Last year, British Airways ran a competition to find three "Great Britons" in the fields of cinema, art and food. With all three chosen, they are being brought together in a special pop-up experience in Shoreditch called Flight BA2012.
So you'll be able to see the artwork from Tracey Emin mentored Pascal Anson, watch the film written by Prasanna Purwanarajah under the watchful eye of Richard E Grant and - most importantly for Hot Dinners readers - eat the food that Simon Hulstone created together with Heston Blumenthal. Hulstone, who is also Head Chef at the Michelin-starred Elephant in Torquay, has been working with Heston for the past few months to create a special menu that will be offered on BA flights during the Olympic months - and will be showcased at this event.
In keeping with the airline theme, the pop-up dining lounge is being transformed into the interior of a BA aircraft (with a distinct First feel). So for £50 you'll get champagne and a three course meal in unique surroundings as well as taking in the gallery and screening room.
Taking inspiration from Heston's interest in food heritage, the menu is being inspired by BA menus dating back to 1948 - when the Olympics were last held in London. The First Class menu which will be served on board BA planes from July includes:
- Rillette of mackerel dressed on a pickled cucumber carpaccio with sour dough croutes
- Potted braised beef, with a potato and horseradish topping served with hispy cabbage, baby carrots and roasted shallots with a rich jus
- Chilled chocolate fondant with a salted caramel liquid centre, caramel sauce and spun sugar topped with hazelnuts
Dishes like smoked salmon and Cornish crab roulade with servruga caviar gribiche sauce and summer cress salad, fish pie using sustainable sourced hake, dressed with parmesan pomme puree and a warm tartare sauce and Lemon curd cheesecake with raspberry and basil compote will be available to Club World passngers. There will also be a specially comissioned soundtrack to go along with the meal on the filghts, and BA will be unveilling their World Traveller menus soon.
"Simon has created an exciting, delicious and well-balanced menu that pays homage to the Games in a clever and subtle way," said Heston. "The dishes celebrate our rich history and British talent at its best. As a mentor, chef and friend I’m very proud of what he has achieved.”
To book a place on the pop up, keep an eye on facebook.com/britishairways as tickets go on sale on March 19 2012. The event will run on various dates from April 4-17 2012.
