SIA appoints Italian Star Chef Carlo Cracco to acclaimed Culinary Panel

Italian star chef Carlo Cracco has been named the newest member of the Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel (ICP). The Chef and Restaurateur of two Michelin-starred Ristorante Cracco in Milan joins a stellar team of eight other international chefs on the highly regarded ICP. For a start, his dishes will be rolled out to Italian and other selected European routes from January 2013.

“It is a real honour to be selected to join the International Culinary Panel and I am proud to be part of the Singapore Airlines family. Creating menus for an airline will be very different from creating menus for my restaurant, but I look forward to challenging myself. I will strive to express my philosophy, experience, feelings and taste through my recipes and provide customers my cuisine as though they were at my restaurant in Milan,” said Chef Cracco.

The appointment of Chef Cracco reinforces SIA’s commitment to remaining at the forefront in premium airline food and beverage offerings, providing innovative and palatable meal choices in all classes of travel.

A highly regarded culinary figure in the Italian, Western and Continental European dining scenes, Chef Cracco is known as a leader in the new generation of progressive Italian cuisine. He will bring a creative and distinctly Italian style to SIA’s inflight dining experience, uniquely interpreting traditional cuisine with contemporary and innovative touches. His dishes are created with a wide range of products, textures and aromas, using the best seasonal produce. Ristorante Cracco has 2 Michelin stars and is listed among the top restaurants in the world, garnering worldwide attention for its creative takes on Classic Italian food.

A charming media personality who has been featured in countless print publications, Chef Cracco is also a resident judge on one of the most popular television programs in Italy, MasterChef Italia, and has written two books.

“We are excited to welcome Chef Cracco as the newest member of our International Culinary Panel. His wide range of experience and innovative edge will complement the current panel of star chefs. This also marks another chapter in our commitment to constantly enhancing our inflight food and beverage offerings,” said SIA’s Senior Vice President Product and Services, Tan Pee Teck.

Singapore Airlines Suites, First Class and Business Class customers can now enjoy greater variety with the introduction of a series of new dishes in the Book the Cook program. For flights departing from Singapore, customers can preselect their preferred main course from over 60 diverse dishes, up from over 30 dishes previously, 24 hours before their flight.

The new Book the Cook dishes include main courses created by Singapore Airlines’ renowned International Culinary Panel, ranging from pan-fried free range chicken supreme by Michelin Star Chef Georges Blanc (France), char-grilled soya-flavoured beef by Michelin Star Chef Yoshihiro Murata (Japan), seared lamb loin from Matthew Moran (Australia), lamb shank from Sanjeev Kapoor (India), to authentic ethnic additions, such as duck in red Thai curry, and healthier options such as Japanese pumpkin and oriental mushroom salad. In addition to flights departing from Singapore, Book the Cook dishes are available for flights from selected overseas stations.