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Interview with Chef de Cuisine for 150 Central Park, Maureen Brandt

In:
Allure of the Seas Oasis of the Seas 150 Central Park Maureen Brandt
06 Oct 2011

The Chef de Cuisine for 150 Central Park on Royal Caribbean's Allure and Oasis of the Seas, Maureen "Molly" Brandt, is going to be a contestant on the ninth season of Top Chef, which airs in November.  Molly sat down for an interview with eater.com to discuss her life as a chef on a cruise ship.

Coming from working in restaurant kitchens on land, what has been the biggest challenge you've encountered cooking on a cruise ship? What's the biggest relief?
Sure, I miss gas heat, but that's surmountable. The biggest challenge of cooking on a cruise ship isn't the cooking at all, it's the inventory. On land you can just call up your favorite purveyors and order something different for the next days menu and it will be delivered in the morning. Here you have to plan a month to a month and a half ahead to get different products onboard. First I have to identify the exact product I want, and then contact our purchasing agents who then source it through a distributor at the best possible price. Then it's entered in to our inventory management system, and contracted for the Miami market. Then it's ordered by our onboard team 2 weeks in advance of the receiving date. It's a process! The biggest relief in cooking on a cruise ship is that I know absolutely that the cooks for the restaurant are going to show up every single day. Unless they intend to swim ashore I suppose!

What comes first when you design menus?
I have a really cerebral method to designing my menus for the ship. My first step is to figure out the focus ingredient of each dish for the menus. After a little over a year at sea I pretty much know what the tastes are of the demographic onboard, and that helps to determine what that focus ingredient will be. After that I decide on a theme per dish, and I don't limit myself, it could be a color, season, place, a classic dish.... really anything. Then I pick a the primary cooking method for each featured ingredient. After that I set up a grid, and work out the puzzle to achieve a balance of color, flavor, texture, and cooking method per each dish and tie it in to my decided theme.


If you could whittle down the list to the essentials, what would be your advice to a new chef at sea? What would be five things for chef Schwartz and his chef de cuisine Jamie Seyba to keep in mind as they prepare to execute the new menu with your help?
1. Have patience with the inventory.
2. Wear your track shoes.... Sometimes it's quite a distance between point A & B on the world's largest cruise ship.
3. Accept all assistance that is offered.
4. Invest in an alarm clock for those early United States Public Health internal inspection mornings.
5. Enjoy life onboard. Remember that this isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle.

What's the favorite chef hangout on board?
Probably the most popular place to decompress after work is to head to the deck 6 crew bar, located directly underneath the helipad. Some pretty epic parties are hosted there.

When chefs eat on board what do they prefer (venue as well as dish)?
Well officially we eat most of our meals in the Garden Cafe, which is the crew buffet. However my favorite thing to eat for lunch is the Kummelweck sandwich at Park Cafe. It's roast beef at it's finest on a salty caraway seed roll with special mustard and horseradish. I probably eat 3-4 a week.

How often do you go off-ship and what's the first thing you want to do and/or eat?
I have a very unique contract that allows me to be off the ship for little pockets of time, and when I fly in to Miami my first stop is invariably Michael's Genuine Food & Drink.... No, seriously, it is! I crave his heirloom tomato and burrata salad, and crispy hominy. Other than that I try to get out to as many different restaurants as possible to see what other chefs are doing, as I'm so isolated on the ship. I also may get off the ship at ports of call, and typically I go for lunch and an icy cold adult beverage!

You are a second officer's rank. What does that role entail?
Actually I'm a 2 1/2 stripe officer, which I find pretty hilarious as a chef, but don't worry, no one is saluting. All it really means is that I'm in a managerial position running 150 Central Park from top to bottom. It also allows me some nice perks onboard and most importantly for me, the ability to go virtually anywhere on the ship.

What do you think of the menus chef Michael has developed? Are there any dishes that stand out in your mind and why?
I'm a big fan of Michael's food, and only wish that he had a restaurant on my permanent ship the Allure of the Seas! The biggest standout for me is his roasted Harris ranch short rib with Swank Farms watercress, cipollini onions, and romesco. It is a huge combination of flavors and textures, and the execution is spot on. I'll take two please!

