Thibaut Ruggeri, winner of the Bocuse d’or 2013, signs new dishes in Air France’s Business class cabin

• Coinciding with the 3rd Gastronomic festival, Thibaut Ruggeri presents his gourmet creations to Air France customers in the Business lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
• Starting from 1st October and for a period of 6 months, this new Chef will sign five dishes for Business class customers on long-haul flights.
• This is the first time that Air France is working with a very young Chef, winner of the Bocuse d’Or 2013

Today, coinciding with the 3rd Gastronomic festival, the young Chef Thibaut Ruggeri is exclusively presenting his gourmet creations to Air France customers in the Company’s Business lounge, at Paris-Charles de Gaulle (Hall M).

He is accompanied by Olivier Poussier, the world’s best sommelier in 2000, who will present a selection of wines he has personally matched to the Chef’s cuisine.

Michel Quissac, Servair’s Corporate Chef, will be with them at this exceptional event.

All will reply to passengers’ questions and share their passion with a view to making this in-flight gourmet experience an exceptional interlude.

Signature dishes by Thibaut Ruggeri available on board starting from 1st October

Starting from 1st October 2013 and for a period of six months, all Air France Business customers will be able to enjoy these exceptional dishes specially designed for their gourmet pleasure, on board the Company’s long-haul flights.

By choosing Thibaut Ruggeri to represent fine French cuisine on board its long-haul flights, Air France has made a bold choice. The 33 year old young Chef’s cuisine emphasizes seasonality of products, combining modernity and aestheticism, following the example of the generation of talented young Chefs that he embodies.

A dish signed by Thibaut Ruggeri will be one of the four main dishes on the menu, available on board flights departing from Paris. The chef’s gourmet creation will be renewed twice a month for the pleasure of frequent travellers.

Servair’s expertise at the service of Air France customers

Servair, a subsidiary of Air France and the leading airline caterer, is increasingly applying its expertise and know-how to satisfy the Company’s customers. Every day, Servair’s chefs adapt recipes to the constraints of airline catering, while maintaining the full spirit of the original recipes.

On the menu of this exceptional taste event:

[Duck confit + Snow peas + Almonds]

The leg of duck confit blends into a clafoutis for an eccentric journey together with snow peas, almonds and cherries!

Accompanied by a Saint-Estèphe Château Le Crock 2008 Cru Bourgeois

[Shrimp + Orange + Potatoes]

This very atypical dish is out to surprise you… Discover, beneath a soya leaf surrounded by sautéed shrimp, a subtle mix of mushrooms, potatoes and orange segments… An explosion of tastes!

Accompanied by a Vallée de la Loire Menetou Salon Les Bornés 2011 Domaine Henry Pellé

[Duckling + Chestnuts + Red currants]

A pure seasonal product, the chestnut reminds us of autumn and winter. The clarity of redcurrant, on the other hand, is there to awaken the sage duckling fillet clothed in a tri-pepper coat…

Accompanied by a Vallée du Rhône Vinsobres Les Cornuds 2010 Perrin et fils

[Hake + Honeyed carrots + Verjuice]

The carrot is beside itself with the joy of accompanying the grilled Hake. Chutney style with a honeyed carrot mousse­line or again as a colourful farandole with its different varieties of yellow, violet, or orange. The whole thing lifted with a Verjuice tonic, green grape juice!

Accompanied by a Bourgogne Macon Lugny 2011 Domaine Joseph Drouhin

[Guinea fowl + Butternut squash + Ceps]

The Christmas and New Year holidays are just around the corner… the guinea fowl wears a visual and tasty coat of “mendiants” with a nod to the 13 traditional desserts of Christmas. It also lies in a black chanterelle and chestnut sauce next to small scoops of butternut squash, potatoes and cep heads.

Accompanied by a Médoc Château Haut Condissas 2006

Thibaut Ruggeri, Head Chef at Lenôtre, Bocuse d’or 2013

Inhabited by a thirst for knowledge, he has worked successively with Michel Guérard at Prés d’Eugénie, Georges Blanc at the Splendid, Michel Kayser at the Alexandre, then at Taillevent in Paris with Jean-Claude Vrinat and Alain Solivérès, before joining Lenotre’s creation workshops in 2007.

Winner of several awards, including the prestigious Bocuse d’Or in January 2013, he considers this victory as the accomplishment of passing on knowledge, a value that he holds dear.

With five dishes designed exclusively for the Company, he has combined purity and eccentricity to various different presentations to create recipes that highlight his personality and that illustrate his motto in the kitchen: Less is more!

Exceptional cuisine at Air France

By entrusting the design of its menu to exceptional Chefs, Air France is illustrating its role as ambassador of fine French cuisine and lifestyle.Since 1 December 2011, Air France has entrusted one dish from the Business Class menu to a renowned French chef aboard Long Haul flights from Paris. Joël Robuchon, then Guy Martin and Michel Roth were the first to carry out this mission as French gastronomy ambassadors aboard Air France flights, by including one of their creations among the different hot meals on the menu.As from 1 October 2013, Air France will confide this mission to the talented young chef Thibaut Ruggeri.