From July 2025, Daniel Boulud, a Michelin-starred French chef based in New York, will be joining forces with Air France to create exclusive new dishes for the airline's La Première and Business customers. His tasty dishes can be found on departure from the United States alongside those of Dominique Crenn, a triple Michelin-starred French chef based in San Francisco who has been working with the airline since 2024. And for the first time, Air France is now offering desserts by Laurent Le Daniel, Meilleur Ouvrier de France based in Brittany, to showcase fine French dining throughout the in-flight experience.
Dominique Crenn and Daniel Boulud in charge of the menus in La Première and Business
Since February 2024, Air France has been working with triple Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn to create inventive and poetic dishes for its La Première and Business customers on departure from the United States. Each month, the chef offers a vegetarian dish and an elaborate fish dish. Lobster, pico de gallo condiment and tea sauce or a root vegetable mille-feuille with truffle sauce are just two examples of the chef's culinary genius in the La Première cabin. In Business, among other culinary creations, cod with quinoa and marinière sauce or open ravioli, courgette and tomato with hazelnut and parmesan sauce are the promise of a fine dining experience on board these cabins.
Alongside her, Air France now welcomes the renowned chef Daniel Boulud, who has created simple and tasty dishes with traditional French roots, tinged with contemporary notes. The chef complements the in-flight menus with red meat and poultry dishes made exclusively for Air France customers. With Chicken with Saffron, Turnips, Pumpkin,Green Olive Semolinain the La Première cabin, and Braised Lamb Shoulder and Root Vegetablesin the Business cabin, his seasonally changing dishes are now available on departure from New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Washington-DC. From November 2025, they will be available on departure from all the airline's US destinations*.
In line with the airline's standards, both these talented chefs are committed to using fresh, local produce. As part of the fight against food waste, Air France is also offering its customers travelling in the Business cabin the option of pre-selecting** their main dish up to 24 hours before their flight. This service combines the guarantee of availability of the customer's choice with fairer consumption on board.
New Laurent Le Daniel desserts on departure from the United States and Canada
For the first time, Air France has entrusted the creation of its refined desserts to be enjoyed on board to Laurent Le Daniel, Meilleur Ouvrier de France based in Brittany. "For Air France customers, each creation is a truly sensory experience," explains the pastry chef, who combines the quality of the products, creativity and delicate flavours to create these original desserts. In the La Première cabin, guests can enjoy a ‘Coeur de Bretagne’, a quintessential Breton dessert, with its salted butter caramel, milk chocolate and crispy hazelnut biscuit, or a Lemon delight in the Business cabin, a modern take on the famous lemon tart. These new sweet treats are renewed regularly and are available on departure from all Air France's stations in the US and Canada.
This summer, Air France is flying to the following US destinations: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York-JFK, New York-Newark, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.
* excluding seasonal stations.
**pre-selection of the main dish in Business available on the entire Air France long-haul network, excluding Los Angeles and Orlando.
