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The next time you fly overseas from Denver International Airport, you’ll be able to take a taste of the Mile High City with you—if you’re flying business class, that is.
On August 1, United Airlines unveiled a new partnership with Netflix docuseries Chef’s Table to bring menus created by 11 chefs, representing 10 cities, to United Polaris business class customers flying on specific international routes. Travelers flying nonstop from Denver to Rome, London, Frankfurt, Munich, or Tokyo-Narita will have the option of enjoying a meal designed by Penelope Wong, the James Beard Award–winning chef behind Yuan Wonton.
Wong’s first three-course menu features shokupan (Japanese milk bread), with smoked trout, lemongrass, Chinese celery, and trout roe; a kale salad tossed with cherries, golden beets, Grana Padano cheese, and honey-ginger vinaigrette; and five-spice duck wontons with duck brodo, Swiss chard, and chile oil.
Wong says she and the other participating chefs were tasked with designing menus that showcased distinctive regional cuisine from their cities—a way for travelers to taste home or be reminded of where they just visited. (Each of the 10 menus is only available on departure flights from the chefs’ home cities.)
“Anytime I’ve been asked, ‘What kind of food is Denver really known for?’ I become stumped for a legitimate answer,” Wong says. “When I finally broke it down, I decided on dishes that were special to me and representative of my personal experience growing up as an Asian-American in Denver.”
Wong joins an esteemed lineup of chefs from Los Angeles, London, and other major food cities, all hand-picked by the team behind Chef’s Table. Among them: Michelin-starred Jenner Tomaska from Chicago and Tokyo’s Tashi Gyamtso.
“It’s a great way for us to showcase and feature our seven domestic hubs as well as three key international gateways that we fly to and really connect with the local communities in a different way,” says Aaron McMillan, United’s managing director of hospitality programs.
The first round of menus will fly through October. The chefs are currently designing a second three-course lineup that will arrive onboard in November and December. The two menus will then rotate through August 2027.
Developing these menus was no easy feat. The chefs had to adapt from their restaurant kitchens to the confines of airplane galleys and United’s serving-container sizes while adjusting recipes for how palates change at 35,000 feet. Our sensitivity to sweet or salty items is significantly reduced, for example, as is our sense of smell. Wong received a briefing book and was invited to visit an aircraft kitchen in person to see how it all works behind the scenes; the process took several months.
“When I first began recipe development, I made countless adjustments to recipes that we execute daily at Yuan Wonton,” Wong says of the learning curve. “I realized quickly that none of my original calculations were going to work.” But by taking altitude into account, she was able dial in the salt and acidity levels while allowing the flavors of the ingredients to come through. (Travelers can learn more about Wong and her creative process during this journey—and that of all 11 chefs—by tuning in to the exclusive Chef’s Table content onboard.)
“Representation is something I’ve always fought for,” Wong says. “My parents owned and operated a Cantonese restaurant in north Denver for the better part of 25 years, so to be able to represent what I grew up knowing and finding comfort in is very special. This is allowing me to carry on a legacy that my family never knew they were creating.”
