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Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is in Australia.
The much-loved British chef touched down in Sydney this week in celebration of his almost 10-year partnership with Royal Caribbean cruises and the launch of its biggest ever summer season in Australia.
What many people may not know, unless you’re a cruiser of course, is that Jamie’s Italian has been satisfying passengers on-board Royal’s eight ships since 2014.
Speaking to news.com.au exclusively on-board the mammoth 347 metre-long Ovation of the Seas ship on Friday, Jamie boasted about how much he loves being back in Australia and having the opportunity to celebrate the milestone with Aussies and his legion of fans.
“I grew up in a pub and I lived above the pub restaurant. Mum and Dad worked very, very hard and every now and again we used to go on a cruise — it was one of the things that we did as a family until I was about of 13/14,” Jamie told news.com.au.
“And we used to love it. I think that was the only way that Dad could switch off.
“But now I’ve got eight restaurants in eight ships, and I never, ever dreamt when I was forging my career that, that would ever happen, but it’s nearly a ten year relationship.”
The award-winning cook, who shot to fame almost 25 years ago with his cooking program, The Naked Chef in 1999, thanked his cruise team for their epic work throughout the years.
“These guys are ninjas at getting food in the right place at the right time — the consistency is just amazing,” he said.
The last time Jamie was in Australia was a few years ago, but prior to Covid, he would visit every year.
“I normally came, in the old world, every year, but obviously Covid threw a little curve ball in there,” Jamie said.
The 48-year-old chef first came to Australia when he was just 24 years old “and I pretty much did every year for next 20 years”.
“I just love it here. It always feels like weirdly, my true home. I feel like my style of cooking, my personality, my ridiculous jokes seem to go down better here than back home.”
Jamie’s favourite dish from his restaurant
When it comes to the food from his restaurant on-board the ship, Jamie was hesitant to pick his favourite, joking that “you may as well ask who is my favourite child”.
“[But] I think the fresh pasta on our eight restaurants, on our eight ships … they come in all different shapes and sizes.”
“They’re cooked with incredible seafood classics like carbonara. That’s my happy place, just getting into that corner, with a little salad, little bowl of pasta, a little glass of wine,” he said as has pointed to a table with a water view.
Royal Caribbean uses locally sourced produce with more than 717,000 kgs of Australian tomatoes, over 13,000 kgs of Aussie basil and over 100,000 kgs of Aussie onions — with a lot of it being cooked with at Jamie’s Italian.
When speaking about what’s involved in running a restaurant on a cruise, Jamie said it’s “honestly like running a family business”.
“We do small batches twice a day, everyday and the teams are diligent. Working on these ships is a way of life and you kind of hit it hard for three or four months and then you have a nice time off.
“So actually all the things that you would think we would struggle with, we have no problems with consistency at all. We’re very, very blessed.”
The father-of-five has also just released another cookbook called 5 Ingredients Mediterranean which he says feeds back into his restaurant.
“My books, the TV I do and the travels I do directly feds back into this restaurant here,” he said.
“We’ve got stuff from 5 Ingredients Mediterranean on the menu and you just see those dishes that we’re making famous around the world through TV on the menu here.
“I’m getting a bit older now, but hopefully a little bit wiser. And I try and travel a lot, learn a lot and share a lot about food and culture.”
Since landing in Sydney a few days ago, the father-of-five wasted no time showing his eldest daughter Poppy around, with the Harbour Bridge climb the first on their to-do list.
He also said it helps with jet lag.
“I know it’s a touristy thing to do, but it’s a really good thing to do and if you want to beat the jet lag you just go up those steps and take it all in.”
Ovation of the Seas is an action-packed ship that features experiences for everyone in the family and every type of adventurer, including the North Star observation capsule, the RipCord by iFly skydiving experience and indoor and outdoor pools.
It’s also the ship’s biggest Australian season ever.
“This Summer, we’ve had unprecedented demand with over 250,000 holiday-makers setting sail with us, including over 90,000 holiday-makers sailing from Sydney on Ovation alone, making this our best season sailing from Australia yet,” Gavin Smith, vice president and managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Royal Caribbean International, said.
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