Time to spread a little love for Delta: The revamped food court in Delta’s Terminal D at LaGuardia Airport has iPad menus with fancy food. This may seem insignificant, unless you’ve ever spent time hanging out in this terrible terminal with no plugs for recharging and nothing to eat but stale trail mix.
The iPads, installed three weeks ago, are in the Bisoux restaurant explained by team leader Mike Khorosh as French country cooking. That’s Mike in the photo explaining how customers can use the iPads to scroll through the selections, tap in their orders and swipe credit cards to pay for their food. Later, I found myself worrying about all the servers the iPads probably replaced, but scrolling through the iPad was fun, like an updated menu from the ‘70s with close-up color photos.
I didn’t have time to eat, but the choices sound promising. There are dishes like country pate with cornichons and hard-boiled egg; goat cheese and fennel tart, cold poached salmon with watercress and salsa verde; trout with brown butter, lemon and capers; and crispy duck confit. Wow. Crispy duck confit in the terminal, but on the plane I have to ask for two packages of peanuts.
In addition to Bisoux, the terminal has a centrally located Bar Brace (as in Brache) with homemade Panini and bruschetta, antipasti, gelato, and an illy coffee bar (no kidding). The menu was put together by NYC Chef Jason Denton, who has a cookbook out called Simple Italian Snacks. The Panini sound good, offering combinations such as sun-dried tomato pesto, pickled onion, rucolo and smoked mozzarella for $10. (Rucolo is a peppery green like arugula.) The bar also serves wine, beer, and Italian sodas. Cocktails (lots of options) are $13. So a cocktail and a Panini equal the $25 you save by hauling your own suitcase on the plane.
In that case, you might be better off tweeting instead of eating. The revamped terminal also has lots of plug-ins for charging electronics,
organized in several rows with counter-high stools and cylinder lamp shades that made me want to download an early episode of The Jetsons. When I walked by, every seat was taken.
