Air India updates menu for Hyderabad passengers

Air India team (L-R) Nadeem Rahamat, Rajiv Batish, Nakul Chand, Ms Katherine Thorat and Paul Verdi
Air India team (L-R) Nadeem Rahamat, Rajiv Batish, Nakul Chand, Ms Katherine Thorat and Paul Verdi

CHICAGO: The Air India Logo of Maharaja welcoming all aboard may be a relic of the past like all Indian Maharajas but the underlying message of treating Air Indian patrons as Maharajas continues with the management. It was this motivating factor which induced the Chicago Air India team to host a food tasting event last week at its Flying Food facility in Schiller Park, near O’Hare airport.

The near two hours event hosted by the Chicago Air India team headed by Nakul Chand and comprising Ms Katherine Thorat, Rajiv Batish, Nadeem Rahamat, James Wagoner and Paul Verdi detailed the additions to the menu for First and Business class passengers flying from Chicago to Hyderabad.

This change or additions though appearing minor, underline the bid by the Air India management to do one better for its passengers and lure them to fly with the airline in tough competition with others.

“A continuous improvement in food and sharpening personalized service all the time are hallmark of our efforts to fly high in teeth of severe competition”, said Nakul Chand, Midwest manager.

Nadeem, in charge of local catering, talked of the Shikampuri Kabob in the non-veg menu and Qutub Shahi Paneer Tika as well as Mushroom Buchee in veg menu on top of many a mouth watering dishes in both First, Business and Economy classes. The changes in the menu right now are for Chicago-Hyderabad route and with favorable inputs, could be extended or a bit modified for other routes too.

Katherine Thorat said that many a passenger to Hyderabad are Muslims and care has been taken to ensure that their religious Firman and dictates are fully adhered to. The Menu is decided at the corporate office in New Delhi but it is done after a thorough review of changing tastes, menus offered by other airliners and passenger inputs.

Nadeem, who has wide experience in the field working with top class restaurants here and back home besides other airliners too, would be more than willing to offer suggestions, if asked.

Nadeem said that the major problem faced by all flying club caterers in this country pertained to the relative poor availability of experienced and skilled hands in the cooking section. Local talent needs to be supplemented with help from outside skilled hands but all that depends on government policy.

Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service