Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone seems to be everywhere. Since training at Michelin-starred restaurants in London, the Australian chef has appeared on a slew of TV shows, perhaps most notably facing off against Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America and co-hosting Top Chef Masters. His two acclaimed Los Angeles restaurants, Maude and Gwen, are among the city’s most exciting eateries, and he’s released six cookbooks.
Chef Curtis Stone
Another notable addition to his heap of accomplishments is Share by Curtis Stone, a shipboard specialty restaurant that opened in 2016 on three Princess Cruises ships.
As palates become more sophisticated, diners naturally have higher expectations about what they consume while on cruise ships. These ships’ specialty restaurants are catering to these heightened desires with eateries featuring cut-above fine dining by way of famous, highly creative chefs. That need for an elevated dining experience while at sea is where places like Share come in.
Inside Share by Curtis Stone
I was invited to check out Share on the Ruby Princess cruise ship at a press lunch during its docking in San Pedro before it departed for a journey to the Mexican Riviera. The atmosphere is upscale but in no way stuffy, with a color palette of muted browns, blues and grays, along with touches of stained glass, grey wood floors accented with striped rugs, and distinctive wall art inspired by Stone’s travels.
This is not a place you just wander into for a quick bite. Six-course meals are how things are done here, and with such a well-edited menu, you’ll want to share at this restaurant where every table is a tasting table. Relatively brief, the menu offers a charcuterie plate, followed by your choice of three salads, then two handmade pastas. The fourth course offers four items from the sea, followed by your choice of five main “land” courses, culminating in your choice of three desserts.
The first course is a charcuterie plate of 18-month aged prosciutto, along with either fennel-infused finocchiona, garlicky Hungarian salami, or spicy soppressata, or Pantaleo cheese with accompaniments if you’d rather skip the meat.
The salad of tomatoes and Burrata topped with oregano oil and dressed oregano leaves was exceptional, as was the ricotta cavatelli with roasted sunchokes, pickled beets and brussels sprouts leaves.
From the Sea courses, I enjoyed tasting both the butter poached lobster tail served with roasted potatoes and crisped pancetta and the seared day boat scallops, topped with feta and za’atar spices on a bed of sesame and chickpea purée.
The Land courses included duck confit, strip loin steak, lamb loin, and mushroom ragu. I particularly liked the savory salt-cured duck leg with its crispy skin, served with bacon-flavored beans, though the lamb loin with harissa-scented couscous, spiced almonds and lime yogurt was also noteworthy.
Desserts are a dark chocolate cremeux, a citron tart, and toffee cheesecake. The latter, decadently rich with a red wine reduction, house-dried raisins and macerated grapes, was especially delicious.
$39 for a six-course Curtis Stone meal is a major bargain. You’ll have to book a cruise to do so, but a shipboard meander along the Mexican Riviera doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a few days.