In between opening a cantina this weekend, launching an incubator series, celebrating 25 years of Dahlia Lounge, and generally running all things Tom Douglas, Seattle's biggest-name chef has partnered up with Seattle's hometown airline.

Starting December 1, Alaska flights departing from Seattle after 9:30am (and at least 2.5 hours long) will serve an entree designed by T-Doug. First up is an $8 brisket chili. Per the Alaska release: "smoky chunks of brisket in a mildly spicy ancho chile tomato sauce. It's topped with melted cheese and a charred pepper, and served over a baked Yukon gold potato."

Sounds vastly preferable to airline chicken. And like something technically feasible to pull off on an airplane without turning to rubber or mush. Rest assured the chili is free of beans—it's being served in an enclosed space, after all.

A rotation of T-Doug entrees will arrive on those Alaska flights in early 2015. Alaska cabins are actually pretty well stocked with Washington brands, from tiny bottles of Sun Liquor to cheese plates full of Beecher's and Oregon Tillamook.

Douglas isn't the first prominent chef to partner up with a locally based airline; the late Chicago chef Charlie Trotter did menus for United, Joel Robuchon and Anne-Sophie Pic are among the Michelin-starred chefs who have kept Air France's food correct, and Heston Blumenthal did an in-flight menu for British Airways for the 2012 summer Olympics that included rillette of mackerel and potted braised beef. Which makes my dream of some in-flight Serious Pie seem downright feasible.