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If Delta Air Lines is right, the days of tasteless jokes about airplane food are about to run their course.
On Thursday, the carrier will launch a chi-chi list of dishes conceived by celebrity chef Todd English on transcontinental routes of 2,000 miles or more, including two from Salt Lake City. Items will sell for $2 to $10.
As Delta expands the menu to more routes next year, Todd English-designed breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be available on shorter runs of at least 750 miles. Starting Feb. 1, Delta will introduce the meals on 14 more routes from Salt Lake.
The food is winning rave reviews from Delta flight attendants who are learning the nuances of roast beef steak cobb sandwiches, black olive spaghetti salads and other entrees this week at the airline's crew quarters at Salt Lake City International Airport.
"The shrimp is very fresh. The grilled taste really comes through," said Kathy Van Sloten, who on Monday forked thoughtfully through a Mediterranean salad with grilled shrimp.
The new program is part of Delta's plan to present an edgier front to passengers. Since emerging from bankruptcy in April, the carrier has debuted an in-flight, audio-and-video entertainment system that sometimes includes racy shows such as the bloody and bawdy HBO series "Rome."
Andrea Robinson, a master sommelier, TV host and author, was enlisted to curate Delta's wine list. Her selections will be available in Delta's business class in February. The carrier recruited nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber to create a special cocktail program. Michelle Bernstein, a superstar Miami chef, was selected to shake up the menu for Delta's international flights.
"On September 15th (2005), when we declared bankruptcy, that was one of the worst days in my career because it meant that we had failed," Joan Vincenz, Delta's managing director of product marketing, told a roomful of attendants meeting last week at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
What seemed like a disaster turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened, Vincenz went on to say. Bankruptcy was a chance to tear the airline apart and assemble it in new ways that set it apart from other major carriers and low-cost competitors, she said.
The new Todd English menu rolling out this week is Delta's latest makeover move. To ensure it succeeds, nothing has been left to chance, said Kevin Christensen, a Delta field operations specialist in Salt Lake. Meals are prepared at flight kitchens operated by LSG-Sky Chefs, whose employees will not be allowed to deviate from a script that decrees how bread rolls should be cut and what salad dressings to buy, he said. One of the kitchens is in Salt Lake.
"We tell them where to buy the stuff, the exact (ingredients), the presentation, how to set it up on the dish. We even give them pictorials of what the stuff should look like," Christensen said.
The meals that will be for sale Thursday will be on one daily flight to Boston from Salt Lake and two runs to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Sky Chef workers must prepare enough food to feed 450 passengers. When the program is fully implemented next year, food must be available for 4,500 passengers.
The portions are sizeable. "I couldn't finish that one, and that one is three kids worth," said Mike Thon, a Sky Chefs director, pointing to a large roast beef sandwich and then to a ciabatta roll containing nutella, grape jelly and banana slices.
Delta isn't the first airline to employ well-known chefs. Jimmy Canora, who has catered U.S. Open tennis championships and the Grammy Awards, consults for Continental Airlines. Paris chef Guy Martin designed Air France's first-class menu.
Some of the meals that will be available Thursday:
* Nutter Butter: Nutella, grape jelly and banana slices on a ciabatta roll
* Cheddar, turkey bacon and apple butter croissant: Apple butter, cheddar cheese, sliced turkey bacon and Granny Smith apple slices on a croissant
* Black olive spaghetti salad: Spaghetti, olive oil, garlic cloves, chopped capers, black olives, kosher salt, balsamic vinegar, chopped fresh basil leaves, heart-shaped baby romaine lettuce and a Parmesan bruschetta tuille
* Mediterranean salad with grilled shrimp: mixed baby romaine lettuce, Kalamata olives, diced tomato, cucumber strips, red onion julienne, feta cheese triangles, grilled shrimp served with red wine vinaigrette
* Roast beef steak cobb sandwich: Roast beef, romaine lettuce, avocado egg salad, applewood smoked bacon on Cuban bread served with blue cheese dressing
Meals designed by celebrity chef Todd English will be available on these routes from Salt Lake City:
* Thursday: Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (two flights)
* Feb 1.: Atlanta; Baltimore; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Newark, N.J.; New York-JFK; New York-LaGuardia; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Raleigh, N.C.; Tampa, Fla.; Washington-Reagan; Washington-Dulles