8 miles high

United and Chef's Table recruit top Houston chef for premium inflight meal

Chef Justin Yu will represent Houston on United flights.

Courtesy of Thorough Fare

United Airlines has a new initiative to lure travelers to fly its premium Polaris business class seating. Beginning August 1, travelers departing from 10 cities around the world — United hubs along with London, Tokyo, and São Paulo — may opt for meals created by some of the best chefs in the world through a new partnership with Chef’s Table, the acclaimed Netflix documentary series.

For flights departing from Houston, United and Chef’s Table recruited Justin Yu, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Theodore Rex, a fine dining restaurant in downtown that holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In addition, Yu and Bobby Heugel own Houston hospitality group Thorough Fare, which operates bars and restaurants including Anvil, Better Luck Tomorrow, Squable, and a new, still-unnamed restaurant in Montrose that’s slated to open this summer. A frequent traveler, Yu tells CultureMap that he jumped at the opportunity to work with United and Chef’s Table to create a premium meal that showcases Houston’s food scene.

“There’s always something slightly unexpected about Houston and its food,” Yu explains. “The choice of asking me to be the chef very much represents that. As a native Houstonian, I am very rooted in the city, but always with something slightly unexpected with our food.”

While the specific dishes won’t be revealed until closer to launch, Yu shared the creative direction that inspired his menu, which will include an appetizer, a salad, and an entree. Specifically, diners can expect to see Asian ingredients that reflect Houston’s diversity, just as they would on Theodore Rex’s menu.

“I wanted that slightly Texan touch. To me, the Houston part of it is the most important. There’s such a level of diversity. Introducing light touches of that to the meal was something I considered,” he says.

Part of the consideration was creating flavors that would hold up well when served at 30,000 feet. The meal also needs to match the level of luxury that Polaris offers.

“That use of ingredients that’s maybe something you don’t expect in an in-flight meal is something I thought about quite a bit. How do you introduce a deeper level of umami to the flavors, the possibility for a few local ingredients that are unique to the region.”

Being included in the project puts Yu in some pretty prestigious company. The roster includes Michelin star holders such as Nancy Silverton (Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles), Jenner Tomaska (Esmé in Chicago), David Barzelay (two-star Lazy Bear in San Francisco), and Tomos Parry, whose London restaurant Mountain Yu cites as the one he’s most personally excited to visit.

“Getting to know the other chefs has been really fantastic. I feel very blessed to be part of this project,” he says.

Travelers who fly in the Polaris class enjoy a number of amenities, including all-aisle-access seating, lie-flat beds, and premium bedding by Saks Fifth Avenue. Since last year, United has been updating the seats with larger entertainment screens, sliding privacy doors, and tech upgrades like Bluetooth, wireless charging, and USB-C power outlets.

"United's network spans many of the culinary capitals of the world, allowing us to authentically bring together acclaimed chefs from around the globe," said Andrew Nocella, chief commercial officer, United Airlines, in a statement. "Our collaboration with Chef's Table shows how we're leveraging our unique position as the world's largest airline* to deliver restaurant-quality moments in the sky. Our United Polaris international business class travelers are going to love the new dishes coming later this year."

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hail to the chef

Food & Wine's Best New Chef list includes Gulf Coast-obsessed Houstonian

Photo by Ally Hardgrave

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A Houston chef is basking in the national spotlight. Food & Wine magazine has named Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition executive chef Lucas McKinney to its 2026 class of Best New Chefs.

Announced Tuesday, September 15, McKinney is one of 14 chefs nationally — and the only Texan — to receive the prestigious award. He joins a roster of local Best New Chef alumni that includes Michael Cordua (Churrascos, Americas), Bryan Caswell (Reef, Latuli), Chris Shepherd (Underbelly, Georgia James), Justin Yu (Oxheart, Theodore Rex), and Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemó), whose win in 2023 made him the first Houston chef to be named a Best New Chef since Yu in 2014.

Open since 2023, Josephine’s is a Gulf Coast-inspired seafood restaurant in Midtown. Named for McKinney’s great-grandmother Althea Josephine, its menu is inspired in part McKinney’s family history in the seafood business. It sources ingredients from across the Gulf Coast, including blue crab, redfish, oysters, and local produce.

Both Josephine’s and McKinney have already earned significant awards, including both Rising Star Chef of the Year and Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, a Rising Star award from Star Chefs magazine, and a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“I don't know how to put it into words,” McKinney said in a statement. “Josephine's would be nothing without our team, the farmers and fishermen we’ve built relationships with, and our guests who support us. To be able to do something this big with Gulf Coast cooking – the fish we grew up eating, the crabs we grew up cooking, the oysters we shucked at home – means the world.”

McKinney has come a long way from his time as a line cook at Georgia James and a chef de cuisine at Hay Merchant. He credits Shepherd for pushing him to think about the future and what kind of chef he wanted to be.

"I didn’t know how big a moment that would be," McKinney tells CultureMap about his time at Hay Merchant. "The trust they put in me to have fun and cook. I look back, Chris would say, 'what do you want to cook?' I’d say a 'divey oyster bar.' Seven years later, we’re here in New York on the biggest stage with the best people. I’ll come back home on Thursday to shuck oysters."

In an essay on the Food & Wine website, Shepherd praises McKinney — who worked for him at Georgia James, Hay Merchant, and Georgia James Tavern — for the way the chef has embraced his Gulf Coast roots at Josephine’s. Shepherd praises many of the restaurant’s signature dishes, such as smoked red fish dip, gumbo, and Viet-Cajun crawfish, which sell “a few thousand pounds a week in peak season.” Shepherd notes that McKinney’s talents extend beyond his cooking.

“Chefs, staff, and diners are drawn to McKinney, not just because of how delicious his food is but because he is generous with what he knows,” Shepherd writes. “Spend enough time at Josephine’s, and you may find him pulling up a chair to explain the best way to eat a hard shell blue crab; I’ve seen him do it. In that moment, he’s passing along a Gulf Coast tradition that has been in his family for generations.”

Speaking to CultureMap from New York, Shepherd says McKinney came onto Food & Wine's radar after participating in last year's Southern Smoke Festival. Many of his fellow BNC alumni dined at Josephine's either before or after the festival.

"For me, every time you see someone who worked for you succeed, it’s a beautiful moment. All I want for them is to follow their dreams. It’s pretty amazing," Shepherd says.

Six of this year's BNC recipients, including McKinney, will participate in this year's Southern Smoke Festival, which is taking place at Discovery Green on Saturday, October 3. Southern Smoke shared which chefs are coming and what they're cooking in an email. Tickets for the festival are available here.

Food & Wine has named Best New Chefs since 1988. To be eligible, chefs must have led a kitchen for five years or less. The magazine’s editors travel across the country to scout applicants. Finalists undergo background checks, including anonymous surveys by the restaurant’s staff to evaluate the culture at their businesses. Previous recipients include culinary superstars such as Thomas Keller, David Chang, Tom Colicchio, and more.

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