Verandah Cafe News Update.

MIAMI, October 11, 2005----When they introduced a stellar set of dinner menus designed by celebrity chef/restaurateur Charlie Palmer, The Yachts of Seabourn won the first-place Diamond Award from Onboard Services magazine. In the most recent Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, the intimate, all-suite ships scored number one and two for cuisine. And now, these celebrated cruise ships are introducing an innovative new concept that will re-define the “alternative” in casual alternative shipboard dining.

Starting in March of 2006, the popular Veranda Café, high atop each Seabourn yacht, will be transformed nightly into 2: a stylish, contemporary dining venue serving imaginative multi-course tasting menus. Each dinner at 2 will be made up of playful pairings of dishes, reflecting culinary inspirations gathered from around the world.

In the newly expanded galley at 2, two chefs will turn out a taste-tempting array of small plates, mostly designed to be served two to a course, creating an intriguing variety of flavors and sensations during a five- or six-course meal.

To start, for instance, diners at 2 might be presented with a Bouquet of Spring Rolls with soy, Thai and chili dipping sauces, side-by-side with a Soba Noodle and Seaweed Salad with sesame vinaigrette. Then an aromatic Lobster Bisque “Presse” appears, graced with black truffle cappuccino, combined with a savory Seafood Croquette dressed with white truffle oil. A salad of Baby Mesclun Leaves in orange vinaigrette with tapenade croutons accompanies a selection of Prawn Variations with a sweet mustard dip. One duo of entrees includes Grilled Striped Bass with a roasted vegetable medley beside Braised Beef Short Ribs with celery-potato mash and beef jus. Goat Cheese Pops with caramelized honey and drunken grapes is paired with a Port Wine Shooter and lemon sorbet as a penultimate course. Finally, a decadent dessert duet combines Vanilla Beignets sauced with caramel apple, fudge and chocolate with Ice Pralines of white and milk chocolate.

Novel lighting effects that transform the room’s décor, fanciful table settings by Rosenthal and even the wait-staff uniforms at 2 will reflect a relaxed, refined sensibility, embodying classic quality and a spare, serene modernity.

As in each ship’s open-seating Restaurant, a selection of wines will be poured free of charge to accompany dinners at 2. In addition, 2’s sommelier will suggest premium wines available for purchase to pair with each night’s menu. Six different tasting menus will be offered, and while the menus will not be themed, they will take advantage of regional influences in the areas where the ships are sailing.

Suggested attire for dining at 2 will remain slightly more casual than that suggested for The Restaurant: Casual for most evenings and Elegant Casual (jacket, but no tie required for gentlemen) on those evenings when the Restaurant suggests Black Tie.

Tasting dinners at 2 will be available, by reservation, to about 50 of the yachts’ 208 guests nightly, at no additional cost.