The Silversea Silver Shadow cuisine is everything you would expect from an ultra-luxury ship. Exciting menus, interesting taste combinations, and fantastic flavors await you at each meal. The chef even tantalizes the passengers with the anticipation of the treats to come by including the next day's lunch and dinner menus in the evening "Silversea Chronicles" newsletter. It is amazing how you can be stuffed from dinner and still be interested in what might be appearing on your plate the next day.

To make the cruise cuisine even more varied and irresistible, Silversea has partnered with the renowned luxury hotel/restaurant group Relais & Chateâux. Every Silversea voyage features the "Collection du Monde", a set of 30 exclusive signature dishes created by Relais & Chateâux gourmands and the Silversea executive chefs. Every night at dinner one of the dishes is identified as being part of this collection. The ones I've tried were wonderful!

If one uniquely-inspired dish per meal is not enough, Silversea also has special Culinary Cruises. Passengers on these voyages are invited to explore some of the world's great cuisine, created in partnership with Relais & Chateaux -Relais Gourmands. Gourmets or those wanting to learn more about fine cuisine on one of these special Culinary Cruises can join the visiting Relais & Chataeux Master Chef for onboard cooking demonstrations, regionally inspired cuisine, and a gala five-course dinner. The guest chef will create this sumptuous dinner in his/her own signature style and even share cooking secrets.

Another treat on the Culinary Cruises is an opportunity to join these master chefs as they escort shopping tours to exotic international markets ashore.

The Silver Shadow is a small ship, but it has several dining venues in which to present its delectable dishes. The largest and most popular is The Restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is very elegant, and dinner is a joy. The open seating allows you to choose your own dinner companions, and wine is included in the meal. We loved lingering over our dinner rather than being rushed as you might be in a popular restaurant ashore that needs to "turn the tables". Taking the time to savor each course of an elegant dinner is delightful, especially for those of us who tend to rush through meals at home with either the TV or the newspaper in front of us!

Le Champagne serves as both the wine room and a private dining room for the Silver Shadow. Passengers can reserve Le Champagne for 6 to 12 guests. It is perfect for a special occasion, and the chef will prepare an extraordinary dinner to go along with the extraordinary ambience of the room. Even if you don't dine in Le Champagne, be sure to check out the wonderful sayings about champagne covering the wall.

We usually ate buffet breakfast and lunch in the Terrace Cafe. The selection was varied, and we could get "just a bite" of anything and everything that appealed to us. The Terrace Cafe was transformed into a specialty restaurant at night, serving a maximum of 50 guests. There was no charge, but reservations are required. On our eastern Mediterranean cruise, the evening menu in the Terrace Cafe had an international flavor such as Mediterranean, Oriental, Greek, or Turkish, and the menu varied each evening. There was one seating, and we enjoyed the Terrace Cafe twice--once for "Flavors of the Orient" and the second time for "Turkish Delights". Both were exceptional.

Page 4 > > More on Dining on the Silversea Silver Shadow > >