Bosom Buddies

Chefs MARK BEST and SHANE OSBORN, from the Netflix hit series The Final Table, share with Grace Ma the secret to their chemistry and why they love cooking on cruises

- Grace Ma

They were the veterans, and the favorites pipped to win American reality cooking competition The Final Table. In the Netflix series, Shane Osborn, chef-owner of one-Michelin-starred Arcane and newly opened casual eatery Cornerstone in Hong Kong, and Mark Best, whose now-defunct Sydney restaurant Marque was given a three-hat rating by Australia’s Good Food Guide for 10 consecutive years, were the unflappable, jocular duo that made it through nine grueling rounds against 11 other teams. Preparing national dishes from countries such as the US, Mexico, Japan, India and France, Osborn and Best eventually made it to the final four, where they had to compete separately to earn a seat at “the final table” alongside nine other culinary legends, including Anne-Sophie Pic (France), Grant Achatz (the US) and Clare Smyth (the UK).

American chef Timothy Hollingsworth eventually took home the top prize, but the “bromance” between Osborn and Best hogged headlines for months afterward. From Sep 29 to Oct 4, the duo partnered Dream Cruises, of which Best has two restaurant concepts – Prime Steakhouse and Seafood Grill – to conduct cooking demonstrations and enrichment talks, as well as cook a six-course dinner on a round-trip voyage from Singapore to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. Prestige had a taste of the delicious menu in a post-cruise media lunch and we were won over by dishes such as meltin-the-mouth, tender slow-braised Australian wagyu short ribs served with charred onions and a tamarillo salsa; and Parmesan gnocchi in light pumpkin dashi. The jovial gentlemen share their favorite moments of cooking together for the first time on the high seas.