London Heathrow airport has released its first ever food guide as summer holiday traffic gains momentum.
The guide, named ‘Food on Fly,’ provides a comprehensive overview of the dining options at the UK’s only hub airport. The issue includes reviews of the 73 bars, cafes and restaurants at Heathrow, featuring the top five, and listing the eateries by terminal. There are also top tips available regarding the type of foods to eat or avoid before flying, a run-down of Heathrow’s 15-minute menu policy, and forewords by TV food experts, Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
The food guide has been created in collaboration with Wallace and Torode, who were appointed as the airport’s official food consultants earlier this year.
Copies of ‘Food on the Fly’ are being issued to passengers this week. The issue comes as Heathrow prepares for another record summer with an estimated 13.8 million people expected to use the facility this July and August.
As Heathrow’s official taste buds, Wallace and Torode have tried and tested eateries ‘around the airport in 80 plates’ to understand airport dining options and to help Heathrow to improve its catering. The duo have recommended a renewed emphasis on healthy options, that Heathrow be used as a venue to showcase British cuisine talent, and that more ‘small plates’ be made available for people to enjoy with a beverage. The airport has committed to respond to the suggestions towards the end of the year.
Heathrow’s restaurants and bars receive nearly 26 million orders every year, which include fine dining options such as Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, Caviar House and Prunier, Oriel and Rhubarb, as well as high street concepts for travellers including YO! Sushi, Strada and Carluccio’s. Over the last six months, the airport team has been working on 17 new food outlets in Terminal 2, and is set to launch Frae, a British frozen yoghurt specialist, in Terminal 5 for the summer season.
