The Best Airport Food
in the U.S. and Beyond
Brisket, lobster roll, duck salad and other
high-quality offerings make terminals more palatable
By Scott McCartney in
the Wall Street Journal
Travelers looking for
intel on where to go in San Francisco for a stellar grilled cheese with
caramelized onions and spiced fresh tomato soup, listen up: Go to Gate 55 in
Terminal 2 at SFO, next to American and Virgin America airlines.
The sandwich at Cat
Cora's Kitchen is a gooey blend of cheddar and feta cheeses on grilled
sourdough—filling before a flight or after you get off a plane hungry and face
the dreaded trek to the remote rental-car lot. It's well worth the $10.
Airport food can now
hold its own at most terminals, with celebrity chefs, sit-down restaurants,
farm-fresh ingredients and expense-account-quality wines. Travelers rate
airport eateries on social media just like the trendiest new concepts downtown.
Surveys rank airports by healthiness of food offerings. Airports focus on local
eateries to create a sense of identity. Road warriors keep track of their
favorites and even plan departures around restaurant meals or pick up dinner
for the family after landing back home.
Gourmet has taken off
at airports because travelers are, on average, a fairly affluent group willing
to splurge on vacation or expense-paid business trips.
More travelers
consider themselves foodies or at least gravitate to well-reviewed local
restaurants, and now they expect to eat the same way when traveling. They have
more time to do it at the airport since check-in and security requirements
prompt earlier arrivals inside terminals. And airports want more local
atmosphere so they don't just feel like nondescript depots.
Quality food brings
higher average prices and more volume, so airport operators have been
aggressively moving out fast-food outlets for sit-down restaurants. OTG
Management, which operates restaurants at 10 airports in the U.S. and Canada,
says it has replaced some chain restaurants with locally based eateries and
increased sales as much as 50%. Travelers eat out a lot at home, and they want
the same kind of choices at the airport now, said Chief Executive Rick
Blatstein.
Travelers can be
adventurous eaters. Taste of Mill City Tavern at Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport has bison tartare on a seasonal menu, and it sells well,
Mr. Blatstein said. "We operate restaurants inside of an airport, not
airport restaurants," he added.
Restaurateurs say
airports present huge challenges: Storage and cooking spaces are tiny, and
customers demand speedy service. Deliveries have to be screened by security;
kitchen knives have to be tethered. Open-flame grills typically aren't allowed.
And despite higher costs, most airports insist that prices be near regular
prices outside the airport, making carpaccio of profit margins.
"Whatever you do
in a stand-alone restaurant in New York, it's twice as hard in an
airport," said Cat Cora, the brains behind that scrumptious grilled
cheese. She has outlets at San Francisco International, Houston Bush
Intercontinental and Salt Lake City, and, later this year, will open in
Atlanta.
Roger Berkowitz, chief
executive of Boston's Legal Sea Foods, was a pioneer in the airport restaurant
business, opening at Logan International Airport two decades ago. When the
Massachusetts Port Authority, operator of the airport, tried to recruit him, he
initially refused because the only food at the airport was high-priced and
mediocre at best.
"I didn't want to
be tainted with that kind of image," he said.
But Massport sweetened
the offer, and Mr. Berkowitz gave it a try. He figured he needed to offer
inexpensive items but learned that, in fact, travelers are willing to spend.
Expensive wines replaced cheaper offerings. And he miniaturized kitchen
operations to work within the small confines of airport terminals, offering a
limited menu of favorites like lobster rolls, crab cakes and tuna burgers that
can be prepared quickly. Fish gets griddled instead of grilled.
Another lesson he's
learned about airport restaurants: "You want to be near airlines with more
delays and cancellations," Mr. Berkowitz said.
Some namesake chefs
sign licensing agreements with concession operators, preferring to let them
deal with regulations and requirements. Others, including Mr. Berkowitz, don't
want to lose control and choose to run their own airport restaurants.
The mayor's office in
Chicago approached local celebrity chef Rick Bayless about opening at O'Hare
International Airport. "I don't think it would have happened any other
way," said Stacy Dixon, head of development and marketing for Mr.
Bayless's Frontera Restaurants. Frontera now has three licensed locations at
O'Hare. "It has brought a new level of attention to our brand," Ms.
Dixon said.
Urban Taco, a local
Dallas sit-down restaurant, opened at Dallas-Fort Worth International in 2009.
The concept is licensed by Gina Puente, who operates 15 various restaurants at
DFW and had to find ways to turn it into faster food and even modify recipes
for the airport pace and push for healthier fare. Airport recipes cut down on
fat and salt compared with what's served at Urban Taco sit-down restaurants.
Limited space meant nixing ingredients, like pineapple, that might be used in
only one or two items.
The airport in Austin,
Texas, insists that all vendors be local brands. There's not even a Starbucks, said Mike Glenn, Austin general manager of
Delaware North Companies, which operates concessions at the airport.
The Salt Lick, a local
barbecue favorite, cooks meat in nearby Driftwood, Texas, and reheats it before
serving at the airport. Last year, more than 55 tons of brisket sold at Austin
International, Mr. Glenn said. Salt Lick posted the airport's best restaurant
sales totals in 2013.
SFO hasn't gone as far
in terms of regional eateries, but it's close. National chains account for a
scant 5.5% of current sales, said Cheryl Nashir, head of concessions for SFO.
One reason: Higher-quality food is more expensive, so the average bill at local
eateries is higher than fast-food outlets.
Other Middle Seat
favorites: Urban Taco's chicken tinga and Dos Equis Amber barbacoa tacos at
DFW, Legal Sea Foods chowder and crab cakes in Boston or Philadelphia (and
returning to Washington's Reagan National this spring), and that incredible
barbecue beef from The Salt Lick, which must be chased by Amy's Mexican vanilla
ice cream.
Farther afield, one of
my all-time memorable meals was the salade gersoise at 8e Ciel at the airport
in Toulouse, France. Every conceivable preparation of duck—and Toulouse is
known for its duck—is nestled on greens and priced at about $26. The
restaurant, a highlight of an otherwise dreary, small airport, features
regional cuisine "advised" by chef Michel Sarran, with the added
bonus, for aviation buffs, of a broad view of the Airbus factory flight line.
There are, of course,
still plenty of overcooked burgers and soggy tuna sandwiches to be had at
airports. And you can still find hot dog rollers at Dallas Love Field.
That's why it pays to
have favorites. And if you're going to have that airport hot dog, make it the
char-dog at Gold Coast Dogs at Chicago's Midway Airport.
The original link, with many mouth watering
images, can be found at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303465004579322690270418718?mod=trending_now_2
Poster's comment: If airport restaurants can do it, so can we
at home, every so often at least.
No comments:
Post a Comment