Airport food

Philadelphia International Airport celebrates shiny new Terminal B.

Food, Restaurants, , , ,

Philadelphia International Airport held a celebration this week for its shiny new Terminal B.

With American Airlines and the hospitality group OTG, PHL invested $30 million to makeover Terminal B with new restaurants, shops, and more than 2,000 power and USB ports built into redesigned seating.

Much of that seating comes with OTG’s familiar tablets, which not only let passengers order foods and goods from nearby venues to be delivered to them at their seats, but gives them access to Wi-Fi, flight tracking and games.

New to Terminal B are: the French‐inspired bakery Boule Café, Mediterranean mezze concept Baba Bar, Italian eatery CIBO Bistro & Wine Bar, beer & brat restaurant Germantown Biergarten, steak & chop house Independence Prime, fresh sushi at Noobar, Philly comfort food at the LOVE Grille and Neapolitan Pizza at Mezzogiorno.

In addition to the improvements by OTG to the gate areas, the airport did a “Touch Every Surface” program that includes new ceiling tiles, new heating and air conditioning, new ceramic tiles and refinished terrazzo floors.

Nice!

Airport Restaurant Month is back for October

Airports, Food,

Airport Restaurant Month  is back during the month of October at more than 100 HSMHost restaurants in 50 North American airports.

Menus vary by restaurant location (and are not prix fixe) with select restaurants offering special customized menus that spotlight their own flavors and trends.

A sample of Airport Restaurant Month’s October 2017 menu items include:

  • Shrimp & Noodle Broth Bowl that includes tomato, spinach, and cabbage
  • Crispy Half Chicken topped mushroom gravy and served with garlicky mash and brussels sprouts
  • Harvest Flatbread topped with grapes, blue cheese, walnuts, and arugula – paired with a side salad of spinach, apples, carrots, and an herb vinaigrette
  • Croque-Monsieur that includes ham and Swiss cheese draped in cheese batter and grilled to perfection
  • Extra Blue Burger with crumbled blue cheese, smothered in blue cheese dressing and bacon.

For a full list of participating locations and more menu items, see Airport Restaurant Month.

 

 

Ice-cream flavor honors Portland Int’l Airport

Food, ,

Portland, Oregon-based ice-cream maker Salt & Straw  has created a special ice-cream in honor of the award-winning Portland International Airport.

Called “PDX Rainwater and Spruce Tips,” the ice-cream celebrates the experience of arriving at PDX, which Salt & Straw describes as “being swarmed by the misty rain as Mt. Hood comes into view, soaking up a deep breath of spruce-laced Pacific Northwest air, being chilled to your bones and loving every moment of it.”

To make the ice-cream, Salt & Straw simmered Doug Fir tea and spruce needles in Oregon rain water and some Jacobsen Salt (harvested from Oregon Coast) and hazelnut bark brittle made with a some local Cocanu chocolate.

Sound intriguing?

Salt & Straw will be handing out free samples of the airport-themed ice-cream at PDX Airport on Wednesday, September 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m on Concourse D.

Larger, single scoop cups of the creamy treat will be for sale at the airport  – at Tender Loving Empire and Country Cat – and in town at the Salt & Straw shops from September 13–17 to coincide with Feast Portland.

 

(Photo courtesy Salt & Straw)

 

 

Greek diner opens at Pittsburgh Int’l Airport

Art, Food, , ,

 

 

I’m a big fan of diners – real diners. And from the looks of it, the Marathon Diner that just opened in the AirMall’s Center Core food court at Pittsburgh International Airport is pretty close to the real thing,

Promising “diner food with a Greek flair,” the new eatery  pays homage to the owner’s grandfather, who operated the Marathon Restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh during the 1930s.

On the menu: the Marathon Gyro, Greek Burger, Greek Lemon Chicken Soup made in-house from a traditional family recipe, rice pudding and “My Big Fat Greek Omelet.”

 

While you’re at Pittsburgh International Airport, check out their art collection , which includes Robert Fraley’s Robot Repair, a mobile by Alexander Calder, exhibits about Andy Warhol and Mister Rogers and other fun stuff.

And take a moment to appreciate terrazzo floor.

 

Andy Warhol Wallpaper at PIT

Spotted at United’s Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport

Food, Shopping, Souvenirs, , , ,

This week I had the pleasure of touring the restaurants and shops at United’s Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport with Eric Brinker from OTG, the company that has been transforming traditional airport concourses into snazzy iPad-adorned destinations.

Stay tuned for a more detailed report on what’s there- and especially what’s about to be there – but as it’s Friday I wanted to share these two pictures of items I spotted on my tour.

Above are some fun candies sold alongside vinyl records and turntables at the gift shop next to the CBGB L.A.B.

Below, LEGO airplanes you can buy with cash – or United airlines miles – at the Miles Shop inside the terminal. You can also use your miles to pay for food and drinks purchased in the terminal.

 

Food fest at Chicago’s airports

Food, , , ,

O’Hare International Airport’s second-annual Ticket to Taste takes place next week – on January 24, 2017 – and free tickets are available now.

The event takes place post-security in Terminal 5, but is open to anyone who nabs one of the tickets and show up between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m for entertainment, cooking demonstrations and discounted meals.

There’s even free parking

Participating restaurants include Hub 51, R.J. Grunts Burgers & Fries and The Goddess and Grocer along with Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless and Tocco.

Details on getting tickets O’Hare’s Ticket to Taste are available here.

Can’t make it on the 24th? Don’t worry.

Ticket to Taste is the kick-off event for the Chicago Department of Aviation’s Airport Restaurant Week, which runs from January 27 through February 9 at both O’Hare and Midway airports and coincides with Chicago Restaurant Week.

Airport Restaurant Week includes live cooking demonstrations from airport chefs, celebrity guest chefs, and college student chefs as well as free samplings and discounts on special selections at 150 airport food establishments.

For schedules and more details about sampling schedules and specially-discounted meals during Restaurant Week at O’Hare and Midway click here.

Yum!

Souvenir Sunday: coffee from 1st airport Starbucks

Food, ,

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One thing air travelers need is coffee.

And many airports have Starbucks coffee shops where weary fliers can grab an espresso drink between flights.

Where – and when – did that trend start?

You guessed it: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where HMSHost and Starbucks Coffee Company just celebrated the 25th anniversary of not only the first airport Starbucks, but the first Starbucks licensed location, which opened in 1991.

https://twitter.com/HMSHost/status/804721918159048704

 

 

 

 

Salad-dispensing vending machine at O’Hare Airport

Food, ,

The week is not yet over, but we’ll have to declare this fresh salad-dispensing vending machine spotted at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport as the Airport Amenity of the Week.

Farmer’s Fridge  – found on the F Concourse (by a shoe shine stand) – is filled with jars of fresh salads, tofu and other toppings and a variety of healthy snack items – each packaged in a clear jar that can be seen behind the machine’s window.

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Salads cost about $8 each and – nice touch – there’s a little door for returning empty jars for re-use.

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