A Tale of Two Do's: A Pictorial Food Journey

[anat0l]

A Tale of Two Do's
A Pictorial Food Journey

I was fortunate enough to be admitted into two recent functions held by Qantas. One was open exclusively to AFF; the other was open to the Twittersphere. First was based on skill (or ingenuity); the latter was essentially a race. Both functions were in their second iteration, and I was a first timer at both. Pretty cool.

Although there's a bit more than just food involved in each of these do's, no one can deny that food was the greatest non-human facilitator of each of them! Of course, being Qantas functions, the venue of each do was a restaurant owned by long-time Qantas affiliated chef, Neil Perry.

So this report, which I'll try to keep short, will focus mostly on the food, in picture form. As usual with my TRs, if you're on a diet, it's probably not best to continue reading, unless you've got the willpower of a stone statue. Apart from that, hope you enjoy!


Threads linked to the functions discussed in this report

• Qantas Loyalty and AFF: Rockpool, Sydney
  • http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ram/chance-dine-rockpool-bar-grill-47515.html
  • http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ogram/rockpool-bar-grill-lunch-qff-47980.html
• Qantas Tweet and Eat: Spice Temple, Melbourne
  • http://www.australianfrequentflyer....program/qantas-tweet-and-greet-mel-49017.html
  • http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/april-2013/qf-tweet-eat-mel-13th-49049.html

Introductory picture source: Qantas website

 

[anat0l]

QFF Rockpool Lunch (12 Mar 2013)

Qantas Loyalty and AFF Lunch Rockpool, Sydney
Tuesday 12 March 2013


This lunch was opened to members of AFF. For those of you who have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail would remember the old man on the bridge from scene 24, and he asks five... err, I mean, three... questions. Well, all we members had to do was ask three interesting questions. The best twenty triples of questions were invited to wine and dine with Qantas Loyalty, including manager of loyalty, Lesley Grant.

Normally I'm not a man of tact, and if the member base who went to the first of these functions was anything to go by, I was a rookie entering the ranks of the veterans. So when I got the PM from Red Roo telling me I'd got a spot, I was chuffed! Flights were arranged and paid by Qantas, and I was set to go.

My sister gave me a lift to the airport. Got myself into the BNE Domestic J Lounge, followed up fairly soon by a few other BNE faithful. One thing that still continues to at least satisfy me is the breakfast spread in the domestic J lounge. The feature hot item was the baked egg parcels with hollandaise sauce, which was more like a boiled egg with solid (almost rubber) yolk surrounded in pastry.

BNE Domestic J Lounge breakfast offerings.

We didn't have much time to chat, as not only was it close to boarding time anyway, but boarding had been called in earlier than scheduled! By the time we were halfway to the far concourse, the flight was being marked as closed!


Flight: Qantas Airways QF509 Brisbane (BNE D) - Sydney (SYD T3)
Depart: 0725h Sched; 0723h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXG "Port Douglas" Boeing 737-800
Class: Economy
Seat: 14D


As a Gold and having enough difficulty with seat selection, there was no chance I was going to get a forward aisle. So exit row is somewhat a fair compromise.

The flight was full to the gills. Three well built men, including myself (who is well built, but in the wrong sections), sat side by side in the row 14 exit row. Some of our fellow AFF members would have none of this, and had themselves upgraded.

Off into the sky towards Sydney, and the usual Qantas breakfast was served. Having not had a Qantas Y breakfast for a while, I can see not much has really changed, except possibly the muesli had gotten a bit light on. Today, the extra fruit took a day off, so the muffin took its place. So, I asked for an apple to complement the rest of breakfast.

QF domestic Y breakfast. Nothing too flash or unexpected here.

Once we were in SYD, some members decided to hold back in the J Lounges for a bit more relaxation and a coffee. However, JohnK and I had other ideas. Armed with a complimentary Uber ride (which actually turned out not to be complimentary after all - another story), we decided to head straight to the city towards Rockpool. Just as well, as there was a rather thick block of traffic which we had to traverse.

Unfortunately, Rockpool doesn't open until 12, and we couldn't wait in the restaurant lobby. So, we sought out the Sofitel Wentworth, which was just around the corner, where members from ADL and PER had overnighted after flying in the previous day. A few of us passed time then with a conversation in the lobby, until we headed back to Rockpool just before noon.

Enter Rockpool.

