by Brian Simpson
Last updated: 8:19 PM ET, Tue September 26, 2017
Air Transat has introduced eight new in-flight menu items as part of its continued partnership with Quebec chef Daniel Vézina.
Vézina, chef and proprietor of the prestigious Laurie Raphaël restaurants in both Quebec City and Montreal, was brought on board (pun intended) late last year to work with Air Transat to elevate the in-flight dining experience.
"The feedback from our customers has been extremely positive since we launched this new offering last spring," said Jean-François Lemay, president-general manager of Air Transat. "Passengers who dined on selections from the Chef's Menu by Daniel Vézina were impressed with their refinement… As a leader of vacation travel in Canada, Air Transat constantly strives to offer our passengers a pleasant flight experience in both Club Class and Economy Class. And the opportunity to enjoy such an affordable, high-quality meal is part of the journey."
"This grand adventure with Air Transat takes my kitchen 10,000 metres in the air and challenges me to explore how taste is affected by altitude," said Daniel Vézina. "We spent the past few months creating a menu even more attuned to the tastes of travellers and that's always the height of quality."
The airline unveiled eight new menu choices, which will be available starting December 1, 2017, and invited media, retail partners and influencers to a tasting earlier today at the Berkeley Field House in downtown Toronto. On hand at the end event were representatives from Transat's Inflight, Marketing and Sales teams, including a team of flight attendants serving wine to the group.
"The flight attendants deliver the product, and with our colleagues from marketing, we come up with ideas on how we can enhance the experience for the customer." said Dave Bourdages, vice president of inflight service and catering at Air Transat. "One of those things that we wanted to do was to partner with a chef…we don't have the pretention that we invented the idea, other airlines have done this in the past, so this isn't something we came up with, but we wanted to have the right fit, and we think that what we've done with Chef Vézina is a great fit."
PHOTO: Dave Bourdages, VP Inflight Service and Catering at Air Transat, and Chef Daniel Vézina, with some of the new meals available starting December 1, 2017. (Photo by Brian Simpson)
Vézina worked with Transat to develop new recipes and new dishes that together, they believed would please their customers. After a successful first season, unveiled in April, which featured offerings like Sweet Potato Gnocchi with red wine bolognese, spinach pesto and parmesan shavings, or a Duck Confit Lasagna with spinach and a sherry and foie gras emulsion (Chef Vézina recalled at one point in the event how he'd seen a fight on the airplane once when there was only one of these left.), Vézina and Transat have now unveiled the new menu for the Winter/Spring 2017/2018 season.
Upon arriving at the tasting event and seeing the setups and descriptions of the six new dinner menu items, I was immediately struck by the diversity of the meal offering. Salmon fillet with Asian noodles. Turkey with cranberry sauce perfumed with truffles. Braised beef bourguignon. And a white bean and quinoa bowl, to name a few. Not your typical airline food.
I had the opportunity to have the Pulled Beef Shepherd's Pie as my entrée (so tasty), but also had the opportunity to taste most of the other meals including the Salmon fillet, Beef bourguignon, Turkey with Cranberry, and the White Bean and Quinoa bowl. Since taste is a personal thing, I won't give a detailed review of my meal, but suffice it to say, I left feeling satisfied, with a very full belly, yet still wanting more.
The new Chef's Menu by Daniel Vézina, outlined below, will be available on Air Transat flights of more than three hours:
Breakfast (served with a plain croissant, yoghurt, orange juice and coffee):
- Spinach and basil omelette
- Square crepes with goat cheese and smoked salmon
Dinner (served with a cheese plate, dessert and a glass of wine):
- Pulled beef shepherd's pie
- Cheese and tomato orzo risotto
- White bean and quinoa bowl
- Salmon fillet with Asian noodles
- Turkey with cranberry sauce perfumed with truffles
- Braised beef bourguignon
PHOTO: Chef Daniel Vézina prepares a tasting of Braised Beef Bourguignon at Tuesday's event in Toronto. (Photo by Brian Simpson)
The Chef's Menu by Daniel Vézina is served complimentary to all Club Class passengers. Passengers in Economy Class can purchase the meals and their accompaniments for $15 for breakfast and $25 for dinner.
All meals can also be pre-ordered from 45 days to 48 hours prior to departure, starting today by calling Air Transat. Online ordering will be available starting October 1, 2017.
While not unique or new, pre-ordering of inflight meals allows passengers to secure the meal they want on the flight. No more looking at the cart at the front of the aircraft and thinking "I hope the chicken's still available by the time they get to me".
"As a leisure airline, obviously, the onboard experience is part of the celebration of the holidays." said Geneviève LeBrun, vice president of marketing at Transat. "The partnership with Chef Vezina was a good way for us to recognize that the start and end of your holidays are equally important and allow us to elevate your onboard experience. Club class passengers will have one of the Daniel Vezina meals. But it's very important for us to offer this to our Economy class passengers. And through pre-ordering, they will have the ability to choose one of these meals for delivery onboard, and have also an enhanced onboard experience to start and end their holidays."
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