Rising to fame thanks to being named Food Network's Next Iron Chef, in 2011, the Armenian, Geoffrey Zakarian, according to USA Today, will have not one, but two upscale restaurants at sea.
Norwegian Cruise Line announced the celebrity chef will create and oversee a high-end seafood eatery it plans for the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Getaway, which is scheduled to debut in February 2014, reported USA Today.
The Ocean Blue by Geoffrey Zakarian, the extra-charge restaurant will be similar to a previously announced eatery of the same name the line is debuting on sister ship Norwegian Breakaway, which begins sailing out of New York in May, stated USA Today.
Norwegian says that the Zakarian restaurant on Norwegian Getaway will be one of three related Zakarian-run establishments on the ship. In addition to Ocean Blue, Zakarian will oversee an adjacent raw bar on Norwegian Getaway and a more casual dining option called Ocean Blue on The Waterfront.
They add, Zakarian is having a hand not only in menus but every aspect of the dining areas of the new venues, from uniforms to glassware. The line did not say how much it'll cost to dine in the Zakarian venues.
According to eater.com, Zakarian began his career at none other than New York City's famous Le Cirque. That was way back in 1982, when he took a job working (figuratively) under Alain Sailhac and later Daniel Boulud, progressing from lowly pastry sous chef to chef de cuisine. He then became executive chef of the 21 Club before continuing his numeric rise to executive chef position at the Royalton's 44 restaurant, wherein "Geoffrey ushered in the era of the sexy hotel restaurant," saying to the era of sexy hotel restaurants, "Here, I have found you a nice seat, would you like to see a wine list?" And the era of sexy hotel restaurants said no, we will have infused vodka, thanks.
Later New York Times critic William Grimes would declare that with Zakarian at the helm, 44 was "always a lot better than it needed to be." Having been damned with faint praise by a critic from the Paper of Record, G-Zak had arrived.
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