BCBusiness

bcbusiness.ca FEBRUARY 2016 BCBusiness 17 The High Table T h e M a t r i x Celebrity chefs are all the rage–including, increasingly, on airlines' stratified menus by Fiona Morrow T he airline industry's culinary mile-high club is peppered with „ne-dining chefs, hired to bring a touch of glamour—and hopefully a lot of žavour—to the business of business class travel. Vancouver's top toque, David Hawksworth, signed up last fall to become Air Canada's o•cial chef for those paying the front cabin premium, charged with designing dishes that still look and taste good at 35,000 feet. Still, true foodies might „nd better value skipping the airline upgrade and reserving a table at the chefs' restaurants instead. COST OF ENTRY** Available on all outgoing international business class flights and in international Maple Leaf Lounges Business class: Vancouver- London Heathrow $4,149 economy: $1,185 Available on international business class flights in and out of doha Business class: Vancouver- doha $4,635 economy: $1,252 Available only on Upper Class flights out of the U.K. upper (business) class: London Heathrow- Los Angeles*: $7,333 economy: $876 Available on first and business class international flights departing Japan Business class: Vancouver- Tokyo $4,214 economy: $1,345 Tamari roasted sablefish, bok choy, brown rice, chili-miso vinaigrette Braised lamb shank, chickpea and saffron sauce, parsley mashed potato, roasted root vegetables Seafood linguine, prawns, scallops, salmon, white wine sauce, zucchini ribbons Sautéed fillet of beef, black truffle-flavoured burdock roots, green pepper sauce Hawksworth Restaurant: Pan roasted sablefish, puy lentils, cauliflower, crispy chicken skin gremolata: $42 nobu Doha: Nobu-style veal chop: $143 Pascale closed her Covent Garden cupcake shop in 2014 and now concentrates on her TV and cookbook career. To try her recipes, you'll have to buy her book– everyday easy–and make something yourself Pierre Gagnaire Tokyo: Chateaubriand of Japanese beef, foie gras toasts, white bean and squid stew, seared tongue with autumn truffles: $136 1,200 Hawks- worth meals are prepared daily in Air Canada's five catering kitchens sited across the country Renowned indian chef Vineet Bhatia also develops menus for QA Pascale switched from catwalk to celebrity chef when Selfridges contracted her to supply 1,000 of her Christmas cakes All Nippon's menus are developed by a team of 25 top chefs (including Gagnaire) they call "The Connoisseurs" Air CAnAdA All nippon Virgin AtlAntiC QAtAr AirwAys airline FooD FaCTS IN THE SKY ON THE GROUND NOTED AIRLINE CHEF *Virgin Atlantic doesn't fly to Vancouver **Flight prices sourced Oct. 26 via expedia.ca for return flights in Feb. 2016 except Qatar Airways, sourced direct David Hawksworth (Hawksworth Restaurant, Vancouver) nobu Matsuhisa (32 restaurants worldwide) Lorraine Pascale (former supermodel, British celebrity TV chef) Pierre Gagnaire (3-Michelin-starred chef with 11 restau- rants globally) SOURCE: ARCHERY STRATEGY CONSULTiNG * FiGURES iN CANAdiAN dOLLARS $14.8 billion Estimated worth of the global airline food industry $7.40-$13.20 Cost to airline of typical economy meal $22-$44 Cost to airline of typical business class meal $27 million Amount Singapore Airlines spends on Champagne per year Restaurant, Vancouver) chef with 11 restau rants globally) worldwide) British celebrity TV chef) flights and in international Maple Leaf Lounges Business class: London Heathrow econom Available on first and business Restaurant, Vancouver) Pierre Gagnaire rants globally) rants globally) *Virgin Atlantic doesn't fly to Vancouver **Flight prices sourced Oct. 26 via expedia.ca for return flights in Feb. 2016 except Qatar Airways, sourced direct British celebrity TV chef) Tamari roasted sablefish, bok choy, brown rice, chili-miso vinaigrette Sautéed fillet of beef, Hawksworth Restaurant: sablefish, puy lentils, cauliflower, crispy chicken skin gremolata: Pierre Gagnaire siness class: Vancouver- ,635 y: Available only on Upper Class potato, roasted root vegetables Seafood linguine, prawns, scallops, salmon, white wine

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