Alan listed every food outlet on every concourse, including the Chesapeake Roasting Company, which I couldn't remember even though I got a latte there until I went back and reread his post (under Plane Food).

When I got through security I headed for Quiznos, which I remembered he said was good if you wanted something healthy. What I hadn't counted on was that at 6 p.m. the line was going to be down the hall. Ditto for McDonald's. I grabbed a latte and headed for my gate, noting that a Greene Turtle will be opening on concourse D soon.

So. My first paid-for meal on an airplane. The six choices listed in Hemisphere Magazine sounded enticing. (I can dream.) What was on offer last night was a turkey and cheese wrap or a Chinatown Sesame Chicken Salad, which I would have had except the picture showed it featured a little pile of bright green previously frozen peas. I really don't like cold frozen peas in a salad.

The wrap (tightly wrapped in plastic) was ice cold, so I decided to let it warm up while I ate the Sun Chips it came with and drank a cheap -- actually not so cheap at $5 -- Chardonnay (rounded pear notes with a plastic cup finish). The sandwich label said it was made by Trader Vic's for United. After awhile I opened and ate it: smoked turkey and processed orange cheddar cheese with asparagus and roasted red tomatoes (I didn't get those) and spinach cream cheese spread. That was MIA too. Nothing a few packets of mayo grabbed from Quiznos wouldn't have fixed.

My seatmate had the right idea. (The middle seat was empty. My lucky day.) She order two mini bottles of red wine and ate expensive Belgian chocolates for dinner.

Food: **, service: ***, atmosphere: *