JetBlue is refreshing its Mint menus with dishes from two acclaimed New York restaurants, Crown Shy and Birdee. JetBlue already serves some of the best food offered by a U.S. airline, though I remain slightly skeptical whenever an airline promotes a celebrity-chef partnership. Fortunately, I have a Mint flight coming up soon and will be able to judge the results for myself.
JetBlue Debuts New Mint Menus From Crown Shy And Birdee
JetBlue has introduced a new collection of Mint menus developed in partnership with New York restaurants Crown Shy and Birdee. The new meals are available onboard beginning today, July 31, 2026, on select domestic and transatlantic Mint routes.
According to the JetBlue announcement, the menus were developed with Kent Hospitality Group (a restaurant platform) and are intended to bring a distinctly “New York flavor” to the airline’s premium cabin.
Crown Shy is a Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant serving modern American cuisine, while Birdee is a Brooklyn bakery and all-day café known for pastries and elevated comfort food.
What Is On JetBlue’s New Mint Menu?
Breakfast selections from Birdee include:
- Strawberries and cream croissant
- Mochi waffle with butter and maple syrup
- Bacon, egg, and cheese on a Parker House roll with harissa aioli
- Shakshuka with cherry pepper relish and feta
Lunch and dinner dishes from Crown Shy include:
- Warm Parker House roll with olive labne spread
- Crown Shy chicken with citrus-marinated thigh and hot sauce vinaigrette
- Pork katsu with hot cherry glaze and scallions
- Razor clam chowder with roasted carrots and thyme
- Sweet potato lasagnette with pecorino cream and chervil
Desserts include a chocolate tart with sabayon and port wine syrup, strawberry olive oil shortcake, and a warm Birdee chocolate chip cookie.
JetBlue will continue offering vegetarian, nut-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free choices.
Additional restaurant partnerships are already planned. Red Hook Tavern and Hometown Bar-B-Que are scheduled to join the Mint dining rotation in early 2027.
JetBlue Already Sets A High Bar For Airline Food
I am always a little suspicious when an airline announces a partnership with a famous chef or trendy restaurant. A talented chef can design a brilliant menu on the ground, but airline catering is a very different exercise. Food must be prepared in bulk, chilled, transported, reheated in an aircraft oven, and served at altitude. The chef’s name on the menu does not necessarily mean the passenger will receive anything resembling the restaurant experience, making it a risky partnership.
That said, JetBlue has earned the benefit of the doubt.
I have repeatedly praised the food in Mint. On my last Mint flight from Los Angeles to Newark, the meal service was once again the highlight of the flight.
My JetBlue Mint flight from New York to London also featured delicious food, including steak, lasagna, salad, cheese, and dessert. JetBlue consistently demonstrates that thoughtful, flavorful food is possible on a U.S. carrier.
Even years ago, I argued that JetBlue offered one of the best domestic business class dinners in the country.
The restaurant partners may change, but JetBlue’s catering has remained remarkably consistent…ultimately, it’s about the budget, not about the chef’s name.
CONCLUSION
JetBlue’s new Crown Shy and Birdee menus are now rolling out across select Mint routes, with an appealing selection of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert dishes.
The menu sounds excellent, though airline celebrity-chef partnerships should always be judged by what actually reaches the tray table, not by the restaurant name printed on the menu.
Fortunately, I have another JetBlue Mint flight coming up. I will report back…
Crown Shy is a legitimately good restaurant – good for B6 for partnering with it. Its former head chef was high up with Eleven Madison Park and Nomad and then went out on his own – unfortunately he died a few years ago suddenly of a heart attack at 45 – was sad to read about.
*sigh* Indeed. That was a shock and a huge loss. Crown Shy, and its sister property at the top of 70 Pine, Saga, are each excellent. 3 Michelin Stars between them (1, 2). JetBlue made some really good decisions here. Well done.
Matthew,
I am even more skeptical than you are about these dubious celebrity chef-airline “partnerships”.
Lets get real . . . . they are licensing agreements. Strawberries and a cream croissant will never get a Michelin star.
I’d ask the airlines to abandon this sillinous and stick to food scientists who know what will be appealing after running the gauntlet of a 737’s convection oven. Hint – it is not the dreadful, overly lean, chalky chicken breast AA served me from PHL to PDX a couple of weeks ago.
jetBlue Mint has often had great food, so, I don’t think your complaints really apply to B6 so much. American? United? Yeah… they deserve some constructive criticsm.
Indeed. But B6 is what this immediate post is about, hence B6 being the subject is the immediate critique. Airlines with superior food have superior caterers, not bogus celebrity chef arrangements.
Agree that if you put catering budget towards something it matters more than the partnership. That said, as someone who has been to Crown Shy multiple times and really enjoys that chicken with the hot sauce dish, it’s not unappealing. Does any of this make me want to endure JFK T5 where mint transcon customers don’t even get access to the one B6 lounge that exists, such as it is? Not really.
Had two dishes on AA recently that were great. The Pecan Lodge BBQ platter out of DFW was legitimately good and incredibly flavorful. And even the beef wellington preorder – it’s pretty good – I think Matt enjoyed it as well. The vegetables in particular were tasty – asparagus, parsnips…
I don’t think anyone is under the delusion that airplane food is ever going to be exceptional, but I do appreciate when an effort is made.
We in Civilization told Michelin to go pound fleur de sal when Alinea lost its third star last year. So this doesn’t impress me one bit, just like everything else B6 and the horrifying urban hell that’s it’s the “hometown airline” of. The only salvation of the Noo Yawk food scene is Per Se, and that’s only because Keller has The French Laundry.
Kudos to B6!
The problem with JetBlue is their service isn’t consistent and sometimes you run into bad FAs. They also don’t really rotate their menu on Mint. I flew a few times in the last 6 months out of JFK and it was also the same food on Mint.
I am 100% in agreement with the paragraph starting, “I am always a little suspicious.” @jfhscott has it right, too, I think. I love “fancy” food, but I eat it at the restaurant. I don’t get folks who order high-end food for deliver. There’s a lot in the comfort food category that reheats well and shouldn’t be hard or pricey to cater (though I’m no expert on the last too issues). If one of my options was turkey, stuffing, mashed, gravy, and veg, I’d probably grab it every time. A simple pasta with bolognese, a nice beef stew….
BA’s “Christmas Dinner” is basically that – it’s not bad! Always thought there should be a Thanksgiving Dinner restaurant chain – everyone loves the thanksgiving meal. Might not do well in the heat of the summer though.
In the US, you can try a Bob Evans anytime. Indeed, look for places with a high average age of customer.