Update Review, July 2024 Flight

Flight Details:

Flight: B6 2234
Departure: BOS, 3:25pm (scheduled), 3:52pm takeoff.
Arrival: SFO, 6:58pm (scheduled)
Seat: 2A

We boarded right at our specified boarding time, and completed 1 minute before the door shut time. However, they were short staffed on the ground, and this lead to a delay in loading bags, etc. We took off about a half hour late, which, for JetBlue, isn't bad.

Service & Amenities

Service was not up to JetBlue standards.

No PDB was offered, even though we boarded quickly and early. Still not offered even once we were sitting there at the gate waiting for things to get loaded. The FAs came to introduce themselves, but didn't take any meal or drink orders before getting underway. They also didn't come by to ask if we needed anything from the overhead bins once underway, as everything in Mint must be put up. Nor did they come show suite customers how to close the doors as they usually do. A number of the general service flow elements just were skipped entirely it seemed.

The staffing level seems to have been reduced on JetBlue again. My flight just a few weeks prior had two FAs working Mint, which was great as it meant meal service (and even initial drinks once underway) happened at a pace more on par with most other airlines, but it seems to have gone back down, so one FA goes to do main cabin drink service before returning to do Mint meal service. To be fair, this is how JetBlue has operated ~forever, and has always been something I disliked (e.g. 2 hours before meal, rather than more standard 1-1.5), and it was novel on my flight to Boston when things happened much faster. It took more than 2 hours before I got my meal, and I was in row 2.

The flight attendants were otherwise quite friendly and social, but, just not very attentive or thorough.

The seats were older Mint seats, with no lumbar adjustments. They were considerably less comfortable than even the "newer" regular Mint seats that I generally find not very comfortable in the first place. Many people had tv issues, which resulted in them needing to do a 15 minute reset just 10 minutes into the flight.

Food & Drink

July Wine List.

The wine list was the exact same as my previous flight.

Pinot Noir.

I went for the pinot noir again, as I had preferred it slightly last time. When I ordered the pinot and a sparkling Bubly water at the same time, the FA asked which I'd like first, and seemed concerned about serving both. I've never had this happen before. The pinot was fine, I again liked it a reasonable amount. ***+.

July Lunch/Dinner Westbound.

The menu had many dishes that I've had previously, and my choices were easy. I don't like chicken, and the pasta dishes tend to be bland (besides the incredible cacio e pepe!). I generally really enjoy the pork shoulder, and had never had the pea soup before, so, I looked forward to these choices.

Welcome Snack: Taralli.

The same welcome snack as all my flights the past few years (despite the menu saying it is a "rotating selection").

Meal.

My meal came with my 3 savory dishes, along with warm bread and butter, and Maldon salt (still no pepper, never pepper). The roll was as lackluster as ever, but at least it was warm and soft, and the butter melted nicely with it. I had my own bread I used instead though.

Farro Salad.

"Tomato, radish, pistachio, parmigiano, lemon vinaigrette."

I asked to have no vinaigrette on the farro salad, which was accommodated.

This was fine. Nice al dente bite to the grains, flavorful shards of parmesan, fresh crisp radish, juicy and robust roast tomatoes. I added my own mixed greens base, along with my own dressing, and quite enjoyed it. ***+.

Chilled Pea Soup.

"Mint oil, puffed wild rice."

Wow, ok, so this I didn't like at all. It tasted ... stale? The soup tasted stale, which I realize is such an odd way to describe the taste of a pea soup, but, that is what it tasted to me. At first I thought it was just the puffed grains, but, it was actually the soup itself. I did not like this at all. The crispy puffed rice was a great addition, but, yeah, flavor just all wrong. *.

Pork Shoulder.

"Red pepper mostarda, cracklings."

I don't eat pork shoulder often (or pork really, besides the occasional bacon/sausage/pork belly). But I have generally really liked JetBlue's pork shoulder, and this offering was one I'd had before many times, same toppings. I asked for the cracklings on the side, as they often get soggy from the heat of the dish. This was easily handled, provided even in a labelled container.

The pork shoulder was good, as always. Very tender, it pulled apart so easily. Nicely rendered fat. Juicy and flavorful. The mostarda was quite flavorful, sorta akin to a sweet chili sauce, but with more red pepper flavor. Sweet and tart. I didn't actually love it with the pork, but it was great to dunk my own bread into (which I brought, knowing I wouldn't want the JetBlue bread).

The cracklings (not pictured as I had them on the side) were delicious, fatty, greasy, porky, and had some Tuscan herbs in the mix too. A little went a long way with these, but they were quite tasty, and I am glad I had them on the side to stay crisp.

****.

Vanilla Gelato.

"Preserved blackberries, almond crunch."

I also asked to have my gelato toppings on the side, and again, this was no problem. Just like the cracklings, the crunchy topping was provided in its own little labelled container, the warm blackberry sauce in a metal bowl as it was warm.

The gelato was served quite hard, but once I poured the warm blackberry sauce over it (after tasting first of course!), it melted nicely. Kinda average vanilla gelato, as is standard for JetBlue. Low ***.

The blackberry preserves were one of the best JetBlue fruity toppings I've had. Sometimes the toppings trend too sweet, but this was just right. Some juicy, lightly mushy, stewed blackberries were in the sauce as well, which I really liked. Served nicely warm. I had my own fresh fruit with me, but found I didn't need it, as this was really quite delicious. ****.

Almond Crunch.

And finally, the almond crunch. This was a great topping as well. Reminded me of a fruit crisp topping, sweet, lightly crispy, a few flakes of almond. ****.

Overall, one of the best Mint sundaes. Low ****, would be an easy **** if I liked the base gelato more.

Update Review, December 2023 Flight

Flight Details:
Flight #: 33
Departure: 5:15pm (scheduled) 5:31pm (actual)
Arrival: 9:07pm (scheduled)
Duration: ~6 hours.
Seat: 3A (A321Neo)
Class: Mint

I've flown JetBlue Mint a zillion times at this point. Ok, not quite, but, they are my airline of choice when I fly from San Francisco to Boston to visit my family. I've strayed a few times to fly with Delta when JetBlue's prices were just way out of whack with the rest of the market, and I even flew United this past trip to Boston when my JetBlue flight was cancelled (and delayed, and lots of drama) due to severe weather on both ends, but, generally, when I'm flying between Boston and San Francisco, I fly with JetBlue, and, since I discovered it years ago, always Mint. I'm an extremely frugal person in all other areas of life, but, I do splurge to treat myself to more enjoyable flights, as personal travel isn't something I do often (generally just the two trips per year to see my family).

But this was my first time flying on the fairly rare (at least domestically) A321Neo, the aircraft generally used for their international longer haul routes, and, it seems, a few select premium domestic routes. The Mint cabin on this aircraft is entirely made up of suites, 14 regular suites, and 2 additional "studio" suites that are even bigger (and cost more). All have doors, all have both window and aisle access. If you are traveling with someone, there is no option to be seated with them, and given how expansive the seats are, there really is no way to talk to another passenger while in your seat, but for solo travel, these are pretty much awesome. I felt incredibly spoiled to have this option domestically, and hope they continue to offer it from time to time. 100% recommend, and it is a huge improvement even over the single "throne" seats on the regular domestic Mint fleet.

As for the flight experience, it was average for JetBlue, which means, better than most other airlines. We boarded just a few minutes past our specified time, pushed back right at our departure time, and didn't have too long of a wait to take off. The flight was relatively smooth, pilots communicated well. Flight attendants were far more friendly and attentive than average.

The only slight misses were that strangely, no PDB was offered, and menus were not provided by catering, so they had to give people a QR code to see the menu (in my case, I had already seen it online, and knew exactly what I was ordering anyway). Amenity kits are also now only on demand, not just waiting for you at the seat.

A321Neo Seat

The new A321 cabin is a complete redesign from the past. Gone are the 2-2 and 1-1 staggered layouts. The entire cabin is 1-1. The seats are thoughtfully designed with abundant spaces to stick things. Far more comfortable. Far more private, even compared to the throne seats. That said, they aren't perfect. There still isn't a space to store a larger bag during takeoff and landing, the wireless chargers seem pretty flaky, and, amusingly, I somehow felt the seat was too expansive, things were too far away to be easy access. Still, hands down, the best seat you can fly domestically, no contest.
Seat + blanket/pillow.
All seats are window seats, facing in towards the aisle. You can still turn your head to look out the window, but it does seem a slight shame to be angled so sharply towards the aisle.

Waiting on the seats as we boarded were a standard warm blanket and plush pillow, which again, are far above average for a domestic flight. If I was flying internationally and wanting to sleep, I'd want a second pillow and a mattress pad, but, for a domestic flight, no need.
Entertainment Screen / Cubbies.
The entertainment screen is quite large, and can swing in towards you, and angle a fair amount. The screen is a touch screen, although it was so far away I couldn't ever really use the touch screen. It also has a standard remote, or you can connect your phone and use your own device for a basic remote control (which worked, but, the UI was very simplified, and lacked many useful buttons). Decent range of movies, DirectTV, and some games are available. Oddly, they no longer have streaming music, only a destination related playlists you can listen to.

Under the screen area is the foot well that I basically never used as it was too far away, but does become the end of the bed when you convert into bed mode. You cannot store things on this during takeoff/landing.

Under that is a small cubby, where you can stash a very small bag throughout, an improvement over the old Mint seats, but, my backpack was too large to fit here. It can hold a small purse, but not a lot else (during takeoff, once airborne, I stashed my bag there with no problem, it jutted out, but only into the empty space I wasn't using anyway).
Laptop Tray.
Under the monitor was a really handy tray, that could actually fit my laptop with no problem, great for takeoff and landing. It also had another well that I used to stash gum and condiments. Very handy, although, again, a bit far away.
Shoe Bin.
Down closer to the ground alongside the seat is a bin just for storing your shoes. It was big enough to fit many other things, but the sign said it was for shoes only. Still hand to have a place to secure them, rather than having them roll around on the ground.
Headphone Hook.
I appreciated that they installed a hook to hold the headphones in the fairly unused space on the backside of the seat in front of you, near the window. The headphones plugged in over there too, so no cords getting tangled up.
Side Table.
The side table along the aisle is quite large, large enough even for a meal tray once you are done with it, which I found really quite nice. Interestingly, it doesn't actually have a space to necessarily hold beverages, but I placed cups there throughout the flight with no issue.

The suite door release is also located here, and works well, at least now when the plane is new. Sometimes the old Mint doors took some effort, but these come burst out with gusto when you release them. There is a cute little lamp here for ambiance (and additional overhead and small reading lamp closer to the seat too).

Regular and USB-A power jacks are located on this side, with another regular power and USB-C jack on the side near the window, and a wireless charging area (that never worked for me) right against the window.

Food & Drink

Ok, enough about the seat and amenities, this is Julie's dining club after all. You are likely here to read about the food and drink, which is another area that JetBlue really does shine.
November 2023 - January 2024 drink offerings.
The wine list had the same red wines as my October flight, that is, the Château De Lisennes Cuvée Prestige Bordeaux, and unspecified wine of the moment. Since I didn't care for the bordeaux last time, I opted to go for whatever the unnamed wine was, which turned out to be a pinot noir.
"Red of the Moment": Pinot Noir.
My wine and sparkling Bubly were delivered about an hour into the flight, as I was near the front, in row 3. Those further back did not get their drinks until more than 1.5 hours in, which, given the lack of PDB really was pretty late for a business class flight.

I opted for the pinot noir because I hadn't liked the other red very much, but, this too wasn't great. A bit grapey, a bit acidic, not much complexity. While many other elements of the JetBlue Mint experience have improved over the years, the wine selection really hasn't. That said, it is still on par with any other domestic business class offering. .
Welcome Snack: Taralli.
The welcome snack served with our drinks was a new one for me, some kind of hard twisty breadsticks, which I later learned were called taralli. They are an Italian snack, and can be sweet or savory.

These I wouldn't classify as particularly savory, nor sweet ... more neutral. No real salt or savory seasoning, but not sugared either. They were very crispy, and fine to nibble on. Not exciting, but I appreciated trying a new snack. They were well paired with the rest of the Italian themed meal. .

Westbound Lunch/Dinner (December 2023).

The dinner menu was quite appealing to me. I love frisee, and definitely wanted a salad, so that was a no brainer. As was the cacio e pepe, which I'd seen photos of, and new would be amazingly creamy. From there, I did consider the farro salad, as I'd almost gotten it a year ago, or even the steak since it is well regarded, but, my choice was actually fairly easy: I wanted the chicken. Yes, the chicken. Me, the girl who doesn't like chicken. Of course, it is not because I wanted the chicken itself, but rather, the things that came with it, namely, porcini mushrooms, chestnut crumble, and cream sauce.

Meal Tray.

My meal was served 2 hours into the flight, as is pretty standard for JetBlue, and takes some adjusting to if you are used to having your meal the more standard 1 hour after takeoff like other airlines. For those further back in the cabin, they did not get their meals until 2.5 hours into the flight, some even after the first few rows of us had our desserts!

The savory food was all served on a tray at once, with dessert to follow.

I loved my meal, definitely the best airline meal I had this past year, on any airline. This reminded me of why I love JetBlue Mint so much. I honestly can't even pick which of the three dishes was my favorite or least favorite. I'd get any of them again no question.

Roll / Oil/ Salt.

JetBlue now only provided the chile oil on request, it seems that may not have been popular? The same small bottle of olive oil comes along with your roll, and nice quality large flake maldon sea salt, no pepper. Sigh JetBlue, please, pepper!

The roll was served warm, had a lightly crisp top, but didn't taste very fresh. The only element of the meal service that continues to be lackluster, and even United beats them on the bread front. * bread.

Frisée citrus salad (no dressing).

"Taggiasca olives, italian vinaigrette."

I asked for no dressing on my salad as I don't generally like vinaigrette, which was no problem, although I was originally brought 1) the wrong salad, the farro instead of frisee, and 2) one with dressing.

The salad was excellent. Very fresh and crisp big hunks of frisee, plus a little bit of a generic leafy green. Huge hunks of vibrant, juicy grapefruit. Lots of taggiasca Italian olives, that I grew sick of fast as I don't love olives, but were well cured, and added a nice salt level.

An interesting salad, fresh and flavorful. Only thing I'd improve is to add a crunchy element; I added the crumble from the chicken dish, which worked great. And really, no dressing is needed, particularly once I put the mushrooms and cream sauce from the chicken on top too. I'd get this again with no hesitation. ****.

Cacio e pepe.

"Fonduta, black pepper, parmigiano."

Well, this was just downright delicious. I had seen photos and read good reviews of it, so I went in with high expectations, but, yup, A+.

It was glorified mac and cheese, and I loved every bite of it. Ridiculously creamy. Beautifully cheesy. The pasta was an interesting shape, and cooked al dente. It reminded me a bit of gnocchi actually. A bit of extra parmesan on top to amp up the cheesy nature. I mean, really, what more could you ask for? The portion was just right too - since one of 3 dishes served, it wasn't quite a full size entree like you'd have in an Italian restaurant, but I wasn't left feeling like I needed more.

I'd get this again in a heartbeat. Yes, it was heavy, and not an everyday dish, but, pretty much flawless. It did make me wish they had pepper to add though, I of course had my own with me, but it still strikes me as odd that they don't offer it. ****.

Roasted Chicken.

"Porcini mushrooms, chestnut crumble."

And finally, the odd pick for me, the chicken, as, well, I don't ever eat chicken, as I don't care for it. But I love porcini mushrooms, loved the sound of the chestnut crumble, and knew it would have a cream sauce, so, combined with the other two dishes, and my lounge hoping in Boston, I knew it was fine to skip the chicken, and just take the bits I wanted.

The chicken looked to be a reasonable piece, all white meat. But I didn't try it.

The rest was as glorious as I hoped it would be. Plentiful slices of well cooked soft porcini mushrooms, that I added to both the cacio e pepe and the salad. Tasty cream sauce. The crumble was flavorful, umami and salty, and a great addition for some crunch on top of both the salad and the cacio e pepe, but I can't say I actually tasted or detected chestnut. ****.

Vanilla Gelato (toppings on the side).

"Caramelized bananas, almond honey granola ."

And to finish, the gelato. I asked for the toppings on the side, because sometimes the fruit toppings from JetBlue in particular can be just too sweet, plus, I had my own fresh fruit and sprinkles with me, just in case.

The gelato was served pretty hard, so it took a while to get to a soft eating temperature. It was just their standard vanilla gelato, that is fine, but not particularly great. Along with the wine, the one downgrade from Mint of the past, where they had ice cream from a local shop from your port of departure (e.g Toscanini's in Boston, Double Rainbow in SF, etc). *** gelato.

The caramelized bananas was akin to bananas foster, mushy bananas in a sweet sauce that was a bit broken and a bit greasy, and sorta overly sweet. Not bad exactly, but, a little went a long way, so I'm glad I had it on the side, and had some fresh fruit to balance it. It made me really also want some whipped cream, again, to help balance it. Low ***.

And finally, the granola. My serving had one big (but flat) piece, and some smaller broken up pieces, like a crispy granola bar, rather than cereal granola. It was nicely crunchy, and well spiced, lots of cinnamon. I didn't really taste honey, but it was pleasantly sweet. It went really well with the caramelized bananas. ***.

Overall, the least awesome dish of the meal, but I still enjoyed it well enough, and the toppings made for a cohesive dessert. Solid *** when all put together.

Update Review, October 2023 Flight

Flight Details:

Flight #: 416

Departure: 12:00pm (scheduled) 12:05pm (actual)

Arrival: 8:42pm (scheduled)
Duration: ~5 hours.
Seat: 2A (single suite)
Class: Mint

After many years of flying JetBlue Mint, and truly loving it, I've come to find it a bit underwhelming in recent years. The Mint cabin, and in particular, the single suites with the doors, were so unique when the product first debuted. The staff were always remarkably friendly and personable, like the Trader Joe's of the skies. And the food, generally top notch.

In the years since its debut, Mint hasn't aged all that well. More flights than not I have broken power outlets. If not that, a headphone jack that only quasi works. The seat, while it has great privacy, and I love the door, just isn't very comfortable. On this flight, we had broken wifi too (which, was eventually fixed after a few system resets). The wine list has gone down hill considerably. The food is a mixed bag. On this flight, the flight attendants were highly average, and entirely disappeared after meal service. And the prices? They've gone up and up, frequently more expensive than first class on these routes.

That said, my experience overall was generally fine. We boarded only about 10 minutes late, pushed back from the gate just a few minutes late, and had a remarkably short taxi and were immediately first in line for departure. The pillow and blanket were nice to have. I do think JetBlue needs to step the game up in a few areas though, even simple things like bag tracking in the app would go a long way to put them on par with the competition.

Wine List.

Oh, JetBlue. There was a time when JetBlue offered really quite decent wines. I regularly remember $40-50 bottles. Now? $15-20. Of course, price isn't everything, but, the wines have been rather blah for the past few years. As always a sparkling and two each of white and red were offered, although they have even stopped carrying a reliable regular second wine of each, rather opting to have a red and white 'of the moment', which seems to mean burning through the stock of unpopular wines.

I asked my FA what the red wine of the moment was, and she said it was a pinot noir, that was hugely unpopular. "I could open it if you want to try it, but, it was on the rotation for a long time and no one liked it". With that info, I easily settled on the "big red", which seems to retail for <$10 bottle.

CHÂTEAU DE LISENNES CUVÉE PRESTIGE BORDEAUX
SUPÉRIEUR AOC 2019 • BIG RED

"A short drive east from the center of Bordeaux, the Soubie family has been making classically-styled

red wines for five generations. ‘Classic’ on the right bank of Bordeaux means a smooth and savory

red wine with flavors like dark fruits and spices. It’s rich and full without being exceedingly heavy."

My wine was served about 45 minutes after takeoff, along with a welcome snack.

It was underwhelming. A bit more tannin than I really like. Not very complex. But reasonably bold. Not something I'd get again. ***.

"Red of the Moment": Pinot Noir.

I moved on to the unspecified pinot. At least for me, it was considerably better. Not amazing, no real complexity, but, a decent enough light option. Very low acid and tannin. ***+.

Menu.

The menu lineup as always featured 2 chilled dishes (both salads), along with a vegetarian pasta, chicken, or pork shoulder. Many items were gluten-free, nut free, or dairy free, or could be made that way.

My choices were very easy, as I don't like chicken, haven't ever been impressed by the pasta dishes, and actually love raddichio (the base of one salad), butternut squash (featured in the other), and I've generally really, really enjoyed the pork shoulder. Easy decisions.

I did ask to have the dressing for the salads on the side, as they often over dress the salads, and I rarely like vinaigrettes. This has always been easily accommodated in the past, but the FA told me she had no way to give me the dressing on the side. She said it wasn't dressed, but it was in a big bottle, and she had no way to serve it on the side. This was a bit curious to me as usually they do have little ramekins or something they use to do it on the side, but oh well. I asked to just have it left off, as I had my own anyway.

Welcome Snack: Marcona Almonds.

A welcome snack arrived with the drinks. The welcome snack changed to something different, now very salted marcona almonds. Served cold, as in, stone cold, refrigerated. Very oily, very salty. Not awesome. I miss the old welcome snacks, or even just classic warm mixed nuts. **.

Lunch.

I was in row two, and my meal arrived close to 2 hours into the flight, which is standard with JetBlue, much later than other domestic business or first class, but, normal for them, as one of the Mint FAs always does the main drink and snack service for economy first. It was 2pm in my time zone, and I was starving, particularly as JetBlue does not have lounges, so I wasn't snacking at the airport.

Bread, Condiments.

My meal arrived with a warm roll, that looked much better than it tasted . Rather cute looking, but, really did not taste fresh at all. JetBlue does many things right, but their bread is never it. As always, my tray also included oil (both regular and chile) and a packet of nice quality Maldon sea salt, but no pepper. I of course had my own.

Radicchio Salad (no dressing).

"Roasted apple, walnuts, cider vinaigrette."

The radicchio salad really was just that. A base of radicchio, with two pieces of roasted apple, a walnut crumble, and, usually, the vinaigrette.

I love radicchio, and this was fresh, crisp, and had a great bitterness, but I think the salad would have been considerably better with some frisee or endive, or even baby spinach or mixed greens, to balance it out. Which, of course, I happened to have with me (yes, I had frisee, baby spinach, and romaine with me). Once I added a more well rounded salad base, and drizzled with my own dressing, I enjoyed it.

The roasted apple was fairly al dente, and tasted more like pears than apple to me, but it was a nice seasonal touch. The walnut crumble added nice crunch, and was a good compliment.

Overall, a fine salad, but really would be improved easily with the addition of a second lettuce. ***+.

Farro Salad (no dressing).

"Butternut squash, parmigiano, pistachio, lemon vinaigrette."

Next up, the farro salad, also a chilled dish. This is one that I had nearly ordered before, but always skipped in favor of other options.

It was mediocre, really. The farro was fine, nicely al dente. Farro is farro, not particularly exciting to me, and in general I'm not one for grains or legumes. Really, I got this for the other elements, which turned out to be fairly minimal. The butternut squash that I was so looking forward to was just tiny cubes. Very hard cubes. There was a nice distribution of them, but, they were not the big soft juicy roasted squash I was hoping for. The parmigiano was nice big shards, and the pistachio added great crunch, just like the walnuts in the previous dish. The dish also had fresh crisp radish slics.

I was able to combine my two salads and liked it more that way, but I was really let down by the squash in particular in this one. ***.

Roasted Pork Shoulder.

"Red pepper moustarda, cracklings, Tuscan herbs."

My final dish was a hot one, the pork shoulder. It was fairly different from past versions I've had on JetBlue flights, but still really quite enjoyable.

The portion of pork was generous, with one large slice, and then several smaller hunks. Very minimal herbs. Previous versions of the pork shoulder I've had over the past few years always include one big, thick hunk, generously coated in herbs, rather than a slice. I wonder if this was luck of the draw, or if they find this cooks more evenly?

Mine came topped with the moustarda, and a single crackling. Previous versions had more than one crackling.

The pork was juicy and tender, fatty but in a nice way. I did like the larger, juicier chunks from previous versions more, and lamented the lack of strong spices, but that is only because I had the comparison point in mind. This was a very good dish, and one that somehow works really well in their onboard ovens. ***+.

The moustarda I almost asked to have left off, as I haven't loved it previously, but I'm glad I didn't. It was flavorful and I ended up drizzling it over my salads to amp them up a bit. That said, it tasted much more like a classic tomato sauce, like comes with their pasta dish, than a tangy and acidic red pepper moustarda as it was supposed to be. I quasi think they might have used the wrong sauce? It was also a bit of an odd pairing with the pork. Still, quite flavorful. ***+.

And finally, my sole crackling, which was fine, crispy, porky, but, the lone crackling did not "cracklings" make, as the menu described. ***.

Overall, the best of my 3 dishes, and still quite good, but not as good as some previous versions of this dish. ***+.

Dessert: Vanilla Gelato.

"Poached pears, almond shortbread."

"Do you want ice cream?", the FA asked each customer as she cleared our meal trays. The pedantic in me resisted saying, "oh, I thought it was gelato?". I asked for my toppings on the side, as always, as many previous versions of the ice cream topping, particularly the fruit components, were way too sweet for me.

The gelato was served rock solid. It wasn't particularly noteworthy, again, a letdown compared to the days when JetBlue always served signature ice cream from the port of departure. The vanilla flavor was good though, and once it finally got a bit softer, it had a nice creaminess. ***.

The poached pears were lightly warmed, and, unlike nearly every other ice cream topping I've had with JetBlue, they were not covered in compote or goo. No odd spicing or anything either. Just, pears. Nicely al dente. Certainly not my fruit of choice, but they were fine. ***.

The almond shortbread crumble was fine too. Good for texture and additional sweetness. I didn't really taste the almond, but, it was a decent buttery shortbread. ***.

Overall, all absolutely fine components, nothing remarkable, but when combined, they created a decent enough ice cream, er, gelato, sundae, particularly when I added my own fresh berries and sprinkles too. Each element was ***, but, they joined forces to make this a ***+ overall.

Previous Review, January 2023

Another year, another trip to visit my family on the east coast, another return flight on JetBlue Mint. I've covered this route before, including with the new (post 2019) catering changes, so please start with my previous reviews if you didn't read those before, as I'll leave out a lot of details here.

The only interesting note is that I decided NOT to fly with JetBlue from SFO - BOS, trying Delta for the first time ever (they had just introduced the new A321, the pricing was dramatically better, as were the flight times). I reviewed that flight here, and I was glad to be back on JetBlue, even though the wifi really was remarkably better on Delta.

Update Review, December 2022 Flight 33

Flight Details:

Flight #: 33

Departure: 6:00pm (scheduled) 6:50 (actual)

Arrival: 9:56pm (scheduled)
Duration: 6 hours 46 min
Seat: 4F (single suite)
Class: Mint

Where were you on New Year's Eve, 2022->2023? I was in an airport, and eventually, on a flight. Not the most exciting New Years plans.

At our seats were blankets and pillows, eye masks and toothbrushes/toothpaste (but not a full amenity kit), headphones, and menus. I appreciated that they had the headphones out already, rather than having us all ask for them individually. The FAs came by to introduce themselves, but weren't particularly friendly nor attentive. Everyone seemed not pleased to be on a flight on New Years eve, myself included.

Our flight was delayed for a slew of reasons, including a broken and jammed printer at our gate which delayed boarding, issues loading bags with delayed pushback, and then, weather, both in Boston and in San Francisco. We took off about an hour late, which felt like a miracle given the assorted problems. JetBlue didn't issue a delay until well after our departure time had come and gone, and didn't do a very good job of providing any info on updated boarding times, etc.

We had a bumpy ride out of Boston, and the FAs were ordered to stay seated for an extended amount of time. This meant the dinner service, which is already fairly late for me, was delayed even further, as they couldn't even come take our orders, nor start heating things up, until more than an hour into the flight, with the meal served nearly 3 hour in. Given the departure delay as well, this meant I didn't get a drink until 8:45pm, and dinner until 9:45pm and I was ravenous. We had the same experience headed in to San Francisco, with the FAs ordered to their seats for more than the last 1.5 hours. This meant they needed to collect the headsets then, take away our drinks, etc, since they wouldn't be able to get up again. Everything was well communicated, but it was a substantial part of the flight with no service.

Food & Drink

The meal however was a great success. I enjoyed everything.

Drinks

As we settled in, pre-departure beverages were offered. I went for my standard sparkling Lime Bubly. I was not provided the whole can, and I wasn't asked if I'd like ice with it, and my small cup came loaded with ice, very little sparkling water. I was parched, so this was unfortunate. When I was finally able to order a drink (nearly 2 hours into the flight!), I got the last portion of Bubly, as they had already ran out, and had no other sparkling water either. The FA said this was common, that they never cater enough sparkling water.

Wine List.

The wine lineup was exactly the same as my Eastbound flight 3 weeks prior, a standard winter lineup of a sparkling, two whites, and two reds. They were from all over, including Portugal, Italy, and Oregon.

Triennes Les Aureliens Rouge 2019.
"Big Red".

"Some of the most acclaimed winemakers of the century like to vacation in southern France. Good news, they also decided to make wine from their vacation spot too. This is a smoky and big red from the Mediterranean coast."

I went for the "big red" again, as it was the best of the bunch last time. I again liked it, truly, well, a big red. Some depth and complexity, not much acid nor tanin. An interesting wine. I appreciated my large pour.

****.

Food

The menu as always offered 5 choices for small plates, and we could pick 3, along with dessert. The first two were chilled dishes, essentially salads. The seafood option was again shrimp, just like my eastbound flight, and this was the first flight I remember that didn't have a substantial red meat option (e.g. pork shoulder, lamb, etc).

Dinner Menu.

The menu was Italian inspired, with ingredients like Italian olives, Italian vinaigrette, lots of parmigiano, and even classic bolognese lasagna. I appreciated this change from the last few Mediterranean menus I'd had.

My choices were pretty easy, although every dish did have an element that I was interested in. I ruled out the farro salad because I was more excited about the others, but I am curious how it was, with butternut squash and pistachios for crunch, it really did sound decent. It was the same dish offered during my last Westbound flight, and I had skipped it (and lamented the fact I did) then. I also ruled out the chicken, as I don't like chicken, but I did really want the sides (porcini mushrooms) and toppings (chestnut crumble). That left me with the frisee salad as a cold salad starter, a light shrimp dish, and finally, the lasagna. I'd had other JetBlue lasagna offerings before that were fairly meh, but this one promised a real bolognese, with both pork and veal, and I give them major kudos for that.

Snack Mix.

Oh wow! Now this was a snack I could get behind. I do still lament the yummy chips and dips from the previous catering, but this was hands down the best snack of the new catering. For ages it was just nuts, or the grissini I had on my eastbound flight (which actually are quite good, and would go well with the Italian themed meal).

This was a snack mix, full of crunchy things, and a real adventure to eat. In the mix was a bunch of super crisp legumes - massive corn nuts and regular sized ones, chickpeas, and broad beans, along with a few almonds. It was very, very munchable, so great for snacking. Lightly salted. My only qualm is it did taste a bit stale. ***+.

Dinner.

Finally, finally I got my meal, at 9:45pm, nearly 3 hours into our flight, and 4 hours from our planned departure, and my regular dinner, time. Everything was served at once, with the standard condiments. When they did take our orders, I appreciated that they proactively asked if we wanted the bread or not, as I never want it, and felt better not wasting.

The meal was overall good, although I did combine two of my dishes (salad and shrimp) to make a more cohesive, flavorful dish. Nothing I'd rave about, but I enjoyed everything, and it was certainly better than most airline food.

Frisee Salad.

"Citrus, Taggiasca olives, Italian vinaigrette, parmigiano."

I wanted the frisee salad just to have something light and fresh. I was less excited about the Italian olives (just not really an olive person) and the vinaigrette, so I asked for the dressing at least to be on the side (and had backup creamy dressing with me). My FA nicely accommodated my request for dressing on the side, and I'm glad she did, as I really didn't care for it (I just don't like vinaigrettes in general).

The frisee was crisp and fresh, exactly what I was hoping for. The olives were actually finely chopped, and thus I couldn't avoid them as I had planned, and the olive taste definitely took over every bite. I didn't find any parmesan (perhaps it was in the dressing?). The citrus (orange?) was a thick slice, juicy and refreshing, and it provided acidity to the dish naturally.

I poured most of of the saffron broth from my shrimp on top, and drizzled soy sauce I had with me, and made my own "dressing" of sorts, and it totally worked. I also added my own cracked black pepper, as only salt (nice quality salt!) is included with the condiments. I also added most of the roast fennel, and cooked shrimp from the shrimp dish to turn it into quite the dish. Overall, I made it into something I really wanted, and I'd get it again if I wanted a light and refreshing starter (and definitely would ask for no vinaigrette, and if possible, no olives). ***+ for freshness and crispness, and having an interesting salad base, **+ for toppings though, so *** overall.

Shrimp.

"Roasted fennel, saffron broth."

My flight three weeks prior also had shrimp, and it was quite lackluster. Kinda fishy, kinda chewy, and I hated the oily sauce it was served in. This was an entirely different preparation though, and I've had decent shrimp on JetBlue flights before, so I gave it another try. The serving was again 5 shrimp, tails removed.

This dish was far more successful, as I liked the light saffron broth (and had truly disliked the oily salsa verde with the eastbound one), and used it in place of my salad dressing. The shrimp were a bit better cooked as well (not chewy, not rubbery), although they weren't particularly great, not juicy nor succulent, not great flavor. They really needed a more substantial dipping sauce, even though I liked the light saffron broth, it was so subtle it allowed the shrimp to shine, and they didn't really shine. The roasted fennel was soft and seemed more braised than roasted, really cooked down. It was flavorful though, and went well with the salad ingredients too, hence why I combined the two dishes. Whatever the crumble was on top I also liked, and also worked well with my salad, just adding a bit of texture. ***.

Lasagna.

"Pork and veal Bolognese Bianco, parmigiano."

The lasagna I was pretty excited for. First, it seemed like a dish that would do great on a flight - easily reheated in an oven, holds heat well. Second, it was a real bolognese, with both pork and veal. Third, it also had a "bianco", white sauce, like a proper lasagna. I had high hopes, even though the more basic vegetarian lasagna I had on an Eastbound flight over the summer was pretty boring.

The lasagna was a fairly large portion. Not what you'd get in an Italian restaurant as a main dish, but absolutely plenty for one person (particularly if you had shrimp or chicken, and one of the salads, and bread, as well). It was browned on top with a nice cheese crust, smothered in both a creamy white sauce, and additional grated parmesan cheese. It also had a generous amount of ricotta between the layers. Definitely not a light dish.

The pasta was cooked well, not too soft nor mushy. The crispy crust on top was a delight. There wasn't tons of of meat in here, just some small ball shaped pieces that were kinda like sausage, but the meat was seasoned well and quite flavorful. I didn't need more meat, but it was definitely more cheese forward than meat heavy.

There was no red sauce, which didn't bother me, but might surprise some. The white sauce was creamy, but not particularly flavorful on its own, not an alfredo, I think just a béchamel. There was so much other cheese though (the grated parmigiano, the cheese crust on top, and plenty of ricotta), that it didn't need to be cheesy. I added crushed red pepper flakes (the kind you get with delivery pizza) and garlic and onion powder (because, uh, I had those with me too), to amp up the flavor a bit more too.

Overall, this really was a tasty dish, well executed, nice and hot, and on par with what you'd get at a fairly good Italian restaurant. I was impressed and recommend it without hesitation. ****.

Dessert: Vanilla Gelato.

"Roasted pineapple, salted oats."

And finally, the signature gelato. Still just vanilla gelato, but it really is a nice vanilla gelato, strong vanilla bean flavor, very creamy. It was served fairly melty, exactly ready to eat. No freezer burn nor crystallization. **** gelato.

I have learned to ask for the toppings on the side, given too many cases of not really caring for the fruity topping, and having it rather ruin my gelato experience. Plus, I had fresh fruit, whipped cream, and sprinkles with me to add as I pleased. My flight attendant did this up nicely for me as well.

The roasted pineapple came warm, and she put it into one of the little dishes used for the welcome snack/condiments, which was a bit more classy than just serving in the foil ramekin they use to heat it up as my last crew did. It was quite sweet, clearly cooked with additional sweetness (brown sugar?). It was tasty, but, very sweet, so I was glad I had it on the side to not overwhelm the gelato. A little went a long way, and I was glad to balance it out with fresh strawberries and blackberries I had with me. ***.

And finally, the crunchy element, an oat based crumble. Essentially like a breakfast granola, but sweeter. I didn't really taste the "salted" element, but it was tasty, and added great crunch and texture. ***.

Together, this made for a lovely end to the meal, and I quite enjoyed it. ***+.

Update Review, July 2022 Flight 633

Flight Details:

Departure: BOS, 6pm (scheduled) 6:12pm (actual)
Arrival: SFO : 9:52pm (scheduled) (actual)
Seat: 2A (single suite)
Class: Mint

My flight was fairly uninteresting, as I've flown Jet Blue Mint so many times at this point, and nothing went awry (yay, boring is good!), and nothing was particularly noteworthy. We took off on time basically, the flight attendants were friendly enough (and, as always, a bit amused at my ice cream toppings that I came with), I still don't really find the seats comfortable but love having the privacy, and, the food really was fantastic.

Amenities

I've reviewed the seat and amenities before, and nothing has changed. I still love having the suite, but, the aircraft is starting to show its age, and the seats really aren't particularly comfortable to sit in. The pillow is great for sleeping, but, is kinda too big for using as an aid in making the seat more comfortable.

Amenity Kit.

The amenity kit this time had a few interesting items, like elderberry throat lozenges and tropical blast collagen powder, but was otherwise fairly uninteresting, with socks, lip stuff, hydrating mist, and a coconut oil wipe. I miss the immune gummies!

Food & Drink

Menu & Ordering

Our flight accidentally had the breakfast menus provided instead of lunch/dinner, so no physical menu cards were provided. The menu was a mix of Italian and Spanish flair:

WELCOME TASTE

Rotating Selection

SMALL PLATE
Choose three. Please note: The first two dishes listed below are chilled

CHICORIES & WALNUT SALAD / parmigiano, walnut vinaigrette
BURRATA / zucchini, pine nuts, salsa verde
FLUKE / roasted cherry tomatoes, red wine vinaigrette, basil, mint
ROASTED CHICKEN / almond romesco sauce, rosemary breadcrumbs, mint
LAMB RAGU / cavatelli, parmigiano

Dessert

VANILLA GELATO / fresh raspberry sauce, almond granola

My choices were very clear, as, well I don't like chicken nor lamb. That said, I wasn't unhappy with the other three. I've had the burrata before, and knew I could get it without the pine nuts, and I really did like the sound of the chicories salad. And while I had a bit of doubt about the fluke being dry, seafood really is what I'd prefer (although, they do such a good pork shoulder!). And obviously, I wanted dessert.

Drinks

The drink lineup as always featured a sparkling, two red, one white and one rose (since, summer) wines, plus cider, beer, liquor, soft drinks, tea, and coffee, and their signature cocktails.

This month, all wines were black owned wineries, in celebration of Black History month.

SPARKLING: BODKIN SPARKLING SAUVIGNON BLANC
WHITE: WADE CELLARS CHENIN BLANC • 2019
ROSE: LA FÊTE DU ROSE PROVENCE ROSÉ
RED: VINE & SUPPLY PINOT NOIR • 2017
RED: BRENDEL “COOPER’S REED” NAPA VALLEY • CABERNET • 2019

Just as my previous flight, I was tempted to get the new signature margarita, but, I knew wines were really more likely to be my thing. I decided to have a bit of fun and start with the rose, before moving on to the reds I knew I wanted.

Sparkling Water with Lime.

As always I asked for a Lime Bubly, but alas, the flight wasn't catered with any lime Bubly. Regular sparkling water, with lime, it was.

La Féte Du Rose Provence Rosé.

"Light and just right, this beloved dry, classic style of rosé hails from Provence—the region in France known as the premier area for rosé."

I saw good reviews about this wine, so, even though I don't generally drink rose, I wanted to try it. I asked for just a small pour to try. I didn't care for it at all. It was just too ... something. Dry I guess? Definitely not for me.

**.

Brendel "Cooper's Reed"
Napa Valley Cabernet. 2019.

"Brought to us from one of the most important new wineries to collect in the country, this hearty all-organic Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and full without being too jammy."

I quickly moved on to the "big red" from the menu, also just a small tasting portion. It was ... ok. It had more oak to it than I really prefer. I didn't want a full pour. I think this was just my preference, it is a decent wine though, priced at $37 per bottle normally. It got better as it opened up a bit.

**+.

Vine & Supply Pinot Noir. 2017.

"Made in Willamette Valley, Oregon and borne of flavors found in Burgundy, sommelier André Mack introduced this quintessential pinot noir. "

If at first you don't succeed ... try, try again? I hadn't selected the pinot noir originally, even though pinot is often the wine I prefer, as reviews were very mixed, many folks saying it was too barnyard-like. But since I wasn't really caring for the others, I wanted to try it.

It was, as advertised, a "light red". Certainly not as big and bold as the cab, a pretty easy drinking wine. It wasn't particularly complex, but it had a bit of fruit to it at the start. I certainly didn't detect any barnyard. A pretty average, decent enough, light pinot. ***.

Food

Meal.

As always, our meals began with a welcome snack delivered with our drinks, and then a tray with our 3 small plate selections along with bread and condiments, and dessert after.

I was quite pleased with my meal - the fish turned out far better than I had hoped, really restaurant quality. The salad was well balanced, and everything went together quite well, forming an incredibly cohesive meal. I applaud the menu writers for the care they take in crafting selections that all do work well together (I suspect the lamb ragu and the romesco from the chicken would similarly work well).

And swoon, the gelato. I was stuffed and happy at the end of it.

Welcome Snack: Grissini.

I'm not really sure when the welcome snack "rotates", as it has been grissini ever since the new catering changes. The only difference is that this time I received far fewer, and they were all very small. I wonder if they got complaints that the grissini were unwieldy? I do still enjoy having a crunchy, savory, slightly cheesy snack to munch on though.

***.

Bread / Oil / Condiments.

My meal also came with a bread roll and condiments (olive oil, chile oil, and a small packet of maldon sea salt - the prior tins of nice salt were replaced by the smaller packet, which was a downgrade in my opinion. I always loved keeping the tin!). No pepper.

The roll was served warm which was nice, it was soft, and it wasn't stale, but it also was just very, very average bread. I loved the liquid in my fish dish, and wanted something to soak it up, but this bread was not really it.

**.

Chicories & Walnut Salad.

"Parmigiano, walnut vinaigrette."

This was a nice salad. Since I like raddichio I was happy to see that, along with frisee. It did feel like it was missing something like baby spinach or a neutral lettuce to round it out a bit, but I loved having the chicories. The shards of parmesan gave it a bit of bite, and the walnut bits were perfect for crunch.

Mine was very, very, very lightly dressed, which is better than over dressed, and I used the liquid from my other dishes to make it glorious, but had I really wanted vinaigrette, this would have let me down a bit. It also wasn't seasoned, and our condiments included only salt, no pepper. Luckily, I had my own pepper with me, and found it really amped it up a lot.

Overall, this was a nice salad, made even better by adding the liquid from the fluke, some of the roasted cherry tomatoes also from the fluke, and some fresh pepper. It went really well with the burrata and the fluke too - frisee and fish are always a lovely pairing in my mind. My second favorite dish.

***+.

Buratta.

"Zucchini, pine nuts, salsa verde."

I've had this dish before so I knew what to expect (although, that one was described as coming with basil and mint, not salsa verde). I also knew that I could ask to have the pine nuts left off, because, ugh, pine nut syndrome. Last time, I found the burrata "fine" but not particularly ripe nor amazing, and ended up loving the summer squash and zucchini, a big surprise as I don't really care for summer squashes in general.

I felt much the same about it this time. It was a generous portion of burrata, but, it wasn't nearly ripe enough for my taste, and was served colder than burrata really should be. It had no ooey gooey goodness to it. It really wasn't great burrata, it reminded me more of ricotta almost.

The squashes were fine, nicely roast, well seasoned. They also went great with the fluke and tomatoes in that dish. And finally, the salsa verde, which I didn't particularly care for. It was thick, a touch bitter, and didn't quite work for me. I wanted pesto or something like that.

My least favorite dish, just kinda boring, and not as glorious as burrata should be. ***.

Fluke.

"Roasted cherry tomatoes, red wine vinaigrette, basil, mint."

The fluke was really quite good. So often fish on a plane is dry, but this was anything but. It was mild white fish, no fishiness, and a fairly massive portion - hard to see here, but, there are actually two full pieces, and the one on the right is just curled over and under the other. It reminded me of a more interesting version of sole - a thin filet, but with more of a haddock like taste, if that makes sense. I was glad I opted for two other appetizer like dishes, as this portion with another main protein (like the chicken or lamb) likely would have been too much. I definitely wouldn't call it a "small plate".

The accompaniments really were remarkable as well. The roasted cherry tomatoes were so very flavorful, and as I said, went great with both the burrata and the salad, and of course, the fish itself. The fresh mint and basil elevated the presentation considerably. And then, the liquid I kept mentioning above, which I guess was red wine vinaigrette, was just lovely. Basically a warm broth that kept the fish nicely moist, and, when I added it to it, totally made the salad shine. It was a little oily, but, when used as dressing, I definitely didn't mind. As I said, I wished I had bread I liked to soak it all up.

My favorite dish (well, besides the dessert of course), and definitely some of the best fish I've had on a plane, really, actually, restaurant quality.

****.

Gelato (Toppings on the Side).

"Fresh raspberry sauce, almond granola."

I was stuffed and satisfied, but, the meal kept on giving. As always with the new(er) catering, our meal concluded with vanilla gelato, with a warm fruit topping, and something crunchy. In this case, it was raspberry sauce and almond granola, both of which I asked to have on the side, for three reasons: 1) the fruit sauces frequently are just too sweet for me, 2) the warm fruit sauce melts my gelato too fast, and 3) I brought fresh raspberries, strawberries, and cherries with me, and of course, sprinkles, and wanted to craft my perfect little creation.

My FA obliged with no qualms my ask of toppings on the side, and provided both in little adorable espresso cups. The gelato was served fairly hard, not rock solid, but not as melty as I wanted, which was fine, as it gave me time to assemble my creation. I again found that I did quite like the gelato - I don't know what brand it is, but, it is quality gelato, strong vanilla bean flavor, nicely creamy, premium stuff.

The raspberry sauce was the best fruit topping I've had so far from Jet Blue. It was sweet, but, not too sweet, it was thick and really did seem to be real fruit, not just goo. The warm fruit topping was just lovely to have with my gelato and fresh fruit. The almond granola was fine, perhaps a bit boring, but I liked the slivered almonds in it for crunch. I would have preferred a cookie crumble or streusel though to make it more dessert-like.

I loved my creation, and Jet Blue provided the perfect base quality gelato and tasty fruit topping. The only thing I wanted was whipped cream, something I haven't quite figured out how to get through TSA checkpoints ...

****.

Original Review, 2020 - 2021 Flights

In late 2020, when the airline industry was really feeling the feels of Covid restrictions, reduced service, and low ridership, JetBlue decided to re-vamp the Mint offering, already a pretty fantastic service, as you know from my past reviews. While the hard product did not change, they brought in all new soft product, including new pillows and blankets, travel kits by Wanderfuel, fancy new headphones, and ... what I cared about, all new food and drink. This is Julie's Dining Club after all.

The main format of the meal service stayed the same, with a welcome dish, and then your choice of 5 small plates, followed by dessert, but the main dishes are now in partnership with SoHo-based Pasquale Jones, the dessert is always gelato (with changing toppings) rather than ice cream from the city of departure, and the cocktail program is a new collaboration with NY based Ada's Place. Oh, and they got rid of the Milk Bar cookies (replaced with fancy chocolate covered cashews).

As much as I mourned the loss of the cookies, and the ice cream (particularly from certain cities!), overall, the new cuisine really does seem to be a step up. Below you'll find all the reviews so far of their Westbound new offerings (Eastbound are here).

December 2021 Flight

Flight Details:

Departure: BOS, 6:15pm (scheduled) 6:37pm (actual)
Arrival: SFO,
Seat: 2F (single suite)
Class: Mint

Another pretty standard JetBlue Mint flight - good food, great wine, friendly staff. As always, I appreciated the single suite, and row 2 for this flight since the meal was late for me, and served front to back.

Food & Drink

Menu & Ordering

Menus were waiting at our seats, and our orders were taken once underway. Drinks served one by one afterwards, with meals to follow, about an an hour into the flight for the drinks.

This was my 5th flight with the new catering, again with some Italian flair (Tuscan this time). It was a decent meal, but not my favorite, mostly due to the spicing used.
Menu.

WELCOME SNACK

ROTATING SELECTION

SMALL PLATES
Choose three.

Please note the first two dishes are served chilled.

WEDGE SALAD cucumber, parm frico, buttermilk dressing, lemon vinaigrette
ROASTED CARROT SALAD yogurt, sunflower seeds, lime
BRAISED LEEKS walnut, black pepper, pecorino cheese*
ROASTED SHRIMP smoked paprika aioli, fried garlic breadcrumbs, lemon
TUSCAN RUBBED PORK roasted fennel, jus

DESSERT

VANILLA GELATO lemon marmalata, pistachio shortbread crumble

PARTING GIFT

CHOCOLATE COVERED CASHEWS / Hu Kitchen, NY

My choices were fairly easy - I obviously wanted the pork shoulder, as the previous versions I had of it were shockingly delicious. The leeks sounded kinda different and unique, so I was interested in them just for something different. My final choice was a slight toss up between the shrimp, as I do like shrimp, and, yes, AIOLI!, and the wedge salad, as the salads actually are generally quite good, and something light and refreshing sounded good. But still, just a salad, kinda boring, so, shrimp it was. I didn't really consider it, but I know people have raved about the carrot salad too.

Drinks

Cocktails, Beer, Liquor.

The drink lineup as always featured beer, liquor, soft drinks, tea, and coffee.

In addition to the signature Mint Condition cocktail, the same "AL PASTOR MARGARITA" as my last flight was on offer. Both are available as mocktails.

Wine List.

The wine list had the usual winter offerings of one sparkling, two white, and two red wines, exactly the same as I had on my Eastbound flight:

AT ROCA CLASSIC PENEDÈS SP 2018 • SPANISH SPARKLING
SOHM & KRACHER GRÜNER VELTLINER • AUSTRIA 2020 • CRISP WHITE
JEAN-MARC ROULOT BOURGOGNE BLANC WHITE BURGUNDY • FRANCE 2018 • FULL-BODIED WHITE
WEST COUNTY RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR • CALIFORNIA • 2018 • LIGHT RED
TIBERIO MONTEPULCIANO D’ABRUZZO • ITALY • 2020 • BIG RED

I really liked the white burgundy and the montepoulciano last time, so I was happy to see them offered again.

Jean-Marc Roulot Bourgogne Blanc.

"Made from small vineyards in and around the prime area of Meursault, this Bourgogne Blanc is 100% chardonnay, and evokes Granny Smith apples, brioche, and a bit of salt. "

I really liked this wine on my last flight, a surprise for me given that I don't usually drink that much white wine, and it was again fantastic. Just, exactly the style I like - buttery, not sweet, but not too dry. Just a lovely wine, and I'll gladly get this time and again.

****.

Tiberio Montepulciano.

"After Cristiana Tiberio worked at some of the best wineries in Europe, she returned home to the Italian region of Abruzzo inspired to make the highest quality, organic wine from the full-bodied and earthy red grape Montepulciano. "

I also quite liked the Montepulciano last time, so gladly moved on to that when it was time to pair with my pork with dinner. It was pretty bold, as I remembered, but had a bite to the finish I didn't care for. I wonder if this was a previously opened bottle (do they do that?). It was still a nice complex wine, and I enjoyed it, but, it had a bit more tannin than I remembered.

***.

West Country Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

"Made in Sonoma County Russian River Valley—a prime area for California Pinot Noir—this classic Pinot is a light to medium-bodied wine full of floral, cranberry, and wild strawberry flavors."

Since I wasn't loving the montepulciano, I finished with the pinot noir, which was lighter, and quite drinkable. Nothing particularly complex, but I enjoyed it, not too tannic.

***+.

Food

Our meals were served about an hour and 15 mins into the flight, which took off late, so I was happy I was in row 2, since served front to back, and it was pretty late for my dinner time (I usually eat around 6pm, and it was nearly 8!). It was a good meal, but not quite as amazing as some previous versions.

Grissini.

The "rotating selection" of welcome snack was the same grissini I had last time, again, a nice change from standard nuts, but nothing like the welcome snacks with great dips that the prior Mint catering featured. Still, they were crispy, savory, salty, cheesy, and fun to munch on.

***.

Dinner.

Our meals arrived one by one, front to back.

I didn't need to ask for the gelato AFTER the main meal, as our FA said he always served it that way. I'm glad to see this change, or at least, his preference for doing this, as I hate having the gelato melt as I try to eat my hot food!

As before, a lovely tin of large maldon salt and chile oil came with it. And again, no pepper. Of course, I was prepared and had my own.

I wasn't offered if I wanted the warm bread roll or not, it just came on my tray. Last time I was asked, and I definitely would have declined as it was lackluster last time. It was again quite meh, clearly not fresh airline bread.

But the rest of the meal was good.

Braised Leeks.

"Walnut, black pepper, pecorino cheese."

The leeks dish was as fascinating as I hoped it would be. It took a few bites for it to grow on me, but once it did, I was really into it.

The leeks were very large pieces, braised so quite soft. The leeks themselves weren't exactly exciting, but the sauce that they were topped with, and was under them, is really what made the dish. A creamy cheese sauce, with sharp pecorino. It contrasted beautifully with the leeks and was full of flavor. I'm not quite sure where the walnuts were, there was a crumble on top, but it seemed to be more cheese. I also didn't taste pepper, and since the condiments never include pepper, that was definitely a bit of a miss (although I had my own, so, no problem!).

Overall, not a dish that sounds exciting, but, the cheese sauce really was tasty, and this ate as nice comfort food in the sky. I found myself thinking back on it the next day.

***+.

Roasted Shrimp.

"Smoked paprika aioli, fried garlic breadcrumbs, lemon."

Next up, shrimp. The serving was 5 large size shrimp.

The shrimp was nicely prepared, cleaned, succulent, nice snap. Better than many restaurants honestly. But ... the element I thought I'd love, the aioli, I really disliked. The smoked paprika flavor was just not for me, and the aioli just really tasted ... off. It was served warm, as this was a hot dish, and warm aioli ... yeah, just not for me.

The flavor of the paprika was also in the broth/oil, and I minded it less there, but I still didn't care for it.

So, good shrimp, but meh on the stuff with it. The breadcrumbs were soggy from all the liquid.

***.

Tuscan Rubbed Pork.

"Roasted fennel, jus."

And lastly, the pork shoulder . I've had several versions of this delicious pork shoulder before and been floored by how delicious it was. Juicy, well rendered fat, lovely flavor. This version however ... eh.

The hunk of pork was impressive in size. But it was more fully cooked, almost dried out, with only the jus helping keep it moist. No fatty edges that I love. Sadness.

The tuscan spices were plentiful, serious flavor here, but much like the paprika not really a flavor profile I like all that much. The fennel was fine.

So, overall, a let down. Just an "ok" dish, and nothing at all like some of the previous ones. Still, um, for airplane food it was good.

***.

Vanilla Gelato.

"Lemon marmalata, pistachio shortbread crumble."

You know I'm a dessert girl, and love my ice cream, so it should come as no surprise that I was happy about the finish to the meal, although less excited by this season's toppings. As always with the new catering, it was just vanilla gelato as a base, and came with a fruit topping (lemon marmalata) and crunchy element (pistachio shortbread crumble). These were served for everyone after the meal, rather than with, which I appreciated.

The gelato itself was the same as always, a huge scoop, decent vanilla bean flavor. Served a bit hard, but a little patience yielded a nicely melty texture.

The lemon marmalata was ... very, very sweet. I actually really liked the texture, with chewy bits of rind in addition to the gooey caramelized bits. I'm not generally excited about lemon in my desserts, but this was so candied it really didn't bother me. It was tasty, but a little of it went a loooong way, and it had a very generous portion on it.

The pistachio shortbread crumble was more crumble dust than pistachio or shortbread, and had a single larger chunk of shortbread cookie, but I think that was just my luck of the draw, as others had multiple big hunks. I liked the crunch it added.

Overall, this actually came together pretty nicely, and once I added my own fresh blueberries, which of course I strategically brought with me, it was really a lovely dessert, the blueberries and lemon flavors went perfectly together, and fresh fruit helped brighten it. It was still too much topping for the gelato amount though, but that just meant that I "needed" a refill on the gelato (sans marmalata). My FA was happy to oblige.

***+.

Jan 2021 Flight

Flight Details:

Departure: BOS, 5:20 pm (scheduled) (5:10?) pm (actual) [ Yes, early! ]
Arrival: SFO, 9: 26pm (scheduled) 8:11?! (actual)
Duration: 6h 18m
Seat: 4A (single suite)
Class: Mint

The most novel thing about this flight is that we took off early. Not just pushed back from the gate early, but, legit, took off, very early. One benefit of Covid and light flight schedules ...

Amenities

I always thought that Mint had pretty nice little pillows and blankets, but these were entirely revamped.

Fancy Blanket Instructions.

The blanket, um, required instructions. You could fold and snap it to have a foot pocket, to wrap you up, to be a cape ...

I did make a foot pocket with mine, and admit it was actually pretty handy.

Pillow.

The new pillows were a slight improvement too, memory foam now, and really quite comfortable.

Headphones.

The headphones are now custom made for JetBlue, by Master & Dynamic, apparently a luxury brand from NY? I'm not an audiophile, but the sound quality was good, and they were fairly comfortable.

Wanderfuel.

The amenity kit was also entirely changed out, now supplied by Wanderfuel. I appreciated that they still included socks, slightly different now, but still nice quality.

The kits change every month or so, and sometimes include fun things like immunity gummies! I laud any excuse to eat gummy candy.

Food & Drink

Menu & Ordering

Orders were taken after takeoff, and, due to #covid and masking, they did ask people to write their ordered on the card, but still came through and asked everyone. I realized later that the instructions were more for Main Cabin than Mint. Oops!

Service was really good, the Mint cabin crew didn't seem to help with Main Cabin service any longer? Or maybe, Main Cabin wasn't having service because of Covid? Either way, we had two FAs the entire time, and everything was speedy, and, as I've come to expect with JetBlue, so very friendly.

I was pleased with the new offerings.

In general, the food certainly seemed better than Mint of late, and the portions were significantly bigger.

New Menu.

The new offerings included an all new menu card.

It really did look nicer ....

About Us.

The menu explained the new collaborations, with Delicious Hospitality Group (including James Beard Award accolades, Rising Star finalists, etc), which set us up for a wonderful culinary experience, bringing in an award winning sommolier as well.

Menu: New Version.

The menu card looked nicer, but format was basically the same: still a welcome snack (no longer a "taste"), choice of 3 small plates from 5 (3 chilled), dessert (now called dessert, not "sweet bites". No fruit offered now, but dessert is composed), and a parting gift.

The menu was as follows:

WELCOME SNACK

Assorted Mixed Nuts.

SMALL PLATES
Choose three.

Please note the first three dishes are served chilled.
ARUGULA / shaved parmigiano, lemon
BURRATA / tomato conserva, celery leaves
CHOPPED CHICKEN SALAD / radicchio, fennel, roasted peppers, montasio cheese, croutons
WARM BUTTERED LOBSTER ROLL / lemon aioli, split top roll
PORK SHOULDER / tuscan spices, crackling skin
DESSERT

VANILLA GELATO / roasted apples, caramel crumble.

PARTING GIFT

CHOCOLATE COVERED CASHEWS / Hu Kitchen, NY

I actually had a really, really hard time deciding what to get.

I wanted to try the lobster roll given soooo many rave reviews (yes, really), and, well, #novelty, and I was certainly drawn in by the cracklings with the pork shoulder (plus, a nice pork shoulder can be soooo tender and tasty. And I did want one real hot dish ...).

But my third pick I was really up in the air. Obviously I adore burrata, and it would pair great with red wine, but ... was I really going to get a meal that was just proteins and a big old hunk of high fat cheese? Literally, no vegetables besides the garnish on the burrata. The lobster roll had nothing but lobster meat, no lettuce or anything (which is good, real legit traditional lobster roll), and the pork shoulder was literally just pork shoulder and cracklings in a light broth. If I wanted vegetables, I could get a very basic, simple, arugula salad but ... bo-ring, even though it would round out the meal nicely. I had no idea if the chopped chicken salad would trend in the chicken direction (not what I wanted) or vegetable (yay raddichio!).

In the end, I just brought a little packaged salad with me, went for the burrata, and was very happy with my choices, although I saw the chicken salad later, and it really was a nice looking salad, a real salad, vegetable based, with cubes of chicken and cheese. But how do you resist #burrata?

Drinks

The drink lineup as always featured a sparkling, two red, and two white wines, plus cider, beer, liquor, soft drinks, tea, and coffee, although there were some changes to the wine, and more notably, the cocktail programs.

Lime Bubly.

As always, I was happy to see the Lime Bubly, better than plan seltzer (also an option). They did not have diet Sierra Mist on this flight, which they used to, but it sounds like it is being phased out. I liked to mix the two, but, this was still good to have.

Cocktail Menu.

The cocktail program is now a collaboration with Ada's place, so they have replaced the old signature RefreshMINT with two new cocktails.

The lineup:

Mint Condition: bombay sapphire gin, ginger, lime, cucumber, mint.
Black Maple Old Fashioned: jack daniel’s tennessee whiskey, maple, bitters, orange peel.

I have to admit, I was pretty excited, both sounded good, I am a gin and whiskey drinker after all.

No pre-takeoff beverages served, because, #covid, but I enjoyed one later on in the flight.

Black Maple Old Fashioned.

"jack daniel’s tennessee whiskey, maple, bitters, orange peel."

Well this packed a punch! WHISKEY!!!!

Jack Daniel's not quite my first choice, I didn't taste the maple very much, and appreciated it as the ice melted and mellowed it out a bit, but it still was a decent drink. Orange peel garnish was a lovely touch.

I wonder how it would be with the bourbon instead? Or scotch? Those are more my style.

***.

Wine List.

The wine list still featured a sparkling, and two whites and two reds, although all were new to me. Bottle prices were lower, but, I was happy with my wines, so no complaints here.

The lineup:

SPARKLING: Michel Gonet Blanc De Blancs • Champagne, France
WHITE: Domaine Roulot Bourgogne Blanc, Chardonnay Blend • France 2018
WHITE: Lieu Dit Sauvignon Blanc • Santa Ynez, Ca 2017
RED: Benanti Etna Rosso, Nerello Mascalese • Sicily, Italy 2017
RED: J.l. Chave Selections ‘mon Coeur’, Syrah • Côtes Du Rhône, France 2017

Of course I did my research beforehand, and went in knowing exactly which wines I wanted to try (based on reviews, bottle prices, etc). One white sounded decent, as did one red. I got both.

Domaine Roulot Bourgogne
Blanc Chardonnay Blend • France 2018

"Domaine Roulot has always been among the best producers of White Burgundy. White wines from their village of Meursault in France are considered the world’s greatest. This is the homeland of chardonnay and Jean-Marc Roulot is the master. Rich, savory, and elegant, this is special."

I started with the white, the chardonnay blend, or, as the crew called it, "the french white".

This actually was really quite good, particularly for a white wine (not my standard drink). I was pretty thrilled, as I thought it would go great with the lobster roll.

And it did. A little buttery, so smooth, no acid. I really, truly liked this wine. Would gladly, gladly get again whenever I wanted a white wine.

****.

Benanti Etna Rosso
Nerello Mascalese • Sicily, Italy 2017.

"The Benanti Estate is located on the volcano, Mount Etna, in Sicily. This producer celebrates the native grapes of the island, nerello mascalese. The wines are similar to the great pinot noirs of the world, light, fresh, and easy drinking.

The red I got to pair with pork shoulder, burrata, and dessert. It worked beautifully with all three of these.

Another really quite nice wine, no tannin, I found it quite (too?) drinkable. Not the most complex wine, but I was pleased with it. Gladly get again.

***+.

Welcome Snack: Assorted Mixed Nuts.

Alongside our drinks we were served the welcome snack. I'm not sure if this is a permanent or temporary change, but, the welcome snack was replaced with packaged nuts.

Recall it used to be some pretty incredible options, like taro chips with caramelized onion dip, and was later replaced with a ramekin of ho-hom mixed nuts, but this was a bit of a letdown.

Peterson's brand, mixed nuts, almonds, cashews, pecans. Salted.

The nuts were fine, but pretty boring.

Coffee, Tea, Parting Gift.

Coffee (Dunkin'), espresso (Brooklyn Roasting), tea (Teapigs), were unchanged.

The parting gift however changed from Milk cookies to Chocolate Covered Cashews. A downgrade but ... I'll admit that I had not really enjoyed the Milk cookies the past few times, they often seemed older, or, more often than not, were not actually catered.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you about the chocolate covered cashews though. Because ... *they* were not catered. Sigh. How catering forgets the welcome treat so often ... the FA was telling me they forgot the gelato on a recent flight, but included the toppings, so the flight crew made apple crisp with the warm seasoned apples and granola crumble, and cream for the coffee, and people loved it. Heh.

Also, side note, the Roka chocolate served with espresso drinks is also now gone, nothing in its place.

Food

My experience was during the COVID days, so service was modified, but still full service. Full meal, the aforementioned welcome snack was just packaged, but, the meal itself was regular plated, hot and chilled dishes.

#covid, meal arrived covered.

That said, the meal did arrive covered (although it wasn't catered this way, cabin crew did plate it, and, usually, the dessert gelato arrives with the meal. I knew better though, and asked to have mine held. Too many reports of melted gelato!

Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, EVOO, Calabrian Chili Oil.

I never had a problem with the old condiment offering, salt & pepper shaker, little bottle of oil, but, well, this was a step up (although no pepper?).

Good quality large Maldon sea salt flakes (which I was quite glad to bring home), extra virgin olive oil that I had no real use for, and, chili oil that I took home. These were all great, but, really, pepper would be more practical ...

Warm Buttered Lobster Roll.

"Lemon aioli, split top roll."

Yes, I ordered lobster. On a flight. I know, right? I started here, since I wanted to start with my lightest dish, alongside my white wine.

It really *did* get good reviews, the photos I had seen looked legit, and, well, this was a bit of a novelty to me.

And well, it was certainly better than expected, and did look good, for a fligt.

Right? Look at the mix of types of lobster in here.

The lobster was really not bad! I swear. Not chewy, not fishy, it truly seemed fresh enough Slightly warm, definitely not hot, but warm.

The bun I wasn't really intending to eat anyway, but it was worse than I expected. Kinda chewy, I guess what happens when you heat it in oven? It did look fine though, a brioche style, lightly toasted inside, and soft otherwise.

Inside the bun, lining the base, was lemon aioli. Now ... this is not a traditional style obviously, usually lobster rolls are either 1) hot and buttered or 2) chilled and mixed with mayo, but, it was interesting to see a different spin on it. What was there was good, but, I did find I wanted far more.

No vegetable (good, a lobster roll, particularly warm one, doesn't usually have anything like lettuce, etc), and no garnish.

Portion size, like the burrata, was definitely substantial. This could easily be a full meal, particularly if you had a side salad or fries.

I extracted the lobster meat and aioli, threw it on top of a salad base I had with me, squeezed fresh lemon over it (from the bar, they have lemon and lime available, definitely recommended), and added my own extra mayo (everyone travels with mayo packets right?).

I enjoyed it my way, and it paired soooo well with that chardonnay blend I was loving.

***.

Burrata.

"Tomato conserva, celery leaves."

Next I moved on to my chilled dish pick, yup, burrata. It was a very serious portion for one person, particularly with the other dishes. Yes, literally, a full bulb (is that the right term for it?), of fresh, melty, lovely, fatty burrata. Oh yes.

The crostini were hard, and a throwaway element for me, but I expected this, and brought my own fresh bread.

Tomato conserva was good, quite flavorful, well seasoned. Some was of a jam-like, and there was a large hunk of seasoned roasted and preserved tomato. Not really what I pick in general, I prefer a fig or other fruit pairing, but it was good.

Celery leaf garnish did look nice, but, well, kinda lost. It was fresh though.

This had a very Tuscan vibe to it, great if you were in the mood for it, and it matched other menu items like my upcoming pork shoulder. The eastbound menu also currently has burrata, that one paired with calabrian chiles, fennel, and celery leaves, which I think I'd like slightly more, but really, I wanted something a touch more fruity, although I realize they are trying to make this more of a main dish than a starter or cheese course.

Pork Shoulder.

"Tuscan spices, crackling skin."

And finally, I finished with the other hot main dish, pork shoulder, which I also paired with the red wine.

Like the other dishes, um, no vegetables here, just, two large, thick, hunks of pork shoulder, with crackling on top and (sadly) on the side, in a light broth.

And like the others, this too was actually really quite good, and quite substantial. The protein portion was rather impressive, really, hard to see here, but there was a lot!

The pork was tender, moist, juicy, flavorful, not fatty ... yup, it was good. Cooking in broth was great idea for a flight. The light broth kept it warm, the light "tuscan spices" were a nice pairing, and it felt like a fairly light dish, besides of course the pork itself, and, well, the crackling!

The crackling were #legit. The ones on top stayed super crispy, and were kinda awesome. The kind that slightly stick to your teeth. Great flavor, great texture. Sooo good. Sadly most of mine, including big pieces, had fallen into the broth when served, so they were soft. Still very flavorful, and very good, but, I wanted the crunch! Others around me did not have this problem, so, just luck of the draw for me unfortunately.

Overall, this was yet another good dish. Not what I normally pick, I'm usually all about seafood and veggies these days, but I do appreciate a good pork shoulder, and really, I just wanted that crackling (I had seen photos).

***+, good quality and execution for a flight.

Vanilla Gelato.

"Roasted apples, caramel crumble."

The gelato was glorious. While I was sad when I read about the changes to the ice cream lineup, moving to the same vanilla gelato everywhere, rather than ice cream from a local shop in each departure city, this certainly delivered.

The gelato was just vanilla, sure, but it was perfectly creamy, had a nice vanilla flavor, and melted beautifully. They clearly source a high quality gelato and have figured out how to properly store it.

I've long lamented that JetBlue always had great ice cream, but no toppings (and, as you probably know from my past reviews, I always brought my own!), so the additions of a fruit element and a crunch element to the ice cream (different toppings eastbound or westward, and they change when the menu does) were certainly welcome. The apples were soft and nicely spiced, the crumble added great texture, but I didn't taste the caramel.

Overall, this was a delight. ****.

October 2021 Flight

Departure: BOS, 12:30 pm (scheduled)
Arrival: SFO, 4:10pm (scheduled)
Duration: 6h 20m
Seat: 2A (single suite)
Class: Mint

In October, I took the same route, just an earlier in the day flight. Amenities were unchanged, so I'll skip that review. We took off essentially on time, the flight attendants were friendly and fairly attentive, and overall, it was a fine journey.

Food & Drink

A lovely meal.

Let me just say ... I had some really stunning dishes on this flight. 2 of my 3 small dishes were restaurant quality, like, *good* restaurant quality. And I loved creating a drink pairing to go with each course: spicy margarita with the appetizer, white wine with my salad and fish, red wine with my pork shoulder, and coffee with dessert!

Menu & Ordering

On this flight, we were asked to circle our choices on the menu, and write in our drink selections on top, to "minimize contact points". I thought this was interesting given that we ordered in person on the flight just a month before. I didn't mind, it made it easy and efficient to order, as all we did is hand over the menus.

Lunch / Dinner Menu.

WELCOME SNACK

Grissini

SMALL PLATES
Choose three.

Please note the first two dishes are served chilled.

RADICCHIO SALAD / Apples, prosciutto, apple cider vinaigrette, walnuts*
FARRO SALAD / Butternut squash, parmigiano, herbs, pistachios*
LASAGNA / Mushroom ragu, fontina
BROWN BUTTER FLUKE / Capers, brussels sprouts, lemon vinaigrette
PORK SHOULDER / Red pepper mostarda, tuscan spices, cracklings

DESSERT

VANILLA GELATO Passion fruit jam, coconut shortbread crumble.

Well, geez.

First, JetBlue finally changed up the welcome snack, which had been a packet of nuts all through COVID.

And then ... I actually wanted all 5 of the main dishes. All 5! The healthy, light radicchio salad with proscuitto called out, as I love radicchio, but the farro one did too, as I really like butternut squash. And then, the lasagna, a dish that can be done pretty well on airplanes, particularly when I knew this one did not have a red sauce, and was bachamel based. People have said it is great. But then ... fluke! I know, I don't usually get fish on a plane (dried out!), but ... when's the last time I had fluke?! And it came with brussels sprouts and capers ... but then ... the pork shoulder! I thought it was great last time, with the cracklings ...

I finally decided to skip the farro/butternut salad, as that was something like what my office would serve all fall long, and the lasagna, cuz I had plenty in my freezer at home. The other 3 were the more unique offerings for me. And of course I wanted the gelato (even though the passion fruit jam gave me some pause ...)

Drinks

The drink menu was as expected, with the signature Mint Condition or seasonal Al Pastor Margarita for cocktails, beer and cider, and, where I mostly focused, wine.

Al Pastor Margarita.

"Tito’s Handmade Vodka corazón tequila blanco, pineapple, chile, lime."

But to get my journey started, a cocktail was in order, to sip alongside my appetizer.

The monthly cocktail this time, alongside the Mint Condition, was a margarita, and not just any margarita, one with chile and lime. I hoped this might make it actually interesting, so, when boredom hit on my flight ... yeah, I got it.

It was a fun change, honestly. Not the best margarita ever, and I didn't taste the pineapple, and I kinda really wanted a salted rim but ... hey, it was fun, and the chile was actually present.

**+.

Wine List.

The lineup:

SPARKLING: MICHEL GONET BLANC DE BLANCS CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE
CRISP WHITE : SOHM & KRACHER GRÜNER VELTLINER AUSTRIA 2020
CRISP WHITE: PRESQU’ILE CHARDONNAY SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 2018
LIGHT RED: BENANTI ETNA ROSSO SICILY, ITALY 2017
BIG RED: LÓPEZ DE HEREDIA VIÑA CUBILLO RIOJA, SPAIN 2012

The wine lineup was back to one sparkling, two whites, and two reds, after the summer menu introduced a rose. The chardonnay and rioja were the same that I had on my flight in August (LINK), and although the chardonnay was fine, I didn't care for the rioja. The other red option was the same as I had on this flight in December, which I enjoyed. I opted to try it again, and the white I hadn't had before.

SOHM & KRACHER GRÜNER VELTLINER AUSTRIA, 2020.

"This Grüner—from Austria’s principal white grape Grüner Veltliner—is similar to Sauvignon Blanc

but more savory, with notes of white pepper and lemon zest. "

To pair with my seafood, I selected a white wine, opting to try the one that was new to me, rather than the chardonnay, even though I had liked it before. I somewhat laughed at the VERY generous pour!

The wine was actually pretty good. Slightly sweet, but definitely not a sweet wine. Not acidic. It did go nicely with both the fish and the salad, but it got to be a bit much given the pour.

***.

BENANTI ETNA ROSSO SICILY, ITALY, 2017

"The Benanti Estate—on volcanic Mount Etna—uses only native grapes which can’t be found anywhere else, like the Nerello Mascalese. The result tastes like a Pinot Noir, with a subtle smoky, floral flavor."

Since I didn't care for the rioja that much, and I wanted a red wine to pair with my pork, the choice was easy: the one dubbed the "light red", from Italy. I had this back in December, and had liked it.

This time around, I found it ... boring? Inoffensive I suppose, but zero complexity. Pretty meh. ***.

Decaf Coffee (Dunkin').

To go alongside my dessert, and hopefully get a slight caffeine high to power through the looong timezone changing day, I asked for a decaf coffee. It was Dunkin brand, brewed fresh.

It was fine. Felt a bit flat. **+.

Food

Our first round of drinks, along with the appetizer, came soon after takeoff, and our meals were served faster than ever before on a Mint flight, within the first hour.

Welcome Snack: Grissini.

To start, we finally had something other than a bag of nuts! Not that grissini is all that exciting, and I really do miss the days of fun root veggie chips and dips, but, this was a step up from nuts. The grissini were crispy, slightly cheesy, and kinda fun, although they desperately called out for wanting a dip.

Pretty please JetBlue, can we go back to yucca or taro chips, and that insanely delicious caramelized onion dip? Please!

**+.

Lunch!

As always, meals are served on one tray, including the melty gelato. It is always a frantic prioritization question for me, particularly as I had two hot dishes (I generally go for the two salads).

I was fairly pleased with my selections, although I do wish I had heeded the reviews of others who said the fluke was not a winner, and selected the lasagna or butternut squash salad instead. The others though, both very, very good.

Radicchio Salad.

"Apples, prosciutto, apple cider vinaigrette, walnuts."

Bitter radicchio, juicy sweet apples, crunchy walnuts ... this sounded like a very well composed salad! And, bonus, prosciutto! That said, I've had some horribly overdressed salads on my JetBlue flights lately, so I was cautious.

Although it wasn't quite what I expected, I was quite pleased with the dish. My second favorite of my choices, and I'd gladly get it again.

The radicchio was large chunks, fresh, crisp, and super bitter. I loved the radicchio, although I think that it would be a more approachable dish if it was mixed with something like frisee. I appreciated the large chunks.

The apple wasn't actually fresh crisp apple slices, rather, it was roasted? Soft, kinda mushy, but, I liked it. I didn't find any walnuts, so the crunch I was expecting from those too was not present. The prosciutto was also not quite what I expected, it was crispy little bits, almost bacon-like, but, "fancy". The prosciutto had good flavor.

And then, the dressing, which at first did look possibly over-done, was quite good. I don't normally go for vinaigrettes, but this was a creamy vinaigrette, and was a nice match with the rest of the dish.

So, overall, definitely good. Crispy fresh radicchio, creamy dressing, interesting toppings ... I'd gladly get it again, and it was certainly restaurant quality. Walnuts would have improved it though.

****.

Brown Butter Fluke.

"Capers, brussels sprouts, lemon vinaigrette."

Next up, the fluke. I was happy with this dish in concept. Sure, airline fish is always dried out and overcooked, but, fluke! What a treat! And I am one of those people who actually likes brussels sprouts, so, this sounded fantastic. Although ... of course I wanted a creamy aioli or tartar sauce with it (which, yes, I brought!).

Reviews I had read said this dish was not good, and, sadly, I agreed.

The fish, very thin fillets, was very, very dry. And, yes, it really needed a sauce. I didn't find the lemon vinaigrette anywhere, and it certainly would have benefited from some acid from the lemon. It also was rather salty, and I like a high salt level. The brown butter taste was there, but it was actually just too greasy from it.

I did like the brussels sprouts, but, there was only 2 small pieces. The capers, slightly crispy, were great in concept, but also were too greasy.

So, yeah. Nothing about this I particularly cared for.

**.

Pork Shoulder.

"Red pepper mostarda, tuscan spices, cracklings."

And lastly, the pork shoulder.

I had such fond memories of the pork shoulder from earlier in the year, particularly the cracklings and very flavorful broth, so I was pretty excited for this, although I don't generally care for mostarda AND I dislike red pepper.

And ... this delivered! A nice hunk of pork, juicy, not dried out, the fat rendered decently. Pork shoulder really can be quite glorious. It was well seasoned with "tuscan spices". It didn't even need a sauce, not something I often say.

The sauce though was good too. There seemed to be both the red pepper mostarda on one side of the plate, and a lighter broth on the other, that intermingled. Both were flavorful, and the mostarda was not as thick nor acidic as others I've had, instead, it actually was more like a sweet chili sauce? It was lightly sweet. I dunked some of my fish, and my raddicchio in it as well, as the pork really was so flavorful it didn't need it, but I didn't want to "waste" the delicious sauce. I bet it would be great to dunk bread into too ...

And ... the cracklings! Crispy and so very flavorful. Loved them. Points for the plating of this dish too, with the cracklings along the side.

Overall, just a slam dunk, fantastic dish. I'd be happy getting this in a restaurant, a nice restaurant at that.

****+.

Vanilla Gelato (#1).

"Passion fruit jam, coconut shortbread crumble. "

So ... yeah. The gelato. You know I'm a huge ice cream fan, and miss the old offerings from a local ice cream shop in the city of departure, but, I do like the idea of a real composed ice cream sundae, and the gelato had always been very high quality before. That said, I've had pretty mixed success with the toppings, as most had sauces that just tended too sweet.

This one ... yeah. Actually the worst ice cream/gelato I've had on any JetBlue flight, ever. The passion fruit "jam" was a thin, watery sauce, and was shockingly bitter. Passion fruit should be sweet! And the "coconut shortbread crumble" was just ... coconut shreds?

For once, I was glad it was just a single scoop (it used to be 3!)

**.

Vanilla Gelato. (#2).

The gelato left me so sad ... that I asked for another, this time, without the passionfruit sauce. I did still want the crumble, but alas, it came as just the scoop of ice cream. I added my own sprinkles (yellow!), and caramel sauce (not pictured), because, um, yes, I had them with me.

I liked it better this way, and the gelato really was a lovely texture, it melted beautifully, and wasn't served too hard, but it didn't taste like much. I remembered it being far more vanilla forward before.

**+.

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