Karen Mazurkewich is vice-president of Stakeholder Relations and Communications at Toronto Pearson. This opinion piece originally appeared at Fast Company.
Viewed today, images of in-flight meals served in the golden age of jet travel seem opulent. Flight attendants serve hors d’oeuvres and offer short ribs or cuts from a steaming roast. They return with coffee, careful to avoid any drops on the passengers’ white-linen tablecloths. After dessert, passengers repair to the lounge area for cocktails.
Most passengers aren’t going to eat like that on commercial airlines these days; there’s a reason why the term “jet set” has lost its luster. But it is still possible to pair your flight with a memorable meal if you know where to find it—namely, in the terminal.
Yes, good food may be increasingly rare in the air, but it’s becoming easier to find on the ground, with airports evolving into unexpected global gastronomic destinations. Airport cuisine is increasingly seen not just as a passenger’s last chance for fine fare, but as an opportunity to experience the very best of what the host city has to offer.
Big hub airports are at the forefront of this trend. The tens of millions of passengers who pass through these facilities each year give them large enough markets to offer niche and high-end food offerings. These airports, and their retail partners, are learning that this diversifies their revenue streams and creates a brand halo. But for passengers, it’s really all about great dining experiences.
The gold standard may be Singapore’s Changi Airport, which boasts almost 250 dining options across its four terminals, including several of the hawker food courts the city-state is famous for, and a staff canteen that Anthony Bourdain considered the best food served at any airport on the planet. Or one might consider Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss Airport, which has made waves for hosting the world’s first Michelin-starred airport restaurant, Mountain Grub Gourmet, which earned the honor for both 2023 and 2024.
The new breed of airport restaurants isn’t big chain outlets. Local flavor is key. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport offers a diverse food court with options ranging from traditional Dutch pancakes to Asian fusion cuisine, nodding to its European and colonial influences. San Francisco International showcases farm-to-table dining experiences with locally sourced ingredients from California wine country. And last year, Food & Wine magazine lauded Vancouver International’s Globe@YVR for offering “gorgeous runway views and dishes that incorporate sustainable seafood caught right in the Pacific Northwest.”
Some airports team up with prominent local restaurateurs to amplify the home-grown experience. London’s Heathrow Airport features The Gorgeous Kitchen, a restaurant created by star tastemakers Caroline Artiss, Sophie Mitchell, Jo Pratt, and Gee Charman to highlight seasonal British produce. Heathrow also hosts celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay, who calls his restaurant, Plane Food, “one of the best looking … anywhere in the country.”
And, here at Toronto Pearson, we showcase our city’s famous diversity with food by TV reality stars Roger Mooking (Man Fire Food), Lynn Crawford (Restaurant Makeover) Massimo Capra (Top Chef) and Susur Lee (Iron Chef). They and other top restaurants around the airport recently offered a “Pearsonlicious” prix-fixe experience with exclusive menus and special deals.
These kinds of restaurants and programs enhance the quality of airport dining, but also give travelers a taste of what to expect beyond the terminal doors—showcases for departing passengers, time-crunched arrivals, and connecting travelers. Consider them cultural amuse-bouches.
Even those opulent golden-age airplane meals, served among the clouds, never brought that to the table. By grounding diners in destination, these culinary experiences reflect not just cuisine, but identity.