4 min read
Key Points
United introduced chef-created menus in Polaris as part of a broader effort to improve its food and beverage program and stand out from competing airlines.On a flight from Newark to Edinburgh, I preordered Chef Fariyal Abdullahi’s three-course menu featuring chilled tomato soup with crab, a baby gem salad, and Ethiopian-coffee glazed short ribs.I put each dish to the test to see whether United’s new approach can actually make airplane food worth looking forward to.
With airlines constantly trying to one-up each other in premium cabins, United is hoping its food can give it an edge. As part of a broader overhaul of its food and beverage program, the airline introduced chef-created meals for United Polaris, its international business class, through a collaboration with Chef’s Table.
I wrote about the menus when they were first announced, so naturally I was curious when I had the chance to actually eat one myself on an overnight flight from Newark to Edinburgh.
I’ve flown up front on a handful of other airlines, but this was my first time in Polaris—and I planned to approach it like any other overnight flight: Eat dinner, get comfortable, and pass out until Europe.
Before the flight, I preordered the Chef’s Table menu created by Fariyal Abdullahi, chef partner at New York City’s Hav & Mar. And while I don’t find myself eating at ultra-luxury restaurants all that often—I did eventually make it to a Michelin-starred one once I landed in Edinburgh—having a meal like this at 35,000 feet felt like a treat.
Abdullahi says her menu was guided by “two pillars that inform all my cooking: geography and seasonality.” Tomatoes and endive nodded to what was in season around New York and New Jersey, while other parts of the meal pulled directly from her Ethiopian roots. The pepitas were seasoned with berbere, and the short ribs were braised with coffee, nodding to Ethiopia’s connection to the ingredient.
Of course, creating a restaurant dish and serving one several miles above the ground are two very different assignments. Aaron McMillan, United’s Managing Director of Hospitality Programs, told me the airline considers everything from ingredients and preparation to presentation when adapting a chef’s recipe for the air. The goal, he says, is to preserve what makes the original dish work while ensuring it can be prepared and served consistently onboard.
Because this was an overnight flight, my appetizer, salad, and entree arrived together, which was honestly ideal. I wanted to eat, settle in, and begin the nightly debate over whether I was actually going to sleep.
Here’s how it all went.
Chilled Tomato Soup With Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
Sean Abrams
Sean Abrams
Cold soup on a plane? Crab on a plane? Those are two concepts I would ordinarily approach with at least a little caution, but this ended up being one of the highlights of the meal.
The tomato soup had plenty of actual tomato flavor without being watery or oily, and there was enough crab that it didn’t feel like somebody had sprinkled three sad pieces on top and called it a day. It tasted like real crab, too, rather than the imitation stuff that would have immediately made the whole thing feel considerably less special.
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More importantly, the two actually worked together. I went into this course most prepared to question my life choices and instead finished basically all of it.
Baby Gem & Endive Salad
Sean Abrams
Sean Abrams
I love a big meal as much as the next person, but eating something rich immediately before trying to sleep on a plane can be a dangerous game. So I was grateful to see some greenery sharing the tray.
The salad combined baby gem and endive with berbere-spiced pepitas, dried cranberries, pecorino Romano, and a creamy anchovy vinaigrette.
The cranberries brought some sweetness against the salty pecorino and vinaigrette, while the pepitas gave everything the crunch a pile of airplane greens desperately needs. And if “anchovy vinaigrette” has you picturing a salad that tastes aggressively fishy, this wasn’t that. The dressing had enough punch to make it interesting without overpowering everything underneath it.
Ethiopian-Coffee Glazed Short Ribs
Sean Abrams
Sean Abrams
If it isn’t already obvious, this was not the most photogenic meal I’ve ever been served. Purple mashed potatoes topped with glazed short ribs under airplane lighting don’t necessarily set anyone up for Instagram greatness—but don’t judge a Chef’s Table entree by its cover.
The short ribs were extremely tender and came apart easily, which is especially appreciated when your dining room is an airplane seat and you don’t particularly want to start sawing away at a piece of meat with tiny cutlery. They also weren’t overly fatty, something that can quickly ruin short ribs for me.
Alongside the purple mashed potatoes were sautéed Thumbelina carrots and charred scallions, and everything worked together without any one element taking over the plate.
Saucy short ribs and mashed potatoes right before several more hours trapped on an airplane can also make you start mentally mapping the location of every bathroom pretty quickly, but thankfully, I wasn’t punished for my confidence.
Sean Abrams
United set out to make its airplane food something passengers might actually remember after landing, and at least on this flight, the Chef’s Table program feels like a pretty convincing step in that direction.
The cabin around me may have been showing its age a little, but dinner certainly wasn’t.
