The Wall Street Journal - 14.11.2019

R6| Thursday, November 14, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

BEST AIRPORTS 2019

BYALISONSIDER

Ulele, left, a restaurant

at the Tampa, Fla.,

airport, serves avocado

toast with eggs, below.

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL GLENWOOD

FROM TOP: TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT; ULELE RESTAURANT; DELAWARE NORTH (2)

BYALINADIZIK

packaged for grab-n-go shelves in

the market, says Vito Buscemi,

vice president of brands and con-

cepts for Delaware North, a Buf-

falo, N.Y.-based concessions oper-

ator that opened the food hall.

DISTINCTIVE DESIGN

Food isn’t the only attraction.

Airport eateries also are enlisting

distinctive design to draw in trav-

elers. JCJ Architecture designed a

ceiling of 8,000 beer bottles for

Union Street Gastro Pub at San

Francisco International Airport.

The installation was intended to

create a sense of place inside the

terminal, says JCJ’s design princi-

pal Rick Marencic who worked

with SSP North America, a con-

cessions operator, on the project,

which was completed in 2016.

For LoLo American Kitchen at

Minneapolis-St. Paul International

Airport, Mr. Marencic brought in

an oversize bar made of local

quartzite.

DESTINATION DINING

“Airport food has definitely

evolved,” says Ramon Lo, publisher

of Airport Experience News. “Res-

taurants are creating a lot of buzz

at airports.”

Airports in Detroit, Pittsburgh

and Tampa have been issuing

passes that give non-fliers access

to concessions and shops located

past security. Blair Driscoll, a 36-

year-old medical office adminis-

trator, tried out Tampa’s all-ac-

cess program this spring. Ulele, a

local restaurant that is booked

weeks in advance, last year

opened an airport location where

Ms. Driscoll and her husband had

drinks. “It was fun and weird,”

Ms. Driscoll says. “We liked the

people-watching.”

At Miami International Air-

port, Helen Nie, 23, took a 30-

minute detour and trekked to an-

other terminal to try Spring

Chicken. The southern-style

chicken sandwich stall is an out-

post of the Spring Chicken res-

taurant in Coral Gables, Fla. “If

there’s a good fried chicken place,

I’m going to try it,” says Ms. Nie,

a New York-based management

consultant. Her verdict: “It was

pretty good.”

F

ood in airports has become more appetizing in

recent years. But hungry travelers still favor

burgers and pizza from national chains over lo-

cal artisanal offerings.

Roughly 67% of passenger spending while in

airports is on food and beverages, according to Air-

port Experience News. The Boca Raton, Fla., trade

magazine and event organizer studied 2018 data

from the country’s top 50 airports by passenger

spending and estimated that food and beverage

sales increased 6.2% from the previous year.

Airports are tweaking their culinary lineups, from grab-n-go op-

tions to local specialties in eye-catching settings for sit-down

drinks or dining. Going beyond national chains with new technol-

ogy and creative offerings attracts a larger portion of travelers

willing to spend on airport meals, says Michael Baldwin, associate

vice president of concessions at Dallas/Fort Worth International

Airport. “We try to have the right balance to meet everyone’s taste

buds,” he says.

What’s on the menu for 2020? Food halls with fare from local

restaurants. Innovative design that draws in diners and encour-

ages them to linger. Destination restaurants that attract guests

who aren’t holding boarding passes.

Blending familiar and new offerings is a delicate calibration,

particularly when price is a factor—and every traveler doesn’t

want to be an adventurous eater. Pretzel-shop franchiser “Auntie

Anne’s continues to be a favorite,” says Stephanie Havard, executive

vice president of restaurant development at HMSHost , a conces-

sions operator in Bethesda, Md.

For the past two years, national brands represented about 60% to

70% of food sales at U.S. airports, according to HMSHost. Airports are

experimenting with national and local names to maximize revenue,

Ms.Havardsays.

Tampa International Air-

port in Florida has 25 local

eateries and 17 outposts of

national brands. Revenue

for the airport’s year-old

concessions program is al-

most evenly split between

the two categories, accord-

ing to airport spokes-

woman Emily Nipps.

On business trips, Pu-

nam Bhatia, who is 38

years old and a vegetarian,

says she no longer orders

“the Whopper without the

beef patty in it.” Heading

home to Dallas from Las

Vegas recently, Ms. Bhatia,

who owns a home-décor

business, had a salad with

tofu and quinoa at McCa-

rran International Airport.

“It was literally the best

salad,” she says.

