Hawaiian Air First Class, LAS-HNL

Fortune smiled, and the Hawaiian Air Miles had piled up, qualifying me for a free Economy Class flight to Las Vegas, and a free First Class return flight with all the resultant amenities.

The best thing in Hawaiian Air's First Class, of course, is the meal. It's created by Chef Chaowasaree, aka "Chef Chai" of Honolulu's Pacifica Restaurant.

On the return flight, we were offered an appetizer choice of a Cheese Plate with Crackers, or aThai Beef Salad with Garlic Vinaigrette.

I selected the cheese plate, which consisted of a very mild Camembert, and a green-marbled white cheese that nobody could seem to identify.

According to flight attendant Charlen, everybody in the crew tried, but couldn't. All they could come up with was a guess that they THOUGHT there were bits of rosemary in the cheese.

It's actually Sage Derby Cheddar (I did a Google search and found some pix on the Internet).

For our entrée, they gave me two options: Grilled Chicken with Pineapple and Tomato Salsa on Saffron Chickpea Rice, or Tri-Color Pasta with King Paola Sauce, Grilled Portobello Mushroom, Cherry Tomato and Broccoli Tips.

I had the chicken, and I'm glad I did. That dish was delicious. It kind of reminded me of a dish I sometimes make – breaded chicken with mango-pineapple salsa.

It's too bad the wife couldn't be with me. We usually take the two entrées and sample each other's dish. She'd have taken the beef salad and tri-color pasta, I'm sure. Or, if she took the chicken, I'd have taken the pasta.

On the dessert cart was a Honey Almond Cheesecake. Good lord, it was on the high side of amazing, almost like a crème brûlée crust on top of the cheesecake. Yummy, yessir.