Air France Launches New A La Carte Menu By Jean Imbert

Available on board long-haul flights in Economy and Premium Economy starting April 1, 2016

Air France has partnered with Jean Imbert – a rising star in French cuisine and the 2012 winner of the French TV show Top Chef – to create new dishes for one of the airline’s  “A la Carte” menus offered on flights from Paris in Economy and Premium Economy. The chef has created Le marché de Jean Imbert, a full meal which can be enjoyed as an alternative to the standard inflight menu offered. His meals are now available for passengers to order to be enjoyed on board long-haul flights departing from Paris starting April 1, 2016.

In working on this new offering, the chef revisited his creations that were a success on Top Chef as well as other original culinary delights. Jean Imbert’s dishes feature innovative flavors for a new gourmet experience in the sky including: a cold starter with organic quinoa, poached egg and tarragon; hot stew; and a fruity pastry for dessert.

Air France Economy and Premium Economy passengers can purchase Imbert’s new creation to enjoy on flights departing from Paris for $23 or 7,000 Flying Blue Miles. Like each of Air France’s A la Carte meals (with other menu options available from Paris and other destinations including five U.S. gateways), passengers can order them as far as 90 days in advance of their trip and up to 24 hours before their travel by adding it to their booking on airfrance.us.

This new dish is part of Air France’s upmarket move to upgrade its long-haul products and services. As Air France’s fleet of Boeing 777s are being gradually equipped with new Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and La Premiere cabins, customers enjoy optimum travel comfort. Additionally, with new services such as A la Carte menus, passengers have more choices and ways to enhance their journey.

 About Air France’s “A la Carte” Menus

Air France offers “A la Carte” menus as a paid alternative to the standard meal offered on board long-haul Economy and Premium Economy flights and currently features four menu options: Une Sélection LeNôtre, Océan, Tradition or Italia menus. Le marché de Jean Imbert meals will replace the Italia menu for flights departing Paris* starting April 1, 2015. Other A La Carte Menus are available on departure from other locations including five U.S. gateways. The Italia, Océan and Tradition menus are available from each of the following U.S. gateways: New York (JFK), Los Angeles LAX, San Francisco (SFO), Houston (IAH), and Washington Dulles (IAD).

A la Carte meals may be ordered for an added price ranging between $14.00 and $31.00, or 4,000 to 8,500 Flying Blue Miles. They can be ordered as far as 90 days in advance of travel and up to 24 hours before flight departure. Passengers can purchase these meals at airfrance.fr during ticket purchase or in the “View/modify your bookings” section, at check in online, or through an Air France call center or ticket office.

Air France launched paid A la Carte Menus in Economy and Premium Economy on long-haul flights departing from Paris in 2012. In November 2015, the airline expanded the scope of the program, making them available on departure from five U.S. gateways, French Overseas Departments (Cayenne, Fort de France, La Réunion and Pointe à Pitre), and Canada (Montreal and Toronto) and Africa (Douala, Libreville, Abidjan and Dakar).

*Offer available on all long-haul flights on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly which offer a hot meal, except flights to Amman, Bangalore, Bombay, Damascus and Delhi and long-haul flights that do not serve dinner or hot breakfast.

About Jean Imbert

Jean Imbert grew up in L’Hay-les-Roses near Paris and Sables d’Or les Pins in Brittany. When he was a child he developed a passion for cooking and prepared meals for his family and friends. When he was 14, Jean was an intern at Jean-Pierre Crouzil’s restaurant in Plancoët, Brittany. This experience gave him the desire to open his own restaurant. In 2001 he graduated from the Institut Paul Bocuse and went to work for the chef Eric Briffard. At the age of 22, Jean decided to open his first restaurant, his childhood dream. He opened L’Acajou in the sixteenth arrondissement of Paris, awarded the Label Bocuse & Co in 2009.

In 2012, Jean won Season 3 of Top Chef on M6 with his emblematic dishes such as his fruit salad carpaccio and vegetable bouquet. After this media hype, Jean became one of France’s favorite chefs, well-liked by personalities who appreciate his unique cuisine and use of local products, who advocates sustainable fishing and spotlights local French producers. Jean still has close ties with Brittany, where he purchases his fresh produce.

Inspired by his travels and constantly on the look-out for unique and unusual concepts, late 2015 Jean opened Les Bols de Jeanwith Eric Kayser, a chic eco-canteen concept offering seasonal dishes in small round loaves of bread where nothing goes to waste. A concept in line with Jean’s values, committed to preventing food waste and malnutrition. Together with MK2 Jean also opened a pop-up cinema where his culinary creations matched the subject of the movie, offering spectators a complete sensory experience. He has also criss-crossed the globe, exploring markets in New Zealand, Polynesia and Iceland and organizing dinners in New York, San Francisco and Sydney. In Egypt, he supervised the menu on the Steam Ship Sudan, the boat which inspired Agatha Christie to write Death on the Nile. In 2016, Jean will offer Air France customers Le marché de Jean Imbert, a menu to enjoy on board the Company’s long-haul flights from Paris to the rest of the world!

