Shaun Rankin creates locally-sourced menu for Blue Islands airline
Jersey-based, one-Michelin-starred chef Shaun Rankin is to provide a locally-sourced menu for passengers travelling on Channel Islands airline Blue Islands.
Passengers on flights between Jersey or Guernsey and London City Airport can order fresh pastries and made-to-order sandwiches from a new menu, created by Rankin's newest site and catering company, Don Street Deli.
Options will include Scottish smoked salmon with crème fraiche and rocket in a granary roll, and Milano salami, roast peppers with goat's cheese pesto on focaccia.
Any customers travelling inbound to Jersey will also be offered a free glass of Champagne if they go to eat at Rankin's island-based restaurant Ormer.
Blue Islands managing director Rob Veron said he was proud of the new partnership, and called it a big step for aviation catering.
He said: "We wanted to reward our travellers with locally sourced produce and are delighted Jersey's most renowned and accredited chef has come on board with us."
Rankin himself said that he felt the locally-sourced, "quality-focused" ethos of Don Street Deli matched that of the airline. He explained that he had researched how people's palates change at altitude, and that the Don Street Deli-inspired products reflected this.
He said: "By bringing in our handmade product from Don Street Deli we are enhancing the on board experience."
Airline Blue Islands operates from Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey to destinations which include Amsterdam, Geneva, Paris, Southampton and Zurich.
Shaun Rankin opened Ormer, in St Helier on Jersey in 2013, for which he won a Michelin-star just four months later. The chef, who won his first star for Bohemia in 2005, is known for his focus on locally-sourced, Channel Island produce.