About Daniel Boulud
Chef Daniel Boulud is widely celebrated as one of America’s leading culinary authorities and restaurateurs. Inspired by the rhythm of the seasons and menus driven by fine ingredients, Boulud has become renowned for the contemporary appeal he adds to soulful cooking rooted in French tradition. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1982, he has continually evolved his cuisine and expanded his reach from one location (Daniel in 1993) to multiple properties in New York City and across the U.S., as well as Toronto, Montreal, Singapore, Dubai, The Bahamas, and Riyadh. Boulud was raised on his family’s farm in the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, outside of Lyon. In 1993, he opened the much-celebrated Daniel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His restaurant group has grown significantly over the past 30 years, and today encompasses notable brands including: Restaurant Daniel, Café Boulud, Le Pavillon, Centurion NY, Maison Barnes, Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud, Le Gratin, Boulud Sud, Maison Boulud, Jōji, Epicerie Boulud, La Tête d’Or by Daniel and Cuisine Boulud New York (catering company). Boulud has won countless awards for his achievements, including James Beard Foundation awards for Outstanding Restaurant; Outstanding Restaurateur; Best Chef, New York City; and Outstanding Chef of the Year. He has been named Chef of the Year by the Culinary Institute of America, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole et Chevalier du Mérite National by the French government. In 2015 the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awarded Boulud the Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award for his success as a restaurateur, businessman, and ‘chef who is revered as one of the world’s finest.’ In 2021, Les Grandes Tables du Monde named him Best Restaurateur in the World. He also earned the 2023 Innovation Award from La Liste. His Michelin-starred restaurants include Restaurant Daniel, Le Pavillon, Jōji and Café Boulud New York. Boulud’s culinary style is reflected in nine cookbooks, including the definitive DANIEL: My French Cuisine (Grand Central Publishing, 2013) and My Best: Daniel Boulud (Ducasse Books, 2014). Additionally, Boulud is Co-President of Citymeals on Wheels, an organization dedicated to serving meals to New Yorkers in need; is Co-Founder of Food1st, in partnership with SL Green Realty Corp. and is Chairman of Ment’or, providing grants to young chefs to advance their culinary education.
About Dominique Crenn
Dominique Crenn’s culinary passion took root in childhood, nurtured by parents who celebrated fine dining. Early experiences with her politically active father and his close friend, a respected food critic, exposed her to the finest restaurants across France, while her mother sparked her love of the culinary arts. That foundation brought her to San Francisco in 1988, where she trained under local legends Jeremiah Tower and Mark Franz at Stars. Her career quickly took on a global dimension, making history as the first female executive chef in Jakarta, Indonesia, before returning to San Francisco in 2008 to helm the kitchen at Luce, where she earned back-to-back Michelin stars. In 2011, she opened Atelier Crenn—her first solo venture and an expression of “poetic culinaria.” The restaurant earned its first Michelin star within a year, its second shortly after, making her the first woman in the U.S. to achieve that distinction. In 2018, she became the first to earn a third. She expanded her culinary world with Petit Crenn in 2015, a casual tribute to her Brittany roots, and Bar Crenn in 2018, which earned a Michelin star of its own. That same year, she published her first cookbook, Atelier Crenn: Metamorphosis of Taste, offering a deeper look into her creative process. In 2025, she partnered with the House of Dior to open Café Dior by Dominique Crenn in Dallas—a natural alignment of culinary artistry and couture. An artist at heart, Dominique Crenn will be offering inventive and poetic French cuisine on board Air France flights in 2025. She is also committed to sustainable cuisine by, among other things, sourcing local ingredients, reducing food waste and ensuring the well-being of her employees.
About Laurent Le Daniel
Originally from Vannes, Laurent Le Daniel began his apprenticeship in 1983 with Christian Le Guennec in Locminé, where he learned to make his first croissants and fell in love with the aromas of biscuits, pastries and freshly made creams…he was destined without a doubt to become a pastry chef! He continued his training in prestigious establishments such as the Hôtel Nikko in Paris, Maison Peltier, La Duchesse de Mazarin in Chambéry, and alongside Patrick Chevallot in Val d’Isère. In 1997, at the age of 28, he earned the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) with a creation inspired by the theme “love, flowers & colours”. This distinction marked a turning point in his career, solidifying his reputation and commitment to excellence. In 1998, he opened his first bakery, “Le Théâtre”, in Rennes, with a team of three colleagues. Over the years, he expanded with several additional locations in the Rennes area. Laurent Le Daniel has been a member of the Relais Desserts association since 2004 and has presided over “Pâtissiers en Bretagne” since 2018. In 2021, he was elected president of the National Confederation of Artisan Pastry Chefs, Chocolatiers, Ice Cream Makers, Confectioners, and Caterers of France, reflecting his influence in the industry. In February 2024, he was appointed Chevalier of the National Order of Merit, in recognition of his outstanding career and dedication to the pastry-making craft.