About Air France

Air France, a global airline of French inspiration, with high standards and a caring attitude, turns the flight into a moment of real pleasure on all its daily operations in France, Europe and worldwide.

Since 2004, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have formed a global air transport giant with a strong European base. The Group also offers cargo transport and aeronautical maintenance solutions.

Air France-KLM is the leading Group in terms of international traffic on departure from Europe. In 2015, it offers its customers access to a network covering 316 destinations in 115 countries thanks to its four brands Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Transavia and HOP! Air France. With a fleet of 546 aircraft in operation and 87.4 million passengers carried in 2014, Air France-KLM operates up to 2,200 daily flights from its hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

Its Flying Blue frequent flyer programme is one of the leaders in Europe with over 25 million members.

Air France-KLM and its partners Delta Air Lines and Alitalia operate the biggest trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 250 daily flights.

Air France-KLM is also a member of the SkyTeam alliance which has 20 member airlines, offering customers access to a global network of over 16,320 daily flights to 1,052 destinations in 177 countries.

Hotels Expand Options To Keep Guests Healthy On The Road

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In this Jan. 24, 2016, photo, Paula Walker, center foreground, an instructor with Green Monkey... Read more

(AP) — Running concierges, a hotel mini bar stocked with produce from the local farmers market and a training wall that comes standard in every room. The hotel industry is moving beyond basement gyms and basic spa menus to accommodate guests' growing requests to stay healthy while on the road.

The trend has been a mainstay at spas and wellness resorts for years, but now hotels frequented by business travelers and families are showing that life on the go doesn't have to mean sacrificing spin class or a quinoa superfood bowl. Boutique and luxury hotels along with big name brands including Westin and Wyndham have vastly expanded fitness programs and dining options in recent years. The luxury gym Equinox is even opening its own hotel in New York.

The number of hotels with fitness facilities jumped from 63 percent in 2004 to 84 percent in 2014, according to a study by the American Hotel & Lodging Association. And hotels offering in-room exercise equipment has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, from seven to 13 percent, according to the study.

"It's what the marketplace is demanding," said Dena Roche, wellness travel expert and editor of The Travel Diet website. "People are trying to lead a healthier lifestyle in their daily life so when they go on the road they want to keep doing those things."

At the Even Hotels, every room has a training zone with a yoga mat, exercise ball, foam roller and a mounted fitness wall with resistance bands plus 19 videos and training guides to help you get your sweat on. Wyndham guests can request a room stocked with an exercise machine (like a stationary bike, elliptical machine or treadmill) and free workout wear, and the W hotel chain partnered with popular yogi Tara Stiles for free in-room yoga videos and a set of tip cards placed around the room to suggest poses to help you relax, wake up or get in the mood.

"It's pushing from a trend to a tipping point where there's mass adoption around wellness into every aspect of people's lives," Jason Moskal, a vice president at Intercontinental Hotels Group, which owns the Even brand. Even Hotels have three locations, including one in New York City, and are planning to open eight more including one in Miami.

"Everyone has a different aspect of what they're looking for ... the hotel was designed with this idea of wanting wellness on my own terms," he said.

Rooftop yoga classes are all the rage at hotels across the country including The James Hotel in New York and the Mondrian South Beach. Guests at The Standard in Miami Beach can also enjoy waterfront yoga or stand-up paddle board classes and grab a green drink from the hotel's juice bar. Their spa, which offers a variety of fitness classes for guests (some are for members only) is also a hub for sessions taught by some of the world's top yogis.

Spinning junkies only have to walk downstairs at the 1 Hotel South Beach for a Soul Cycle class.

Forgot to pack your workout clothes? No problem.  Fairmont  has partnered with Under Armour and Reebok respectively to style your workout. Westin's lending program with New Balance had a 16 percent increase in requests in 2015. At the hotel's Grand Central location in New York, more than 2,000 guests paid $5 to use a new pair of sneakers and clothes delivered to their room.

Kimpton's running kit includes a map of the Hudson River running path and pre-loaded iPod shuffle. Fairmont and several other hotels have running programs including "run concierges" at roughly 200 Westin locations and other options for runners.

The beefed-up offerings come as guests, particularly younger ones, say it's one of the deciding factors on where they will stay. Forty-five percent of millennials and 38 percent of Gen-Xers said spa and fitness centers were influential in where they booked a room, according to a 2015 survey from travel and hospitality marketing firm MMGY Global.

