ATLANTA and NEW YORK, Nov. 18,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is
again bringing new meaning to the slow food movement—at 500 miles
per hour and 35,000 feet. Beginning Dec.
1, customers flying in the Delta One cabin on all
transoceanic flights across Delta's global network will enjoy
seasonally rotating, regionally-influenced menus featuring
ingredients sourced at the height of flavor, often from artisan,
small-batch producers.
As part of Delta's move to offer more chef-created menus in
flight, the airline will further its partnership with Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group and
feature menus artfully developed by Nick
Anderer, Executive Chef and Partner of New York restaurants Marta and Maialino, on
select trans-Atlantic routes departing from New York's John F. Kennedy International
Airport for the next three months.
Anderer's in-flight dishes feature fresh, seasonal ingredients
and draw inspiration from the rustic Roman cuisine that he creates
at Marta. The menu includes an appetizer of Cured Beef Bresaola
with Paffenroth Farms fingerling potatoes and horseradish crema, a
white bean and sage soup, and a main course of braised lamb
shoulder slow cooked with white wine, rosemary, and polenta
alongside wilted chard.
"Who says you can't source great local ingredients for an
international flight? The meals we've created for Delta challenge
this notion," said Anderer. "In collaboration with the Delta team,
and many of my favorite suppliers, farmers, and artisan producers,
we've created a menu that highlights some of the classics from
Marta's wood-fired kitchen."
A culinary evolution
The Marta collaboration marks the
next step in a broader evolution in Delta's culinary partnership
with USHG. In the coming year, Delta will feature new menus
inspired by USHG's other restaurants on a rotating basis and
introduce customers to fresh and innovative dining options on
select trans-Atlantic flights out of New
York. In 2014, Delta previously featured dishes and
signature cocktails inspired by Blue Smoke, USHG's barbecue
restaurant, on select routes departing JFK to Europe. The airline also collaborated with
USHG to open the first airport locations of Shake Shack and Blue
Smoke on the Road in Delta's new JFK Terminal 4 in 2013.
Partnering with Marta also builds on Delta's system-wide
chef-curated food programs, including chef Linton Hopkins, winner of the prestigious
James Beard Award on select
Europe-bound flights departing
Atlanta, Michelle Bernstein to destinations in
Latin America and Michael Chiarello on flights to Asia. Those menus, as well as meals created by
Delta's in-house chefs, will be similarly developed with
regionally-sourced ingredients and feature Delta's signature global
spin on traditional local cuisine on all transoceanic flights
across its network.
The airline's in-flight dining partners at international
stations have also created dining options from seasonally relevant
ingredients that take advantage of local harvest, including those
flights departing the southern hemisphere where the growing season
is reversed.
"Through delicious food, exceptional service and a new approach
to how we develop and source our menus, we're bringing to life—in
ways no other airline has—innovation to the on-board experience,"
said Allison Ausband, Delta's Senior
Vice President – In-Flight Services. "We want to take our customers
on a culinary journey when they travel with us. A journey built on
a no-compromise philosophy that says every aspect and detail of the
travel experience be carefully considered. It's a philosophy that
extends from our unparalleled operational performance all the way
to the distinctly human touch of serving unique and authentic fare
made from seasonally and regionally-inspired
ingredients."
The airline also continues to tap the expertise of Master
Sommelier Andrea Robinson who carefully curated a 2016 wine
selection that complements the seasonal meal selections across the
airline. The medley of vintages she's chosen provide customers with
a sense of wine discovery as part of their in-flight experience and
follows a similar strategy of sourcing locally-made wines from, in
some cases, small, artisanal wineries who bring to the tray table a
flavor and body uniquely their own.
Seasonality in the skies
Delta first experimented with
a seasonally-focused meal program in 2014 when Chef Linton Hopkins began creating menus on select
flights departing Atlanta with the
same locally-sourced ingredients he used in his award-winning
restaurants. Together with the airline, Chef Hopkins worked with
purveyors and artisans throughout Georgia and the Southeast to sustainably scale
up their operation to meet the need of what quickly became
thousands of in-flight meals daily without compromising on quality
and taste.
"Delta is effectively changing the way we think about and
execute on the culinary experience in flight," Hopkins said. "We're
not just bringing wholesome, real food to customers while they fly,
but also supporting local businesses in the communities where Delta
serves. We're redefining the on-board culinary experience with
menus that celebrate timely, local harvests while taking advantage
of bold, unique flavors and ensuring customers are treated to
regularly refreshed menus."
Delta has for years taken innovative steps to improve the
quality and authenticity of its food program—from purchasing to
cooking and serving on board—by engaging in direct relationships
with chefs, farms and artisan producers.
Along with in-flight dining options in the Delta One cabin, the
airline's meals for Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin on transoceanic
flights will also feature regionally-inspired fare that will change
with every season.
Delta's industry-leading move to seasonal menus on its flights
is part of the airline's strategic approach to improving all
aspects of the customer experience, with a special focus on food.
Last week, Delta completely revamped its domestic First Class lunch
and dinner menus on flights between 900 and 1,499 miles, further
enhancing food offerings to include chef-developed meals refreshed
more regularly to give greater variety to even the most frequent of
fliers. Additional enhancements to domestic First Class as well as
EATS food-for-purchase offerings, including Delta's partnership
with Luvo, will come in 2016.
The airline also recently announced its plans to elevate the
customer dining experience in its premium cabins with all new
serviceware created by the global design expertise of Italy-based Alessi.
"We're committed to delivering to our 170 million annual
customers a distinctively thoughtful and innovative travel
experience, with no detail overlooked," said Ausband. "Our menus
deliver on the exciting opportunity to create menus that cater to
those customers seeking something more traditional while bringing
to the tray table flavors that meet the expectations of the more
adventurous, globe-trotting foodie. Offering seasonally rotating
menus with ingredients picked at the height of flavor is just one
of many ways we're bringing that commitment to life."
About Marta
Helmed by Executive Chef Nick Anderer, Marta is a Roman-inspired pizzeria
from Danny Meyer's USHG. Marta draws
inspiration from the tradition of rustic Roman pizzerie—local
haunts that churn out thin, crackly-crusted pizzas—and features a
lively open kitchen with two wood-burning ovens and an open-fire
grill. Marta's menu offers fresh, innovative takes on classic Roman
pizzas as well as original dishes that celebrate seasonal
ingredients from local farms and purveyors. MARTA is open
seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
www.martamanhattan.com
About Union Square Hospitality Group
Founded by
Danny Meyer, USHG is home to some
New York City's most beloved
restaurants: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke,
Jazz Standard, The Modern, Cafe 2
and Terrace 5 (at the Museum of Modern Art), Maialino, Untitled and
Studio Cafe (at the Whitney Museum of American Art), North End
Grill, Marta, and Porchlight. USHG also comprises the catering and
venue hospitality business Union Square Events and the
organizational consulting business Hospitality Quotient. USHG
restaurants and chefs have earned an unprecedented 26 James Beard
Awards, and are perennially ranked at the top of the Zagat Survey.
www.ushgnyc.com.
About Delta
Delta Air Lines serves more than 170
million customers each year. Delta was named to FORTUNE magazine's
top 50 World's Most Admired Companies in addition to being named
the most admired airline for the fourth time in five years.
Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News
Annual Airline survey for four consecutive years, a first for any
airline. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the
Delta Connection carriers offer service to 316 destinations in 57
countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees
worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft.
The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and
participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture
with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with
Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta
offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and
markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia,
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita.
Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities,
global products and services, and technology to enhance the
customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional
information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as
delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta,
Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines