Along with Black Friday, one of the more noteworthy developments of the modern-day Thanksgiving weekend is probably the flurry of travel. Thus, we thought it only appropriate to share the airborne exploits of one big-name celebrity chef who has decided to provide meals for business class travelers from SFO to JFK. Problem is, airplane food always leaves something everything to be desired, even when the chef's name is Trotter:
As for the food, United has partnered with famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter on their menu, but not everyone's on board. When my seat mate asked what was on the plate that was put before him, our flight attendant (who wasn't much of a ray of sunshine to begin with) responded, "I don't know. You'll have to look at your menu. Yeah, it's disgusting. It's the new Charlie Trotter menu. They don't believe us when we tell them; they have to hear it from a real customer."The actual menu—with descriptions long enough to warrant a book in the Old Testament—requires a deep breath before recitation: orange and ginger duck leg confit and soba noodle salad with jicama and organic ginger-soy-hijiki sauce and for the main course, apricot curry braised lamb medallion with quinoa and spicy roasted eggplant. Seeing as how every cooking reality competition pits its cheftestants on an airplane for an episode, let's just say it's a good thing that Charlie Trotter wasn't on The Next Iron Chef or Top Chef. Hey, maybe Thomas Keller might venture to the friendly skies after his frozen food experiment?
· Charlie Trotter's United Airlines Fare [FFB]
