DUBAI- The UAE flag carrier, Emirates Airline (EK), has announced an innovative culinary partnership that will transform its Business Class dining experience. The airline will introduce 18 new dishes in May 2025, each carefully paired with select Moët & Chandon champagnes.
This culinary collaboration brings together the expertise of Michelin-starred chef Jean Michel Bardet from Moët & Chandon and Emirates’ Vice President of Culinary Design, Doxis Bekris.
Emirates Business Class Menu
The menu development process spanned over a year, combining the culinary expertise of Emirates’ chefs with Moët & Chandon’s distinguished heritage. The initiative required meticulous planning to scale these premium dishes for Emirates’ vast operations, which serves 149 meals per minute and 77 million meals annually.
The new menu showcases sophisticated flavor combinations designed to enhance both the food and champagne experience. The poached scallop starter, paired with Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2016, features green melon and kumquat that amplify the champagne’s bouquet. The dish’s salted scallops create a harmonious balance with the cuvée’s distinctive characteristics.
Emirates has ensured inclusivity in its menu design by incorporating vegan options. A standout dish pairs marinated silken tofu and poached asparagus with Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial. The tofu’s marinade of lemon juice and soy sauce brings out the champagne’s brightness and umami notes, while the cashew cream provides a rich finish.
The main course selection delivers equally sophisticated pairings. The roasted duck, served with raz el hanout-spiced couscous and cherry tomatoes, complements the Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial. The spice-infused couscous enhances the wine’s structure, while the tomatoes’ acidity creates a seamless flavor transition.
Seafood enthusiasts will find the Chilean Seabass paired with Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial. The dish features artichoke puree and lemongrass sauce, creating a multifaceted experience that highlights the champagne’s elegant characteristics. The addition of buttered sugar snap peas provides textural contrast against the effervescence of the champagne.
The menu extends its vegan offerings to main courses with braised coral lentils in coconut, served with basmati rice and spiced cauliflower. This dish pairs with Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial, creating an interplay between the lentils’ texture and the champagne’s effervescence, while curry spices complement the champagne’s fruity profile.
French Touch
Emirates and Moët & Chandon’s chefs orchestrated a complex cross-continental collaboration between Dubai and France to create their new Business Class menu. The development process focused on solving unique challenges in aviation dining while maintaining premium restaurant quality.
Chef Jean Michel concentrated on crafting innovative flavor combinations that would enhance the characteristics of Emirates’ onboard champagne selection. This required careful consideration of how different ingredients and preparation methods would interact with Moët & Chandon’s distinctive champagne profiles at altitude.
The Emirates culinary team tackled the logistics of large-scale food preparation and service. They developed methods to maintain the integrity of premium ingredients and complex dishes while serving hundreds of passengers across global routes. This process required extensive testing of preparation techniques and storage solutions that would preserve the intended flavors and textures.
The joint team devoted significant attention to designing dishes that Emirates’ cabin crew could plate effectively during flight. They created detailed plating protocols to ensure consistent presentation across all flights, maintaining the high standards expected in Business Class service. The plating designs needed to balance visual appeal with practical considerations of in-flight service conditions.
Featured Image by Clément Alloing | Flickr
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