Welcome to Rockpool.

We were ushered up a narrow staircase to a smaller dining room upstairs. Three round tables were elegantly set and ready for our dining experience. Several members of Qantas Loyalty were present to soak up our feedback and chat with us.

Qantas Loyalty banner in front of our dining room.

AFFers getting seated.

Immaculately laid table.

The lunch service was offered as share plates, where we all served ourselves from a large plate that was placed in the centre of the table. The portions were small per dish because there were so many dishes so we all had a sampler of some of the best produce, prepared to a very high standard. Rockpool and Neil Perry emphasise fresh produce, cooked simply. Some people might look at the menu and reckon, "Geez, we could make this at home, or buy it at the pub." When something looks and is quite simple, it has to be perfect to impress, because there's just no where to hide.

As each of our courses were served, we got to hear a bit more from Qantas Loyalty, who had collated all of our questions and started to discuss and answer them. I won't go into specific details as to what was discussed, as the threads already cover quite a bit of ground in this regard. It's something where we at AFF are very privileged to be able to have an "exclusive channel" to talk to airlines like Qantas. It's another thing when you can have the opportunity to talk to those people directly who look after many of the details.

Qantas Loyalty talking to AFF - the only grill which wasn't located in the kitchen.

 

[anat0l]

QFF Rockpool Lunch (12 Mar 2013)

The opening address and first round of questions kept all of us suitably engaged, which gave the attentive wait staff an excellent window to set down the appetisers.

Charcoal Roast King Prawn.

An array of appetisers: fish crudo; grilled vegetables with goats cheese; and various charcuterie.

On picture, the prawn appears to be like the one you threw on the BBQ (please, no corny imitations!). Bite into it, and you realise the prawn is fresh, and cooked nice and juicy.

The crudo of fish just had to be fresh, which it was. Otherwise, we all know that a dish of raw fish doesn't need much more than to be cut with a nice sharp knife, and maybe the addition of a little dressing.

I'm a fan of goats cheese, so the grilled veggie and goats cheese salad had me hooked. And you can't go past a nice selection of quality smoked ham or prosciutto.

Before our next service, Qantas discussed a few more details about Qantas Cash which should be coming into being in the latter part of this year, all things going to plan, of course.

Prototype Qantas Frequent Flyer membership cards, ready for Qantas Cash.

Main service included two kinds of rib-eye, served up with a range of sides.

Rib-eye on the bone...

...served with Bearnaise.

Market fresh fish, baked and served with lemon and (optionally) garlic aioli.

Enough sides to keep everyone happy: potato and cabbage gratin, mixed greens, signature Rockpool salad with palm sugar vinaigrette, and macaroni and cheese.

The market fish was fresh tasting. Bit of a shame it was a small bit, but I guess we had so much more to eat. It was cooked beautifully - moist, falls apart with the barest of fork pressure; in fact, it was so delicate that some of the servers struggled immensely serving it individually to each of us!

We had two kinds of rib-eyes, each sourced from a different supplier. Neil Perry invited us to try each one and decide on a favourite, although to be honest I lost track of which was which. Didn't matter in my mind - both were great. Juicy, tasty, tender... just how a great cut of meat should be.

The side dishes were not just fillers, they were stars on their own. The signature Rockpool salad is a bit of a divider due to its strong tasting leaves, but I really like the bitterness of the salad with the palm sugar vinaigrette. The last time I saw Neil Perry prepare mac & cheese was on Masterchef: All-Stars for a Masterclass. When I saw that on TV, he shaved a whole bunch of truffle on top of the luxurious concoction consisting of three kinds of cheese. Although this version we had didn't have any truffle on it, I'd by lying if I said it wasn't delicious.

As we tucked into the food, the waiters kept us well and truly topped up with wine or other beverages.

Towards the end of the afternoon, we were about to sample the desserts when Neil Perry decided to make a re-appearance and talk to us about Qantas, Rockpool and his work. Most of us take Neil for granted when we hear his name thrown about the Qantas product, and some of us perhaps harbour disdain. It's amazing to hear Neil talk about food, his service philosophy, his cooking style... it puts a real person to a mere name. Most people who finally get to meet him and hear him talk in the flesh reflect on the genuine passion he talks about his work and association with Qantas. It goes much more beyond just a contractual relationship, and beyond just designing the menu and delivering the food.

