Chef Emma Rye  Motoryacht Lazy Z
Date interviewed: December 2007
How did you realize you wanted to become a chef?
I’m from England, and my family used to vacation in France. I used to go to my Dad’s, and we’d make these crazy chocolate desserts. They took about five hours, but we loved doing it. I just loved to be cooking.
What training did you undergo to become a chef?
I won a scholarship in a one-day cookoff to attend the Academie de Culinaire in France. You go there, and you become and apprentice. Mine was at the Savoy Hotel and the Michelin restaurant No. 1 Lombard Street in London.
Apprenticeships in places like that are the worst-paid things, because it’s just a privilege to be there. So I did private work as well, parties and such.
I told the school that I wanted to live in South of France upon graduation, and I got a call from the chef onboard the private, 416-foot motoryacht Octopus, which is owned by Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft. I was asked to become his villa chef in Cap Ferrat, where he had 22 gardeners bringing me fresh herbs and olive oil all the time.
That was my first job, and so it was pretty easy to hop onto boats from there. We worked closely with the chefs from yachts because the boss was involved in them.
What yachts did you work on before joining Lazy Z?
About five years ago, I got a recommendation and became the second chef onboard the 246-foot motoryacht Leander. I wanted to go on as a second chef because I felt really nervous about the provisioners—who to use, that sort of thing. So I went as a second chef on a big boat with a good charter reputation. That was a good way to learn.
From there, I went to a private yacht called Lady Georgina, which was about 164 feet long, and then I worked onboard Le Grande Bleue, a private motoryacht that is 370 feet long.
When did you join Lazy Z?
I was with Le Grande Bleue until the yacht got new owners, which is when I started looking for a new boat. I was doing some freelance work onboard the private 164-foot motoryacht Evviva, and then I came here, to Lazy Z, about three weeks ago.
What do you think makes your yacht’s crew unique or special?
I was the head chef on Le Grande Bleue, with five other chefs working in my department. Lazy Z, she’s entirely different. She’s 168 feet long, not even half Le Grande Bleue’s size. I can stop with the meetings, the reports. I can be friendly with the crew onboard Lazy Z, and I’m really looking forward to that.
What are some of your specialty dishes, or often-requested favorites?
I don’t do weird fusion food. A typical charter for me is rustic, savory, homemade pastas and breads with classic French desserts, stuff like that. And I have a problem in that once I start in the morning, I can’t stop. I cook like ten dishes.
I spent my first three weeks here getting everything onboard. Now that it’s here, I can’t go wrong. Hey, I have Joy of Cooking. It’s a staple. If I don’t know what something is, I look it up.
And every year I do a cooking class plus a few weeks of working for free in a good restaurant to get ideas. Last year, I did a Thai course and worked at Marque Restaurant in Sydney, Australia. So I am always learning new favorites.
What awards have you won?
Just yesterday, I won best coffee, best table presentation, and best overall chef at the Antigua charter yacht show. It was the first time I’ve ever won a big award. It was amazing.
What else should CharterWave readers know about you and Lazy Z?
The crew here get on so well, it doesn’t feel like work. We’re a family-oriented boat, and we’re fun. We live up to a service standard, but we’re not stuffy.
Life’s completely too short to not get along.
Lazy Z is part of the fleet at Camper & Nicholsons International. Her weekly base rate is $266,000 for 12 guests with 12 crew, or about $27,700 per person with typical 25-percent expenses factored in. Contact any reputable charter broker to learn more.
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