Air France's new long-haul menus come from six French chefs, led by Arnaud Lallement in La Première

Air France has a new set of menus on its long-haul flights from Paris, created by six French chefs across its three premium cabins, according to Air France's Oct. 1 announcement. The dishes are made with Servair, the airline's catering partner, and will rotate in over the coming months.

Who cooks for which cabin

• La Première: Arnaud Lallement, the three-Michelin-star chef of L'Assiette Champenoise in Reims, with pastry chef Claire Heitzler on desserts
• Business: Mathieu Viannay of the two-star La Mère Brazier in Lyon for hot dishes, Servair's corporate chef François Adamski for breakfast and brunch, and pastry chef Nina Métayer for desserts
• Premium: Frédéric Simonin, whose Paris restaurant holds one Michelin star

La Première

Lallement has written more than 30 starters and main courses for first class. The menu changes with the seasons and always includes a vegetarian, a fish, a red meat and a poultry choice. Air France points to two dishes as examples: lobster poached in court-bouillon, which Lallement dedicates to his father, and a Swiss chard stew with chickpeas.

Heitzler stays on as the dessert partner, with four desserts that will rotate. One, called Racine, pairs a Caribbean dark chocolate mousse with Madagascar vanilla cream. Another, Planifolia, is built entirely around Bourbon vanilla.

The timing fits. In September, Air France's La Première cabin was named the world's best first class at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, and the airline also won the award for best first-class lounge dining. The ground side of that experience is the La Première lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, which reopened this summer after a redesign we covered in our story on the new lounge.

Business

Viannay has created more than 20 hot dishes for Business, which will be added over the coming months. Examples include fregola with Mimolette cheese and arugula, and glazed salmon with lentils. Adamski's morning menu, served on Paris departures before 9:30 a.m., includes stuffed eggs with truffle béchamel and a buckwheat galette. Métayer, who has been named the world's best pastry chef, adds desserts such as a pear and chocolate creation and a mandarin and almond one.

The most practical change is the meal pre-order. Business passengers can choose their hot dish up to 24 hours before departure. Air France says the aim is to cut food waste, but it also means you're far less likely to miss out on your first choice on a full flight.

Premium

Simonin has created two hot dishes for Premium, Air France's premium economy cabin, on flights from Paris. One is always vegetarian. The examples given are conchiglie pasta with chanterelle mushrooms, and shrimp with squid-ink rice.

Where the food comes from

Air France says all the meat, poultry, dairy and eggs it serves are sourced in France, and that its fish comes from French fisheries or sustainable sources. A vegetarian option is available in every cabin.

Before you board

The new menus apply to long-haul flights leaving Paris, so the best place to start the meal is in the lounge. Air France's long-haul lounges at Charles de Gaulle serve dishes by chef Yves Camdeborde. In Terminal 2E, the Hall L lounge rates 4.9 with our users and has 10 showers, and the Hall K and Hall M lounges are the other long-haul options. If you're flying La Première, you'll use the separate first-class lounge instead.

Access to the Business lounges follows the Air France Lounge rules: Business passengers get in on their ticket, except on the cheapest Business Light fares, and Flying Blue and SkyTeam elites qualify through SkyTeam lounge access.

What it means for you

If you fly Business from Paris, the pre-order is the change to use: set a reminder to pick your meal a day ahead. In La Première, the menu is now tied to one of France's best-known chefs and matches the award the cabin just won. And in Premium, both hot dishes now come from a Michelin-starred chef, with a vegetarian choice on every flight. See our Air France page for all of the airline's lounges.