QF Tweet & Eat (MEL) [13th April 2013]

[simongr]

Dear god I have never eaten so much chilli!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Dear god I have never eaten so much chilli!

Me either!!! I'm not usually a big fan of spicy foods, but I think the team got the balance perfectly right - spices were strong enough to give the food a nice kick and an interesting twist, but played well with the pre-spice flavour of the dishes.

 

[bosox76]

My apologies that I'm a little late to the post event update. Mrs B and I were both lucky enough to have been invited to our first QF event. It was certainly a wonderful even with great food. Like others who have already posted there was certainly a lot of spice, but in perfect balance. This is a restaurant that had been on our wish list to try and it certainly didn't disappoint. Loved the pork sliders, but my favourite dish of the day was the crispy pork with smoked tofu. Was great to see how passionate Neil was about not just the food on QF but the company as a whole. Will be exciting to see the changes that come in HKG and LAX in due course.

Sorry I didn't get to meet everyone at the event but it was great to meet fellow travel enthusiasts beit AFFers or non-AFFers. Perhaps at the next event (if I'm allowed to enter) I'll get the opportunity to meet more of you.

 

[Pollywaffle]

It was superb

Looks fabulous!

 

[jpk]

Sorry I am late to post to the thread. My food photos look the same as everyone else's, so I won't bother putting them up. I enjoyed the food a lot, I will definitely go back to the restaurant again (and take the gf, hopefully that will redeem me slightly for going solo to this). I sat next to Neil for a while and had a very interesting conversation, and like others my opinion of him did change. He certainly is passionate about QF food and service.

Some notes I took from NP and QF that might interest others:
- new QF uniforms unveiled this week (today actually) and might have hats
- end of May they will be launching a new PER J service to compete with VA's coast to coast offerings. NP acknowledged they have to improve against the VA A330 service, and said it will blow Virgin out of the water (I am personally dubious on this). He said VA's move here had caught them by surprise.
- NP actually has nothing to do with economy class meals, and hates that everyone blames him for how bad they are. He does want to work on these in the future, but QF has other priorities right now.
- meal choices out of ports depend a lot on what produce they can get in that country, as well as the ability of the caterers. Some caterers maintain a high standard initially but then deliberately let standards slowly slip in an effort to squeeze more money out. JNB is known to be a difficult port. Menus are ultimately driven by budget and weight, but he thinks they have a good balance.
- he thinks being Australian means accepting other cultures, and has no time for people arguing over the pork affair.
- I asked about the Heston doco on Ch4 where he tried to improve BA food, what were NP's thoughts? NP's words "i've told Heston that was a load of cough". NP doesn't believe altitude effects food that much, as long as its well seasoned on the ground it will taste good in the air. They don't do tastings in the air, which surprised me.
- the reason the wine list is so variable is because they want decent wines that match the food, which often cannot be supplied in the volume QF needs to ensure it's everywhere. While he doesn't sit on the wine council, he does have significant influence on it. He said he would prefer to highlight decent Australian wine from smaller suppliers that might only appear briefly, than to do a deal in bulk that you get on every flight. More choice this way, and helps the wine industry as well. QF are the third largest buyer of Australian wine after Coles and Woolies.
- He doesn't fly other airlines much or at all (neither his team). He has done some EK lately, and feels there is good alignment of menus and standards. He said he should fly other airlines more to assess what they are doing, but doesn't have time.
- He has a distate of celebrity chefs who sell their name to an airline but don't actually do much. Eg: they make a couple of recipes, but majority of menu and service standards have nothing to do with them. Luke Mangan (VA) and Matt Moran (SQ) were specifically mentioned, NP hastily adding they were both good friends and good chefs and it's nothing personal.
- lots of talk about the new SIN lounge. They're very excited about it. No need for separate F and J lounges - just want one lounge that is consistent high standard for everyone. They expect plenty of lounge hopping OW pax! Using Sofitel there too, and want to use them more in other locations. The exposed ceiling is actually a fire regulation. QF were dubious about the new look and feel, but NP and Marc Newson and the architects convinced them it is a hip new look that many new restaurants are going for. Lots of mention of "customer choice". QF see it as being similar to BA sleeper service - eat a decent meal in lounge, then get on board and sleep or have a snack. Full meals still available too, but majority don't want it. I tried to raise the skimpy breakfast offerings - BA sleepers work well because of their arrivals lounge, QF I think have some work to do on this area, but the topic got lost amongst other chat.
- new HKG and LAX lounges in the works that will be awesome.
- the "red" iPad app for CSMs was interesting, and gives the onboard team insights into issues you may have had, travel pattern, special requests etc.

Was nice to meet some new people, the QF people in particular were great. I also won a NP cookbook, which won me some brownie points with the girlfriend

 

[DeKa]

I enjoyed the food a lot, I will definitely go back to the restaurant again (and take the gf, hopefully that will redeem me slightly for going solo to this). I sat next to Neil for a while and had a very interesting conversation, and like others my opinion of him did change.

I'm going back this week with MrsDeKa. I made the booking with the boss (and that's not bossreggie).

 

[Brettmcg]

I'll be there again on Saturday night celebrating my 24th year on this planet.

 

[anat0l]

A write up about this do as well as the Rockpool one in March can be found below:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....photos/tale-two-dos-pictorial-food-49391.html

Shorter than most of my other efforts; this report was really just to show off the food.