Air France Welcomes Another Celebrity Chef to Its In-Flight Dining Experience

Air France has provided some passengers with a fresh reason to exclaim “Oooh la la” regarding their in-flight meals.

The French airline is enhancing its premium dining experience by introducing its latest signature chef: Dominique Crenn, the first woman in the U.S. to achieve three Michelin stars for her restaurant, Atelier Crenn, among her three establishments in San Francisco.

She is now elevating her culinary expertise to new heights with 12 signature dishes available in Air France’s exclusive first-class cabins, known as La Première, and in business class on select flights from the U.S.

Each month, two signature dishes will be available in every cabin, including a vegetarian and a seafood option, alongside the full menu complemented by a selection of French wines and champagne, bien sûr. These new offerings reflect the “inventive and poetic French cuisine” for which Crenn is famous, as stated by Air France.

In the first-class cabin, passengers can look forward to options like lobster with pico de gallo and tea sauce, or a root vegetable mille-feuille drizzled with truffle sauce. Business class features dishes such as Californian black cod served with quinoa and marinière sauce, or ravioli filled with zucchini, tomato, hazelnut, and parmesan sauce.

The menu selections will change throughout the year, with six dishes rotating in business and first class every other month “to maintain an element of surprise,” confirmed an Air France spokesperson to Dinogo via email.

The new signature dishes were launched on February 1, 2024, on flights from Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-Newark, San Francisco, and Seattle heading to Paris. They will gradually be introduced in the spring and summer on flights from all 17 of Air France’s U.S. destinations, starting with New York’s JFK in April. Business and first-class travelers will have the option to preorder their meals before departure to ensure their choices are available and to help minimize food waste on board.

Air France is enhancing the passenger experience

Air France’s collaboration with Crenn is another step forward in improving the travel experience for passengers in the front cabin. In 2023, Air France introduced significant upgrades to its business-class cabins on long-haul routes, featuring retractable doors for each spacious pod and Bluetooth connectivity for personal entertainment systems.

Crenn brings additional star power to a culinary program already celebrated as one of the finest in commercial aviation. Air France has partnered with 18 chefs whose restaurants boast at least one Michelin star. Over the years, the airline has collaborated with renowned chefs whose work reflects their cultural backgrounds, including Julien Royer of the three-Michelin-starred Odette in Singapore; Olivier Perret, executive chef of Montreal's Renoir; Jofrane Dailly, known for his innovative dishes inspired by his Réunion Island heritage; and Andrée Rosier, the first woman to win the esteemed Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a competition held every four years across various professions.

Crenn herself is a culinary icon. Originally from Versailles, she moved to the United States in 1988 and, despite lacking formal culinary training, embarked on an extraordinary culinary journey spanning three continents. Her San Francisco establishments, Atelier Crenn, Petit Crenn, and Bar Crenn, have collectively garnered a wealth of Michelin stars, while Crenn has received numerous individual awards and honors. In 2023, she launched her first restaurant concept in Paris, Golden Poppy, inspired by California cuisine and named after the state flower, making it an ideal dining option for passengers who may have sampled her culinary excellence at 30,000 feet on their way to the City of Lights.