TBA
United
United Airlines MileagePlus Exclusives at Darling by Sean Brock in West Hollywood provided to be an excellent meal at a lovely venue.
Tiny corn fritters, some sort of fancy tomato with hard boiled egg (not a deviled egg), a solid selection of drinks (including non-alcoholic ones), and then on to dinner itself. Pickled shrimp that were a great starter, paired with a more average tahini and cucumber. A very good salad and even better cornbread, then a main course duo of cod and pork loin, both of which were top-notch, along with a plate of squash atop cornbread mash. The sides got a bit repetitive with the mains tho, with the cornbread mash, another side of white beans, and a creamed Carolina rice that, while all distinctive and tasty, were just a bit too close to each other in appearance. Some yellow corn with a bit of mushroom that came with the pork loin honestly would have almost stood on their own, ditto with the cod that had a bit of shellfish with it.
Final course was dessert, a peanut tart, peach cobbler and ice crea, and fudge with walnuts that were all American-sweet and hence a bit too sweet for me. Rest of the guests at my table seemed to love them, which I think more says who the target audience is than anything else.
Speeches and airline talk themselves were not too heavy, headlined by Jarad Fisher, president of MileagePlus and vice president at United Airlines, several other executives and leadership including Athena Nestoras, head of brand media strategy at United, and then a bunch from the MileagePlus team that more directly handle these events, including Jeff Garrett. Chef Sean Brock was also present, which, like Jarad, was a pleasant surprise as neither was originally expected to attend. United's chief pilot at LAX, Captain Mike Bettencourt, was also a wonderful host, well-versed in his experience as a pilot and sharing a great deal in his life as a pilot; we prodded gently about future routes, product improvements, and whatnot, but that clearly not something he was willing to talk about (or was just straight up not in his area of expertise).
All in all, quite a fun event to attend, and getting to catch up not only with Jarad, but with fellow frequent fliers Larry, Joe, and Sue is always fun.