Is there any product you are interested in working with based on what chef Schwartz is sourcing from South Florida farms?
After tasting the Pak Choi last night from Swank Farms I will definitely be finding a way to integrate it in to my winter menus. The flavor is so complex and vibrant, I could have eaten just a plate of that and been happy. 

150 Central Park Chef talks about challenges on Allure of the Seas

In:
Allure of the Seas 150 Central Park Maureen Brandt
22 Nov 2010

Allure of the Seas' Central Park 150 restaurant's top chef, Maureen Brandt, has the task of running a high end restaurant on Royal Caribbean's newest ship and she'll be the first to admit it isn't easy.

"It's very different than at a restaurant on land," says Brandt, who won her position during an eight-week contest held this summer at the Culinary Institute of America. "Obviously if you run out of something (at sea) you can't just jump in the car and run to the grocery store."

Central Park 150 will officially debut in December 2010 during Allure of the Seas' maiden voyage.  The restaurant has been service meals in preview mode, but when the restaurant does open officially, everyone will be served the same six-course tasting menu. There are no a la carte choices.

Interview with Maureen Brandt, new chef at 150 Central Park on Allure of the Seas

In:
Allure of the Seas Interview Maureen Brandt
10 Aug 2010

Today we have the exclusive opportunity to interview Maureen Brandt, who just won the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge, and is the new Chef de Cuisine for 150 Central Park onboard the soon to launch Allure of the Seas.  Maureen was generous enough to give us some of her time and offer us a look into how she managed to win this highly touted contest.

How did you find out about the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge and why did you feel compelled to enter it?
I received an email from The Culinary Institute Alumni Association announcing the challenge as the job of a lifetime.  Who can pass that up?  I love my business Cook In The Kitchen (catering and personal chef) but I've wanted to run a fine dining establishment for a while.  What a perfect opportunity!  My grandparents owned a travel agency, and my mom is a travel agent that has been on 55+ cruises and so it kind of runs in my blood.  I have no other real attachments aside from my black lab Stella so it seemed like a great idea.  How fabulous that I now get to design my own menu and be the chef of 150 Central Park with the most innovative cruise line in the world.
 
Prior to the Culinary Challenge, how much cruising had you done, if any?  If you had cruised before, what were your thoughts on cruising in general?
As I mentioned it kind of runs in my blood.  I have had the opportunity to cruise 5 or 6 times (can't remember right now.)  I've enjoyed each trip thoroughly.  It's so pleasant to unpack once but enjoy several different ports of call.  You really get the most bang for your buck out of any vacation of ever taken. 
 
To enter the contest, you had to include a dish that you can cook for the restaurant.  Tell us our readers what your choice was as well as why you chose that particular dish.  Was it because you thought it was your best dish that you make or was it something you thought would win over the judges?
The rabbit dish was something I developed when I was taking a continuing education course on culinary competition.  I ended up winning an American Culinary Federation sponsored competition with that dish, as well as working with a PR firm after cooking that for them.  It's my lucky rabbit's foot.  There wasn't much time to put together the video so I decided that would be the most logical choice because it was well developed, refined, and it looks beautiful.  I know it's somewhat controversial and not necessarily what everyone would choose.  After looking at the menu for 150 Central Park onboard Oasis I knew that I would have to make something else for the competition.  Royal Caribbean caters to a very international clientele and I needed to come up with something else using a little more mainstream proteins.  The final decision for the three courses was 
 
Chilled Lobster, Fennel, Carrots, Citrus, Caviar, and Tempura Battered Lobster Mitt
Provencal Lamb Loin, Dijon Potato Puree, Ratatouille, Pattypan Squash, and Olive Tapenade
Pistachio Cake, Whipped Rosewater Creme Fraiche, Carbonated Raspberries
 
The first portion of the contest involved voting from people all over the world where they viewed your video as well as the other contestants and voted on who they liked best.  Tell us a little about what that was like and if you did anything special to garner a few extra votes for yourself from friends and family.
Well having my own business has been an education in itself.  I learned how to market at a very basic level, and then outsourced.  I'm fond of saying that I'm an idiot-savant of sorts.  I can cook very well, but when it comes to writing, or design, or anything else I hire the best I can find and they make me look great!  For the actual voting period I posted on facebook like a fiend, and also emailed people nearly daily, much to their chagrin!  I also utilized the designer, writer, and photographer (Angela Ferraro-Fanning of 13ThirtyOne Design, Lindsay Berger of Inkwell Marketing, and Verna Pitts of Verna Pitts Photography respectively) that I used for my website to come up with a voting flier that I passed out absolutely everywhere, and for a press release that was sent to every news media in MN that I could think of.  Obviously that all helped!!
 
