[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – Orders began arriving shortly after midnight, when SIA @ Home went live. And 12 hours later, at 2pm on Monday (October 5), Singapore Airlines had received 57 orders of its first and business class meals, which would be delivered to households here.
More than half – 56 percent to be precise – of the orders were for first-class meals, and of all the orders, 72 percent were for more than just food. These customers also opted for extras like china and glasses.
Within 30 minutes of the service going live at midnight on October 5, the airline had received 10 orders, said Betty Wong, the airline’s divisional vice president of inflight services and design.
Those who want to order the meals can click here.
SIA @ Home is one of three initiatives that the national airline has devised to engage customers during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has devastated the travel industry, with passengers and planes on the ground and the number of flights plummeting.
The other two initiatives are a pop-up restaurant on October 24 and 25 aboard an A-380 plane parked at Changi Airport and tours of the airline’s training facilities in November. Pop-up restaurant reservations begin October 12 and training facility tour reservations begin November 1.
SIA @ Home aims to bring the first-class, business-class experience into homes.
Prices start at $ 288 for a business class meal for two and $ 448 for a first class meal for two. These packages include wine and amenity kits from French luxury brand Lalique for first class packages and Penhaligon’s for business class packages. The kits from British perfume house Penhaligon’s have not been launched on flights, so customers ordering business class meals will be the first to receive them, Ms Wong says.
Customers can choose to add champagne and other extras to their menus, and prices exceed $ 388 for the Superior Business Class package, which includes a 14-piece set of Narumi dinnerware, glasses, amenity kits, slippers, socks and visors.
The all-inclusive first class package is priced at $ 888 and includes a bottle of champagne, a bottle of burgundy red or white wine, a 12-piece Wedgwood porcelain dinnerware set, a set of six Lalique crystal glasses, three amenity kits, Lalique pajamas, slippers, socks and visors.
The meals, the same ones served on board their flights, were designed by chefs from their international culinary panel: Georges Blanc from France’s Georges Blanc restaurant, awarded three Michelin stars; Matt Moran from Aria in Australia; Yoshihiro Murata from Kikunoi with three Michelin stars in Japan; and Sanjeev Kapoor, Indian chef, television host, and cookbook author.
“This is not a home delivery service,” Ms Wong says in a media preview on Monday (October 5). “This is an experience at home, with the wines, the satay and the garlic bread that people miss.”
To that end, the airline is trying to make the ordering and receiving experience as seamless as possible. A team of cabin crew concierges guides customers through their choices. Once the order is confirmed, customers are sent an email with a welcome message, a video of the chef whose food they have chosen, a video of the sommelier who had chosen the wines, reheating and plating instructions, among other things.
The airline has also selected four different playlists that customers can listen to while eating.
By the way, food is delivered the way it would on airplanes, on aluminum foil trays, says Antony McNeil, the airline’s director of food and beverage.
Airlines sometimes season their food more strongly to compensate for how pressurized cabins and high altitude dull people’s senses of taste and smell, but he says newer planes have more moisture in the air: 16 at 18 percent humidity, compared to 12 percent. for older airplanes, so it was not necessary to adjust the seasoning for the food to be consumed on land.
“The moisture content in the cabins is higher and the sinuses don’t get as dry,” he says.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FOOD
Why would someone pay hundreds of dollars to eat airplane food? I thought about this a lot when I accepted the invitation to try Singapore Airlines first class and business class food, which now people can order.
Turns out, economy class travelers like me have been missing out on a great time. Would you pay $ 288 and $ 448 for this meal? I can think of many things to do with that money and none of those things have to do with airplane food.
Still, if you want to get a taste of luxury living, this is what I thought.
FIRMS
Satay
The three chicken satay sticks served first and business class are delicious, to be sure, but what’s even better is the vegetarian option, which customers who order Sanjeev Kapoor’s vegetarian meals will get.
SIA uses Impossible, an American meat substitute, for vegetarian satay, and customers get six bars. The seasoning is perfect and vibrant and, frankly, it tastes better than chicken.
Caviar service
It is served first class and each passenger or customer receives a 30g jar of Oscietra caviar from Italy with blinis, fresh cream, chives, chopped egg yolks and egg white. The blinis are tender, not stretchy as you might expect, and are the perfect landing strips for salty caviar.
Garlic bread
Passengers are said to wake up when the aroma of garlic bread wafts through the cabin. I’ve seen bread before toasting and it’s loaded with butter, garlic, and minced parsley. The slices are also perfectly reheated. The other bread I enjoy is the rosemary speckled lavash that is part of the bread basket. That won’t give you dragon breath.
GEORGES BLANC MENU
The veal ribeye navarina that we tasted cannot be missed and the meat is tender and juicy. But I would have liked to have tried the roasted free-range chicken breast, as it is the chef’s star dish. Still, the stew of olives and bell peppers that accompanies the meat is bright and appetizing.
I would choose chestnut veloute over poached lobster as an appetizer simply because the silky soup, with a hint of sweet chestnuts, reminds me that autumn is coming.
Mango Lemon Mint Cheesecake isn’t too rich, but mango (like all the perfect cubes on top of the cake) is strangely lacking in sweetness or acidity. Nor do I detect lime or mint.
MATT MORAN MENU
I find the Australian chef’s menu the most interesting, and I wish I had tried the crispy pork belly. Still, duck confit is suitable for the season, not that there are seasons in Singapore. The duck has a panko coating, which gives it a nice crunch without having to fry the duck. The chef’s beef consommé tastes great too.
Their dessert, an eclair with chocolate ganache and sour cherry compote, is the best of the three that I had.
YOSHIHIRO MURATA MENU
Much attention is paid to the seasons in Japanese food, even the trays served on airplanes. There are chrysanthemum leaves, which evoke autumn, and the carrot slices are shaped like maple leaves, appropriate for the season. The baked prawn topped with sea urchin sounds luxurious but not surprising, sadly. Much better is the chicken thigh with spring onion and ginger crust.
SANJEEV KAPOOR MENU
The impossible satay served with this chef’s vegetarian food is stellar and I would order just the satay if I could. That said, their Coconut Ginger Shrimp Pancake is excellent, tender, and with bright spices. The main course of paneer tulsi malai, served with an abundance of seasonings, is an adventure for the palate.
The white pumpkin rice pudding with stewed pears is creamy, dreamy goodness, but I would have liked to try their gulab jamun cheesecake.
Those who want to order SIA meals for delivery can click here.
Pop-up restaurant reservations begin October 12 and training facility tour reservations begin November 1.
[ad_2]
