Airspace Lounge, San Diego

This is cooperated by American Airlines, but if you get in
under auspices of American, you get all the bad wine and
domestic beer you can drink. If you get in through Airspace
(which has an agreement with American Express), you get a
$10 chit for food or beverage, which you can put toward
premium product, whose price is jacked up past that on the
economy, so a wine that would go for $8-10 a glass outside
costs $13-14 here, which if you cash in your chit means
it goes for $3 or 4. After which you can fall back on the
free plonk. I usually give away my coupon card and start
off with the cheap stuff, alternating with Coke products
from a self-serve bar nozzle. Also for free, crappy airline
club snacks, pretzels, trail mix, and the like, also fresh
fruit including some of the best oranges in the world, I
swear. Lots of commercial cookies and sweets. I don't go
out of my way to come here, but it's welcome when needed.

Centurion Lounge, Philadelphia

I actually will take a change of route to come to some
lounges, and this, along with Polaris in Newark and
the Centurion in Houston, is one of them.

It's sort of hidden away, its elevator down an unsigned
corridor, perhaps to avoid the situation of the one in
Miami, which is well marked, and whose desk staff are
constantly being bombarded with "I have the American
Express gold card, isn't that the highest you can have?"
and "Don't you take Priority Pass or Lounge Buddy?" I
have heard with my own ears both of these.

As it is, I have access; despite the name, you don't
have to be Centurion ($2500 annual fee) to get in -
just platinum, much more easily gotten, and I qualified
for a special short-time offer and so am totally legit.
After a quick scan of my boarding pass and card, I was
welcomed in and went straight to the bar and buffet,
which are strangely in the middle of the club, so hard
to avoid. Here there is no effort to hide the goods.

I myopically surveyed the buffet counter, which had the
same pilaf, lamb koftas, and veggies as usual, so I
didn't partake and went to the dessert area, where
the offerings were as usual as well but this time in
no danger of running out. I had three of each.

Passionfrut malabi is a milk custard topped with a tart
tropical fruit syrup and garnished with pomegranate
seeds - one of my favorites, as the texture and taste
of the substrate remind me of hsin ren doufu; three
servings is not a whole lot, as it's served in large
shot glasses, but on this occasion was enough to give
me a mild distress afterward.

The tahini shortbread is a wonder and will keep me
connecting through Philly at least until my membership
expires in 2024, especially as the club now offers
Remy Martin VSOP as well as Hennessy VS.

Tehina Shortbread Cookies
categories: dessert, Israeli, Philadelphian
yield: 1 batch

7 oz unsalted butter, room temp
1 c sugar
1 c tehina
2 c all-purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
1 pn kosher salt

Combine the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on
medium speed or in a large bowl with a hand mixer
and mix until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add
the tehina and continue mixing until incorporated.

Whisk together dry ingredients. Transfer to the
tehina mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate
1 hr to overnight or freeze up to a few months.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets
with parchment paper. Drop the batter by the
heaping tablespoon onto the prepared sheets. Bake
until the cookies are light brown around the edges
and set, about 15 min. Let cool on the sheets for
10 min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely. The cookies can be stored at room
temperature in an airtight container for 1 week.

Michael Solomonov, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking
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