Going Gourmet

OK, So SWISS is now flying its newly acquired Airbus A330-300 crafts on India legs. When I boarded one of these in Mumbai, I was not too surprised to see a fullyoccupied business class. The sense of space and privacy, the elegant blue of the vast seats and the crisp white of the cushions and sheets, make for some smart and sassy luxury.

The airlines has been adding additional aircrafts to its fleet increasing the number of international connections between europe and Africa, the Middle east as well as north and South America. And, has recently won the “best business Class Catering” category award at this year’s Skytrax World Airline Awards. over 18 million air travellers from more than 100 countries voted SWISS the carrier with the best food, apparently.

I’ve rarely heard a good word about inflight food, but I am looking forward to sample what’s on board and does it qualify as “gourmet” or not. The menu apparently changes every few months so that frequent travellers don’t experience food fatigue. They have roped in some of Switzerland’s celebrated chefs to create menus specific to different regions of the country. These dishes are served for three months, when the menu moves on to the next region.

I am served culinary highlights from Canton Zurich. Chef de Cuisine Alexander Kroll, who runs the kitchen at the Widder restaurant in Zurich(proud bearer of 15 Gault Millau points) has created the Zurich menu. His culinary skills are rooted in classic Swiss fine dining, but also cleverly incorporate Mediterranean and Asian touches and I must confess that the food is as gourmet as it can get 40,000 ft in air!

For the daily flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Zurich, special Indian meals are also served, ranging from halal cut meat to Hindu and Jain.

SWISS continues to expand its in-flight amenities. The seat is a world in itself and I spent an entire hour toying with it. At just a touch of the digitized controls on the wide armrest, it metamorphoses from a comfortprovider into a mood-lifting back massager. The pneumatic air cushion’s firmness can be adjusted to your individual taste so that, unlike in life, you can have it both ways! In a mood to lounge? Just get it to deeprecline mode. Ready to tuck in for the night? Lightly touch the “bed” option and voila, you’re in one! A totally lieflat two-metre bed, a soft luxurious pillow under your head and a squeaky clean comforter make it worth travelling business class by night.

At Zurich airport, the Swiss business arrival lounge ensures that you can attend a meeting the very first thing—shower facilities and a generous breakfast spread prepare you for the day ahead. It was quiet at the early hour when I reached, and waited at the lounge for the shops to open to buy a local sim card for use during my stay in Switzerland.