Earlier today, TAP Air Portugal announced a new partnership with The Art Of Tasting Portugal to showcase cuisine from different regions of Portugal in its business class. Long haul international flights already have a menu that is part of the new initiative, which will run for two years.

Revamping onboard dining

TAP's new partnership will run for two years, from this month until April 2025. As part of the partnership, named Local Stars, business class passengers will be served cuisine from various local chefs. The goal is to highlight cuisine from different Portuguese regions onboard TAP flights. A new menu will be introduced every two months, created by each chef in the program.

TAP local stars Chefs
Photo: TAP

Along with the new menus, TAP produced a series of videos highlighting the region each menu/dish is from and showing the chef preparing the meals being served onboard. The business class menu highlights Lisbon this month and next and features Henrique Sá Pessoa. Pessoa is a celebrity chef in Portugal and is the chef at a two-Michelin-star restaurant, Alma. Pessoa's menu is centered around Grouper, a popular fish in Lisbon. The fish is well-liked because of its mild flavor, and Grouper stew is a famous Portuguese dish.

“TAP is the largest showcase of Portugal in the world, and our aircraft are one of the most powerful vehicles promoting Portugal. “The Local Stars project allows TAP to work with some of the most reputable Portuguese chefs in the development of Business Class menus, bringing the gastronomy we serve on board our aircraft to new heights.” - Silvia Mosquera, Chief Commercial and Revenue Officer, TAP

Patricia Dias, co-founder of The Art of Tasting Portugal, added,

“Promoting Portugal as a gastronomic destination, with its differentiation and quality, is an objective that The Art of Tasting Portugal offers

with TAP Air Portugal. This partnership, which we are so proud of, reinforces this strategy of strengthening the national territory and the community that values it.”

The Azores, Algarve, Madeira, Viseu, and Bragança will be highlighted later this year. The famous São Jorge cheese from the Azores will be the focus of the next menu, available from May to June, and in July and August, octopus from the Algarve will be the menu's focus.

Other airlines changing onboard menus

American carrier JetBlue announced changes to its onboard dining offering in early February. Like TAP, JetBlue partnered with a local dining project to provide inflight meals. In 2020, New York’s Delicious Hospitality Group (DHG) signed a two-year deal with JetBlue. The meals offered were so successful that the new menu includes variations of dishes from DHG restaurant Charlie Bird.

JetBlue Mint refresh
Photo: JetBlue

Passengers flying JetBlue's Mint (premium) product on transatlantic flights are now being offered new dishes like Mushroom Lasagna, Italian Clam Soup, and Burrata with Baby Beats and Breadcrumbs during lunch and dinner flights. In Core, passengers are also offered meals from DHG, including build-your-own dining concepts. For years, JetBlue has been widely recognized for its inflight dining, gaining more recognition than most mainline carriers in the US.

What do you think of TAP's new partnership and menus? What was the best meal you had on a flight? Let us know in the comments below.