How did it feel to win the fan vote?
Spectacular!  I think I screamed like a teenage girl that just saw Justin Bieber!  I was cooking for an event that day and it was very difficult to concentrate following that.  It's amazing I didn't cut or burn myself!
 
After the fan vote, it was onto the cooking challenge last week.  Walk us through that experience and what it was like to put everything you had worked for on the line.
I didn't sleep well, for about a week.  In fact the night before I left for New York I was up sick all night!  I spent the day before writing out lists and packing very carefully.  I brought all of my own plates, so that was somewhat nerve-wracking as well.  I brought a few extra just in case any of them broke.  In the weeks preceding I hosted a few practice dinners where friends and clients could come and eat what I was going to prepare for the judges.  I just asked for a donation to cover the food cost.  That was a HUGE benefit.  Not only did it give me the chance to practice actually making the food and the timing, I could refine my plating, take some criticism, take photos for my assistant, and eat everything myself to make sure that I liked how it all worked together.

I worked as a teaching assistant at the Culinary Institute of America so being back was so much fun.  I got to see so many of the chefs and administrators that I spent a lot of time with and they all had pearls of wisdom for me.  I'm not going to lie though, it was very stressful!  The waiting was the hardest.  When I was in the kitchen prepping the first day, and cooking the second I was fine.  I was focused and ready.  I had mise en place lists for myself and my assistants, as well as the photos of the actual dish.  I had already labeled containers and was as organized as possible.  Which was a good thing because I used every second they gave me!  I can't thank my assistants enough, particularly Viraj Borkar.  I knew we were going to be okay when he told me about his personal kitchen experience and when he walked around the corner before we started and he had his headphones on listening to music to get focused just like me!
 
The judges named you the winner and you're now the next chef at 150 Central Park on Allure of the Seas.  What does that mean to you?
Well you can't wipe the smile off my face that's for sure! It was so gratifying to hear them call my name because it affirms every decision I have made about my career up to this point.  Cooking really isn't glamorous, it is hard physical labor and the pay is peanuts!  You do it for love of the game, but eventually you hope all of your hard work will pay off and that you will get to run the show someday.  I'm just so excited that all of the hours I've put in, and all of the research that I do has not gone un-noticed.  I know that this is just the beginning and that Royal Caribbean hired me specifically because of that work ethic and that I'm ready to put my best foot forward for them.  The real work is about to begin, but I appreciate the recognition along the way.
 
Let's get to know you a little bit more...
  • Favorite food cuisine (Mexican, Italian, chinese, etc)
    I'm not sure I have one.  I call myself a human garbage can because I'll eat anything.  But I really do like bold flavors so I'm a fan of Mexican, Indian, and Thai.
  • Favorite drink to have on a cruise (either one you've had or one you think would be great on a cruise)
    Corona's in the sunshine, wine pairings at dinner, and a specialty cocktail in a lounge.  I take the same unbiased approach to drinking as I do to eating.  I like it all! Dark beer, light beer, clear liquor, brown liquor, bubbles, white, and red wine.  No I am not an alcoholic!  I think the drink I most often order is a Manhattan on the rocks just like my dad! 
  • Favorite port of call to visit 
    Monte Carlo.  I loved the luxury of it, seeing the palace and the casino, and driving the roads!  How fabulous! Plus it's just a hop skip and a jump to France and Italy.
  • Favorite song on the radio/iPod today
    Somewhat embarrassing, but I'll give.  Right before I walked in to the kitchen before the finals I listened to Dynamite from Taio Cruz 3 times as loud as possible. There's a line in it where he sings that he'll be the last one standing, I just took that and ran with it!

You can visit Maureen's company, Cook in the Kitchen, as well as follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Congratulations Maureen!

