Jamie Oliver’s Italian takes to the high seas in cruise ship deal
CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver has struck a deal with cruise firm Royal Caribbean International to expand his Italian restaurant chain.
Italian will make its sea faring debut on cruise ship Anthem of the Seas, a ship based out of Southampton from April 2015, and its sister ship Quantum of the Seas.
It is the first time that the chef, who also runs the Fifteen restaurant chain and London restaurants Barbecoa and Union Jacks, has opened a restaurant at sea.
Oliver said the inspiration to set up a restaurant at sea came from his childhood, when every three years his father Trevor would save up and take the family on a Royal Caribbean cruise. “I’m so excited to be able to put my little baby on this incredible ship. I never dreamt that I’d do it but we’re doing it and it’s real and I’m really, really buzzed up about it,” he said.
The chef first came into the public eye in the 1997 Naked Chef TV series, aimed at stripping food down to its bare essentials.
Oliver has 36 Italian restaurants across the UK, as well as franchises overseas.