Neil Perry speaks.

Passionfruit pavlova. The traditional take on the most popular dessert ordered by AFFers from the F Lounge menu.

Chocolate profiteroles, but this time with ice cream rather than creme patissiere.

 

[anat0l]

QFF Rockpool Lunch (12 Mar 2013)

Cheese plate with regular accompaniments.

Dessert effectively closed out the afternoon. There was still some time to get up and mill around, get our last words in with Qantas (which also happened via some recordings in the room next door, hopefully to be put together into a Youtube mish-mash). There might have been much more time to have a chat, but unfortunately most of us had flights home to think about. Plus, Qantas had arranged for those of us flying to use the Chairmans Lounge in SYD T3, so I think a few of us were willing to get to the airport to check it out!

Once we got to SYD T3, we were admitted into the CL and given a short tour by Malcolm at the front desk. Luckily the lounge was relatively quiet, which meant that we had a bit of freedom whilst in the lounge. I took my lion's share of snaps to preserve the memory, but in accordance with the wishes of Qantas and to avoid privacy issues with the non-AFF people in the shots, I won't be showing any pictures inside the lounge here.

Basically, the CL is best summarised by thewinchester: "First Lounge Mk II". Same decor, same design concepts and motifs, just a different colour to the F Lounge. Very functional with several seating zones, including personal offices, sectioned lounge seating areas and small cubicle like areas. The food is nothing too spectacular and rather reminiscent of the J Lounge offering, and the drinks are completely self-service.

In a way, even though it was the same as the First Lounge at least in appearance, I felt there wasn't enough time spent in the lounge. We all got a taste, and you would not normally get access to this lounge unless you make Qantas' creme de la creme of the CIP list. Maybe it was the great company we were in, and the want to not stop conversing.

My flight home was eventually called, so I said goodbye to everyone and quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up before heading to the gate. On the way out, I spotted Curtis Stone helping himself to a few light bites from the buffet.


Flight: Qantas Airways QF540 Sydney (SYD T3) - Brisbane (BNE D)
Depart: 1705h Sched; 1700h Actual
Aircraft: VH-OGI "Port Augusta" Boeing 767-300
Class: Business
Seat: 1E


When Qantas booked our flights originally, they were booked with a quiet understanding that we couldn't earn anything on them, and they were not upgradeable. Given the experiences of a couple of our fellow AFFers this morning, I had casually asked at the CL reception whether I could get an ODU processed. With a mark of confidence and "can-do" attitude, the lady at the CL reception tapped away, and a long pause later, I was reseated about 20-30 rows towards the front

I'm still waiting on someone from Qantas staff travel to give me the proverbial *tsk tsk*..... anyway...

Another stroke of luck - we had a refurbished 767-300. This means I got a chance to experience the new product up front, with leather seats, recoloured trims and iPad entertainment.

Looking towards door 1L.

Refurbished 767-300 Business Millennium seats, with charcoal leather and orange/gold trim.

Legroom in 1E.

Qantas logo at the front of Business Class.

I'm not sure about the rest of the aircraft, but Business class was full-up! GPH had the same idea as I did and ended up upgrading into the seat right behind me. Luckily, he's not a seat back kicker

Once we were up in the air, the crew sprang into action for the refreshment service. I elected to have the zucchini and basil soup for my refreshment. I've had this one before and was quite happy with it. This time, the flavour was sort of there, but despite the thickness of the soup, it seemed to be lacking a certain depth of flavour, and was sort of blandish. Not inedible, but not spectacular either. Not sure if the other refreshment option of the antipasto plate would've been a better option......

Business refreshment service, including zucchini and basil soup.

Sourdough bread and roll. Yes, both toasty and edible, not suitable for use as a throwing weapon.

On arrival in BNE, I followed JohnK to the BNE D J Lounge to relax for a bit whilst waiting for my pickup. Oh yeah, and also waiting for island dining. JohnK knocked back a few beers, whilst I just stuck to green tea. Later in the evening, we were joined by benmay. I kept checking with the lounge staff when island dining would be set up, but after quite a bit of conflicting information, the long and short of it is that I'd missed out (and a very short service window too - all packed up at 1900h!). Bummer, and it looked like a nice plate too.

Pickup was called, and I was out the door and heading back home. What a day.

