Q: Ilaria, tell us how you came to be working at Silversea delivering their S.A.L.T. programme?
A: I was born into a family centred around hospitality, one which lived and breathed cuisine. My mum and grandparents were amazing cooks - I wouldn't say chefs - but incredible cooks, and food has always been part of my life. I've always drifted towards anything and everything to do with this. I wrote about food, had sommelier training, and then decided to do a Master's in food anthropology at SOAS in London to bring together everything I knew.
Studying with experts made me realise there was lots still to learn! Around this time, Silversea were beginning to think about S.A.L.T. and I heard about the possibility of a role. When they started to bring the programme to life I got a call and they brought me on to my delight. It's been a real honour to be here and develop something so avant-garde.
Q: Tell us a little about the programme itself.
A: We started during the return to service on board Silver Moon but I can't say it was ever a small start - the project was always ambitious. We understood that Silversea guests love to wine and dine, they love the gastronomical part of the journey. We were also thinking about how guest expectations are changing and the shift to luxury you can experience, rather than luxury you can touch - the desire to live a destination. S.A.L.T. was designed to deliver this and help guests understand a destination through local food. One of the really interesting things we address is the level of locality, which changes greatly depending on the lens you use to look at a place.
We started in Greece where at the macro scale you'll recognise known dishes on a national level, like moussaka, but then we zoom in to the micro locality. For each voyage we keep changing the lens depending on how many ports in the country are touched. This gives guests the opportunity to stretch their comfort zone whilst travelling with a brand they love and gives a different perspective and connection to a place - creating connections is key. We want people to understand the context of the cuisine, offering something more than just an amazing dish. The two pillars of S.A.L.T. are locality/regionality and storytelling - this narrative layer is always available to guests if they want to find it - then of course food is the focal point.
Q: How has the programme developed since it launched?
A: On Moon and Dawn we have half a deck dedicated to S.A.L.T. venues; it was a bold start with a lot of trust put into the success of the project, and we had lots of interest right from the beginning. The S.A.L.T. Bar on these ships is like a speakeasy - people love it and there is a real buzz about it. When Nova came along there was a big change with even more space. These ships are all about the ocean being part of the experience, there is glass everywhere and the S.A.L.T. Lab [which offers a hands-on cooking experience by day and the Chef's Table with extensive tasting menu by night] is one of the most amazing venues on the ship with the most amazing views.
This speaks to the fact that it is so popular. It is the go-to venue to try local dishes and if you travel on Ray in the Caribbean, then try Nova in Northern Europe, you'll keep having a new experience. It's important to keep the menus changing regularly - these are curated by our chefs with a dedicated bartender building drinks around it and Silversea's wine ambassador selecting great local wine. You can see this in the S.A.L.T. Kitchen where we have a voyage menu featuring more approachable dishes, a meat or fish with local sauce, and then a local menu for the more adventurous. And, as the menus change roughly every three days, guests love to come back.
Q: What aspect of the programme are you involved in?
I'm involved in the curating and developing, and then managing the delivery, working with Adam Sachs who guides from a higher level. So, for the S.A.L.T. Lab, I study the itinerary then work with the relevant people to set the framework that the class needs to follow and work on finalising the details. It's similar for the S.A.L.T. shore excursions, I work with Adam and alongside the Silversea Shore Excursion Department to curate and finetune, so the experience is exactly right.
In the S.A.L.T. Kitchen I work alongside the Development Chef who brings their culinary, operational and technical knowledge to my local food knowledge to create menus together, plus I collaborate with two consultants on wine and cocktails. With four ships operating across all four corners of the world it's a huge team involved.
Q: What aspect of S.A.L.T. are you most proud of?
That's so hard to say! I love S.A.L.T. Kitchen, it's such an accessible entry point for people to try new things. And I love seeing how guests react to it. But if I had to pick my favourite child it would be the S.A.L.T. Lab.
For me this is where the storytelling really comes into action, it's at the forefront of the experience and it's so focused on the local - learning a few dishes of a place and how they came into being, understanding the history of the place and its people, the ingredients and how they became so popular. I want guests to return home with a deeper understanding of a place and it's here that it happens.
Q: What's the biggest challenge?
A: It's a hugely ambitious project and keeping up with the speed of development has been a lot. It was daunting having the whole world in front of you!
Now we've been operating for more than three years we have gone through a lot of the development, so it's become about perfecting and establishing programmes for new destinations visited by a ship with the S.A.L.T. programme. Dawn will be travelling Africa and Nova in Oceania, whose programmes we're developing at the moment.
Q: What's your favourite food?
Ah, I couldn't say! If I said any one food, it would be a lie! If I considered very carefully, I could say my favourite cuisine is Vietnamese.
It's one that people may be only a little familiar with, but it has such depth and I'm lucky that the area of London in which I live is known for its fantastic Vietnamese scene. I would like to see it gain more recognition on the international stage.
Q: Where's the best place you've travelled?
A: My fondest memories are from Iceland. It is an elemental place where you feel so small against the world. The people are amazing and the scenery keeps changing. But creating menus here was really challenging, as there isn't a strongly defined cuisine.
A few dishes that may be popular are often gimmicky or not appropriate for Silversea's guests - think rotten shark, puffins or whale. But we still managed to put together delicious and exciting menus for our guests - thank goodness for the Nordic food movement!
