Celebrity chefs help Delta Air Line enhance ‘farm-to-tray-table’ menu

Delta Air Line is partnering with the LA-based celebrity chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo to upgrade your in-flight meal experience. The airline will be adding farm-fresh local fare from some of LA’s “most beloved farmers and purveyors” to in-flight meals for Delta One customers on flights out of Los Angeles International Airport to New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Washington, D.C.’s Reagan Washington National Airport beginning December 1.

Chefs Shook and Dotolo are the masterminds behind LA cult favorite Jon & Vinny’s as well as Animal and Son of a Gun. They will be preparing the new menu at a dedicated facility in Los Angeles, and the freshly made meals will be transported via their catering company to LAX every day to ensure maximum quality. With this endeavor, Shook and Dotolo join the ranks of acclaimed celebrity chefs who have partnered with various airlines to make exclusive in-flight meal menus such as Iron Chef and James Beard Award Winner Michelle Bernstein, Richard Sandoval, Marcus Samuelsson and Nobu .

“We are so excited to partner with Delta because it allows us to introduce the smaller farmers and producers who we work with on a daily basis to its global customers,” said Shook in a statement.

“On top of that, by using the same network we lean on at our LA restaurants, we’re able to authentically re-create some of our most beloved dishes - like our iconic meatballs - and take it from the ground to the sky,” added Dotolo.

The chefs’ debut menu for Delta One is a luxe affair that will have you clamoring for plane tickets just for a chance to sample the extensive menu. The meal will begin with a starter of confit portobello mushroom carpaccio with Tamai Farms arugula pesto, almonds, and pecorino.

It will be followed by a main course of marinara-braised meatballs with Bianco DiNapoli tomato, garlic bread, and Gioia whipped ricotta - or, if meatballs aren’t your thing, Domenico’s pumpkin ravioli with Schaner Farms sage brown butter sauce and pecorino cheese. The meal is finished off with a dessert of Tamai Farms strawberry bread pudding.

With a menu like that, it’s no wonder Shook and Dotolo’s restaurants have made our list of the 101 best restaurants in America several years in a row!