With so many airlines missing the mark when it comes to airline food standard and quality, Delta is delivering chef-driven meals with farm fresh ingredients to tray tables at 30,000 feet. The airline giant has a new “farm-to-tray-table” in-flight menu in partnership with LA-based celebrity chefs Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo, bringing enhanced star-quality, local food and beverage programs to select West Coast flights. Delta One customers on flights from LAX to JFK and LAX to DCA can now savor menus and culinary creations from the airline’s newest chef partners.
The chef duo curated a menu that is reflective of the fare served at many of their popular L.A. restaurants, including Animal, Son of a Gun and Jon & Vinny’s. Each dish features local farm fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from L.A.-area farmers and purveyors, including Mike and Songs Egg Ranches, Domenico’s Foods for ravioli and Schaner Family Farms for sage and citrus to name a few. Their debut menu for Delta includes a starter of confit portobello mushroom carpaccio with arugula pesto, almonds and pecorino, a main course of marinara braised meatballs with bianco DiNapoli tomato, garlic bread and Gioia whipped ricotta, or pumpkin ravioli with sage brown butter sauce and pecorino cheese, topped off with strawberry bread pudding for dessert.
Delta’s network of award-winning chefs also includes Atlanta-based chef Hopkins and chefs from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group in New York. Similar to the meals Union Square Hospitality Group and Chef Linton Hopkins create daily for Delta One customers out of JFK and Atlanta respectively, Shook and Dotolo prepares the new menu selections at a dedicated facility they operate in Los Angeles. The freshly made meals are transported from their catering company, Carmelized Productions, to LAX each day to ensure customers experience restaurant level cuisine in the skies.
Delta also partners with Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson for their robust wine program that incorporates a seasonal approach pairing perfectly with the airline’s Delta One menus. This year, Robinson has sourced a number of locally-made wines from small, artisanal wineries that bring to the tray table a flavor and body uniquely their own.
The new menu from Shook and Dotolo is the latest in a series of partnerships with LA brands as Delta continues growing in Los Angeles and begins work on the $1.9 billion Delta Sky Way at LAX.