Slow-cooked beef brisket with corn pudding, sautéed asparagus and cherry tomatoes, or spinach-ricotta cannelloni with creamy saffron sauce and roasted red pepper coulis? These delicious options may read like a menu in a gourmet restaurant - but now, they’re the sort of meals available at 30,000 feet – since LATAM Airlines cooked up a brand new in-flight menu to tickle even the most discerning of travellers’ tastebuds.
Roast beef cold plate with quinoa-vegetable salad, cherry tomatoes, watercress and old-fashioned mustard dressing
The Chile-based airline has created more than 300 new dishes to serve up in its economy cabin on international flights that take over seven hours. And HELLO! Online was delighted to accept an invitation to attend the high-profile launch party for the new dining concept, which was 16 months in the making and also includes a total redesign of the traditional in-flight tray. This means that the individual gourmet dishes are 50 per cent bigger with fewer peripheral elements, and that they perfectly showcase Latin American, international and vegetarian cuisine.
HELLO! sampled the smoked salmon cold plate with tricolor quinoa salad with vegetables, mixed greens and tartar dressing, and it was delicious. "Every detail was important to us – from the ingredients used to how each dish is prepared and served," says Claudia Sender, Senior Vice-President Clients of the LATAM Airlines Group. In fact, since beginning to roll out the new menus – which will be on all designated flights from the end of 2017 - the airline has seen a big jump in customer satisfaction.
Marinated shrimp cold plate with Israeli couscous, grilled squash and mixed greens with roasted red pepper dressing
It’s hardly surprising. Food is a big part of the longhaul flight experience and the airline has created a more restaurant-like dining experience. Not only is there more food on the plate, but dessert is served separately. Passengers are presented with a menu with three choices for lunch or dinner, including a hot dish, vegetarian meal or lighter cold option, which is accompanied by a drinks service and sweet snack. There will also be two breakfast choices – for example a ham and cheese croissant, or waffles filled with dulce de leche, cashews and orange.
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LATAM Airlines Group will offer the new dining service in the Economy cabin of all international flights longer than seven hours on Boeing 787, 767, 777 and Airbus A350 aircraft. The service is already available on flights over seven hours to/from Chile, serving destinations in the United States, Oceania and Europe. The concept will be rolled out throughout the airline group’s international network by the end of 2017.