Infinity Classic Grand Cru Dinner

Earlier on the cruise during one of the evenings we dined at the SS United States with our friends Bonnie, Merce and Rich, Angel the States Maitre'D invited us to participate in their first Classic Grand Cru Dinner which was the night of the Panama Canal Transit. Bonnie, Rich and Merce had already been invited and we were lucky enough to get invited I suspect because Angel saw how well we all got along and enjoyed eating at the specialty restaurant together. The Grand Cru dinner is something Celebrity is thinking of doing for future cruises and we were a trial run and as far as Randy and I are concerned it was a great success! It's my understanding that this dinner will always be by invitation only, however, it's not a free dinner even though it's by invitation. The price was $125.00 per person which I'm sure some passengers would think was too much, but we thought it was a bargain if only because of the quality of the wines they poured non-stop.



The Classic Grand Cru Dinner started at 8:00pm and there were 9 of us passengers invited with 3 ship officers and Rick Garced the CEO of the United States Sommelier Association and his wife. The ship officers were Hotel Director Leonie Henry, Food and Beverage Manager of all 4 Millennium Ships Donald Beard and his boss Wolfgang who is Food and Beverage Manager for all the Celebrity ships, including the Azamara and upcoming Solstice line.



After introductions we entered the wine cellar where we were served Mumm's Cordon Rouge Champagne and a selection of hors d'oeuvres. We were then seated at a large table in the center of the main room. I was in the center seated next to Donald with Rick and his wife across from me, while Randy was next to me. Bonnie, Rich and Merce were at one end with Leonie, and at the head of the table were Wolfgang, a couple from Boca Raton and across from them a couple from Manhattan.



In the future I believe one will select a dish from each course, but since this was the first time for this dinner we were served every course and instead of being tasting servings they were full size! Unfortunately this meant I could only eat a third or half of everything even though it was incredibly delicious. The pours of wine were also generous and if you emptied your glass, they were quick to pour more unless you stopped them.



We started with an amuse that was 3 baked and fried savories with sauces. They were very tasty but definitely the largest amuse portion I have ever had. The first starter was Lobster and Truffles Souffle. As we started eating this Rick commented that the chef had been very generous with the Truffles and he certainly had been, it was fantastic. Initially I was a bit worried about how Randy would like this dinner because he doesn't like mushrooms or anything related to them, nor does he normally care for Foie Gras or enjoy Sweetbread garnishes, however he loved this dinner and is still raving about the Lobster and Truffles Souffle, a recipe that the chef said he was going to copyright. The Lobster souffle was served with Pouilly-Fume "Baron de L" Domaine de Ladoucette, 2000.



The second starter was Crispy Foie Gras on a bed of fresh Mache served with Riesling "Les Ecaillers" Leon Beyer, 2001. Like Randy, Foie Gras is something I don't usually care for, but we both tasted this and enjoyed it and if it wasn't for all the additional food I knew was coming, I could have eaten all of it. During the dinner especially after the first couple glasses of wine everyone was loosening up and sharing stories. Normally on cruises I really don't get a chance to talk that much to any of the ship officers so I especially enjoyed this opportunity to get to know a couple of them. It was during this course that the Sommelier brought out a wine that wasn't on the menu to do a taste comparison with the Riesling and unfortunately other then it was a Spatlese I don't recall what wine it was. Then before our first entree we had a wonderful little palate cleanser of passion fruit and rum sorbet.


Our first entree was Pave of Sea Bass with Vanilla-scented Olive Oil. It was served with the crispy skin on top which I had removed and it made a Sea Bass fan of me that evening. The Vanilla oil was very subtle and not something that I normally would have thought to add to seafood, but it was wonderful and went well with the Chassagne Montrachet Domaine Colin Deleger, 2001.



The second entree served was Pan-seared Tourmedo with Veal Sweetbread and Wild Mushrooms Ragout and I just hated not to finish this lovely tender filet. I've always thought I hated sweetbreads but as presented in the ragout, I enjoyed them immensely. This was served with the wine of the night, Chateau Beycheveel, 4 Cru Classe, 2003. During this time we had a demonstration between a Riedel wine glass and a regular one and what the Riedel does to open up wine. While I know some wine experts scoff at the theory of Riedel glasses and which type of Riedel you use making a difference in the taste of the wine, during our taste test that night both Randy and I thought using the correct Riedel glass did change the taste of the wine for the better, though it also tasted good in a regular wine glass.



Finally we come to my personal favorite, Raspberry Champagne Souffle served with Sauterne Barton & Guestier, 2002.


At the end of the dinner we met the French Chef and the rest of his staff. Our dinner ended up being four hours, but the time just flew by thanks to the wonderful company, delicious food and fantastic wines. The Grand Cru Dinner was definitely one of the highlights of this cruise for us, and would have been THE highlight if not for something that we experienced during our last night of the cruise.