For 25 years, Australian flag carrier Qantas and eminent Australian chef Neil Perry have collaborated to bring First Class cuisine to the airline’s premium lounges and cabins.
Throughout November, celebrating the longest-ever partnership in aviation history between airline and chef will see Australian Qantas First Lounges serve a selection of Perry’s most popular dishes of the last quarter century. And for a limited time, Australian Domestic and International Business Class lounges will also serve retro classics.
In 1997, Neil Perry – a young chef making his name at Palm Beach’s Barrenjoey Restaurant, the Blue Water Grill Bondi Beach and Rockpool in Sydney – signed with Qantas as the Director of Food, Beverage and Service.
Jump forward a quarter of a century, and the partnership is still going strong, with Perry and his team creating innovative dishes showcasing Australian produce inspired by the airline’s many destinations worldwide while developing over 700 recipes per year for premium menus on the ground and in the air.
The nostalgic cuisine featured through November in Qantas Australian First Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne will include crab and sweet pork salad, green mango and nam jim dressing – one of Perry’s longest-running dishes. A duck ragú with pappardelle – inspired by a trip to northern Italy and first served by the airline in 1997. And torta di Verona – a favourite dessert of Perry’s featured at the launch of Qantas’ Singapore First Lounge. These dishes are accompanied by Negroni Sbagliato cocktails featured in 2017 at the opening of the London Lounge and lightened by sparkling wine in place of gin.
Qantas Business Class Lounge dishes will vary by location, but guests could indulge in meatball sandwiches – inspired by Perry’s visits to Chicago and New York and served at Qantas lounges in 2009. Kung pao chicken bao with Sichuan pepper and cashews – inspired by a dish Perry tasted in Hong Kong, and barbequed prawns with lemon and aioli – quintessentially Australian, showcasing the fresh quality seafood of Australia, to name just a few of the dishes available.
Read the First-Class.com feature on celebrity chef menus vs flying chefs
