Europe
I don't quite understand all the branding with Akira Back, but Lilli by Akira Bac at the Montcalm Mayfair is nice enough for a hotel restaurant, and suitably dignified in execution, as fits the hotel. Skipped the buffet as it looked a bit small, went for the full English breakfast instead. This was well-executed and tasty, although not the best I've had. Still a solid way to start the day, though, and then it was time to start the journey home.
The Elizabeth Line is great when you're close to it, and a bit annoying due to limited frequencies if you're not. Montcalm Mayfair is actually pretty convenient to it, so it worked out well this morning (vs. earlier in the trip), and all too soon I was back at Heathrow Airport. An unusually busy time at security screening meant no time for a lounge visit, but that was okay as it was definitely time to get home.
The crew was friendly and professional, the United x Chefs' Table collaboration with Chef Tomos Parry was more ambitious than the Chef Nancy Silvertone one out of LAX, although unfortunately it was no more successful in execution. Lobster and lamb both lacking in flavor, but I do commend the ambition. Ice cream sundae, however, was much worse, looking like it had partially melted and re-frozen, very sad. Which seemed to fit the theme, as the pre-arrival meal (some sort of fancy salad) at the end of the flight was no better.
In-between the unfortunate meals was a somewhare more lengthly flight than normal from London to Los Angeles. According to the pilot it was due to winds, and we ended up straight over Scotland, then the Faroe Islands, then the eastern edge of Iceland. Clouds blocked the view for much of the first leg, but as we approached Greenland, the clouds lifted, and in the few minutes before the crew forced the windows dimmed, we were treated to some spectacular views of the eastern coast of Greenland. I have no idea if the glaciers that UA 935 flew over had names, but the long streaks of ice and dirt were beautiful, and the crumbling edge of one glacier as it hit the Atlantic Ocean were a reminder on why I enjoy window seats.