Queen Mary 2: Galley Pr0n

We thought maybe 30 people would show up for the tour of the main galley. Whoa, were we wrong–it was more like 300 people, and the line stretched down the hall and through the pub and back to the casino.

What is so gripping about industrial food preparation? I know the output is generally bad, but all that stainless steel sure is great to look at.

Peter took these photos. See ’em all here.

Thanks to the British influence, it was a very orderly line waiting to see the galley.
Orders flash up on this screen at the front. Guests in the restaurant have a choice of many apps and mains, so service can be pretty intense, I imagine.
Cold apps being plated.
Note the pile of bread slices with rounds cut out for little canapes.
Scarily huge soup tureens.
Man tending less huge soup pot.
The only thing they don't bake on board, they say, is bagels. Those, it seems, they get from whoever supplies the airlines--ie, not a bagel expert.
Wedgwood china, stickers still on.
State-of-the-art phone.
Not many kitchens have escalators.

During dinner service, they have the Parade of Chefs, where the kitchen staff march out in their white jackets and toques and file all up and down the staircases, in Broadway-like precision, while everyone, led by the Commodore Himself, claps in unison. It was a great throwback bit of showmanship, and having seen the scale of the galley and considered the size of the operation, I really appreciated the French brigade system in a way I haven’t before. And it maybe made my beef Wellington taste just a little better…

3 comments

  1. Naomi says:

    Love the poor-man’s balcony. You know the least they could do is give you higher chairs. Or even phonebooks to sit on. It’ s not like anyone uses them for actually number searching anymore.

    This boat looks freakin’ awesome. And the fact that they give a galley tour is quite a bonus. The whole trip looks like an awesome adventure. Kind of like taking the Q train to Brooklyn in rush hour, buy you know, only better.

  2. zora says:

    I guess it’s BYO-phone book. They have no luggage restrictions, so you really could devote one bag to phone books. Or some Ikea bar stools you could put together right then and there! Hell, the ship is docked right next to Ikea anyway.

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