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Dining on The Seven Seas Mariner...
Simply Spectacular!
By Arie Boris
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Radisson Seven Seas Cruise's youthful and gifted Corporate Fleet Executive Chef, Bernhard Klotz, has orchestrated an astonishing array of uniquely  diverse culinary adventures onboard the M/S Seven Seas Mariner. With a stellar collection of four top quality restaurants onboard, each one could qualify the Mariner as offering the best dining experience on the "Seven Seas".
According to Chef Bernhard, "upon embarkation, many of our guests on the Mariner, don't realize there are actually four dining options onboard. Their expectation from other ships is to have a main dining room with an alternative restaurant. We have created an environment that offers the culinary range and quality one would expect to find in New York or Paris."
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| Dessert Chef and Chef Bernhard Klotz |
Where do I begin? On this exquisite, all-suite, all-balcony ship, the restaurants are just that, there are no main dining rooms on the Seven Seas Mariner. The Mariner's Executive Chef, Ronald Brandl, oversees the daily operation and implementation of the dining experience on the ship. The principle restaurant, The Compass Rose, offers open seating and is the largest restaurant onboard. No reservations are required for this spacious, inviting venue. Soft lighting emanates from a recessed arched ceiling, supported by lightwood columns with stainless steel trim. Space between tables is ample and the room has a sense of intimacy to it. Even though the seating capacity is 570, it is never full, thanks to the attractive selection of onboard dining alternatives. Service here, as with all the restaurants onboard is exceptional. Complimentary quality wines are poured with each dinner. A charming, professional sommelier is on hand for
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| Compass Rose Restaurant |
consultation regarding the wine pairings and purchase of premium wines from an exclusive wine list. The china, custom designed in Norway, is different in each restaurant, as are the silver flatware designs.The variety of selections in the Compass Rose is creative and never failed to impress. For starters, I enjoyed a combination Diced Smoked Salmon with Poached Salmon marinated in Crème Fraiche and Chives. The Blackened Ostrich Carpaccio and Chilled Lobster Gazpacho were delicious. Main dishes included Pasta twists with Pheasant Ragu in a creamy Sorrel Sauce and Lemon Sole Filet with Truffle Infused Cabbage Cream. Old stand-bys like Filet Mignon and Grilled Salmon are always on hand.
Pastry Chef Daniela Herrmann created magic with her Marinated Rum Raisin Terrine, Peach Timbule with Orange-Lime Sauce and Caramelized Mango Pineapple Compote served over Vanilla Ice Cream. Her genius can be most appreciated at afternoon tea in the Horizon Lounge. At least once on each cruise, it becomes a showcase for her talents with an extravagant dessert buffet.
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| Signatures Restaurant |
As impressive as the Compass Rose is, it is just a "taste" of things to come onboard this beautiful ship. Located on Deck 6 aft, Signatures is the only one of two restaurants at sea operated under the auspices of chefs from the famed Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School of Paris (the other is onboard sister ship, Seven Seas Voyager). The restaurant's menu is a perfect example of classic French "Haute Cuisine". Created through collaboration with Chef Bernhard and Le Cordon Bleu Chefs, the Signature's menu changes every 3 to 4 days. This elegant venue is open each evening between 6:30 and 9:30 and reservations are required.
Some of the memorable menu choices included a Smoked Duck and Foie Gras Terrine with sweet and sour figs, Eggs Poached in Cream with Celery Root and Caviar Cream, Veal Medallions with Apples and Calvados and a Duck Breast Roasted with Honey and Coriander. Desserts were perfect and the Crème Brulee was beyond delicious!
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| Latitudes Restaurant |
One of my favorite things in the world is a tasting menu. Latitudes, reflects a gathering of exotic tastes from the four corners of the globe. This intimate room, named for the various "latitudes" the ship frequents throughout the world, has a set menu (that changes every 4 to 5 days) offering tastes of the finest cuisines from no less than six nationalities. Each course is a delicately balanced orchestration of several different samples of very diverse ethnic tastes blended together to create a dining experience unmatched on land or at sea! When asked how such a marvelous menu had been created, Chef Bernhard replied, "My staff and I tasted hundreds of combinations and survived a lot of terrible mistakes!"
The soup course for example, consisted of a sampling of a Beef, Chili and Tamarind Soup, along with Shrimp Bisque and an Indian Lentil Soup served in three exquisite matching miniature soup bowls. Served separately, they would have been delicious, but served in tandem the effect was an incredible culinary delight! Latitudes truly reflects the craftsmanship, artistry and creative hard work Chef Bernhard and his team have invested making the dining experience on the Mariner simply spectacular.
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| La Veranda Restaurant |
To round out the "Fab Four", La Veranda is located high on deck eleven. It offers well executed, buffet-style breakfast and lunch with seating indoors or on the outside terrace, al fresco. For dinner, the port side of the La Veranda Restaurant is transformed into an intimate Mediterranean Bistro, with a wide range of antipasto, cheeses and local Mediterranean dishes. The atmosphere is casually elegant and the cuisine is prepared and served with lavish, loving care.
House wines in all restaurants were well matched and tempted the palate. Signatures is strictly French with a fine selection, including a 1999 Chablis from the Montmains Vineyard in northern Burgundy and a soft and fragrant expression of wine maker, Yvan Brun in the form of his Grand Cru, St. Emilion, Bordeaux, 1998. The Compass Rose offers a wine cellar stocked with selections from around the world including Chile's Concha y Toro, Australia's McLaren Valley, California's Valley of the Moon Zinfandel and a pleasant 1999, Pinot Gris from King Estate, Oregon. For those with a taste and appreciation for a rare vintage, the premium wine list offers an impressive selection available for purchase.
After several days of incredibly elaborate dining onboard the Seven Seas Mariner, I looked over my shoulder and snuck off to the Pool Grill for a simple lunch... I just felt the urge for a good old hamburger and fries. Needless to say, it was grilled perfection!
Chef Bernhard has shared some of his recipes from each restaurant on the Mariner in the "Recipes of the Month" section. For more information about the Radisson Seven Seas Mariner, log onto www.RSSC.com
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