 

[anat0l]

Menu: QFF Rockpool Lunch (12 Mar 2013)

Rockpool Bar and Grill Sydney
Tuesday 12 March 2013


Crudo of Ocean Trout, Yellow Fin Tuna and Yellow Tail with Coriander and Lime Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Wood Fire Grilled Vegetables and Goats Cheese Salad

Joselito Iberico Jamon, Jamondul Serrano Jamon Reserva, Fratelli Galloni Parma Prosciutto with Pickles

Charcoal Roast King Prawns, Split and Marinated

---

Market Fish

Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 Month Old Grass Fed Rib-Eye on the Bone (350g)

Rangers Valley Dry Aged 300 Day Grain Fed Rib-Eye on the Bone (440g)

---

Potato and Cabbage Gratin

Boiled Mixed Greens with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon

Radicchio, Cos and Endive with Palm Sugar Vinaigrette

Mac & Cheese

---

Passionfruit Pavlova

Profiteroles with Ice Cream, Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Cheese Selection


Wine List


Sparkling

Heemskerk 2008 - Coal River Valley, Tasmania

White

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012 - Marlborough, New Zealand

Kumeu River 'Estate' Chardonnay 2009 - Auckland, New Zealand

Red

Maude Pinot Noir 2010 - Central Otago, New Zealand

Grant Burge 'Corryton Park' Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 - Barossa Valley, South Australia

 

[anat0l]

Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

Qantas Tweet and Eat Spice Temple, Melbourne
Saturday 13 April 2013


Entering this competition was nerve wracking. As soon as Qantas released the entry form, only the first in the door would be invited. In a sense, it was almost like those crazy contests in the US where you put your hands on an object you want to win, and if you take your hands off the object, you lose. Many of us had our Twitter clients on ready to pounce. At 2pm, the form was released and the AFF collective pounced - as did many other Twitter users. Within a mere minute, all of the spots at the lunch were gone. I think even whoever was managing @QantasAirways that day couldn't quite believe how fast the spots disappeared.

Now unlike the QFF Rockpool Lunch, flights were not provided with this invite, so I had to make my own way to Melbourne this time. I probably should've flown Qantas in this instance, except for a JASA Qantas wanted at least $200 for the co-pay, and not much less than that for a YASA. Ouch. So I wasn't left with a choice - with a recent influx of points, I hit up the Velocity website, and found a Business Reward same-day return, with a significantly lower co-pay compared to Qantas.

So I was flying with the enemy going to a Qantas function. At least I got to sample the competition, which, not counting when I flew the first version of their coast-to-coast Business product, I had not had the experience of doing yet.

Fast forward to the day and before the crack of light, Dad drove me to the airport. Went through security and straight to The Lounge to collect my boarding pass and have a coffee. Getting to T-20 minutes, or official boarding time, no announcement was made yet, so I wandered over to the front desk to ask after the status of my flight. At that very moment, the gate staff had chosen to call the lounge to inform them that my flight was ready to board.


Flight: Virgin Australia VA308 Brisbane (BNE D) - Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL T3)
Depart: 0655h Sched; 0702h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VOK "Johanna Beach" Boeing 737-800
Class: Business
Seat: 1A


Priority boarding is something on the domestic arena where Virgin Australia is a Viking. Waltz up to the purple sign, the agent turns to you, scans your BP, and of course you earn about a half-dozen death stares from the regular line wondering what rude imbecile has the gall to uncivilly push in.

Anyway, get on board and a very vibrant Sarah greets me. Absolutely, could not wipe the smile off her face - it was almost really comical. Her CSM colleague Brett was a bit more subdued and relied solely on projecting a professional front.

Originally, this aircraft was meant to be an Embraer E90, but it was swapped out for this 737-800. There were only five of us in Business this morning, though handling up to eight Business passengers compared to twelve on a Qantas aircraft of similar size, this should be easy peasy for Virgin.

VA 737-800 Business Cabin.

Legroom in 1A.

Looking across from 1A.

The VA Business cabin features leather seats with respectable recline. No extendable foot rests, but I hardly use them anyway, and the recline wasn't enough to really warrant their use anyway.

Pre-flight drinks of orange juice or water were offered, as pax were quickly ushered onto the aircraft. It was raining outside, so Virgin's normal boarding modus operandi of boarding via the stairs at the back wasn't feasible this morning. So, everyone poured in through the front, which slowed up the boarding process considerably.