But bad experiences—

and jarring prices—have

some travelers wary of bou-

tique outlets. After spend-

ing $20 on “a breakfast

sandwich that was just gar-

bage” while waiting to

board in Atlanta this sum-

mer, Gabriel Babcock has

sworn off local eateries in

airports during his monthly

trips around the country.

“I’m just done,” the 35-year-

old Chicago bartender says.

“I’m going to McDonald’s or

whatever fast-food burger

place I recognize. I’ve never

had a stale burger.”

FOOD HALLS

Food halls that mimic their city counterparts are be-

coming a draw, Ms. Havard says. Early next year,

HMSHost will open Boston Public Market in terminal

C of Boston Logan International Airport. The food

hall features six vendors offering fare such as ramen

from Noodle Lab, lobster rolls from Red’s Best and

falafel from Inna’s Kitchen.

Last year, the Denver Central Market food hall

opened at Denver International Airport, with out-

posts of four local restaurants. In one, chefs assem-

ble sushi; another offers fresh cooked rotisserie

chicken. Food is prepared throughout the day and

Local food

is popular—

but so are

national

chains

Offerings at the

Denver Central

Market food hall,

right, include

sushi, chicken

and pizza, below.

THEMENU

GETSAN

OVERHAUL

Sprinting through the terminal,

heaving a suitcase onto the security

belt and wrangling a stroller into an

overhead bin are no longer the only

ways to burn calories at the airport.

Airports are adding new amenities

to get passengers moving, even just a

little. Some have opened yoga rooms

or posted mile-markers to help pas-

sengers log a power-walk during

layovers. Denver International Airport started offering “Well-

ness Wednesday” activities, including Zumba and yoga

classes in an open-air plaza adjacent to the airport.

But bringing a gym to the airport is a challenging

proposition. Passengers are reluctant to break a

sweat without a place to rinse off, which can mean

expensive plumbing and setting aside space for show-

ers. While some frequent fliers pass through the same

airports again and again, many people fly only a few

times a year, making them tough customers for mem-

berships, classes and personal training.

Some travelers say they like the idea of getting their

blood pumping before hunkering down in a cramped seat for

several hours. Chris McComb, a mechanical engineer from

State College, Pa., says he sometimes uses the airport chapel

to do a bit of stretching, if it’s empty. Mr. McComb is a yoga afi-

cionado, so he was pleasantly surprised when he found the yoga

room at Chicago’s Midway International Airport after a friend dropped

him off early. “I’d been on a business trip, eating terrible things and

probably drinking too much and sitting around all day,” he says.

Merce Carroll, who lives in the Bay Area, was about to hop on a

cross-country flight earlier this year when she stumbled upon one

of the two yoga rooms at San Francisco International Airport. She

found a pilot doing sun salutations.

“I was there pretty early, so I spent my entire time rolling out and

stretching,” she says. “I think it really helps when you’re going to be

sitting on a plane for four-plus hours,” she says.

The yoga rooms are a far cry from full-service

gyms at some airports in Asia. Ms. Carroll says her

family has made a point of stopping at a gym at the

airport in Taipei on a layover en route to the Philip-

pines and Vietnam.

Some frequent fliers lament that there aren’t

more exercise options like that in the U.S. “I’m fre-

quently traveling and lose whole days where I can’t

do any exercise,” says Kristina Libby, who travels

most weeks for her job in science and research. “If

there was a gym at JFK, I’d join.”

Cynthia Sandall, co-founder of Roam Fitness,

says her company is in talks to build gyms at sev-

eral U.S. airports, trying to con-

vince them that gyms are an im-

portant part of new wellness

programs. Roam opened its first

location at Baltimore/Washing-

ton International Airport in 2017.

A second, smaller facility in

partnership with XPresSpa in

San Francisco, is slated to open

in March.

Travelers can buy a $25 day

pass or a $30 per-month member-

ship. The facility lends out Lulu-

lemon workout clothing and

Brooks running shoes for people

who have checked their bags or

forgot their gear. The Baltimore

gym includes four showers.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Interna-

tional Airport has plotted out a

1.4-mile walking path for trav-

elers who want to log some

steps before taking off. Las Ve-

gas’s McCarran International Air-

port offers a downloadable map

to help people track walking

paths.

Some fitness buffs seek out

McCarran’s gym, ZeroLevel Fit-

ness. But almost 80% of its busi-

ness comes from people who work

at airport businesses or entities,

said Scott Kichline, assistant di-

rector of aviation for commercial

and business development at the

airport. “Far more passengers

find the Shake Shack and get a

burger,”hesays.

YourLong

LayoverCould

Use30Minutes

OfCardio

$25

Costofaday

pass at Roam

Fitness’s gym at

Baltimore/

Washington In-

ternational Air-

port, which

opened in 2017.