Mahi mahi poke omelets and miso salmon salad are just a small sampling of a new in-flight menu by local chef Lee Anne Wong to be featured in the first class cabin of Hawaiian Airlines flights from Hawaii to the Mainland.
Wong, whose cuisine can also be found closer to sea level at Oahu’s Koko Head Cafe and Hale Ohuna, is the second chef to be featured in Hawaiian Airlines’ popular six-month rotation program.
“Our featured chef series has been a great success, and we’re excited to welcome aboard a chef as innovative and talented as Lee Anne,” said Renee Awana, senior director of product development for Hawaiian Airlines.
Chef Wong’s in-flight menu draws from both of her restaurants and incorporates fresh, island-inspired breakfast items as well as deep, flavorful noodle dishes.
“I think it’s incredible that Hawaiian Airlines is taking this really ambitious and creative move to showcase not only local talent but local cuisine,” Wong said. “I’m using this opportunity to prepare dishes that I would want to eat as a guest.”
Wong’s in-flight dishes include tomato chukamen salad with mizuna, chuka noodles, grape tomatoes and parmesan cheese; guava shoyu kalbi short ribs with mashed truffle kalo and pickled vegetables; and Okinawan sweet potato and pumpkin ravioli with parmesan cream sauce, broccolini and shiitake mushrooms.
Since trading her fashion career for the culinary world, Wong’s modern-global fusion cuisine made her a “cheftestant” on Season One of Bravo’s Top Chef, where she later served as the show’s Supervising Culinary Producer. In December 2013, Wong moved from New York City to Honolulu to open Koko Head Cafe, an Island-style brunch house.
Wong is the second chef to be featured in the program, which kicked off in June with a menu prepared by chef John Matsubara of Azure Restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian.
As the program continues, subsequent menus highlighting the islands’ top cuisine will be prepared by Wade Ueoka of MW Restaurant, Andrew Le of The Pig & The Lady and Sheldon Simeon of Mala Wailea and MiGRANT.
Chef Chai Chaowasaree, Hawaiian’s award-winning executive chef, will continue to prepare menus for all Mainland flights returning to the islands.
