British chef Chris Staines will provide the culinary introduction to the new year for Lufthansa passengers, creating innovative menus for First and Business Class passengers on long-haul flights during the months of January and February.

Passengers travelling in First Class will have a chance to sample his rabbit terrine with English mustard sauce and cucumber relish as a starter, and choose, for example, between fish & chips (fried cod with sauce remoulade, mushy peas and potatoes) and fillet of beef Wellington with truffle jus, carrots and broccoli as a main dish.

In Business Class, Staines will treat passengers to a varied menu including fruity chicken salad with Stilton cream and almonds as an hors d�oeuvre, followed, for instance, by fettucine pasta with creamy mushroom sauce and white Cheddar.

�I am very happy that Chris Staines is to become the first UK chef to join the growing number of Lufthansa�s Star Chefs. He will be showcasing the best of British cuisine to our long-haul passengers every day as they cross the oceans and mountains of the world. It is fitting that food from the home country of our European headquarters is now being recognised in this way,� says Karsten Benz, Lufthansa�s Vice President Sales & Services Europe.

For several years now, British cuisine, which in the past did not always receive the recognition it deserves, has succeeded in casting off its more negative image and now enjoys an excellent reputation. This change in image is due largely to a new generation of young, British chefs � with Chris Staines leading the way. As head chef at Foliage restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel, London, he also took over the existing Michelin star, and at 27 thus became one of the youngest star chefs ever. For the past six years, he has retained his star and in the luxurious ambience of the five-star hotel.

Staines himself attributes his success to his overriding ambition � awakened at an early age � to become a chef. Even when he was still at school, he worked as a kitchen boy in restaurants, watching imaginative dishes being created from simple ingredients. During that period and his later training under such renowned top chefs as Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White, he learned to recreate typical British dishes, which had rarely been reinterpreted, in an entirely novel way and to perfectly combine traditional tastes with modern cooking methods.

Lufthansa Star Chef programme Since January 2000, Lufthansa has taken its First and Business Class passengers to new culinary heights. Imaginative menus, created by top chefs from all over the world, make a Lufthansa flight a truly heavenly experience. To date, such international celebrities as Harald Wohlfahrt (Baiersbronn), Dieter M�ller (Bergisch Gladbach), Frank Zlomke (Paarl, South Africa), Daniel Boulud (New York) and Paul Bocuse (Lyon) have been engaged as Lufthansa �Star Chefs�. In addition, since the beginning of 2005, internationally renowned chefs have created special menus on selected long-haul routes from Germany to reflect the culinary tastes and traditions of the respective destination.

Foliage Foliage is the signature restaurant of Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, long recognized as one of London�s grandest luxury hotels, with service and facilities that surpass even the highest of expectations. The prestigious hotel offers 198 luxurious rooms and suites, magnificent views of Knightsbridge and Royal parkland, two award-winning restaurants including an outdoor summer terrace, a buzzing bar and exclusive spa.

Lufthansa Lufthansa is the world�s leading airline in terms of international passenger numbers. In 2007 alone, more than 56 million customers chose to fly with the airline. In the winter schedule, Lufthansa is operating more than 6,600 flights per week to 194 destinations in 79 countries with a fleet comprising more than 500 aircraft. Working decisively to provide sustainable mobility, over the next years the most modern and fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8 will be added to the Lufthansa fleet. Lufthansa offers the most wide-ranging aviation portfolio from competitive budget tickets starting from �49 (Economy Class one way including taxes, fees and charges), to an award-winning international Business and First Class, up to the unique Lufthansa Private Jet and the exclusive First Class Terminal facility.

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For further information please contact: Lufthansa AG Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Aage D�nhaupt Rosanna Crawley Director Corporate Communications Europe Director of Communications Tel. +44 20 8750 3415 Tel. +44 20 7201 3609 Fax +44 20 8759 1987 Fax. +44 20 7201 3701 E-mail: aage.duenhaupt@dlh.de rcrawley@mohg.com http://media.lufthansa.com www.mandarinoriental.com/london