Jaunted

Boarding Bubbles
Even before we were seated, we were handed a small flute of Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2000 Brut, while helpful flight attendants stowed our luggage, handed out a kit of pajamas and beauty products, and made sure we had all the pillows we needed for the long flight. And the long meal ahead.

Order Up
After takeoff, the attendants came back through the cabin to take our orders for dinner. The airline’s food program is overseen by Australian chef Luke Mangan, who has restaurants around the world including Glass in Sydney, World Wine Bar and Salt in Tokyo, and South Food and Wine Bar in San Francisco.

The dinner menu was a four-course affair, all served on gleaming white Narumi china (the salt and pepper shakers are sculpted to look like the Sydney Opera House) resting on white table cloths. From Los Angeles to Australia, the starters included a selection of very fresh sushi, or fluffy, flaky spanakopita with cheese and spinach stuffing. For the main course, there were options like maple-roasted chicken breast with pumpkin, bacon and broccolini; beef filet with wasabi mashed potatoes and snow peas in a balsamic reduction; and Thai seafood curry with steamed fragrant rice.

Of course, no civilized meal would be complete without a cheese course, and there was a choice of Brie and Cambozola with dried fruits and nuts, before desserts like chocolate mousse with orange biscotti, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

On the way back from Sydney to LAX, the meal started with smoked salmon and avocado before main courses that included roasted lamb loin with onion jam, slow-raosted tomatoes and potato mash; and slow-braised veal shank with sesamy choy sum, jasmine rice, and bright red chili. We passed on the cheese plate in favor of a scoop of coconut and kaffir lime ice cream.

Cheers, Mate!
All of this was accompanied by choices from the six wine choices on the Australian-American list poured into monogrammed V Australia Riedel stemware. The highlights included an Arrowfield Show Reserve Hunter Valley Chardonnay, Penley Estate Phoenix Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, and Epsilon Barossa Valley Shiraz. Some of my fellow passengers enjoyed stiffer drinks like Balvenie Scotch, Belvedere vodka, and even a pale ale from Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle, near where we were headed in Western Australia.

Was the food as good as in a restaurant? Of course not. But for plane food, it was pretty darn gourmet. The wines—though not impressive on their own—did at least deserve a gold star for variety and mid-level quality. Trust us, we tried every single one of them just so that we could be this well informed, enjoying what our friends called my “flight on a flight.” It was all in the name of research, we swear.

Bottom Line
All this food can be yours for the price of an International Business Class ticket which costs about $2,400 for a nonrefundable one-way ticket, plus about $200 in taxes. In total, a round-trip fare comes out to around $5,000. Or you can book a premium economy ticket and pray to get upgraded.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Eric Rosen flew on Virgin Australia courtesy of Tourism Western Australia. His initial ticket was booked for premium economy and the upgrade to biz class was probably influenced by the tourism folks, although we can't say for sure.

Related Stories:
· Which Virgin Australia Seat is Right for You? [Jaunted]
· Plane Food coverage [Jaunted]