14 October 2024
London, 14 October 2024 – After a decade of French dining, Eurostar is revolutionising its gastronomic offering. For the first time in high-speed rail history, three food and beverage visionaries have come together to serve their contemporary creations onboard our trains, which are available for customers from November 4th.
We’re welcoming Two Michelin Stared Chef, Jérémy Chan, renowned French pastry chef Jessica Préalpato and Natural Wine Connoisseur Honey Spencer to the Eurostar family. The trio are experts in the art of innovative cuisine and wine, offering Eurostar Premier customers a culinary voyage. This new catering offer is part of the launch of Eurostar's new service classes: Eurostar Standard, Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier. Designed to be environmentally friendly, all the menus on offer will be prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients from countries on the Eurostar network.
Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Eurostar: “By reinventing the onboard culinary experience, making it more innovative, daring, and environmentally friendly, Eurostar is presenting itself as a destination in its own right. Our new gastronomic offer aims to transform each journey into a unique experience, where the indulgence begins as soon as you board, making the new Eurostar a reality for our customers. Eurostar is more than just a train: it's a promise of new discoveries and unique moments. Our new chefs bring this vision to life and we’re delighted to work with them on this journey.”
A New Generation of Chefs
- The amuse-bouches and main courses have been designed by Jérémy Chan, a British chef who celebrates locally sourced ingredients, blending them with a variety of spices and flavours from around the world. His London restaurant, Ikoyi, of which he is Executive Chef, has 2 Michelin stars and was voted one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2023.
- The desserts have been created by Jessica Préalpato, a French pastry chef who favours natural flavours such as ancient grains, unrefined sugars and plants. Named Best Pastry Chef in the world in the World's 50 Best in 2019 and the first woman to be named Pastry Chef of the Year by Gault et Millau, Jessica is one of the new faces of patisserie.
- The wines and champagne have been carefully selected by British sommelier and co-owner of Sune, Honey Spencer. Honey is an advocate of organic and sustainable wines, has worked as a sommelier at some of London's top establishments, and is one of the 50 Most Influential Sommeliers in London according to The Drinks Business.
The culinary styles of Jérémy Chan and Jessica Préalpato, with their emphasis on bold combinations, harmonise and respond to each other, while being complemented by the wine list designed by Honey Spencer.
A Bold Menu
The menu, with its generous plates, is now made up of four courses including amuse-bouches, main course, a cheese course and dessert. Each menu has been developed by the chefs during collaborative workshops and multiple tasting sessions with in-house teams to create a distinct signature cuisine that reflects Eurostar's identity and transports it perfectly onto the plates served on board. The promise: a premium offer that shakes up the norms of European travel.
Onboard Eurostar, guests will be treated to a culinary journey, which could begin with delightful amuse-bouche of Curried Cauliflower Mousseline. For the main course, they will be able to choose between a hot option, which could include Baked Salmon served with Coconut Rice and Tangy Potatoes, or a cold option, such as Roasted Pumpkin with Honey and Cashew Miso. The meal might be complemented by a rich Colston Bassett Stilton, paired with burnt honey and apple, and conclude with a refreshing Citrus Delight infused with green cardamom.
To elevate the dining experience, a carefully curated selection of wines is available, including Champagne Fleury, which offers a balanced and rounded palate with the depth of Pinot Noir. The red wine selection features Domaine De La Dourbie, Oscar, a light option with a touch of cocoa, and Symbiose, Merlot, with enticing blackcurrant and pepper aromas. White wine enthusiasts can enjoy Château La Mothe Dubourg, a balanced and dry Bordeaux, while rosé lovers will appreciate La Fleur de Julie, an organic Grenache with fresh red fruit aromas. The wine list is refreshed every three months, ensuring a variety of choices. For those who prefer non-alcoholic options, a carefully selected mocktail is also offered, alongside the usual range of beverages.
Matthieu Quyollet, Director of Development and New Customer Experience: “We have come up with a bold and modern concept, with, for the first time, a team of three talents, three chefs who have joined forces to create a perfectly harmonised menu, all of which can be served at a speed of 300 km/h. With their expertise, we have designed a ‘journey through flavours’, a unique culinary experience on board.”
Honey Spencer, Sommelier: “I had the pleasure of developing the wine and drinks menu for Eurostar Premier, showcasing wines made by small producers who work with the utmost respect for their soils and terroirs. Each wine is unique and offers a glimpse of France's most progressive estates, each with its own story to tell and flavours to reveal.”
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NOTES TO EDITOR
A Sustainable Dining Experience Aboard Eurostar
Eurostar has always put the environment at the heart of its commitment to becoming the backbone of sustainable travel in Europe. The Eurostar Premier Dining experience has been designed to reflect these values and be as environmentally friendly as possible. All the menus on offer are made primarily from fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from the countries within Eurostar’s own eco-system and the vineyards on the wine list have been carefully selected for their commitment to sustainable development.
In addition to the commitment from its chefs, Eurostar is continuing to reduce its environmental impact on board its trains and from 4 November, the company will remove an additional 2 million plastic bottles on board.
New travel classes
This new catering offer is part of the launch of Eurostar's new service classes: Eurostar Standard, Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier, which will replace the current classes throughout the Eurostar network from 4 November. These new classes have been devised after almost two years of research, during which more than 12,000 customers in Eurostar's five countries were asked about their needs and preferences, and during which the expertise of the company’s 2,400 employees was mobilised.
[1] From 4 November, Eurostar customers will experience unified travel classes. On all routes, continental and cross-Channel, they become Eurostar Standard, Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier.
[2] From the countries we serve.
[3] The equivalent of the total number of plastic bottles distributed per year on cross-Channel trains for Eurostar Premier and Eurostar Plus services.
[4] Example Menu
Amuse-bouche
Cauliflower piccalilli and curried cauliflower mousseline
Main courses
Hot option - Baked salmon, rice with coconut and black olives, tangy potatoes
or
Cold option - Roasted pumpkin with honey and cashew miso
Cheese
Colston bassett (stilton), burnt honey and apple
Dessert
Citrus delight with green cardamom
Drinks
Champagne Fleury - Balanced and round on the palate, with the depth of Pinot Noir. Moving away from the big traditional houses, Fleury represents the new generation of Champagnes whose producers cultivate their own vineyards
Red wines
Domaine De La Dourbie, Oscar, IGP Hérault 2023 - Light with a touch of cocoa
Symbiose, Merlot, IGP Pays d'Oc, 2023 - Blackcurrant and pepper aromas
White wines
Château La Mothe Dubourg, AOP Bordeaux, 2023 - Balanced and dry
Rosé wines
La Fleur de Julie, IGP Pays d'Oc, grenache, organic, 2023 - Fresh, with red fruit aromas