A little bit late, we pushed back from the gate and soon were on the way to MEL. It took us considerably long to get to cruise, where we passed quite a bit of turbulence on the way up. Almost immediately after we punched above the clouds, the double-ding came on and the crew sprang up into life. A little bit later, the seat belt signs were turned off and Brett was asking me for my choice of breakfast. Brett also asked if I wanted to use the entertainment Galaxy Tabs. Normally I wouldn't watch a lot of TV, but I decided to see what the hype was all about.

An entertainment unit arrived and was easy to use. However, the entertainment selection was pretty bland for my liking, so I didn't end up watching anything. The earbuds were provided in a nice little zip case, but like the ones that Qantas provide in their refurbished 767-300s, they are el cheapo and nasty mono earbuds. Probably the biggest thing I miss from Qantas entertainment compared to Virgin is the daily news...

The Samsung Galaxy Tabs provided as part of the in-flight entertainment on Virgin Australia.

My hot breakfast arrived soon after. Probably the first hot breakfast I've had in a while where there are no eggs. Tasted all OK, except perhaps the stewed beans were still quite firm. Apart from that, it's a nice warm filler. A generous fruit salad was served with the breakfast, though when I flew Virgin the first time, they served the exact same fruit salad accentuated nicely with lychee juice and shredded mint. No more... which is a shame, since I really liked it that way (albeit probably unhealthy given the sugar in the lychee juice).

And a little tip - always check your butter! My butter was a bit off, and probably shouldn't have been served. Not a big deal since the already buttery croissant didn't need any more butter.

Hot breakfast of sausage, bacon, potatoes and braised beans.

Coffee with Virgin is brewed, which I'm guessing they prepare in a plunger. I guess they only have the rather sizeable espresso machines on their A330s and 777s. Ah well, brewed is good enough.

White brewed coffee in Virgin signature china by avantgarde.

I had a bit of a nap as we headed at full throttle towards MEL. The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, with the weather in MEL mirroring that of BNE, except without the rain.

After landing, I headed to the Virgin Lounge to take care of some email. Princess Fiona, also flying with VA to MEL, had come down on a flight from SYD. We managed to meet up and then get in contact with ChrisCh and Boogs who had arrived from BNE on a QF flight. We managed to hole up in the MEL T1 QF J Lounge for a while over a couple of coffees and pastries. ChrisCh had an Uber deal going that would give us a nice luxury transfer to the Crown complex, but getting an Uber car was proving to be uber frustrating. Continual harassment of the Uber app eventually gave us a car, which picked us up outside the Park Royal.

We instructed our driver to drop us off at Crown Tower, which luckily was a mere stone throw away from Spice Temple. Spice Temple is another Neil Perry institution, located in Melbourne's huge Crown Casino complex, right next a branch of Neil's other institution, Rockpool Melbourne.

Several Tweeps who were invited to this Tweet and Eat had already arrived. Many of them were members of AFF, which just goes to show how many of us were working and multi-tasking on Twitter at the time! Anyway, we were only outside for about five minutes before the clock struck noon, the doors opened and we were invited inside and downstairs.

The restaurant area downstairs consists of a bar area and an extensive dining area. The restaurant environment was set up as dark with subtle lighting, which is a little bit chic in some way, but hell on the unseasoned photographer. The tables in the dining area were long, to promote a communal dining experience similar to that in Asia.

Spice Temple downstairs bar and bar area.

At the bar area, looking towards the dining area.

 

[Simo]

Re: Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

Shame I have missed them,

Mind you I have not entered either as not available on those days.

Great photo's

 

[anat0l]

Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

Pleasantries were exchanged in the compact bar area over coughtails. One of them was the Rooster, which also features on the coughtail selection in the new Singapore lounge. The other coughtail was the Horse, which I believe is the one I selected (I hope I got them the right way around). Served in a coupe glass, the Horse coughtail was based on citrus and pomegranate. Not too bad at all.

Horse coughtail.

There was a bit of shuffling and jostling, but then we were ushered into the main dining area to be seated ready for lunch. We all took our name badges as we entered, except for some reason my badge seemed to be misplaced. Ah well, just call me Mr X.

Spice Temple downstairs dining area.

Everyone getting seated.

Qantas lanterns.

