Trying to recreate a luxury cruise ship within the confines of a building in the east end of London may seem like a tall order. Not if the building is Forman’s Fish Island, a superb venue near the Olympic Stadium, where P&O Cruises held a press launch for its new ship, Britannia, due to set sail in 2015.
Intrigued by the invitation to discover who would be P&O’s new ‘heroes’, Dougie and I boarded the red London bus at Tower Hill station, joining other expectant guests, and were driven to Fish Island for a fabulous sensory evening, designed to give us a flavour of what passengers could expect on board Britannia.
Who are the new heroes? A show-stopper smorgasbord of culinary expertise.
I caught up with the famous five during the evening to discover what each will bring to the table.
One of the UK’s top TV chefs, James Martin will be joining P&O to head up The Cookery Club, a brand new concept where guests, including children, will be able to learn how to create their own masterpieces. James is very excited about the new venture: “I plan to travel on Britannia as often as I can but I’ll also have a talented team to run it when I’m not on board. I’m also talking to a few of my friends in the culinary world about coming on board to deliver classes, so watch this space!”
Master pâtissier, ‘Cake Boy’ Eric Lanlard, takes to the sea for the first time with a delicious selection of cakes and ice-creams for the new Market Café, a continental style deli/café in the heart of the ship’s atrium. He will also be in charge of another new experience, Champagne afternoon tea served in the fine dining restaurant.
P&O favourite, Marco Pierre White has graced top restaurants and TV shows since training, aged 16, under the Roux brothers. He will be pouring his passion and expertise into classic European cuisine in Britannia’s main restaurant on Gala evenings.
Already established in the P&O culinary team, Michelin-starred ‘master of spices’ Atul Kochhar will run his Sindhu restaurant on Britannia. Born in India and based in the UK, Atul has become famous for his take on modern Indian cuisine.
Feeling thirsty? Olly Smith is the man you need. TV presenter and wine expert, Olly will be overseeing the refreshments in The Glass House, P&O’s stylish yet informal restaurant and bar. Great steaks, tapas and seafood will be served, accompanied by Olly’s fine wines.
If spending a couple of hours tasting exquisite food and wine in the company of the UK’s most talented chefs wasn’t enough, we were treated to mini versions of Britannia’s new spaces:
Limelight Club – a combined entertainment and dining venue reminiscent of the supper club.
The Studio – a multi-purpose TV studio for guest speakers, talks and demonstrations
Headliners Theatre – state of the art theatre with LED screen wall.
Britannia, the biggest ship built for the British cruise market, will set sail for the Mediterranean on its maiden voyage on March 2015, before heading for the Canaries, the Norwegian fjords, the Baltic and the Caribbean.
For those families considering a cruise holiday, P&O’s marketing director, Christopher Edgington had this to say: “Britannia will showcase an incredible array of facilities for children and teenagers, including a dedicated teens pool area and we have ensured that our prices remain constant throughout the year irrespective of the timing of the peak school holiday periods. We are conscious of the hardship families face when taking holidays at these times and are therefore committed to fair pricing throughout the year.”
For more information about Britannia, check out P&O’s website
To see what happened at Forman’s last Wednesday evening, check out the video on YouTube
Well, my dear, you were looking well tasty! 😉
and hot!
*drools* – the Cake Boy sounds amazing
Perfect combination: good looking guy who makes puddings!
No Colonel Sanders or Ronald MacDonald? What do the kids eat?
I have no idea. I think they should get a franchise – bookings would rocket.
Wow! Get you!!!!!
I know, I know. Bragging alert 🙂
Wow that sounds amazing and what a great collection of photos. It certainly sounds like the cruises will be amazing, I would happily just go along for the food.
I may have to bring my husband along to events in future – he did a sterling job.
Wow – I know a ten year old who'll be very interested in this! And kudos to them for not whacking up their prices as soon as the school holidays start. More companies should do this – it's probably good business.
I thought this was an excellent idea and worth shouting about.
Look at you rubbing shoulders with the stars 😉
I must admit I went on a cruise a few years ago (not P&O) and the food wasn't great – it was the sort of food that you could tell had been made with catering for the masses in mind. This all sounds fab x
I know – I wasn't at all subtle. Most people were very restrained.
I suppose the food we tasted here was for the special dining areas which wouldn't be included in the cruise price. I would hope the main dining fare would be good too.
Looks like a fabulous evening – and I love how happy you look in the photos too 🙂
I was grinning like a fool, Annie. Very flustered and excitable.
Shame you couldn't make it. You would have loved it and it would have been good to share the evening with you.
What a great evening – did you get any quick tips from them for us?
Atul, the curry expert, said that we all know to put raw spices into curries before any liquid but if we do want to add them afterwards they will be fine if roasted first.
Marco cooked a sea bass in salt but I only saw the end result.
I missed James' duck.
Brilliant! Sounds absolutely amazing! Love the pics! 🙂
There was a lot I missed as I was stalking the chefs but so glad I got photos with them all.
Whoo hoo look at you! I've met James before (very tall) and Eric (mahoosive dazzling diamond earring and sexy voice) but jealous you got to meet all those in one go!
I was very brazen, Liz, hovering about to chat to them but didn't want to miss such a great opportunity.
i am not good on boats but i would endure to eat some of the food prepared by any of them! so jealous!
We went on a cruise a few years ago and didn't feel much motion at all – I thought I would be awful on it but it was great, unlike a whale watching trip in a trawler boat in Iceland…..
Wow, as if a cruise wasn't tempting enough!
Ha! Certainly tempted me 😉
What a fantastic cruise!
I think it's going to be something very special.
Goodness, that's quite a lineup! Looks like you had an amazing time. I've never been too keen on the idea of a cruise, but if it means being stuck on a boat with Marco then I'm in! xx
Well worth it!
I wasn't sure about cruising before we went but we were very pleasantly surprised. Loved waking up in a different location.
You met James Martin! *GREEN*
I love his Saturday show when I can get near the tele to watch it. This is usually limited to times when the boys are away or there's a fight for the remote, and they usually win! 🙂
Sounds an interesting cruise.
I did! He was rather lovely, as were all the chefs.
Love Eric Lanlard – well his recipes anyway! Whole evening looks fantastic, and great pics.
I'm so glad we decided to go. One of those occasions when you aren't quite sure what to expect and then it exceeds all you'd imagined.
Eric was lovely. They all were: not just doing their job but very friendly and interesting one to one.
Always had a bit of a soft spot for James Martin so (like Sarah) I'm well jel!
He's even more dishy in the flesh, CQ.
That sounds like a fun event… in good company! 😉 xx
Indeed it was. So good to share it with Dougie too.
Obviously Dougie was included in the good company! 😉 xx
Oh yes, I see what you mean now :-)) x
What a fabulous event and so many of my favourite chefs it must have been quite something to meet them all
Men, food, London. Great night out!
Sounds like a fantastic lineup of chefs! *envious*