A TASTE OF ‘HEIGHT CUISINE’ FROM BRITISH AIRWAYS
A TASTE OF ‘HEIGHT CUISINE’ FROM BRITISH AIRWAYS
May, 2011
British Airways is creating a new interactive food feature at London’s most revered food festival, Taste of London. The airline, which has sponsored the event for the last six years will unveil ‘Height Cuisine’, an area designed to show how the senses can be affected at altitude onboard an aircraft.
The display builds on the success of the Channel 4 programme, ‘Heston’s Mission Impossible,’ which aired earlier this year, in which British Airways challenged celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal to create the ultimate inflight dish.
British Airways is inviting visitors to Taste of London to meet the experts and experience the work that’s been going on behind the scenes to create great food in the air. Guests will be invited to take part in experiments to learn how taste changes depending on the environment. The airline will also be running Master Classes in champagne, cheese and wine tasting with some of their finest suppliers. Guests will even have the chance to sample and influence British Airways’ future on-board menus.
One of Heston Blumenthal’s recommendations to British Airways was to use ingredients in its dishes which are high in umami, a savoury flavour known as the ‘fifth taste’, which occurs naturally in foods such as seaweed, tomatoes, mackerel and parmesan cheese. Willing participants at Taste of London will be asked to take on the role of airline taster, sampling dishes from British Airways menus as well as some of the new umami-based dishes, which will appear onboard flights from the beginning of June.
Tony Smith, British Airways’ head of customer service and hospitality, said: “Creating great food at 35,000 feet is a huge challenge. At Taste of London we hope to share some of the science behind food at altitude and offer visitors the chance to give us feedback on some of the innovative new ideas British Airways is exploring.”
British Airways gold and silver card holders will be treated to all the luxuries of the Executive Club lounge. Inside guests will be treated to premium experiences including a smoked salmon and oyster bar hosted by Loch Fyne.
Special deals on tickets to Taste of London are available through the British Airways website: www.ba.com/taste
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NOTES TO EDITORS
‘HEIGHT CUISINE’ YOU TUBE VIDEO SERIES
British Airways has produced the first in a series of videos about ‘Height Cuisine’. ‘Wine in the sky’ is a short film, which documents a tasting with one of British Airways' wine advisors, during which he and some press guests test the ‘Height Cuisine’ theory on the ground and at altitude.
See the video on YOU TUBE at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5AjvRvjWuE
British Airways contact
For further information from British Airways, please contact: Victoria Madden on 0208 738 5509 or email Victoria.madden@ba.com. Alternatively please call the press office on 0208 738 5100.
Brand Events contact
For further information from Brand Events, please contact Lupe Prada on 020 7244 6139 or email lupep@brandevents.co.uk.
Taste of London PR contact
For further information on Taste of London, please contact Clare Dixon on 0207 291 3000 or email clare@housepr.com
About Taste of London
Taste of London is celebrating what is arguably its best restaurant line-up to date, totaling an impressive eleven Michelin stars. Scott’s, Le Caprice, Petrus, Skylon, Gauthier Soho and Bocca di Lupo / Gelupo are just a handful of new restaurants involved for 2011, promising to delight over 50,000 visitors across the four days at London’s Regent’s Park between 16th and 19th June.
Sitting alongside Taste of London favourites such as Le Gavroche, Rhodes 24, Maze and Benares, a total of 40 restaurants will serve up dishes from around the world with classic British, modern European and infused Asian offerings from world class chefs. International talent including Helena Puolakka (Skylon), Tamas Khan (ORA) and Alexis Gauthier (Gauthier Soho) will be joining homegrown household names such as Gary Rhodes and Michel Roux Jr.
For more information about who will be serving up gourmet delights go to www.tastefestivals.com/london
For more press information, interviews or images please contact Clare Dixon or Aviva Waks at House PR on 020 7291 3000 / email: taste@housepr.com
Notes to editors
Restaurants at Taste London 2011
Asia de Cuba • Awana • Barrafina • Benares • Bentley’s • Bocca di Lupo / Gelupo • Chef Collin Brown • Club Gascon • Corrigan’s Mayfair • Fino • Fouronine • Gaucho • Gauthier Soho • Kai Mayfair • Launceston Place • Le Caprice • Le Gavroche • L’Anima • L’Etranger • Maze • Melati • Opera Tavern • ORA • Paramount • Petrus • Quo Vadis • Refettorio • Rhodes 24 • Roux at The Landau • Satay House • Scott’s • Skylon • Suka • Tamarind • The Cinnamon Club • The Modern Pantry • The Ritz • Yauatcha • York & Albany •
New for 2011 is the Secret Garden which will be tucked away in an exclusive enclave of Marylebone Green. The beautiful gastronomic oasis will play host to a line of world class chefs including Silvena Rowe, Gary Rhodes, Michel Roux Jr, Chris Galvin, Theo Randall and Jacob Kennedy and provide a stage for the much anticipated British BBQ Championships where 18 of the UKs most renowned chefs including Tristan Welch (Launceston Place), Paul Merrett (The Victoria) and Atul Kochhar (Benares) will battle it out on the coals to impress a line-up of revered food critics.