While some airlines are still offering a much-reduced meal service, Swiss are taking their First and Business class meals to a whole new dimension. I didn’t book any flights in the companion sale before, but now the thought of a cheese fondue in First is making me reconsider! There is also still a business class companion sale. If you are interested prices start from £1499 pp in First and the sale ends on 28 December.
SWISS will soon be offering inflight food concocted by Michelin-starred chef Alexandra Müller of the Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile in Charmey, Canton Fribourg. These latest culinary creations under the popular “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” programme, which will be served for a six-month period from the beginning of December, are centred on typical regional specialities, and will be accompanied by selected regional cheeses.
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will be offering its First and Business Class guests on long-haul services from Switzerland new food creations from Canton Fribourg from 2 December until the end of May 2021, in the latest chapter of its “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” inflight culinary programme. The meals have been concocted by Alexandra Müller, head chef at the Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile in Charmey, with inspiration from modern French cuisine and a particular emphasis on local regional specialities.
Venison with Botzi pear and fondue in First Class
For SWISS’s First Class customers Alexandra Müller has created a selection of starters and main courses that include leek with egg yolk cream and truffle vinaigrette followed by venison with a Cuchaule crust and Botzi pear, a well-known Canton Fribourg delicacy. And for dessert SWISS First travellers can choose from a white and dark chocolate Toblerone mousse with Breton biscuit crumble or meringues from local bakery Angélo Rime with double cream and a Mirabelle plum compote. (I’m also liking the sound of a Toblerone mousse. SWISS will also be offering its First Class guests further popular specialities from the Fribourg region in the form of saucisson du Vully and moitié-moitié fondue.
Beef entrecôte tataki with beetroot-pear salad and Gruyère blue cheese in Business Class
SWISS’s long-haul Business Class travellers from Switzerland can look forward to a starter of beef entrecôte tataki with a beetroot-pear salad and Gruyère blue cheese. Alexandra Müller’s main-course creation here is a braised beef brisket with demi-glace and sweet potato purée. And for her SWISS Business dessert Müller has twinned a yuzu lemon meringue pie with Canton Fribourg’s famous Gruyère double cream.
Speciality local cheeses, too
The new meal creations are rounded off with some speciality regional cheeses from SWISS’s new guest canton. Both SWISS First and SWISS Business travellers can sample such delights as a 15-month-matured Gruyère Vieux AOP, a Vacherin Fribourgeois Vieux AOP or a Bleu de la Gruyère, all produced by small local cheesemakers.
SWISS’s “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” concept, which has been running since 2002, invites a different Swiss-based chef every three months to help showcase Switzerland’s culinary variety by devising locally-inspired inflight meal creations. In a first for the programme, Alexandra Müller’s Canton Fribourg concoctions will be featured on board for a six-month period, until the end of May 2021.
Alexandra Müller and the Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile
Alexandra Müller’s Nova restaurant at the Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile in Charmey, Canton Fribourg is the proud holder of a Michelin star. A native of Frankfurt in Germany, Müller learned her craft with LSG Sky Chefs of the Lufthansa Group. She also earned the best training grades nationwide in 2000, along with a scholarship from the German Federal Government.
Müller went on to serve in various reputed kitchens including the Dorchester in London, the Ente (one Michelin star) in Wiesbaden, the Gstaad Palace and the Auberge de la Charrue (16 GaultMillau points) near Lausanne. She set out on her own with her move to the Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile in 2011.
The Romantik Hôtel L’Etoile in Charmey (www.etoile.ch) is one of 28 Romantik Hotels & Restaurants in Switzerland, which have been a byword for tradition, history, quality and warm hospitality for the last 40 years.