The menu was organised in tasting style, with a number of dishes offered in communal plates that we all shared around a few people, allowing us to sample a little bit of everything. The order of lunch would be an amuse-bouche, followed by some starters, then the mains and a very simple dessert.

Before the main culinary fare kicked off, we were first addressed by Neil Perry. Once again, like in the QFF Rockpool Lunch, Neil didn't hold back on communicating his passion on food, Qantas catering and the service experience as a whole. In particular, he communicated at length about the new Singapore lounge, stealing much of the thunder of the Qantas speakers later. It's interesting to note how a chef can be so involved in the service delivery on a level much more than just the food itself.

Neil Perry addresses the group.

A few people have shared quite a few of the takeaway messages from the lunch on the main do thread, so I'm going to focus on the food here. No sooner had Neil finished up, the amuse-bouche was distributed and ready to be eaten. It comes as no surprise that Spice Temple, being a Neil Perry creation, is yet another culinary journey into Asia, and in particular Chinese flavours or techniques. And don't forget the 'spice' part - most of the menu was loaded with a nice amount of pepper or chilli in one form or another. People with unseasoned palates or recovering from heart surgery need not apply!

Amuse-bouche of pork belly slider.

The pork belly slider is probably one of the most decadent little mouthfuls you could design. Rich, crispy pork belly, countered by some fresh vegetables and coriander, in a slightly sweetened, glazed burger roll. Princess Fiona tweeted, "Diet starts tomorrow."

The table in conversation.

The next set of dishes constituted the starters. The table started to get quite crowded with a sea of bowls, chopsticks and share plates.

Underneath the vegetable verbiage are tingling prawns.

Pork belly and smoked tofu with ginger and garlic dressing.

As the waiter laid down the dishes, we were all advised that these had the potential to be quite hot. I'm not a fire eater myself, but I do have an OK chilli tolerance. In order to account for the spiciness of the other dishes, we were offered two side garnish dishes to help cool the palate after a capsaicin assault.

 

[anat0l]

Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

Cabbage and radish pickles.

Cucumber with smashed garlic and ginger.

The side dishes, or garnishes if you please, were just as they were. I particularly liked the pickled radish and cabbage.

The tingling prawns had a good hit of pepper in them, which was somewhat accentuated by the shredded vegetables on top, e.g. spring onion. Not an easy thing to balance when you think it is so easy to overpower the flavour of the prawns. Don't know how it was done, but it worked nicely.

The pork belly with smoked tofu had a good taste, though I felt the tofu felt out of place. Not sure I could really taste any smokiness, and whilst I have nothing against tofu per se, the texture just seemed out of place and not complementing the rest of the dish.

A little bit later, another opening number joined the fray, in the form of the handmade yellow noodles with Wagyu. When wagyu is on the menu, as long as it's not abused you know it's going to be a good dish!

Handmade yellow noodles with Wagyu braised brisket, chilli and Sichuan pepper.

Maybe the noodles were a bit overcooked, as they started to congeal a bit, unless they were going for a slippery noodle like consistency. The wagyu was rich and tasty... great dish, and even better that it was one of the cook-to-order dishes available at the moment in the new Singapore lounge.

drewbles was seated beside me and we exchanged tasting notes throughout lunch. We also spotted two imposing chillis staring at us in the bowl of noodles. Feeling a bit foolish, drewbles, a confident fire eater, picked into the bowl and downed the chilli in one go. Not to be outdone in a way, I thought I'd give it a go too, but I took a couple of bites.

It actually wasn't as hot as I thought it would be. I thought I would be doubling over in pain, with a difficulty of breathing comparable to being winded by a kicking bucking bull. Definitely started a fire in the back of my throat, but with a bit of cooling from the side dishes and some wine, what could've been a black bushfire fizzled into a mere bonfire. drewbles, on the other hand, didn't appear to have escaped the wrath of his chilli so easily unscathed.

A former QF CSM addresses the group, passionate about her new executive position.

Another round of talks ensued, and continuing from the theme about the new Singapore lounge, there was talk about improving the overall service delivery and consistency of product around the network. People asked about HKG and LAX - apparently we should all be ready to be blown out of the water, if SIN is only a platform to go by. I prefer to let time tell rather than make unhealthy hype, but here's to progress.

Next courses up were the mains, served with steamed white rice.

Hot and fragrant stir fried prawns.

Hot and numbing crispy duck.

Wagyu brisket with baby eggplant and chilli.

