SWISS’s unique ‘SWISS Taste of Switzerland’ inflight culinary program is bringing the flavors of all four of its home country’s language
Olivier Jean
regions aboard and aloft. From 3 September onwards, SWISS First travelers will enjoy sophisticated dishes from the top kitchens of Badrutt’s Palace hotel in St. Moritz and from Olivier Jean’s L’Atelier Robuchon at Geneva’s The Woodward hotel. SWISS Business guests will be treated to the culinary skills of Tanja Grandits of the Stucki restaurant in Basel and Lorenzo Albrici of the Locanda Orico in
Bellinzona. The exclusive meals will be served on SWISS long-haul flights from Zurich and Geneva. And in December the two gastro duos will switch classes to offer new culinary creations for a further three months to SWISS’s long-haul premium guests.
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will be uniquely bringing flavors from all four of Switzerland’s language regions aboard its flights from 3 September onwards in a special edition of its popular ‘SWISS Taste of Switzerland’ inflight culinary program that will run for the next half-year.
As part of the new ‘SWISS Senses’ air travel experience, SWISS First and SWISS Business guests will enjoy gourmet meals specially concocted by four of the finest chefs in the land. Each class will be treated to the creations of two of the top chefs involved; and after three months the ‘duos’ will switch classes to offer their new clienteles further fine culinary fare.
First Class: Geneva and St. Moritz
Olivier Jean, the executive chef at Geneva’s The Woodward hotel, is bringing French-speaking Switzerland and his 17 GaultMillau points on board. The centerpiece here is the renowned L’Atelier Robuchon, the only restaurant in the city to hold two Michelin stars. The alpine Romansh-speaking region, meanwhile, is represented by the legendary Badrutt’s Palace hotel in St. Moritz, which boasts 16 GaultMillau points and is the first Swiss hotel to feature on the list of ‘The World’s 50 Best Hotels’. For almost 130 years now, Badrutt’s Palace has been a byword for exclusivity and hospitality worldwide.
Business Class: Basel and Bellinzona
Lorenzo Albrici
Multiple ‘Chef of the Year’ winner Tanja Grandits will be taking the bold and aromatic cuisine of her two-Michelin-starred Stucki restaurant in Basel aloft. With 19 GaultMillau points, Stucki is one of Switzerland’s best restaurant addresses, and is renowned for its colorfully sophisticated creations. In Bellinzona, meanwhile, Lorenzo Albrici serves a refined blend of Italian tradition and French finesse at his Locanda Orico, which has already earned him one Michelin star and 16 GaultMillau points.
The many tastes of Switzerland
“We’re not just serving meals here,” explains SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Heike Birlenbach. “We’re presenting our home country. Each and every one of these menu creations is an invitation to discover Switzerland anew. At SWISS, our culinary offerings are far more than inflight fare. They’re a key element in the air travel experience that we want our guests from near and far to take home with them. With this special edition of our ‘SWISS Taste of Switzerland’, we’re underlining just how varied and surprising Swiss cuisine can be. And I’m delighted that we can carry this part of Swiss culture, too, out into the world.”
Culinary highlights
SWISS First travelers will enjoy such delights as lobster bisque, braised veal cheeks with Asian-style jus, Alpstein chicken breast with morel 
cream sauce or miso-marinated cod with baked polenta. The First Class desserts comprise a Felchlin Maracaibo chocolate slice with Tahiti vanilla ice cream or cheesecake with a tropical fruit center and sorbet.
The SWISS Business menu includes Balik salmon with sweet potato and ginger relish, a corn-fed chicken ragout with red quinoa, and the much-loved beef tenderloin with herb jus. The Business Class meal is rounded off with a caramelized chestnut mousse with raspberry and Gruyère cream or a lychee, black tea and rose slice. SWISS’s Premium Economy Class guests can look forward to a three-course meal that has also been inspired by Switzerland’s four language regions.
Culinary delights aloft together with gategourmet
For some 22 years now, SWISS has been taking its customers on a journey of gastronomic discovery through its home country’s various regions under its ‘SWISS Taste of Switzerland’ inflight culinary program. Every three months, in collaboration with catering partner gategourmet, a new top chef is invited to create a varied selection of quality dishes from their ‘home’ region to be served aboard SWISS’s long-haul flights from Switzerland. The meal creations are also accompanied by wines and cheeses from the region concerned.
As the prime supplier of SWISS’s inflight food and beverage product, gategourmet ensures that all these meal creations arrive on board in the finest possible quality. gategourmet is a subsidiary of gategroup, the world’s leading provider of airline catering and inflight sales products.
