New Michelin-starred menus in Air France’s La Première cabin
Starting December, Air France is renewing its in-flight menus on board its La Première suites on departure from Paris, continuing to offer a high-flying culinary experience in its most exclusive travel cabin. The triple Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Renaut has joined forces with Claire Heitzler, elected pastry chef of the year 2013 by the Gault & Millau guide, to sign a new refined seasonal menu showcasing the best of fine French cuisine.
Air France is renewing its partnership with Emmanuel Renaut, triple Michelin-starred chef and Meilleur Ouvrier de France. This will be his first time creating all the starters and main dishes on the new menu. The chef continues to work with carefully selected seasonal produce, vegetarian products, red and white meat of French origin and fish sourced from sustainable fisheries. As a lover of Savoyard cuisine, he is keen for others to savour his mountain-inspired cuisine combining local produce with French culinary heritage.
“Nature is a source of inspiration as infinite as it is fragile. My cuisine tells a story, one of simplicity, gourmet indulgence and comfort. This is what I wanted to share with Air France’s La Première customers”, he said.
With a selection comprising Beaufort PDO soufflé, cream of mushroom with truffles, and foie gras with salsify, blueberry and onion chutney, the chef has created five inventive, gourmet starters. Eight new dishes celebrating French cuisine, especially Savoyard cuisine, also feature on this seasonal menu that will be renewed over the coming months. Polenta with wild mushrooms, spinach and mountain cheese – simple products with a distinct Alpine identity – or Scallops quenelle, tangy cream sauce and root vegetables are among the new gourmet delicacies available on board.
As for desserts, this is the first time that Air France is entrusting its dessert menu to Claire Heitzler, Gault & Millau’s elected pastry chef of the year 2013, who places special emphasis on French, seasonal products to offer La Première guests a genuine gourmet interlude.
“For Air France, I created a selection of pastries combining gourmet delicacies, flavours and products from our French regions. A gourmet interlude for the company’s passengers to enjoy”, said the chef.
Seven of her signature desserts will be gradually unveiled on the La Première menu. The chef has notably created a triple chocolate cloud, a dessert of crunchy chocolate shortbread and creamy dark chocolate, and the Castanéa, a dessert with Ardèche chestnuts and Corsican clementines.
This winter, the La Première cabin is available on flights from Paris-Charls de Gaulle to Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, San Francisco, Washington-DC (USA), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Singapore and Tokyo-Haneda (Japan).
About Emmanuel Renaut
Respect for nature, respect for the soil, animals and humans are the messages Emmanuel Renaut wants to convey through each of his creations. French chef born in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, Emmanuel Renaut is reinventing local dishes by using local produce in inventive ways. After training in Paris, he began his career at the Hôtel Crillon restaurant, with Christian Constant. He then joined Marc Veyrat at the Auberge de l’Eridan, where he was second in command to him for seven years. This experience was interrupted by a spell with chef Yves Thuriès. After a period in London, where he was in charge of the kitchens at Claridge’s, he returned to the mountains and settled in Megève in 1997, where he opened his gastronomic restaurant Flocons de Sel. Strongly inspired by Savoyard cuisine, he creates a gourmet, vibrant, colourful and resolutely modern cuisine featuring surprising and harmonious compositions. He received his first Michelin star for the restaurant in 2001. In 2004, he was named Meilleur Ouvrier de France, and won a second Michelin star in 2007. In 2008, he moved up to the Alpine pastures where he built a hotel with a few rooms and a spa. His gastronomic restaurant was relocated to this new location bordering the forest. The restaurant in the centre of Megève was renamed “Flocons Village” bistrot. In 2012, the chef won his third Michelin star. Each new year came accompanied with numerous projects, and the chef took over the Auberge du Bois Prin in Chamonix (the town’s legendary hotel and restaurant) in 2019. And in 2022, a new store, “Le Garde-Manger”, opened in the centre of Megève, where you can enjoy the chef’s ready-made takeaway dishes.
About Claire Heitzler
Trained by some of France’s greatest pastry chefs, Claire Heitzler gained extensive experience in France, first at Troisgros and then at Georges Blanc. In 2004, she was approached by Alain Ducasse to become head pastry chef at his new Beige Alain Ducasse Tokyo restaurant in Japan, where she stayed for three years before leaving for a new experience at the Park Hyatt Dubai Hôtel. From 2010 to 2015, Claire Heitzler was appointed head pastry chef at the Lasserre restaurant in Paris. She was successively elected pastry chef of the year by the magazine Le Chef in 2012 and by the Gault & Millau guide in 2013. In 2016, she took up the position of Creative Director at Maison Ladurée, where she revamped the pastries with a modern twist while respecting quality, seasonal availability and profitability. In 2018, she set up her own consulting business in pastry creation and training to share her expertise and creativity. At the end of 2021, the pastry chef embarked on a new adventure, setting up her own bakery “CLAIRE Heitzler & Producteurs” in Levallois-Perret. Her ambition with this digital store is to promote local, seasonal produce and biodiversity, and contribute to developing a more responsible and virtuous art of pastry-making. The following year, she was awarded two major prizes – the first was the Jury’s Grand Prix in sustainable pastry-making awarded by the town of Levallois-Perret and the Hauts-de-Seine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the second was the Trophée Fou de Pâtisserie award for “Responsible pastries” & “Fruit pastries”.