Side of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.

Simple, steamed rice.

I'm not sure whether the prawns were actually quite hot, although having endured my last chilli challenge, maybe I was being quite desensitised to any chilli presence. They were served stir fried with sweet shoots, just like my parents would do it at home.

The hot and numbing crispy duck was printed in red on the menu. The waiter confirmed with me that this was intended to flag that this dish was going to be particularly hot. Sichuan cuisine can have a tendency to do that, and seeing the word 'numbing' on the menu is of no surprise in this regard. Not to mention I also like to eat duck, a picked up a nice looking piece and popped it into my mouth.

A few seconds later.... nothing. Where's the pepper hit? Took me a while and a bit of spooning over of the residual chilli in the plate before I actually felt a bit of the numbing effect. Maybe I was already desensitised. On the other hand though, the duck was cooked juicy and tasty, just the way duck should be.

The wagyu stir fry was somewhat a continuation from the noodle dish in the previous course, except this time served with juicy eggplant. A pleasant sauce and flavour about this whole dish, and not too much chilli at all to blow your head off.

The executive team were spread out about the four tables of lucky diners, with about 1-2 members per table. We were lucky on our table to be able to talk to Terry, who is affiliated with Rockpool Consulting. Terry was able to speak at length about the process of the creation of the service experience in the Singapore lounge, as well as in other aspects about other lounges.

As we were all engrossed in conversation, the very simple dessert was sent to the tables. Nothing too complicated, it was more or less just a palate cleanser if anything else.

Ruby grapefruit granita with crushed hazelnuts.

I'm sure with more time on our hands, most of us would've stayed behind longer to talk to the executive team. Many members present managed to get a photo shot with Neil Perry; once again my timidity inhibited my chance of doing similar, though once again I managed to shake his hand.

As we all started back to the airport, I managed to hitch a ride in the taxi with David Flynn from the Australian Business Traveller. No, David was not riding on his Twitter client the whole day until the form was released hoping to get within the 30 seconds to 1 minute window required to get a spot for lunch - he was invited! (He was also invited to Singapore for the opening of the Singapore lounge, so he was flying around quite a bit!). My flight back to BNE wasn't leaving for a while, so I followed David, DeKa and two from Qantas marketing into the QP for a spot of relaxation before they had to board their flight to SYD. We tried to get into the J Lounge, but unfortunately not enough of us were Platinum, so no go there.

 

[anat0l]

Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

As 1640h rolled in, David et al. had to start moving towards their widebody chariot going to SYD. I had to exit airside and head to the correct terminal.

The MEL T3 VA Lounge was quite quiet when I arrived. There also wasn't much food on offer; the only substantial offering was soft tortillas, where people could make wraps or mini-kebabs with some of the antipasti on offer (tabouleh, falafel, cold meats, etc.). Except for a rather stodgy looking lentil soup, there wasn't any other hot food on offer. Not a big deal, my flight was going to be a rather substantial meal flight anyway, so it wasn't long until I had to leave to head through security and then onto the gate to go home.


Flight: Virgin Australia VA347 Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL T3) - Brisbane (BNE D)
Depart: 1900h Sched; 1900h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VOU "Blue Billie" Boeing 737-800
Class: Business
Seat: 1A


"Blue Billie", our aircraft to Brisbane this evening, was a yet-to-be-repainted aircraft which had nevertheless been renovated on the inside with the latest product. There were only two of us out of eight in the cabin this evening, and whilst I found another person in 1C guarding 1A, I was perfectly happy to sit on the other side in 1F, keeping 1D free for myself (but what would I do with that space?).

CSM Lee greeted me and offered a choice of water or mocktail. I chose the latter, which I assume is the virgin (pun intended) equivalent of Luke Mangan's Virgin Australia signature coughtail, The Australian.

Pre-flight drink of mocktail.

We had actually boarded the entire plane before our scheduled push back, but the captain came onto the PA to advise us that unfortunately we could not start push back until schedule due to ATC restrictions put on us at Brisbane. But, so be it we pushed back on time, taxied to the runway and soon were off into the sky hurtling towards Brisbane.

Lee came around to offer pre-meal drinks first. I opted for the red wine, which was a complex Barossa blend. Very pleasant. Virgin go against most of the tide in the world, opting to serve their wine in glasses which look like ball glasses rather than the traditional glassware with stems.