Several hotel chains are also targeting the tech-minded fitness buffs.  Westin is  partnering with Fitbit to deliver personalized video-based exercises that guests can download on their phones or on the Internet along with real-time feedback.

And there's no need to wonder whether there are gluten-free options at hotel restaurants. Most have even revamped the notoriously calorie-laden room service menus.

The Epiphany Hotel in Palo Alto, California, offers guests a fridge stocked with produce from a local farmers market, green juices and homemade power bars for $95. Kimpton hotels overhauled room-service menus, substituting quinoa and oats for white flour. Westin developed a SuperFoodsRx menu  less.

Stuttering Foundation Launches ID Card For People Who Stutter

The Stuttering Foundation has announced the creation of a free identification card available to all those who stutter. It is designed to help them identify themselves in a nonverbal way as someone who may have trouble speaking. The ID card is available in two downloadable formats on the Foundation's website at www.StutteringHelp.org. "We hope our free 'I Stutter Card' finds a place in the wallet, purse or backpack of every person who stutters," said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. "It is designed to help people educate those who are not familiar with this complex disorder." The card was created in response to a recent incident involving Kylah Simmons, a U.S. citizen returning home through the Atlanta airport after studying abroad. According to media reports, Ms. Simmons, a person who stutters, was questioned repeated about her stutter by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. According to reports, Ms. Simmons was repeatedly told by the agent that she was "lying" about her stutter. "I looked him in the eyes and explained to him that my disability was not a problem but was simply a personal challenge for me that makes it difficult for me to communicate... I was continuously told that I was lying and that I was being dishonest. All my life, I have been bullied and silenced because of my stutter. I felt silenced today," said Ms. Simmons. Ms. Simmons worked with the Foundation to make the card available to the 70 million people worldwide who stutter. "When questioned by someone in authority, we all may have difficulty maintaining our fluency. For someone who stutters, it can be a much greater challenge. We hope this tool will make a difference," added Fraser. Foundation Spokesperson Jane Fraser Jane Fraser is president of The Stuttering Foundation and co-author of If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents, 8th edition. She is also vice president of the Action for Stammering Children, Michael Palin Centre, London.   About the Stuttering Foundation Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman and stutterer, established and endowed the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Stuttering Foundation provides a toll-free helpline, 800-992-9392, and free online resources on its Website, www.StutteringHelp.org, including services, referrals and support to people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering.   The Stuttering Foundation offers 6 tips for speaking with someone who stutters.

Hilton Worldwide Adds Vintro Hotel South Beach To Curio – A Collection by Hilton

One Part Vintage, One Part Wine, and a Heavy Dose of Relaxation

in Iconic South Beach

 Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) today announced that Vintro Hotel South Beach will join Curio – A Collection by Hilton™, a global set of remarkable upscale and luxury hotels hand-picked for their distinctive character and personality, appealing to passionate travelers seeking local discovery. Vintro Hotel South Beach, Curio Collection by Hilton is expected to open in March.

A high-design update of a classic Art Deco building, the 50-room Vintro Hotel South Beach is in the heart of the "new" South Beach emerging cultural center just two blocks from the beach, and steps away from the Bass Museum, Miami City Ballet, The New World Symphony, and the Miami Beach Convention Center, home of Art Basel.

“It’s no coincidence that this will be our second property in South Florida in such short order since we launched the brand just over a year ago,” said Matt Wehling, senior vice president, development – North America, Hilton Worldwide. “Travelers are looking for new ways to experience their favorite destinations, and we’re more than happy to oblige by welcoming remarkable properties like Vintro Hotel South Beach to the Curio collection.”

At the heart of the Vintro Hotel South Beach is a mosaic wall in the lobby that embodies the relaxed vintage personality of the hotel and restaurant that has been rated among the Top 25 Hotels in TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards.

The Mediterranean and Latin-inspired Vintro Kitchen Restaurant and Scorpion Bar are committed to ingredient-based, craft food and drinks, and serve artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, tapas, small plates, salads, wild-caught fish, and responsibly-sourced meats. And, of course, a wine selection from across the globe that underscores Vintro’s personality.

“Every single project has its own character, its own life, its own style - which inevitably comes from its location,” said Enrique Colmenares, owner and president of Vintro Hotel. “We succeeded in capturing that Miami Beach essence in the Vintro Hotel South Beach, and Curio will allow us to reach the independent-minded travelers looking for just such an experience.”

Alongside the Collins Canal, the hotel’s terrace, rooftop lounge and pool are the perfect places for either a quiet nightcap or private events for up to 50 guests. Guest rooms are designed with contemplative comfort in mind, featuring a custom-designed citrus palette with king beds, rain showers, natural bath amenities, plush robes and towels, 50” LED monitors and complimentary Wi-Fi.

