Etihad Airways brings fine dining to Mount Everest

Etihad Airways Inflight Chef, Sanjay Thakur, has broken the world record for creating and serving dinner to guests at the highest pop-up restaurant in the world, located at Everest Advanced High Camp. 

Accompanied by fellow chef Soundararajan Palaniappan, Mr. Thakur completed the grueling mission earlier this month, reaching the high camp and serving the meal at an altitude of 5,585 metres above sea level.

Mr. Thakur’s record-breaking achievements were celebrated at Etihad’s headquarters recently with a special ceremony attended by Etihad senior management and staff. 

Commenting at the event, Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Sanjay exhibits the true Etihad spirit and we are thrilled to welcome him back home and congratulate him whole-heartedly for this epic achievement. We are all very proud of him.” 

The world record-holding chefs prepared for months to make the attempt, including acclimatisation and fitness training, and complex logistics to ensure they had the permit, gear and transportation they needed to prepare the meal and welcome guests.

 “Coming from the Himalayas, I’ve grown up in awe of these mountains and it has been a huge personal achievement to combine my love of food and cooking with a remarkable project to promote sustainability and to help protect this unique part of the world,” adds Mr. Thakur.

In addition to breaking a world record, the goal of the challenge was to raise awareness of sustainability in the region, with all proceeds being donated to Altruistic Hands, a Nepal-based charity.

The meal itself included ingredients collected from the alpine environment around them on the mountains. Staying true to the theme of sustainability, the team used solar energy to cook the meal, served on lava rock plates.