Emirates Airlines has risen the bar on airline cuisine - again - all the way up to 37,000 feet.
The United Arab Emirates carrier has reinvented its already industry leading First Class service with food and wine offerings usually restricted to Michelin-star dining rooms.
Got to sample some of the cuisine and adult beverages last night at a gala event in downtown Toronto and I must say, I don’t care where the plane takes me, I just want to experience Emirates First Class service on its Airbus 380 out of Toronto some day.
Of course, the thing that separates Emirates from other airlines is no matter what section of the A380 you sit, you’re treated to First Class service.
Last night I got to enjoy some Dom Pérignon champagne - Emirates’ country manager Don Williams tells me no one orders more of the famed French bubbly than his airline - and some rare wines, the same vintages offered to upper deck passengers on the A380.
Emirates - it operates three fights a week out of Toronto, and we all wish they were allowed to offer more - has a full bar service, complete with bartender, in its First Class cabin where A380 passengers get to hang out while in flight.
I also got to taste some of the fine dining options offered to First Class passengers - dishes like chilled Chilean sea bass served with ratatouille and cauliflower potato mash was followed by seared beef fillet served with potato terrine, grilled asparagus and sesame jus. For desert: baked lime tart with raspberries and double cream and ginger chocolate fondant with vanilla crème fraiche. They were paired with a 2003 Croft Vintage port and wow, what a finish!
Smartly dressed members of the Emirates crew were on hand to share their travel experiences and the whole evening just whet my appetite to experience more of what Emirates offers.
For information on Emirates service out of Toronto, go to http:www.emirates.com/