Cathay Pacific Airways and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group partner over crafting unique inflight menus for the airline over the coming 12 months

HONG KONG, 2015-1-12 — /Travel PR News/ — Cathay Pacific Airways and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group today announced their first-ever international partnership for crafting unique inflight menus for the airline over the coming 12 months. Top chefs from various renowned Mandarin Oriental properties in Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Boston will each design menus with their own styles and characteristics. The menus will be offered to First Class passengers travelling on Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and Boston at different seasons throughout the course of 2015.

Cathay Pacific and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group are both globally recognised, home-grown Hong Kong brands that provide superior services to travellers around the world. To showcase the two brands’ Asian heritage and demonstrate their understanding of travellers’ needs, Cathay Pacific and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group are working hand in hand to create an inspired food and beverage experience. The latest collaboration follows their successful partnership on the airline’s London route last year.

Cathay Pacific is now working with the top chefs from the Group’s hotels worldwide to bring a local touch to each menu. The newly designed menus are all seasonally inspired, with each chef expressing their passion for the culinary culture of the destinations they represent. Each dish is unique but they all share a common quality: a classical culinary underpinning.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Inflight Services Dominic Perret said: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Mandarin Oriental this year and are very excited about being able to turn it into a truly international partnership. This is the first time we have worked with chefs from different properties of an award-winning luxury hotel group at the same time to design menus for specific destinations. Cathay Pacific always strives to deliver high-quality products and services to our customers and I am sure our passengers will enjoy these fabulous creations.”

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s Corporate Director of Food and Beverage David Nicholls said: “Mandarin Oriental hotels have long been renowned for their excellence and innovation in food and beverage, and our dedicated culinary teams aim to offer stimulating and exciting dining experiences for guests around the world on a daily basis. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Cathay Pacific in order to extend these exceptional culinary experiences to the skies.”

The new menus will be served throughout 2015 on a monthly basis. Each menu will incorporate seasonal produce, prepared and cooked in both contemporary and traditional ways – from the wizardry of molecular gastronomy to the patience of low and slow cooking.

In the first wave of menus offered, winter dishes by Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky, from the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, and Executive Chef and Culinary Director Thierry Marx, from the Mandarin Oriental, Paris, will be featured on flights from Hong Kong to London and Paris to Hong Kong, respectively, from 1 to 31 January. In February, passengers travelling from Hong Kong to Paris and New York to Hong Kong will be able to enjoy a selection of dishes created by Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky and Executive Chef Christian Pratsch, from the Mandarin Oriental, New York, respectively.

Among the highlights of the first wave of menus is a full-bodied consommé with a specially prepared tea bag of dried flower petals and gold flake, created by Hong Kong’s innovative Chef Uwe Opocensky. Paris-based Chef Thierry Marx, one of the most celebrated chefs in France, who excels at giving modern and classical French cuisine a twist, offers a traditional presse of chicken, mushrooms and foie gras, delicately infused with a hint of five spices. New York’s Chef Christian Pratsch was inspired by his journey through the United States to create a soup of slow-roasted tomatoes with miniature grilled cheese sandwiches.

Appendix 1 – Details of the January and February dishes

Menus in January:

Course	From Hong Kong to London by Chef Uwe Opocensky, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
Starter	Mushroom Foie Gras, Cep, Brioche
Soup	Oxtail Tea Bag
Main Course	Lobster  Boston seasonal Vegetables, Bisque
Dessert	Tipsy Baby Pineapple, Rum, Cake

 

Course	From Paris to Hong Kong by Chef Thierry Marx, Mandarin Oriental Paris
Starter	Presse chicken, foie gras, truffle coulis Presse de volaille, foie gras et coulis de truffle
Soup	Cream of Jerusalem artichoke, crispy quail egg Crème de Topinambour, oeuf de caille poché, chips de topinambour
Main Course	Braised beef chuck, gratinated cannelloni, “Bordelaise” sauce Le Boeuf Paleron braisé, cannelloni gratinés, sauce Bordelaise
Dessert	Gingerbread pressed, mascarpone cream Pressé de pain d’épice crème mascarpone

Menus in February:

Course	From Hong Kong to Paris by Chef Uwe Opocensky, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
Starter	Salmon Home Smoked, Caviar, Crab, Bagel
Soup	Tea Mushroom, Gold, Flowers
Main Course	Beef French, Bourguignon, Cheek, Short Rib
Dessert	Cake Chocolate, Cherry, Leaves

 

Course	From New York to Hong Kong by  Chef Christian Pratsch, Mandarin Oriental New York
Starter	Pastrami Cured ‘Ora’ King Salmon Osetra Caviar, Cucumber, Yogurt, Whole Grain Mustard
Soup	Fire Roasted Tomato NYC Grilled Cheese Croutons
Main Course	Duo of Colorado Lamb Braised Shank, Butter Basted Loin, English Peas, Chanterelles, Polenta
Dessert	S’mores 72% Chocolate, Goat Cheese Marshmallow, Graham Cracker, Cassis

Appendix 2 – About the chefs

About Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky, Mandarin Oriental,Hong Kong

Chef Opocensky oversees the culinary activities in the legendary Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong hotel that includes 10 individualistic and renowned restaurants and bars, three of which boast Michelin stars. Inspired by his experience of working for some of the world’s greatest chefs, Chef Uwe delivers thought-provoking and creative cuisine with a classical underpinning. He serves exciting adaptations of grill specialties with a dash of progressive gastronomy, and his ingenious and unexpected touches complement the use of high-quality organic ingredients and seasonally inspired dishes.

About Executive Chef and Culinary Director Thierry Marx, Mandarin Oriental, Paris

Chef Marx is one of France’s most distinguished chefs. With his creative and innovative cooking, Chef Marx draws his culinary inspiration from his extensive travels in Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. He is renowned for mixing French tradition with Asian influences for avant-garde textures, flavours, forms and colours. Chef Marx was awarded his first Michelin star in 1988 at Roc en Val in Tours, and another at Cheval Blanc in Nîmes in 1991. He spent 10 years at Château Cordeillan-Bages, a Relais & Châteaux in Gironde, where he held two Michelin stars from 1999. Working closely with Agence Jouin-Manku to create an exclusive dinner service for Sur Mesure par Thierry Marx, the Mandarin Oriental’s gastronomic restaurant; he was awarded two Michelin stars in 2012.

About Executive Chef Christian Pratsch, Mandarin Oriental, New York

Chef Pratsch, US born and German raised, began his career as a kitchen apprentice in Hamburg, Germany. His interest in food and travel has led him on a culinary journey around the globe that has included The World – Residences at Sea and the award-winning Montelucia Resort and Spa. Inspired by his travels, the Certified Master Chef’s food philosophy is simple and natural, focusing on the intensity of individual flavours and the harmony of regional ingredients and cooking techniques. Chef Pratsch oversees the culinary programme at Mandarin Oriental, New York’s signature Restaurant Asiate, casual dining at the Lobby Lounge and MObar as well as in-room dining.

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