and most expensive bottles of wine in any cruise ship collection.
Select wines from the French list also are available by the glass.
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Private room in Remy
Champagne Cocktail
Picture of Ratatouille Kitchen
Our Remy tasting experience began the same as every dinner will begin, with the signature champagne cocktail prepared tableside. A martini glass is filled with Taittinger Champagne and a splash of vodka. Add a sprig of mint, a twist of fresh apricot and a lightly crushed raspberry.
Next, I was given a beautifully executed "langoustine" (a small Norwegian lobster tail) topped with lobster roe and accompanied by Caesar foam. The surprisingly tender flamingo-colored flesh was nicely juxtaposed with a tangy caramelized top. Next I relished a slice of freshly smoked bison with fennel salad and blood orange.
Regular dinner includes eight or nine small courses before a spectacular dessert. Other delights on the full menu include wild loup de mer (sea bass); Australian Wagyu (the breed of cattle for Kobe beef); a tomato tart with Parmesan espuma (foam); coastal turbot with vin jaune (a yellow sauvignon wine sauce) and gnocchi, and young pigeon pie with foie gras, spinach and tomato.
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Wine List for Remy
Remy Table in Wine Cellar
Window Tables in Remy
Desserts include vanilla-poached pear or a dark chocolate praline with cocoa sherbet. The recommended pairing is French press coffee and grand cr�me. After dinner all guests are treated to the appropriate but coincidentally named Rémy Martin Louis XIII Rare Cask Cognac served from an elegant Baccarat crystal decanter. Aged in centuries-old casks, this is said to be one of the most sought-after cognacs for connoisseurs.
The Remy Restaurant seats only 80 patrons per night at banquettes and window-side tables for two adorned with Frette linens and custom made Christofle silverware and china. There is a private room which seats eight people. The service fee is $75 per person, with the option of wine pairings with each course for an additional $99 per person.
The Remy Restaurant dress code for men includes a jacket and dress pants and shoes (ties are optional). Cocktail dresses, evening dresses, pant suits or dressy skirts and blouses are the options for ladies. Children aged 18 and under are not invited.
