Air France Launches Daniel Boulud Menus and Georges Mathieu Art Revival

Air France continues to embrace its French roots with a series of new offerings that elevate the travel experience. From a stunning upgrade to La Première, launching a captivating signature fragrance, to a chic new lounge at the Paris Charles de Gaulle hub, the airline is making headlines.

Adding to the allure, after a delectable winter menu crafted by triple Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Renaut and pastry maestro Claire Heitzler, Air France is teaming up with one of New York’s most acclaimed chefs to bring even more exquisite flavors to its transatlantic routes.

Beginning in July 2025, chef Boulud will create exclusive signature dishes for Air France’s La Première and Business cabins on flights departing from the United States, marking the continuation of Air France’s investment in top-notch dining and underscoring its ongoing mission to fuse innovation and tradition in every part of the passenger experience.

Boulud’s French-American Flair

Born in Lyon and based in New York since the early 1980s, Daniel Boulud is widely regarded as one of America’s foremost culinary figures. His flagship Manhattan restaurant, Daniel, has been a pillar of fine dining for decades, and his global footprint now stretches from Montreal to Riyadh.

Photo: Courtesy of Air France

This summer, Boulud will lend his signature French technique—elevated with American accessibility—to Air France flights from major U.S. gateways to Paris-CDG.

The first menus will appear on the airline’s flagship New York–JFK route, with Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. to follow. By the end of the year, Bouloud’s creations will be available in all U.S. cities served by Air France.

“As both a French chef and a New Yorker, it is an honor for me to play a part in this essential connection that Air France provides between the United States and France,” said Boulud. “I try to bridge the distance with my culinary offerings as well, which combine innovation and tradition.”

The dishes—developed in collaboration with France’s leading airline caterer Servair—will focus on red meat and poultry, with seasonal ingredients sourced locally. The menus are designed to reflect the soul of French cuisine while adapting to the preferences of North American travelers.

A Culinary Renaissance in La Première

Air France’s revived focus on in-flight dining began in earnest this past winter, when the airline launched a seasonal La Première menu curated by Emmanuel Renaut, chef of Flocons de Sel in Megève, and celebrated pastry chef Claire Heitzler. That collaboration brought Alpine flavors and elegant desserts to the airline’s most exclusive cabin.

Photo: Courtesy of Air France

With its brand-new La Première suite now available daily on flights to New York and select services to Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Tokyo-Haneda, Singapore, São Paulo, Dubai, and Abidjan, Air France is clearly seeking to become a benchmark for haute cuisine in the sky.

Boulud joins an elite roster of chefs working with the airline globally. On U.S. routes, Air France also partners with Dominique Crenn for fish and vegetarian dishes. Julien Royer in Singapore, Olivier Perret in Canada, Olivier Chaignon in Japan, Jofrane Dailly from Réunion, and Jean-Charles Brédas in the West Indies and French Guiana round out the network of chefs lending local flair to the airline’s worldwide operations.

Photo: Chef Dominique Crenn. Courtesy of Air France

In addition to its culinary partnerships, Air France allows Business Class passengers to pre-select their hot meal up to 24 hours before departure. The system ensures guests receive their dish of choice while also reducing food waste—part of a broader push toward more sustainable service.

Air France Celebrates French Modern Art

Air France’s cultural investments are not limited to cuisine. The airline is also the official partner of Georges Mathieu – Geste, Vitesse, Mouvement, a retrospective exhibition held at the Monnaie de Paris from April 11 to September 7, 2025.

Organized with the Centre Pompidou, the exhibit honors one of France’s most prolific postwar painters and the founder of lyrical abstraction.

Photo: Courtesy of Didier Plowy / Monnaie de Paris

Mathieu’s work, characterized by spontaneous brushstrokes and expressive movement, brought a radical sense of dynamism to mid-20th-century French art. Among the exhibition’s highlights are 15 advertising posters created for Air France in 1967, each representing a key destination in the airline’s global network—from France to Egypt, India, Japan, and the U.S.

The posters are displayed alongside forty original paintings and a selection of medals and coins from the Monnaie de Paris and Air France collections. To mark the occasion, the airline is reissuing a limited run of the iconic Mathieu posters. These will be available for purchase on the airline’s shopping site and through selected retail partners beginning in late April.

With more than 1,500 travel posters created over the past 90 years, Air France holds one of the most significant corporate art archives in the world. The partnership with the Monnaie de Paris is part of the Centre Pompidou’s “Constellation“ program, designed to bring national art collections to new venues during the museum’s temporary closure.

Photo: Courtesy of Didier Plowy / Monnaie de Paris

Whether through elevated inflight menus or rare art exhibitions, Air France continues to connect French excellence with the rest of the world—one plate, one painting, and one passenger at a time.