Celebrity Unveils “Playful” Dining Concept for Eclipse
Celebrity Cruises introduced a new dining concept that it will offer exclusively on the Celebrity Eclipse. Qsine, part of the “Designed for You” program that the line launched last month, is a “modern, playful approach to familiar dishes from around the world,” along with “childhood favorites with elements of surprise,” said Jacques Van Staden, Celebrity’s vice president of culinary operations, during a teleconference this morning.
“Food has become an experience,” he explained, adding that Qsine’s food is designed to “awaken palates with a 180-degree approach to food”; that is, it will be the opposite of what diners would expect, as Celebrity makes “the ordinary unordinary.”
The cuisine will be interactive, with some assembly required, and presented in dishes (some of them custom-designed for Qsine) that are meant for fun. For example, the Crunchy Munchy presentation will be a stainless-steel “tree” holding paper cones filled with French fries and similar items; spring rolls will be served upright in springs; soups will be served in test-tube-style containers with straws; angus beef tacos will come with guacamole ingredients with a mortar and pestle so guests can make their own; and cupcakes will come un-iced in three-tiered bento boxes, with icing and decorations in the different compartments, so guests can decorate them as they see fit. Rather than offering courses, Qsine offers a “continuous script” of items meant to be shared in any order the guests want, according to Van Staden.
Even the menus are unordinary. For example, on the main food menu, which comes in a leather holder and is backlit, the items are presented in a transcript format, rather than as a list. The dessert menu is a cube that unfolds, revealing different choices. And the wine menu, which Celebrity calls the “wine waiter,” is an Apple iTouch that allows guests to zero in on the types of wine they want by color, followed by varietal, specific bottles with brief descriptors and finally, more in-depth descriptors. Beverages also will be served in unordinary containers. For example, milk will be served in old-fashioned milk bottles.
On the Eclipse, Qsine will be located where Silk Harvest is situated on the Equinox and will feature a playful décor with four styles and colors of chairs. Celebrity will offer Qsine on future ships but will not retrofit existing ships with the new restaurant. Qsine will be an alternative restaurant with reservations recommended; and it will welcome passengers of all ages and from all cabin categories.
