Michael Edwards savours la bella vita at Osteria d’Ovidio aboard Crystal Serenity.
You really don’t expect to find an Italian restaurant floating off the West Coast of Africa. Nor peruse a menu designed by an Italian chef, who has held three Michelin stars for more than two decades, as you cruise through the Baltic towards the lands of the midnight sun.
Nor savour a reimagined ravioli di burrata con frutti di mare as you dock in Sydney Harbour. Osteria d’Ovidio, on Deck 5 of Crystal Serenity, will take you to Italy. Even if you’re bound for Athens or Rio de Janiero.
Glance at the Osteria’s new menu and you will imagine the wheat for the pasta growing on the plains of Italy’s breadbasket. Or you may feel the adrenaline of a truffle hunter, with his trusty curly-coated Lagotto Romagnolo dog, scouring the forest floors for black gold. Perhaps recalling images of towers of maturing wheels of Parmesan Reggiano in the cheese cathedrals of Emilia Romagna.
On this ultimate foodie tour, a gastronomic odyssey through the Italian peninsula’s culinary heritage, the Osteria d’Ovidio is one of three speciality restaurants onboard the 740 berth, recently refitted, Crystal Serenity. Dinner reservations must be made in advance for the ship’s trio of speciality restaurants: Osteria d’Ovidio, Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese / Peruvian fusion at Umi Uma and the global street foods of BeefBar.
But they are all-part of an all-inclusive offering that takes in cocktails and drinks. Plus house wines that are far, far superior to the humdrum bottles that are often passed off under that label on too many ships, too many hotels.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the three Alajmo children became the third generation born into the family restaurant of Le Calandre in Padua. Young Massimilano, barely tall enough to reach the bottom of the chefs’ aprons, ran home to help in the kitchens.
Fast forward to 2002 and at the age of 28, Massimilano became the youngest chef ever to receive a third Michelin star. If Michelangelo led Italy’s artistic renaissance, then Massimilano inspired a contemporary culinary renaissance.
Fast forward again, another two decades, and who better to craft a new menu for Osteria d’Ovidio than Massimilano and Raffaele Alajmo? Two brothers with food, cooking and creation in their DNA. A new menu where every dish tells a story of artistry and a passion for the finest ingredients.
Osteria’s knowledgeable waiters are willing to give recommendations. But for many of Crystal’s well-travelled diners, the menu classics prompt almost Proustian remembrances of past times in Italy. A spoon of minestrone al profumo di basilico may unlock emotions of the first time they relished the flavour of authentic Italian-grown basil. And the gentle coffee kick of expresso blending with luscious mascarpone may revive fading memories of the quintessential Italian dessert of tiramisu.
Fortunately, the menu revisits the signature dishes of the family restaurant in Padua. Chef Max takes light refined interpretations of Italian classics with a sprinkle, a seasoning of innovation. Traditional tagliolini egg pasta becomes “al fumo” when drizzled with smoked butter, epitomising Italian sumptuous simplicity. Whilst the battuto di carne cruda con tartufo, beef tartare with black truffles, multi-syllable and grandiose, echoes the lyricism of the Italian language.
The Aljamo’s menu also revisits Venetian cuisine, but with a twist. And in the case of the spaghetti aop con Bloody Mary, the twist comes with a kick too. Even if this Italian restaurant is mid-Atlantic or mid-Pacific, it’s always time for gelato. On this menu that has to be the gran gelato al pistachio. A taste that is the very essence of Italy.
On Crystal Serenity, the evening neither begins nor ends at the Osteria d’Ovidio. A pre-dinner cocktail, with canapés, at either Crystal Cove or Palm Court are an essential part of the day. With the most disciplined giving themselves a cocktail education by always sampling Crystal Serenity’s cocktail of the day.
Post-dinner, cigar and cognac aficionados head for the old-world charm of the Connoisseur Club with its elegant gentleman’s club ambience.
Cocktails and cognac, the perfect way to bookend a meal at Osteria d’Ovidio.
Tell Me More About The Osteria D’ovidio
The restaurant is onboard both Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony
T: 0808 178 3396
E: salessupport@crystalcruises.com
The Crystal website gives details of future voyages for both Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony through 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028.
