A Star Chef Is Taking Airplane Food to Delectable New Heights

Airline slogans are slinky creatures, are they not? Like famous Hollywood faces, some age more gracefully than others. Not much could top British Airways’s “the world’s favourite airline,” though that is no longer in use; also safely on the back burner is Delta’s, “We love to fly and it shows.” Then there is El Al, which as the catchphrase goes is “not just an airline, it’s Israel.” As anyone who has ever flown Israel’s flag carrier can attest, that is accurate. Starting this month, flying with El Al means not only signature Israeli flair but trend-setting flavor, too, thanks to a new menu by one of Israel’s most celebrated chefs, Assaf Granit. I have not savored Mr. Granit’s latest bursts of culinary alchemy but I know the kinds of creative feats that man can put on a plate. Assaf Granit opened what is arguably the most famous contemporary restaurant at the Levant, Machneyuda, in 2009. Situated near Jerusalem’s iconic Mahane Yehuda market, Machneyuda offers an effusion of zesty ingredients, music that is too loud, and general buzz that lingers long after one’s actual meal. Mr. Granit’s culinary talents have since run to the highbrow — his Paris restaurant Shabour was anointed with a Michelin star in 2021 — as well as the crowd-pleasing: a couple years back, he was designing a newfangled range of pizzas for Domino’s in Israel. During my involuntary Covid quarantine at Tel Aviv, having more than a few of those decidedly non-humble pies delivered to my bolted door literally helped save my life. Assaf Granit has a newish restaurant in London, too, by the way. Yet it goes without saying that I would buy a ticket to Tel Aviv simply to see what Mr. Granit has up his sleeve right now. Actually, I was tipped off by a social media post from El Al’s chief commercial officer, Shlomi Zafrany, who wrote that the new menu “showcases the diverse and delectable world of Israeli cuisine, promising a delightful journey for our loyal passengers and newcomers alike.”Fantastic food and better-than-average beaches are two of the chief reasons I once ditched the hard surfaces of Manhattan for balmy Tel Aviv and Jaffa; they are both antidotes to the general muddle of Middle Eastern reality, and the more people who can experience Israeli gastronomic goodness — loyal passengers and newcomers alike — the better.This is not the first time El Al has partnered with a star Israeli chef. More than decade ago, the airline worked with Segev Moshe, but as far as I gather this is the first major new culinary collaboration in four years. Mr. Granit has stated that “growing up in the Ein Karem neighborhood of Jerusalem, I felt this uniquely Israeli tribute to our different cultures, in the connection between my grandma Leah’s Eastern European horseradish and my Moroccan neighbor Jacqueline’s perfect couscous.” For Mr. Granit, “Israeli cuisine is all about connecting these different cultures and has long been my culinary inspiration.”“The food I bring you today is the product of our shared journey, whether it’s Persian Kohresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi stew, Moroccan Chraime fish, or a touch of za’atar in the chocolate mousse in your dessert,” he explains via El Al’s website. A lunch meal that could be served aboard a flight to Dubai from Tel Aviv includes a chicken breast sandwich with harissa, chimichurri, zaatar, oregano, and pickled lemon. The picture of it on the airline’s website looks delicious, as does another option, the brisket sandwich with fried onions, chipotle aioli, and garlic aioli. There is a selection of dairy meals, too. On long-haul flights, the new chef’s meals will be served starting September 27, but the new meal service has already started in business and premium class, and the choices are tantalizing. An appetizer of textured mushrooms is described thusly: “Chef Assaf Granit’s famous polenta is served with the same ragu as in this dish, until we crack the code for parve polenta, we chose to use this ragu to create special textures.”Main dishes include the Kohresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi, “a somewhat sour stew from fresh and dried green vegetables cooked together with beef and red beans for a long time,” though El Al’s version dispenses with the beans, and the Moroccan mullet fish Chraime cooked in a spicy tomato sauce with couscous.There is a whole subculture of gourmet grazing at 35,000 feet, and in general the American airlines lag behind the offerings of other international carriers. The latest example comes from Swiss International Air Lines — yes, there is more to the squeaky-clean Alpine realm than cowbells and the ersatz prestige that comes from attending a Davos parley. For the next three months, passengers traveling in business and first class on long-haul flights departing from Geneva and Zurich can dig into dishes inspired by L’Atelier Robuchon. That is a French restaurant, of course, but it has had a Swiss outpost at Geneva’s Woodward Hotel since 2021. It received a Michelin star in 2022. Dishes served include veal filet with truffle sauce, potato purée, stuffed piquillo pepper and herb salad, and miso-marinated pike-perch with port wine sauce, baked polenta, shallot confit, and pak choi (same thing as bok choy).The first-class dessert menu is a hoot: “vieille prune parfait with Mirabelle plum compote and pecan crumble” — calling it “old prune parfait” would simply be uncouth — is one offering. A “Felchlin Maracaibo” chocolate slice with toasted hazelnut and Tahitian vanilla ice cream is another temptation.If that all sounds a bit rarefied, there are interesting things sizzling in the airborne cucina of ITA Airways, Italy’s new flag carrier. This summer travelers on long-haul business class flights have been able to partake of four dishes created by chefs Alfonso and Ernesto Iaccarino of the Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 restaurant, at Italy’s Sorrento coast. Sounds delizioso to us.

A Star Chef Is Taking Airplane Food to Delectable New Heights

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