NEW YORK (March. 12, 2015) – The lavish ambiance and epicurean delights found in Paris’ finest eateries come to life aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ newest ship, Seven Seas Explorer, with a tantalizing new gourmet French specialty restaurant called Chartreuse. Featuring a classic French menu with a modern twist, Chartreuse joins Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ signature steakhouse, Prime 7, as the second of three distinct specialty restaurants aboard Seven Seas Explorer, providing guests a range of gourmet dining options as they sail upon the most luxurious ship ever built. Regent Seven Seas Cruises will release details about the third specialty restaurant in June.
“A luxury cruise experience is incomplete without gourmet dining,” said Jason Montague, president and chief operating officer for Regent Seven Seas Cruises. “With our sights set on building the world’s most luxurious ship, we challenged our design and culinary teams to develop some extraordinary and exquisite dining options for our guests aboard Seven Seas Explorer. The team exceeded that high mark with Chartreuse, an extremely elegant restaurant where the ambiance and cuisine is sure to stir fond Parisian memories, and help create new ones.”
A Parisian Experience at Sea
Deriving its name from sultry chartreuse-colored glass panels that adorn the dining room walls, the ambiance of Chartreuse evokes memories of a chic Parisian fine dining restaurant discovered during an evening stroll along the Seine or just off the Champs-Élysées. Guests are greeted by a hostess upon arrival at the restaurant through a curved paneled entryway with flooring that resembles a cobblestoned Parisian street damped by a gentle rain, creating an environment that is warm and welcoming, yet mysterious.
Contemporary lounge chairs and embossed leather stools are assembled around Golden Kosmos Granite topped tables in an intimate bar area with scalloped marble Cosmati mosaic tiled flooring. This is the perfect respite for guests to enjoy an apéritif, including specialty cocktails infused with the French liqueur Chartreuse. A solid zinc bar top that is placed atop a softly illuminated frosted glass base sits near a backlit wine display filled with the finest French wines and selections from boutique vineyards of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhône and Loire Valleys. Decorative iron sculpting throughout the bar pays a graceful and subtle homage to Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower.
As guests transition to the dining room they are greeted by lush art-nouveau décor with a feature wall lined with sculpted Chartreuse glass surrounded by metallic and crystalline frames on one side and floor-to-ceiling windows separated by metal filigree screens on the other. Whether seated at an intimate table for two or at one of the lavish white leather banquets, every guest will be treated to a succulent dinner while enjoying incredible ocean views. The design team at ICRAVE responsible for this sophisticated French restaurant left no detail unattended, including a silver-leafed ceiling that is interspersed with dramatic gold-bordered black lacquered lines to complete the elegant Parisian motif.
The back portion of the restaurant seamlessly transitions from a regal dining room, to a whimsical Parisian courtyard, creating the illusion of al fresco dining. Separated from the main dining area by a metal lattice screen, this stylish garden area sits upon marble flooring with gold mosaic tile inlays and is illuminated by a wall of decorative lanterns and a centerpiece crystal chandelier.
The restaurant ambiance is complemented by a menu that features dishes expertly prepared using both classic and modern techniques for a multiple course celebration of French gastronomy. Using only the finest ingredients, the menu is highlighted by epicurean delights including hand-cut Charolais steak tartare in a hazelnut-Dijon emulsion topped with Perlita caviar d’Aquitaine, roasted Cévennes rack of lamb with rosemary-mint persillade and sugar snap pea sauce, and poached Brittany blue lobster tail glazed with caramelized lobster roe butter on a bed of Sologne white asparagus and Romanesco. Delectable desserts include a frozen Chartreuse parfait with almond crumble and classic savarin cake made with aged Martinique rum and topped with vanilla cream.
Beginning in the summer of 2016 the Chartreuse menu will extend to the rest of the Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleet, replacing Signatures on Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner, and with select dishes available at Compass Rose on Seven Seas Navigator.
Designed as the most luxurious ship ever built, Seven Seas Explorer will cater to guests’ gastronomic desires with three distinct specialty restaurants, a signature grand dining room and multiple other options, such as outdoor dining with incredible cuisine and fresh ocean breezes. All restaurants will feature vintage wines and premium spirits at no additional charge, and each dish will be prepared à la minute and cooked to order.
For more information about Seven Seas Explorer or Regent Seven Seas Cruises, guests can call 1-844-4REGENT (1-844-473-4368), visit www.RSSC.com, or contact a professional travel agent.
About Seven Seas Explorer
At 56,000 gross-registered tons and carrying only 750 guests, Seven Seas Explorer will boast one of the highest space ratios in the cruise industry and an exceptionally high staff-to-guest ratio, further strengthening Regent Seven Seas Cruises' widely recognized position as the most inclusive luxury cruise line. World-renowned architectural interior design firms Tillberg Design AB, RTKL Associates and ICRAVE are designing the vessel. Seven Seas Explorer will join the rest of the award-winning Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleet in the summer of 2016.
About Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is the world's most inclusive luxury cruise line. The line's fares include all-suite accommodations, round-trip air, highly personalized service, acclaimed cuisine, fine wines and spirits, sightseeing excursions in every port, all gratuities, and a pre-cruise luxury hotel package and complimentary Wi-Fi for those guests staying in concierge and higher suites. Three award-winning, all-suite vessels, Seven Seas Navigator, Seven Seas Mariner, and Seven Seas Voyager, are among the most spacious at sea and visit nearly 350 destinations around the globe. The line is currently building the 750-guest Seven Seas Explorer, which will be delivered in summer of 2016.
