Air France has announced new summer menus for La Première (first class) and business class passengers on long-haul flights departing Paris.
Available from July to October 2023, the business class menu has been created in partnership with Thierry Marx, while Régis Marcon and pastry chef Philippe Urraca have teamed up for the first class menu.
This marks the first time that the French flag carrier has collaborated with Thierry Marx, with his dishes focusing “above all on plant-based ingredients” with a flexitarian approach to cooking.
Marx has created eight dishes for business class, which include:
- Cream of spelt soup, black olive crumble, sautéed courgettes
- Cod, prawns, saffron rice, piquillo coulis
- Guinea fowl, carrot, butternut purée
- Pork loin, langoustine coulis, cauliflower purée, chanterelles
- Pasta conchiglie, pear, Fourme d’Ambert cheese and walnuts
- Prawns, risoni pasta with squid ink, crunchy vegetables
- Chicken, boulangère potatoes, mushrooms, Jura wine sauce
- Beef chuck, Bordeaux sauce, celery ravioli
To limit food waste, the carrier is also offering customers in business class the option of pre-ordering their hot dish up to 24 hours before departure.
Customers in La Première, meanwhile, can enjoy eight dishes by award-winning chef Régis Marcon, which are inspired by the Ardèche and Auvergne regions.
- Fillet of beef with cherries, mashed potatoes with smoked salt
- Royale of courgettes with oyster mushrooms and truffle, strawberry tomato coulis
- Pigeon fillet with apricot sauce, lemon bulgur, mushrooms and butternut
- Fillet of sea bass and prawns with chanterelle mushrooms, bouillabaisse style
- Guinea fowl fillet with blueberries, roast potatoes and baby carrots
- Fillet of sea bream with verbena, sautéed baby spinach and chanterelle mushrooms
- Braised veal shank, sage sauce, potato gratin with porcini mushrooms
- Cream of red bean soup with root vegetables
To finish off the experience, first class customers can enjoy four desserts from the à la carte menu, which will be available on a rotating basis.
The French chefs have worked with inflight caterer Servair to create the seasonal dishes which use fresh, local produce – meat, poultry, dairy products and eggs are all sourced in France, and the fish comes from sustainable fisheries.
Vegetarian menus are also available in each travel cabin on all the long-haul flights departing Paris.
Air France is not alone in partnering with award-winning chefs for its onboard service, with a raft of other airlines collaborating with famous chefs.
For a peek behind the scenes of inflight catering, see our feature in the July/August 2023 issue of Business Traveller:
