lufthansa – sixthseal.com

An unexpected meal by 1 Michelin Star Chef Dirk Maus in Germany

December 17, 2014 by HB

I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to experience this exclusive event – a meal prepared by Chef Dirk Maus of Restaurant Dirk Maus in Domherrenhof, Essenheim in Germany. He holds One Michelin Star and was invited to do a short collaboration – Lufthansa x Dirk Maus.

His meals are only available between April – October 2012 for European flights on Business Class only (there is no First Class for domestic flights). I fulfilled *all three criteria* when I flew from Berlin to Frankfurt on the 25th of June 2012 and was pleased when the cabin attendant told me about the specially crafted menu by Dirk Maus.

The dishes are all from Rheinhessen – this is Chef Dirk Maus’ interpretation of the cuisine in the largest wine producing region in Germany. He’s taken the time to perfect his creations for 35,000 feet since things tastes different when you’re flying. My better half (who shared a delightful meal at the 2 Michelin Star Relais LOUIS XIII with me earlier this year) told me about how tomato juice goes well with flying and it actually has a scientific reason!

The two culinary treats awaiting for us on board was:

Brennnesselsalat mit Grapefruit und Orangensegmenten
Nettle salad with grapefruit and orange segments

I had just recovered this batch of photos from a damaged HDD and also found the “tasting notes” which I have recorded on my phone as soon as the flight attendant told me that I’ll be having a meal created by a One Michelin Star chef. Heh. I liked the nettle salad – some of the leafy greens in there are quite bitter but it’s tempered well with the mild nettle and the juicy grapefruit and orange segments.

Auberginen-Ziegenfrischkäseterrine
Terrine of eggplant and goat’s cream cheese

I’ve eaten a lot of terrine and this is visually different from the terrine which I’m used to eating. The contrast between the white goat’s cream cheese in the middle and the aubergine outside was accentuated with a chunk of apricot in the middle. It makes for a very rich and rewarding experience – I didn’t know eggplant could taste this good and it’s seasoned well – salty, but not overtly so.

I wished that I was on a longer flight so I had a more substantial meal. This is just a small meal on a short hop on a domestic flight in Germany but I’m glad I had the chance to eat Chef Dirk Maus’ creations during such a limited time (and place) promotion. Eating a Michelin star meal at 35,000 feet is one of the more unusual places I’ve done it too (the other being our rented apartment in Paris).

Weeping willow @ Gravenbruch, our first day in Frankfurt am Main

April 7, 2014 by HB

weeping willow

We’re staying at the beautiful and luxurious five-star Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch Frankfurt for 4D/3N before we head on to Paris. The 13 hour flight here (yeah, it’s a direct flight with Lufthansa) was perfect – we arrived at 6:40 am and the hotel kindly allowed us to check-in early.

nils

I’ve stayed with Kempinski before at the Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski in Dresden and the service is always spot on. This is Nils, who helped smooth the check-in process after a long flight and got us adapters for the room (forgot to bring mine). The rooms are all connected with free WiFi and even has built in adapters and USB chargers on the main desk (for those who factor this into their decision making process).

kempinski gravenbruch

The view out of the room is amazing too! The hotel is in Neu-Isenburg so it’s conveniently just 15 minutes from both Fraport (Frankfurt Airport) *and* Frankfurt am Main (the city center itself). It’s surrounded by a beautiful forest – the road leading here was lined with trees and my better half thought it was a little like a horror movie while I thought it was tranquil haha – and the hotel even has their own lake!

breakfast

It’s a Sunday today and I’ve been to Germany before so don’t expect shops and such to be open. The Germans really do like their quiet Sundays so unless it’s a special Open Sunday (which occurs every 3 months or so), the shops remains closed, even convenience stores. However, attractions and restaurants remain open so you can still go sightseeing.

esstisch

We just had a lazy Sunday breakfast at EssTisch and I mentioned on Instagram that the OJ is the best I’ve ever had! It’s undiluted and has no added sugar, freshly squeezed and just a treat to drink.

juices

They also have small bottles of other juices, our favorite is the Italian blood orange juice (which also happens to be the hotel soap scent, hmm…)

milk

There’s 1.5%, 3.5% and lactose-free milk in these cute little milkmaid style dispensers too!

eggs

You can order your eggs here but our waitress actually came over to our table to get our order and sent it over too, can really get used to this five-star service.

bread

The selection of bread is staggering too, and I also found my favorite German bread! I first had this aboard a Lufthansa Business Class flight two years ago when I came here (it’s also served in their Economy Class) and loved it so much – the burnt flavor of the outside combined with the chewiness and dense-airy dough makes for very good eating.

loaf

I told my dear that and we both stacked out bread baskets full. #carboverload

soft boiled

You can also grab a 6-minute egg (we call it soft-boiled) or a hard-boiled egg from the buffet…

cheese ham

…as well as a variety of cured hams, cold cuts and cheese.

cereal

I’ve always thought this was how people ate back in the days when there’s no refrigeration – the grapes are to provide a burst of moisture when you eat bread with the cured ham, it works really well. Oh, and I took this mild looking fromage that looks innocuous and innocent and when I touched it, I thought someone who just got lost in the forest for 90 days staggered in and TOOK OFF HIS SHOES. (!!!)

cold platter

Seriously, it was *that* bad and this is coming from someone who loves cheese. Naturally, I made my dear smell it and tried to get her to eat it too (she didn’t). It was the worst smelling cheese I’ve ever come across and this ain’t my first rodeo. I wonder what it’s called. It’s also very delicious and I finished the quarter-wedge of cheese I took, much to the amazement of my better half.

forest

Anyway, we’re gearing for an early start tomorrow so it’s bedtime! I’ll update more next time, have a good week ahead everyone!

flowers

Promotional consideration:
Lufthansa sponsored my return tickets to Frankfurt. They have a direct non-stop flight five times a week from Kuala Lumpur-Frankfurt. The tickets are reasonably priced too, starting at RM 3,300. It’s cheaper if you book early though – I paid RM 2,421 for my girlfriend’s ticket via their booking number. I saw it for RM 2,221 as their special promotional online fare (don’t need to pay the Ticket Booking Fee for web) on Lufthansa’s website.

Kempinski Hotels is a luxury hotel chain that has specially outfitted hotels throughout Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific. They’ve been hoteliers since 1897 and they specialize in luxury holiday resorts, business and spa hotels around the world. Every Kempinski Hotel is unique, designed for guests who value five star holidays and luxury getaways. The 4D/3N Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch stay is courtesy of the group.

Posted: 9:33 pm Frankfurt time (GMT +2) on 6th April – one day behind! 😀

Updates on our 10 day vacation through Germany and France:
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Stuck in Frankfurt due to bad weather with no confirmed flights back to KL

June 30, 2012 by HB

lufthansa sign

This is quite a funny story. Not LOLOL funny but an interesting experience coz I like to take things in stride and things like this happen. I had a flight cancelled due to fog in Melbourne when I was in uni. Hey, it’s an adventure to me. 🙂

Our flight from Berlin to Frankfurt was delayed due to bad weather in Frankfurt. No flights were allowed to take off from Berlin. We all waited in the plane for ages. No flights were allowed to depart from Frankfurt too – all the planes there were grounded so we thought we could still make the connecting flight.

frankfurt delay

Everyone boarded an hour ago but we could not take off – at least we got updates from the Euro 2012 Germany-Italy semi-finals match from the pilot, sorry for your loss Deutschland, I supported your team…coz we were in your country and it’s a fine one. Heh.

Anyway, when we finally managed to get airborne, we ended up taxiing above Frankfurt coz there was a sudden influx of inbound and outbound air traffic. That’s when we knew we couldn’t make the connecting flight to Bangkok…and sure enough, we only landed way after that flight has departed.

sheraton frankfurt

Lufthansa issued us a free night’s stay at Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel and 30 Euros in “credit” which turned out to be dinner. This is dinner:

lufthansa dinner

There were heaps of people trying to get on a flight – any flight – so one of the staff advised us to get some rest and come back the next day. There were over 200 people on the waiting list after midnight! Thanks for queuing up and checking Nigel!

german cigarettes

I had packed my cigarettes into my check-in baggage so I had to get another at the airport – it’s 5 Euros, which is almost double our price, but with a long flight ahead and no bookings yet, you gotta have that nicotine hit.

checkin line

We went to the hotel and found out that the queue there was quite impressive too. This is where all the cabin attendants stay – it’s connected to the airport so that was good. The queue was still there after we finished dinner. Mind, this is only the Business and First class people so imagine how many people in total which was affected.

sheraton frankfurt internet

I had my notebook and bought 24 hours of WiFi from Sheraton for 19 Euros (about RM 76) using my credit card. I didn’t know how long I would need to wait, and I ended up wasting it coz I crashed at 2 am and woke up at 4 am to go line up at the airport. Oh well.

frankfurt shower

It’s a good thing I had a souvenir t-shirt of the Berlin Wall so I could change my shirt at least before heading to the airport. I didn’t even unpack coz I fell asleep after the long flight delays.

lufthansa delay queue

This was the line this morning. I started queuing at 4 am and this is what it looks like at 7:37 am. (!)

I waited in line for hours before one of the Lufthansa staff saw my ticket and brought me down. I managed to get a confirmed ticket – a husband and wife team with us went through India at 12 pm and Nigel also managed to get the 3 pm flight that I was on.

(all times are GMT +2)

lufthansa breakfast

The reason for splitting up is due to the sheer amount of stranded passengers so we couldn’t stay together. There just wasn’t enough seats. The grounding of the Frankfurt airport really affected a lot of people – several thousand people stayed at the airport (Economy) or the Sheraton in Frankfurt (Business and First).

sheraton frankfurt airport

You know what the worst thing was? No one could retrieve their check-in baggage! There’s a rule that it has to stay at the airport or something to that effect. I’m pretty sure I’ve broken the record for wearing the same underwear, jeans, socks and shoes. I could only change my shirt. I can smell myself from 200 meters away. Heh.

I’m also staying awake on willpower and coffee alone. I’ve drank more than 15 cups in the past 24 hours. 😡

I’ll have to wait for a while before I’ll know if my flight back to KL later is 100% confirmed. I’m the only one left here coz there were just too many people needing to fly to various parts of the world.

It’s a good thing the Thai Airways Royal Lounge in Bangkok has a shower room so I could use their fresh, fluffy, wrapped towels and brush my teeth and freshen up.

thai air lounge shower

Thanks for booking us on Business Class, Volkswagen Malaysia – that really helps when stuff like this happens. 😀

I’m still wearing the same clothes from several days ago (except for the t-shirt) but that shower really freshened me up. I can semi-write coherently while being extremely sleep deprived. Heh.

Now, I shall go back and check if my outbound flight is confirmed. I need to go back today. I don’t even know what “50% confirmed” means. *shrugs*

bangkok shower

Oh well, it’s all good! Sawadee krap from Bangkok! 🙂

Posted: 11:33 am Bangkok time (GMT +7)