The talented man holding the saute pan is Patrick Roney, who has been the chef aboard the 115-foot Crescent motoryacht Kapalua for nearly two years. He was invited to participate earlier this month in Pebble Beach Food & Wine, a prestigious culinary event held annually in California.

     I got the following, exclusive interview with him yesterday, when he told me what the event taught him and how he plans to use his new knowledge to make charters aboard Kapalua even more impressive for guests at the dinner table. He also generously shared all the photos that appear in this post.

Tell me about Pebble Beach Food & Wine.
It’s one of the premier food and wine shows in the United States. They get all the top chefs, Michelin stars, all the big guys, and do several different dinners. They have several wineries there, and it’s basically a culinary mecca.
       To give you an idea of the caliber of attendees, I can tell you that it started with a $10,000-per-ticket dinner. I didn’t get to be a part of that, unfortunately, but it helps you understand the level of the event.

To the best of my knowledge, you were the only yacht chef invited to participate. How did you get the nod?
My culinary career began in Northern California. I started out as a line cook and moved my way up to a restaurant executive chef, and I worked at a bunch of places in between. After September 11 and the dotcom bust, I got into the yachting business, but a lot of people that I know are still in restaurants.
     I was invited to participate by a two-Michelin-star chef whom I had a chance to cook for a couple of months back. The owner of Kapalua hosted a dinner party and invited a couple of big-name chefs, and I did an eight-course tasting menu for 10 people. This chef and I started talking then, and he said he had this Pebble Beach event coming up, and he needed a strong assistant.

What was the best part of participating in Pebble Beach Food & Wine?
I got to go into all the kitchens, behind the scenes, and get exposure with many of the top chefs in the world. They talk about food and wine, what ingredients they’re using, and which suppliers they’re getting them from, whose products are best and at what prices, all of that. It’s incredible.
     I think that in this slowing economy, chefs need to use their down time wisely and be put into situations where they’re seeing other chefs and what they’re doing. Educational programs of any kind for yacht chefs is very important, because you get in your own routine when you’re on your boat for a long time. This event helped me immensely.

Any favorite memories about the food or wine itself?
One of the more interesting parts of the event is the Cristal dinner. It’s the most Cristal ever in one room, in one night. They went through 185 magnums for about 160 people, including the kitchen, which got a magnum for each course. It’s really something.
    Honestly, the entire event was one of the highlights of my culinary career. I think it included almost everyone in America who has been awarded a Michelin star. I was pinching myself the whole time I was there.

How do you think participating in the event will help you with charters aboard Kapalua?
The clientele who are coming to these dinners are the same level of clientele that would charter Kapalua, and yachts in general. That Cristal dinner was $2,500 per person. Working with the chefs and seeing what they’re doing, the trends, the techniques—I was watching how they approached plates, foods, and flavors—it definitely inspired me and opened my palate to give me some mojo.
     The second night, I was part of the delicacy dinner. That’s a lot of products that are being used on boats—foie gras, caviar, truffles, abalone, sea urchin. The way these guys were using them were different, and it was really interesting. It gave me a different view on how to approach these products and incorporate them with other ingredients.
     In yachting, you’re so independent. It’s just you in the galley. At this event, I got overloaded with all these chefs and all their styles. It would be like a chef going to spend a night in each restaurant’s kitchen for a month straight. I got to see what the 10 top chefs are doing, all in one spot. That’s a lot of great knowledge to bring back to the boat.

Kapalua is part of the Northrop & Johnson fleet. She takes eight or nine guests at a lowest weekly base rate of $39,000. The yacht is currently in Europe and is moving soon to offer charters in New England this summer. Any reputable charter broker can help you book a week onboard.
 
 

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