Delta One customers, meet herb-crusted beef with squash gratin—your latest obsession. It, along with selections including blackened chicken perloo, crab cakes with cream corn and a delicious vegetable ravioli are just a few of Chef Linton Hopkins’ latest menu creations boarding select Atlanta to Europe-bound flights for the next three months.
Taking advantage of seasonal ingredients and vibrant summer-inspired flavors, Chef Hopkins has devised a menu that pairs zesty sriracha emulsions with cool and refreshing pestos not to mention full-bodied cheeses and Southern—and Hopkins family—favorites like a peach and blueberry crisp topped with buttermilk sorghum ice cream.
“There is no better season than summer to experience the true soul of Southern cuisine,” Chef Hopkins said.
In addition to Chef Hopkins’ Atlanta-based creations, Blue Smoke, of Danny Meyers’ Union Square Hospitality Group fame, will treat premium customers departing JFK to select Europe locales with a menu inspired by the sights, smells and tastes of a genuine backyard barbeque, with a twist.
Think hot Creole mustard and pimento cheese, tomato and cucumber salad, vegetable succotash paired with New Orleans-style shrimp and grits or barbeque chicken with green beans and bacon.
And both chefs would be remiss to not include a signature cocktail with their summer creations. Chef Hopkins topped off his menu with the Gin and Sonic, a twist on the old summer favorite with hints of lemon grass and black pepper. The Takin’ it Easy cocktail fits well with Blue Smoke’s barbeque theme—an infusion of lemon-cranberry juice with a bit of yuzu and honey mixed with either vodka or gin, served on the rocks.
The new premium cabin menus are part of Delta’s commitment to consistently offer customers locally-sourced foods inspired by the season itself. The airline’s other chef partners including Michael Chiarello and Michelle Bernstein are working to take a similar seasonal and local approach to their upcoming menus.