Food

Snaps from Korean Air’s farm on Jeju Island

Food, , , , ,

Korean Air’s ranch on Jeju Island in Korea produces beef, chicken, vegetables and fruit for some of the meals served to passengers in first and business class. The airline also bottles its own mineral water.

I spent a day on the farm – and at the bottling plant – for a story that will appear later this month on USA TODAY, but sharing some snaps from the day here.

Jedong Ranch started raising livestock in 1973 with imported Angus. Today the herd is roughly 2000 Korean native cattle – Hanwoo – fed with on grass and grain from the ranch.

The ranch also raises about 6000 native chickens, selling fertilized eggs locally and providing chicken for in-flight meals.

Greenhouses on the ranch produce tons of bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and seasonal blueberries.

And the water plant bottles highly-regarded water that has been pumped from an underground well and filtered through basalt and volcanic stone.

Stay tuned fro more pictures and details from y day at the Korean Air ranch.

Celebrate International Beer Day – at the airport

Airports, Food, Holidays, , , ,

You don’t need a holiday to have a reason to order a beer the airport.

Heading out on a trip is usually reason enough.

But International Beer Day – celebrated each year on the first Friday in August – is underway today, so this would be a great day to check out the beers on tap in airport brewpubs across the United States.

There are  way too many to list,  but a few places to check out include Leinenkugel’s Leinie Pub at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport, which has self-service taps. Cask & Larder at Orlando International Airport, Flying Dog Tap House at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Goose Island Bar at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Stone Arch at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and some of the others I list in this column about the history of airport brewpubs I wrote a while back for my ‘At the Airport’ column on USA Today.

There are oodles of others – so please add your faves in the comments section below and I’ll start making a list.

Infographic: Where is America's Craft Beer Capital | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

Southwest Airlines has served its last little bag of peanuts

Airlines, Food, , ,

 

Southwest Airlines has served its last little bag of peanuts.

Earlier this month Southwest Airlines announced that, in the interest of the health of passengers with peanut allergies, the airline would stop serving peanuts during flights starting August 1.

“Peanuts forever will be part of Southwest’s history and DNA,” the airline said in a statement, “However, to ensure the best on-board experience for everyone, especially for customers with peanut-related allergies, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue serving peanuts on all flights…Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where all customers—including those with peanut-related allergies—feel safe and welcome on every Southwest flight.”

 

To mark the day, Orlando International Airport set aside a display case containing the ‘relics of aviation history.’

Will you miss the peanuts?

Can’t miss: giant cheese & maple syrup at Burlington Int’l Airport

Airports, Food, , , ,

 

It’s only Monday, but we already have a contender for “Airport amenity of the week.”

Travelers passing through Burlington International Airport in Vermont will certainly notice the 7-foot-tall jug of Dakin Farm maple syrup and the 7-foot-long block of cheese from the Cabot Creamery.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Blq0rQ3ns6h/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The giant, selfie-friendly food items not only promote Vermont-made products, they’re linked to a special on-line offer that includes a discount on a quart of real maple syrup and a free box of buttermilk pancake mix.

Many a Vermont visitor has likely ended up discarding or handing over just-bought bottles and jugs of maple syrup at the BTV security checkpoint, so the mail-order syrup offer is a good way to make sure souvenirs of Vermont make it home.

We’re putting this temporary airport amenity into the pot for Airport Amenity of the Week. But it is only Monday, so if you spot something cool at an airport this week, please add a note in the comment section and we’ll consider your nomination as well.

Travel Tidbits from SEA, TPA and Changi airports

Airports, Food, Hotels, , , , ,

Happy Friday! Here are some travel tidbits and ‘coming atttractions’ from several airports.

Happy Birthday Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is marking its birthday month with a variety of local events. The airport first opened to the public on July 9, 1949,

Courtesy Port of Seattle

Looking forward, travelers will soon be able to drink beer brewed on-site at Tampa International Airport:

https://twitter.com/HMSHost/status/1022594075810295809

And for long-haul travel, Singapore’s Changi Airport has rolled out a new stopover program that includes a (one-way) hotel transfer, a SIM card and an overnight stay at one of 20 participating hotels.  Packages start at S$63 – about $46 US dollars.

Coffee-making robot coming to Austin-Bergstrom airport

Airports, Food, , , , , ,

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is well-loved for its weekly schedule of live, local music and for the great array of local food outlets in the terminals.

Now AUS is getting a new “attraction” – a robotic coffee-making machine, courtesy of Austin-based Briggo.

