Around the airport in 80 eats John Torode and Gregg Wallace

John Torode and Gregg Wallace appointed official taste buds of Heathrow Two of the nation’s best-known foodies have taken on their biggest taste test to date after being appointed as the official taste buds of Heathrow.

John Torode and Gregg Wallace were tasked with eating their way around the UK’s only hub airport in 80 plates and to set Heathrow a six-month challenge to improve the airport dining experience.  The dynamic duo – famous for their straight-talking approach to all things culinary – were given access to all areas of the airport to sip, sample and savour dishes from Heathrow’s 73 restaurants and bars to better understand and improve the airport offering.

Following their gastronomic tour, John and Gregg have tasked Heathrow’s food and beverage team with introducing healthier food choices across the terminals and creating a platform to champion British culinary talent.  John and Gregg’s experiences are also being used to inform Heathrow’s first ever food guide.  Entitled Food on the Fly, the guide will provide passengers with an overview of the varied dining options available in the airport.

Every year 26 million orders are placed at Heathrow’s restaurants and bars, which include fine dining options such as Caviar House and Prunier, Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, Oriel and rhubarb, as well as high street concepts redesigned specifically for travellers including YO! Sushi, Strada and Carluccio’s.

Ben Crowley, Head of Food and Beverage at Heathrow said:

“Heathrow’s food and drink offering is designed specifically with travellers in mind – from people passing through several time zones in a very short space of time to those needing a meal in minutes.

“We’ve been recognised on a global level but for us this is not enough.  We want to continue to innovate to be the best in our league for airport dining. We are hugely excited about responding to the challenge John and Gregg have set and at bringing a new dimension to Heathrow food and beverage offering.”

Gregg Wallace said: “Food is our first love and at the heart of everything we do; so we were delighted when we were invited to take part in this eating challenge – and to contribute to the guide. We were blown away by the range on offer to hungry passengers at Heathrow; catering for such a huge spectrum of passengers is truly a herculean task.”

10,000 copies of Food on the Fly – Heathrow’s first ever food guide – will be published and handed out to passengers to mark the summer getaway with a digital version available to download from www.heathrow.com from July.

Added Crowley: “It’s often hard to show passengers – especially those in a hurry – the full extent of our offering so it’s very exciting to be able to work with John and Gregg to produce this really comprehensive guide. We not only hope it will help passengers better navigate our restaurants and bars but also make the meal they have before they fly one to savour.”

HEATHROW FOOD FACTS & FIGURES

* Breakfast is the most popular dish of the day at Heathrow, with almost 5 million eggs, 6.4 million croissants and a whopping 4.5 million rashers of bacon served every year

* The airport plates up more than 1.5 tonnes of caviar and 25,000 kilos of salmon, and shucks over 240,000 oysters annually. This delicious seafood requires a garnish of 400,000 lemons every year.

* Heathrow pours over 800,000 glasses of Champagne every year * Every year.

1.5 tonnes of caviar are dished up to customers, alongside and close to a quarter of a million oysters.

* Over 250,000 pieces of sushi are served at Heathrow each year, and 630,000 portions of steak

* Heathrow’s food and beverage team work with leading nutritionists to review the food and drink on offer and provide guidance and advice on travel eating

* Heathrow has previously introduced travel concepts including a picnic area serving a pre-flight relaxation menu of dishes scientifically proven to help people unwind.

* The airport has also introduced ‘take onboard’ menu options for the 17% of passengers who like to take food to eat on their flight.

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