“This property offers an authentic Miami experience, and we look forward to giving guests exactly that when the hotel joins the Curio collection in a few short months,” said Dianna Vaughan, global head, Curio – A Collection by Hilton. “From its emphasis on fine wine to its artful design, the Vintro Hotel South Beach represents the allure of the South Beach neighborhood and reflects the individuality Curio is known for.”

As members of the Hilton Worldwide portfolio, all Curio hotels, including Vintro Hotel South Beach participate in Hilton HHonors®, the only hotel loyalty program that allows members to earn both Points and Miles on the same stay and no blackout dates on reward stays. In addition, HHonors members can use Points to purchase unique experience rewards, premium merchandise, make charitable contributions and more.

For more information on Vintro Hotel South Beach, visit curiocollection.com.   

About Curio – A Collection by Hilton

Curio – A Collection by Hilton™ (curio.com) is a global set of remarkable upscale and luxury hotels hand-picked for their unique character and personality; each one a part of the city they call home. Curio guests are passionate, independent-minded travelers seeking local and authentic experiences who value the added peace-of-mind that comes with the Hilton name and award-winning Hilton HHonors program. Curio joins a portfolio of world-class brands from Hilton Worldwide, a leading global hospitality company. Come discover the latest stories at news.curio.com, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or inquire about development opportunities at hiltonworldwide.com/development.

2 New Restaurants In Paris Awarded Michelin's 3 Stars

 

PARIS (AP) — Two of Paris' ritziest dining establishments received the ultimate consecration Monday when they joined the select list of three-star restaurants in the 2016 Michelin Guide, the little red guide to the great and the good of French gastronomy.

Chef Alain Ducasse regained a third star for his restaurant inside the Plaza Athenee hotel, while Christian Le Squer gained a coveted triple star for Le Cinq, his restaurant in the George V hotel.

The awards ceremony on Paris' chic Place Vendome began with a minute of silence for three-star chef Benoit Violier, who was found dead Sunday in his Swiss home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

The guide's international director, Michael Ellis, said Ducasse's cuisine "offers an unprecedented marriage of flavors and shakes up the codes of haute gastronomy."

Airlines Restore Small Perks Including Expanding Complementary Entertainment, Cookies, And Pretzels

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FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2016, file photo, a passenger talks on the phone as American Airlines jets... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — After 15 years of near austerity, U.S. airlines are restoring some small perks for passengers crammed into coach.

Don't expect ample legroom or free checked bags. But fliers will find improved snacks, a larger selection of free movies and — on a few select routes — the return of free meals.

Monday, American Airlines became the latest carrier to add something back. It announced the return of free snacks in the economy section and more free entertainment options on some aircraft.

American, which recently merged with US Airways, hasn't offered free snacks since 2003. US Airways stripped passengers of snacks in 2008.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent recession, airlines removed almost ever perk imaginable. Hot meals disappeared along with legroom, blankets and pillows.

"It was really about survival," says Fernand Fernandez, vice president of global marketing at American.

When Continental Airlines stopped giving out free cookies and mini bags of pretzels in 2011 — after its merger with United Airlines — it said the move would save $2.5 million a year.

Since then, mergers have created four mega-carriers that control more than 80 percent of the domestic market. They started charging $25 for each checked suitcase. And more seats have been crammed into planes to maximize profits. Now the industry is making record profits.

"What has changed ," Fernandez says, "is that the airlines have been able to fix our core business and be able to reinvest in our customers."

That means new planes, larger overhead bins and for a long time, nicer first class cabins.

Now a bit of that wealth is trickling back to coach.

In February, American will start offering Biscoff cookies or pretzels to passengers flying between New York and San Francisco or Los Angeles. By April, those snacks will expand to all other domestic routes. In May, American will bring back full meal service for coach passengers between Dallas and Hawaii.

"We know that we have customers who select our airline based on price and we're really excited to offer them a product that is superior to choosing an ultra-low cost carrier," Fernandez says.

United recently announced the return of free snacks on its flights starting in February. Delta Air Lines — the other big legacy carrier — never removed snacks, even during bankruptcy.

American is also expanding its complimentary entertainment on domestic flights with in-seat TVs. Passengers will be able to choose from up to 40 movies, 60 TV shows and 300 music albums. Delta has taken a different path, focusing more on entertainment that passengers can stream to their own devices. It now offers about 67 movies and 138 TV shows for free.

"These are token investments in the passenger experience that will not cost airlines a lot of money but are small ways to make passengers a little bit happier," says Henry Harteveldt, the founder of travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group. "American and United realized: We don't let other airlines have an advantage on price, why let them have one on pretzels."

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