Any New York City foodie will tell you that celebrity-studded restaurants like The Lambs Club and iconic Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel are a deep part of the city's personality. Channeling the classic club rooms of midcentury America, The Lambs Club is a veritable reminder of New York City's old-world literary and theatrical visionaries, while the Palm Court represents a quintessentially New York glamor, born from years of culture, gossip, and clinking glasses passing beneath the restaurant's famed atrium.
Iron Chef and Michelin Star winner, Geoffrey Zakarian has left his mark on both. As owner of The Lambs Club and culinary director at The Plaza Hotel, Zakarian is as much a part of New York's personality as these classic restaurants themselves. He explains on his website that "creating a restaurant always begins with a concept and a storyline. Everything follows from there."
If his famed collection of New York restaurants is any indication of this Food Network star's talent translating culture through food, it is not surprising that Ocean Blue, on Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Breakaway, has revolutionised the cruise industry's dining culture.
But what story does this new venture tell? Ocean Blue offers an unprecedented celebrity dining experience during your cruise holiday that captures the fine dining and refined elegance of turn-of-the-century cruise liners in a fresh, modern atmosphere overlooking the expansive ocean. Ocean Blue's distinguished flavours and timeless dining room pay homage to the cruise industry's glittering past while ushering in its future.
Ocean Blue shatters stale stereotypes that dining onboard today's leading cruise lines is stiff, limited, or lacking in inspiration. Zakarian artfully orchestrates every detail of the menu and hand-picks each wine pairing on board Norwegian's two newest ships, creating an experience you would expect to find in a major metropolitan area.
The restaurant is part of Norwegian's Freestyle Dining experience. Whether you're looking for a four-course meal and fine wine, or are happy to grab a casual poolside snack off the grill, Norwegian offers more dining options than any other cruise line. The Freestyle Dining experience offers limitless culinary options, free from the cumbersome set dinner times and limited venues that used to keep foodies from jumping on board – literally.
Ocean Blue and other celebrity venues such as Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro's onboard bakery, Carlo's Bake Shop, will tell a new story that redefines the cruise culture just as Zakarian has helped define New York.
