Excellence Gourmet Festival: Enjoyment on the Rhine

Enjoy excellent top-class cuisine and sail comfortably from A to B? Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? This is exactly the concept behind the Excellence Gourmet Festival, which will be held for the sixth year in a row this year. In October and November, 40 highly remunerated guest chefs take over the kitchen sceptre on the two flagships of the Excellence fleet. An event that we, as self-confessed foodies, do not want to miss.

The Excellence Gourmet Festival

The gourmet festival is spread over different dates during the months of October and November. While the two ships commute back and forth between Basel and Strasbourg during this period, a different top chef is at the stove every evening. This year, the 40 participating guest chefs include André Jaeger, Heiko Nieder and Tim Raue. In total, this year’s Excellence Gourmet Festival has achieved an impressive number of 40 Michelin stars and 500 Gault Millau points.

When I went through the program of the event, it was immediately clear to me which culinary highlight we were picking. In 2015, shortly before we were awarded our first Michelin star, we were guests at the Einstein Gourmet. The creations of the duo Sebastian Zier and Moses Ceylan have remained in our memories as a highlight of the weekend trip to St. Gallen at that time. In the meantime, the two have earned another star and have been named Newcomer of the Year 2019 by Gault Millau this year with 18 points. And it was precisely these two who were on board the Excellence Princess last Sunday as culinary artists.

With the Excellence Princess from Basel to Strasbourg

If you book participation in one of these pleasure trips through the Mittelthurgau travel agency – the organiser of the Excellence Gourmet Festival – you will have the journey by coach from various boarding points to Basel (or Strasbourg – depending on the ship’s point of departure) included. The same applies to the return journey. Alternatively, it is also possible to arrive individually at the ship’s departure point without any problems.

Since we are spending the weekend in Dijon from Friday to Sunday, we travel individually to Basel immediately afterwards and check in on the ship – 5 minutes before the arrival of the first car. We move into our comfortably furnished cabin on the upper deck and then take a look at the rooms of the Excellence Princess. The events of the gourmet festival have a capacity of 140 to 150 guests and accordingly the lobby/bar fills up quickly. At 3:00 p.m. it’s time to cast off, let’s cast off. It is only about 120 kilometres to Strasbourg, but we have to cross eight locks by boat. Later we learn that the Rhine was not navigable for ships like the Excellence Princess until the end of October due to the low water level and we can count ourselves lucky that this event can now be carried out on a moving ship.

Soon the first lock passage lures us onto the sun deck (which doesn’t really live up to its name on this foggy day) and later we look for a quiet spot and watch the slowly passing shore landscapes.

Also on board: Sebastian Zier & Moses Ceylan

At 6:00 p.m. sharp, “Conférencier” Sven Epiney will open the culinary part of the cruise and Sebastian Zier & Moses Ceylan will send “Greetings from Sylt” as a prelude. We are puzzling over what the fake oyster is made of. The resolution follows a little later in the restaurant, where Zier & Ceylan take on the challenge of putting together a top menu for 150 people. To support them, they brought along three chefs and their patiseuse from the Einstein Gourmet Team. The Excellence kitchen team helps out with the rest.

Before each course, Sven Epiney elicits some exciting facts from the duo about the following dish. For example, we learn that the false oyster served as a prelude was made from tomato and that pumpkin is the most boring vegetable ever for Moses Ceylan. Nevertheless, he was persuaded by Sebastian Zier to have a pumpkin starter. On the condition that, following its roots, it receives an oriental gout. It is precisely this interaction that is the recipe for success of the two. And once again the arrangements inspire me. Every product on the plate is well thought out and contributes to the overall taste. And yes, I repeat myself: they are each small works of art.

The oriental pumpkin is followed by a pickled trout with cucumber, shiso and pecan nut – visually the most beautiful plate of the evening for me and also in the top 3 in terms of taste.

Also very fine is the Orkney salmon with seaweed salad, daikon (winter radish) and miso hollandaise.

With the announced “Chicken Lebanese” for the main course, the two also skilfully bridge the gap between their roots and their current place of work. The base: a Ribelmaize chicken from Mörschwil – interpreted exologically with bell pepper, coriander potatoes and onion. And yes, I was skeptical when I first saw this combo on the menu – but it convinces from the first bite.

For dessert, the two surprised us in 2015 with a carrot plate. This time there is also a clear color announcement with kiwi, pea and apple. The “chocolate” in bold on the menu plays only a minor role. “Of course, we want the whole ship to wonder where the chocolate was!” says Zier with a grin during the next Q&A session. It would be boring if everything was always obvious.

At the end there is a fruity-sour buttermilk-cassis combination and I know we definitely have to go to the Einstein Gourmet in St. Gallen again. The two of them really have what it takes!

Parallel to the gourmet dinner, we decided on the wine accompaniment offered. For a fair price of 58 euros, Tobias Hess – sommelier at Einstein Gourmet – has brought six matching wines to the Excellence Princess, which perfectly round off the culinary experience.

After so much fine food, we appreciate that our bed is only one floor above us and that we start the new week comfortably the next morning with a fine breakfast on board. The itinerary then gives you half a day for a stroll through Strasbourg. Then it’s back to the starting point of the trip by car.

Practical tips for the Excellence Gourmet Festival

The Excellence Gourmet Festival takes place in October and November. The itinerary of the ships is Basel-Strasbourg or Strasbourg-Basel, depending on the date. The cost of the 2-day packages ranges from 285 CHF to 500 CHF per person (price depends on the guest chef). The services include the arrival and departure in the comfort coach, the overnight stay on the ship, coffee / cake and welcome drink, the gourmet evening and the breakfast buffet the next morning. All offers can be found here: Excellence Gourmet Festival

Note: I have been invited to participate in the Excellence Gourmet Festival 2018. Thank you very much for this. As always, all impressions and opinions are ours.