This top chef gladly takes on the challenge of elevating airline food
Thanks to chef JP Anglo, Business Class passengers on PAL making their way to North America can indulge in airline meals like never before. Starting this August, the long-haul flights will be offering chef JP's food creations on its nonstop flights from Manila to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto. Rest easy knowing that your trip will now be made all the more spectacular thanks to a menu created by the celebrated chef himself.
"Elevating Philippine Airlines' in-flight dining experience is part of our thrust to become more customer-centric and offer more value to our passengers, especially on our popular nonstop flights to the United States and Canada," said PAL president & COO Capt. Stanley K. Ng.
"I really wanted all the flavour profiles of my dishes to have a taste of home. I wanted our passengers to have that sense of nostalgia when they are eating our food up in the sky. Also, everything should be airplane proof or “stable”, meaning it still has to be good even up in the air. We had to consider portion sizes, food cost, if it’s sustainable to cook in large portions and if it’s doable to plate on the aircraft given the space, time that each flight attendant has to plate. I also learned that our taste buds change when we’re up in the air because our sense of smell gets suppressed. So we had to adjust the taste and test it while mid-air to be sure the flavours stayed on point. It was a trial and error kind of thing too," chef JP reveals.
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Chef JP has become a celebrity chef for his popular eatery Sarsa (which he runs with his wife and partner-in-crime Camille Anglo), new and first-ever international restaurant Kooya in Dubai, television program on CNN, and his vibrant social media presence, among many other things. He is known for his staunch dedication to celebrating Philippine cuisine and regional delicacies and promoting local produce.
In fact, Camille shared on Facebook: “I often get asked, “How can you make airplane food good?” Truth is, it will never taste like how it would if you eat it in a restaurant because, on board, there is no real kitchen, only a tiny microwave. So it’s like comparing apples to oranges. But that doesn’t mean that airplane food can’t be enjoyable right? This project is one that is closest to our hearts.”
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