The machine will be located across from Gate 8 and travelers will be able to order coffee, hot chocolate or Chai tea via an app or at the machine. App users will get a text when their order is ready to pick up.

Briggo says theirs is the first app-based, robotic, 24/7 specialty coffee system installed in an airport, although Orville the robot prepares and delivers coffee in the IT Experience Zone in Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport in South Korea – photo below.

https://youtu.be/FXFKuOzCsdA

Southwest Airlines nixes peanuts starting August 1

Flights, Food, , ,
Giving way to the concerns of passengers who have peanut allergies, Southwest Airlines has announced that, as of August 1, it will stop serving those tiny little packets of peanuts during flights.
“Peanuts forever will be part of Southwest’s history and DNA,” the airline said in a statement, “However, to ensure the best on-board experience for everyone, especially for customers with peanut-related allergies, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue serving peanuts on all flights beginning August 1.”
On its website, Southwest has told passengers with peanut allergies that if they made a note in their reservation, an effort would be made to make sure no peanuts would be served on their flights. But that didn’t always work out.
Other airlines stopped serving peanuts long ago, but for Southwest peanuts are part of the company’s branding. The airline is often “nuts” about this or that and has a quarterly newsletter called “In a Nutshell.”
Starting next month, the airline hopes passengers will pleased with the pretzels that continue to be served on flights, along with the other free snacks distributed on longer flights.

“Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where all customers—including those with peanut-related allergies—feel safe and welcome on every Southwest flight,” Southwest said in its statement.

Airline food that’s out of this world

Food, , ,

When astronauts do a stint on the International Space Station they may request and bring along “bonus” snacks and meals for special occasions.

This summer, passengers departing on Lufthansa’s long-haul flights from Germany can “Eat like an astronaut” by ordering one of the dishes, Chicken Ragout with Mushrooms, that the airline’s kitchens prepared for German European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, who set out for the International Space Station (ISS) on June 6.

Keeping in mind the special requirements of space food – i.e. that it will be consumed in zero gravity – Lufthansa says its LSG Group Culinary Excellence Team worked with the European Space Agency to provide six special meals for Gerst and the Horizons mission.

“The collection includes typical dishes from the astronaut’s home region, Swabia, such as Maultaschen and Spätzle,” said Lufthansa in a statement, “In order to ensure that the meals fulfilled the specific health and safety requirements of the mission, the LSG Group team designed them as low sodium and able to maintain a shelf life of two years.”

Not flying Lufthansa this summer? Through late October, the business premier menu on Air New Zealand flights from Los Angeles to Auckland will include the popular vegetarian hamburger called the Impossible Burger.

Courtesy Air New Zealand

“Impossible Burger’s magic ingredient is an iron-containing molecule called heme which comes from the roots of soy plants,” notes ANZ, “The heme in the Impossible Burger is the same as the heme found in animal meat. The result is a plant-based burger patty that cooks, smells and tastes like beef but contains no animal products whatsoever.”

Sounds like space food to me.

Souvenir Sunday: Sydney Airport

Food, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs

Beyond memories, it’s a good idea to bring home souvenirs to remind us of our adventures out in the world.

I found this addition to my growing collection of chocolate ‘poo’ at Syndey Airport, on my way home from a conference.

Just another example of the fun, inexpensive, locally-themed gifts you can find when you’re stuck at the airport.

Have you found a fun, somewhat odd gift at an airport? Snap a photo and send it along to us here at StuckatTheAirport.com. If your photo is used in a future post, you’ll receive a fun souvenir as a thank-you.

 

Fresh food & drink options at Raleigh-Durham and St. Louis airports

Food, , , ,

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has teamed up with HMSHost to open the Whisky River restaurant and bar at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

The menu looks suitably honky-tonkyish, with Spicy Beef Chili, Beer Can Chicken, Texas Tequila Bacon Cheddar Burger and (for breakfast) Peaches & Cream Pancakes and Carolina Biscuits.

But what really makes this spot a nominee for airport amenity of the week is the fact that there’s a wall covered in belt buckles, live music six days week and a ‘made-for-selfies’ stationary bull that passengers may sit on.

Meanwhile, Three Kings Public House has opened in Terminal 2 (by Gate E33) in St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL).

The popular St. Louis-based pub honors three kings – Elvis, Henry VIII and King Kong – has three locations in town and at this fourth ‘streamlined’ airport branch will be serving pub food, house-made infused liquors, local craft brews and an extensive list of specialty beers including the Three Kings Dry Hopped Blonde Ale, made by 4 Hands just for these pubs.

Enjoy!