Royal Caribbean and The Culinary Institute of America formally name Maureen Brandt winner of the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge

In:
News Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas Contest 150 Central Park Maureen Brandt
10 Aug 2010

Maureen Brandt of Stillwater, Minn. Nabs Job as Chef de Cuisine for 150 Central Park Onboard Allure of the Seas

MIAMI, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- After hosting an eight week-long contest, which culminated with five intense hours in the competition kitchens at The Culinary Institute of America, Royal Caribbean International has found the next culinary superstar to lead the kitchen of the signature restaurant onboard Allure of the Seas, the cruise line's newest ship which will make her debut in December 2010 and share the title of world's largest and most innovative cruise ship with sister-ship Oasis of the Seas.  Maureen "Molly" Brandt of Stillwater, Minn. has landed the job of a lifetime: a one-year paid contract to be the Chef de Cuisine of 150 Central Park onboard Allure of the Seas.
 
Brandt was one of six chefs – all graduates of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the world's premier culinary college – to be a finalist in the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge, a contest open exclusively to the CIA's network of 40,000 alumni.  The six chefs participated in a two-part final challenge at the college's Hyde Park campus in New York on August 5 & 6, where they were each required to showcase their culinary prowess and creativity by participating in an interview with, as well as preparing a three-course meal for, an esteemed panel of judges from Royal Caribbean and The Culinary Institute of America.
 
"Partnering with the Culinary Institute and having the ability to tap into their alumni has been an amazing opportunity," said Lisa Bauer, Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations, Royal Caribbean International. "Each of the finalists truly showcased their passion and knowledge in the kitchen and we are extremely excited to have selected Molly as our new Chef de Cuisine for 150 Central Park."
 
After her entry video was selected as the "fan favorite" in the consumer voting portion of the contest, Brandt went on to impress the judges at the Final Challenge by serving up a menu consisting of Chilled Lobster with fennel, carrots, citrus, caviar and tempura battered lobster mitt; Provencal Lamb Loin with Dijon potato puree, ratatouille, pattypan squash and olive tapenade; and Pistachio Cake with whipped rosewater creme fraiche and carbonated raspberries.  
 
"This entire process with The Culinary Institute of America and Royal Caribbean has been such an amazing experience and hearing my name announced as the winner of the Culinary Challenge was surreal," stated Maureen "Molly" Brandt, Chef de Cuisine, 150 Central Park, Allure of the Seas.  "I am beyond thrilled to open this amazing restaurant and look forward to crafting the perfect menu for our guests over the next couple of months as we count down to the launch of Allure."
 
A 2006 alumni of The Culinary Institute of America, Brant was named a Food and Wine best student chef in 2006.  While in training she worked at the Food Network as a culinary extern, where she prepared food for a variety of production projects including "Iron Chef America," "Emeril Live," and "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee."  Immediately following graduation, she spent a year as a teaching assistant in the CIA's Escoffier restaurant, before going on to work in the kitchens at many reputable restaurants in New York, Minnesota and abroad, including the critically acclaimed, Michelin starred Cafe Boulud in New York City.  Currently Brandt owns her own private chef and catering company, Cook in the Kitchen in the Twin Cities.  She is also the co-founder and villa chef for Flavors of Italia, a company that offers intimate, culinary-focused vacations in Northern Tuscany.
Located in the lush and tropical grounds of the ship's Central Park neighborhood, 150 Central Park will feature decor that will embrace the mellow earth tones, unique textiles and fixtures inspired by nature's four seasons. Inspired by the simple elegance concept of trend-setting restaurants in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, each detail of 150 Central Park will be dedicated to enhancing the dining ambiance, from the tabletops to the service team uniforms. The restaurant menu and certain design aspects will be developed and determined by the winning chef of the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge.
 
Allure of the Seas shares the title of the world's largest and most revolutionary cruise ship with sister-ship Oasis of the Seas. An architectural marvel at sea, she will span 16 decks, encompass 225,282 gross registered tons, carry 5,400 guests at double occupancy, and feature 2,700 staterooms. Allure of the Seas will tout Royal Caribbean's exclusive neighborhood concept of seven distinct themed areas, which will include Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone. The ship will alternate a Western Caribbean with an Eastern Caribbean seven-night itinerary from her home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 
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