London restaurant Roast joins forces with British Airways

London restaurant Roast is taking to the skies on British Airways' first ever business class-only flight from London City Airport to New York today.

Roast is an all-British restaurant based in Borough, London's oldest market, and head cook Lawrence Keogh, will be working with British Airways' Taste Team to create menus for those onboard the specially configured 32 seat Airbus A318, which is also the first long haul flight to operate from the Docklands airport.

Menus will include British regional specialties like Welsh Camarthen ham with Cox's apple potato salad and pea shoot, Dedham Vale Farm fillet of beef, British corn-fed chicken and Inverary smoked salmon and prawns.

Customers will also receive a British Airways classic afternoon tea of sandwiches and warm scones served with English preserves and Cornish clotted cream.

Lawrence Keogh, said: "It has been a challenge to take restaurant cooking into a format that works at 36,000 feet. It has also been a privilege to be involved in the launch of a new bespoke service that connects the two great financial centres of the world."

The menu will change according to the availability of British grown produce, many of which will be sourced from stallholders at Borough market itself.

Christopher Stubbs, British Airways, customer experience development manager, said: "As a British airline passionate about food, we are delighted to embrace Roast's food development philosophy. Working with Roast chef Lawrence Keogh we intend to source British ingredients where we can and explore dishes and recipes that highlight seasonality to deliver a service to our customers that will be truly the best of British."

The business class-only service has been given the airline's most prestigious flight number, BA001, previously used by Concorde until its retirement in 2003.

Words: Clare Riley

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