18 October 2010

Singapore Airlines Serves up a New Japanese Fine Dining Experience

From 31 October 2010, Singapore Airlines’ Suites, First and Business Class customers travelling between Singapore and Japan, as well as between Tokyo and Los Angeles, can look forward to an even more authentic Japanese fine dining experience.

Masterfully created by renowned Kaiseki chef, Yoshihiro Murata, a member of Singapore Airlines’ International Culinary Panel and the owner of three-Michelin-starred Kikunoi Restaurant in Kyoto, the new Japanese meals are designed to cater to the increasingly sophisticated palates of the airline’s customers.

“Japanese cuisine is an art that has been perfected through the centuries. To capture the authenticity and finesse of a Japanese fine dining experience, we prepare our Japanese meals in a traditional way with the freshest in-season produce and present them with a touch of modernity. I am certain that our new Japanese meals will provide customers an exciting and delicious sensory experience in the sky,” said Mr Yap Kim Wah, Singapore Airlines’ Senior Vice President Product & Services.

Suites and First Class customers can take delight in the new Kyo-Kaiseki service which comprises an elaborate spread of appetisers, mains and dessert elegantly presented course-by-course, in traditional style.

The five-course Kyo-Kaiseki service will start with tantalising cold dishes such as Mukozuke (tuna belly sashimi with cucumber and tomato jelly) and Oshinogi (buckwheat soba noodles). The cold dishes will be followed by sumptuous mains such as Futamono (lobster poached in white miso soup) and Yakimono (grilled duck with miso-sansho sauce and teriyaki scallop). The meal is served with fragrant steamed rice, miso soup and a seasonal dessert.

To enhance the dining experience, the Kyo-Kaiseki will be served on unique service-ware designed to represent the four elements of nature: stone, water, wood and sky. The exclusive service-ware has been designed by Chef Murata, in collaboration with well-known Japanese fine bone china manufacturer Narumi.

Singapore Airlines’ Business Class customers will also experience a brand new meal service – Hanakoireki (pictured left), also conceptualised by Chef Murata. Hanakoireki represents a culinary expression of nature’s changing beauty through the seasons.

Hanakoireki will be presented in two bento boxes. The first will include a selection of cold appetisers designed to awaken the palate and whet the appetite while the second will include main that showcase each season's distinctive character through the use of fresh seasonal ingredients.

Hanakoireki delights in the month of November will include Sakizuke (spinach and crabmeat with tosazu jelly sesame curd with bonito flakes, flavoured jelly and wasabi), Ha Sun (tofu with miso and white sesame, yam with sea urchin and wine marinated shrimp and salmon roe) and Takiawase (baby turnip stuffed with prawn and yam in chrysanthemum sauce). These will be accompanied by steamed rice with grilled Pacific saury, miso soup and a seasonal dessert.

Hanakoireki will replace Hanagoyomi, the current Business Class Japanese meal service.

Singapore Airlines will begin twice-daily flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport on 31 October 2010, complementing the existing twice-daily flights to Tokyo Narita Airport and bringing the total number of weekly flights to the Japanese capital to 28. The airline also flies daily to both Osaka and Nagoya, and five times weekly to Fukuoka.

About Chef Yoshihiro Murata
Chef Yoshihiro Murata is a third generation chef who has gained fame worldwide for expanding the vision of traditional Kyoto cuisine to incorporate European influences, without compromising on its authenticity.

Upon graduation from the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto in 1973, Murata spent an extended period of time in Europe before taking up an apprenticeship at Kamomen Restaurant in Nagoya, Japan. After three years, he returned to his native Kyoto to open his own restaurant Kikunoi Kiamachi in 1989.

As head chef and proprietor of Kikunoi, Chef Murata honours the 100-year-old tradition established by his grandfather of serving traditional Kyoto cuisine in a family inn. One of Japan’s most prestigious Ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurants) today, Kikunoi observes all the rules and customs necessary for delivering an authentic Kaiseki experience. It was no surprise therefore that Kikunoi’s Kyoto branch was given a three-star rating by the Michelin Guide Kyoto & Osaka 2010, while its Tokyo branch was awarded two stars by The Michelin Guide Tokyo 2008.

Chef Murata also has numerous publications to his name, including his book, Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto’s Kikunoi Restaurant, which was awarded “Best Chef’s Book in the World 2006” by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

About Singapore Airlines’ International Culinary Panel
Singapore Airlines’ International Culinary Panel was set up in 1998. Comprising award-winning chefs of global stature, the Panel works closely with the airline’s own chefs, to specially create the unique selection that is available for customers in all three classes on board. The Panel of internationally celebrated chefs also includes Sanjeev Kapoor of India, Georges Blanc of France, Sam Leong of Singapore, Matt Moran of Australia, Alfred Portale of the United States, Gordon Ramsay of the United Kingdom and Zhu Jun of China.

ENDS

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