Michelin chef brings fine dining to new heights

The winner was selected by Gate Gourmet Nordic. The three restaurants competing were Kiin Kiin, Dragsholm Slot and Maarbjerg. Danish chef Mikkel Maarbjerg, one half of Kirk & Maarbjerg, received the coveted assignment to create flight meals for both Economy and Business Class on board Singapore Airlines’ flights between Copenhagen and Singapore from March 2016 . Mikkel Maarbjerg has already tasted success with his specialist knowledge of Danish cuisine and gastronomy - his achievements include a top 10 placement at the Bocuse d'Or in 1999, and he has also been the head chef at the two-star restaurant Kommandanten before he opened Ensemble and received two Michelin stars there. Kiin Kiin’s and Dragsholm Slot’s creations were both to an extremely high standard and it was not easy for the panel of judges to select one winner, according to the press release. “There are a number of practical things, that you have to take into account, when you create airline food, because our palate is reduced in high altitudes, and simultaneously the airline food has to be able to be prepared hours ahead of take-off and be reheated onboard. There are also a number of hygiene requirements that complicates the process. But today, all three chefs have served palatable food that were mouth-watering, they had been extremely perceptive of the challenges related to working in the airline kitchen, and it was margins, that lead to Maarbjerg carrying off with the prize”, says Casper Vedel Jensen from Gate Gourmet, which is also the airline kitchen that normally prepares the food for Singapore Airlines’ guests. “Singapore Airlines is already awarded for the food, that we serve our guests onboard, and with this competition, we wished to develop airline food to an even more palatable level. By choosing Maarbjerg today, we believe that we are aiming for the stars and Nordic gourmet food of the finest kind. It has been an exciting and worthwhile process, and we are very much looking forward to hearing what our guests onboard the first flight from March 2016 are going to say”, says Tim Lee, Singapore Airlines’ general manager for the Nordics.

Menu: Starter - Business Class (photo) Baked halibut with salted cucumber, watercress, crispy rye bread, dill mayonnaise and mussel cream Main course - Business Class: Poussin én crepinette with morels, gastric and creamy chanterelle sauce served with fingerling potatoes browned in butter, fried corn, pickled and grilled onions Main course - Economy Class: Braised free range pork neck with celeriac baked in mustard sauce with mashed potatoes served with raw green cabbage salad with almonds, apples and cranberries.