Pan American – Gone, But Fondly Remembered

For years – well, until the start of the flying-is-no-longer-fun era – the airlines have tried to provide restaurant-like food service in their first class cabins. I had that experience on a memorable Pan American flight years ago when the travel gods contrived for me to be upgraded on a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco.

About 90 minutes out, I was silently gloating on my good fortune and sipping a very nice scotch when a smiling Pan Am flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder. “Mr. Loomis,” she said, “if you’re ready for dinner, your table is waiting in the upstairs lounge.”

Is that classy, or what!

She led me up a flight of stairs to a cozy table-for-four and I spent the next 90 minutes chatting – mostly about politics – with the former governor of California, Pat Brown, and his wife. Dinner was a delicious roast beef, cooked to perfection and sliced right there beside our table. And a very nice California pinot noir, too.

First class on Pan American really was first class and really did include restaurant-quality meals at 35,000 feet.

But an entrepreneur in Taiwan has put a reverse spin on all that, opening a restaurant that’s supposed to make you think your at 35,000 feet in an airplane … specifically, in one of the new monster Airbus 380s. Some of the meals are actually served on plastic plates.

As we say here in Hawaii, go figgah! I’ll take an Amtrak dining car any day!