Pre-meal red wine.

The choices of main course were either a pie of duck and beef with five spices, or a vegetarian Thai red curry. Rather difficult choice, but going for safety in flavour, I opted for the pie. The pie was served up with a box containing a pair of Paton's macadamia chocolates, a side salad of packet greens and a bread roll. The pie itself was flavoursome, though there wasn't a single bit of duck in mine, and there was a fair bit of fat, too. Green salad was alright, save for my lemon olive oil dressing which was quite dull. The salad was needed to foil against the rich pie, though.

Main meal of beef and duck pie with side salad and chocolates.

I'm so used to Qantas coming around after a while offering tea or coffee that it didn't occur to me that I had to ask so I could have a cuppa with my chocolates. When Lee passed by, I asked him if he could prepare a cup of coffee, which took him a bit of a while but he came back with one. Upon tasting the coffee, I immediately knew that the coffee was instant and not brewed or plunger. Nevertheless, he had gone to that much trouble to get me one and he couldn't do much about the situation, so I contented myself with it.

Post-meal coffee.

It probably comes as no surprise to many BNE stalwarts here that we all have a good chance of being delayed by ATC due to the evening traffic. This evening, it was no different. The captain came onto the PA to inform us all that ATC was instructing us to slow down, with an anticipated delay of around 10 minutes. There must've been some storm activity or expected rough zones as we started to make our final approach to BNE, as the seat belt sign was turned on about 35 minutes before landing.

Fortunately, there were no further delays or holding patterns to be endured, so we touched down in BNE a mere 10 minutes behind schedule. Called my lift home, and within 15 minutes I was headed away from the airport and the day ended.

 

[anat0l]

Menu: Qantas Tweet Up (13 Apr 2013)

Spice Temple Melbourne
Saturday 13 April 2013


Cucumbers with smashed garlic and ginger

Cabbage and radish pickles


Crispy pork belly slider


Tingling prawns

Crisp pork belly and smoked tofu with spicy ginger and garlic dressing


Handmade yellow noodles with Wagyu braised brisket, chilli and Sichuan pepper

Hot and fragarant stir fried prawns


Stir fried Wagyu brisket with baby eggplant and chilli

Hot and numbing crispy duck

Chinese broccoli with house made oyster sauce


Ruby red grapefruit granita with aperol and crushed hazelnuts

 

[anat0l]

Epilogue

Epilogue


These functions where the public can meet members of Qantas are great. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to experience two of them.

A big thanks to Qantas (and Red Roo for the QFF Rockpool Lunch) for organising these events. Thanks also for sending your best staff to hear it as it is from us, the customers. I can vouch that that is not an easy thing to do at all.

Big thanks also to Neil Perry for giving his time to speak to us. I think most people are convinced: once you listen to Neil and hear his approach and philosophy to food, most people can understand why he's so passionate, and where he wants to go with aspects of the service. I always thought a celebrity chef for an airline is just there to design the food and that's that. Turns out there's a lot more coupling in the service delivery - what it involves, how it's done, who does it... it's many people in one service experience, all talking to each other. I'm sure some other airlines are just like that, but at least it's heartening to hear that airlines can actually think in that way.

Next time, if I ever get a chance to get a photo with Neil Perry, I'm going to take that opportunity!


Hope you all enjoyed reading this TR. It's a lot more brief than some of my others, but I really just wanted to highlight the food, as it's definitely one of the big highlights of these two functions.

Fin.

 

[Pollywaffle]

Re: Epilogue

Loved your report. The food looks great.

 

[Grooba]

Re: Epilogue

Brilliant.

 

[jpk]

Re: Epilogue

Nice write up. Sorry my big bald head got in the way of your photos!

 

[GOONER]

Re: Epilogue

Brilliant TR!! Cheers for the insight and great pics!!

 

[Mardi]

Re: Epilogue

Great report - looks like they were two great events.

 

[Inver]

Re: Epilogue

Thanks for the TR I really enjoyed it.

 

[penegal]

Re: Epilogue

Good TR anat0l.

Thanks for sharing. Naturally, I am jealous

 

[ChrisFlyer]

A great read - nice job!

I don't suppose you happened to catch the name of the Riesling served with lunch at Spice Temple? I forgot to ask them (as it wasn't printed on the menu). I had a look on epiQure, but couldn't find a similar-looking label unfortunately.