It’s been six months since Delta Air Lines opened a new Sky Club on Concourse A at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. And, from the views of Mt. Rainier to the in-house spa, the artwork, the soaring ceilings, the bar and the food offerings, it’s still quite a thrilling and surprising space to visit.

A few weeks ago Delta upped the Sea-Tac Sky Club offerings quite a bit with the formal roll-out of a seasonal and locally-inspired menu created by highly regarded Seattle chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell, who has about a dozen eateries in the city, including four in my neighborhood alone.

The snacks I nibbled on when Delta’s new Sky Club at Sea-Tac opened were fine, but now club visitors will find a variety of salads, including a house-roasted chicken salad with Washington-grown jazz apples, cranberries, dill and mint; a weekly rotation of crudité and dips, including mixed Mediterranean olives with orange zest and fresh herbs; a tasty pasta dish, as well as fresh popcorn with a hard-to-resist fennel pollen topping.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In a phone chat, Stowell told me his goal was to create a menu that leans towards “lighter, fresher, brighter foods” that are vegetable and protein-focused, rather than “rib-sticking heavy foods,” and to offer “a taste of the bounty we have here” in the Northwest, such as asparagus and peas, which are definitely fresh right now.

As you might imagine, Stowell is a busy guy. So he said when Delta asked him to get involved with the club menu he was only interested if he was going to be allowed to put his own spin on it.

“They’re definitely let me put my take on it,” said Stowell. “I’m not saying it’s an Ethan Stowell restaurant in the club, but it’s as close to having a branded restaurant in a club as you possibly can.”

If the airport club partnership works out well, the next logical step might be for Stowell to create menus for Delta passengers to dine on in the sky.

“We’ll probably get there,” said Stowell, “We’re in that getting to know each other phase.  We both want this first project to be successful, but that will be the logical next step.”