Amtrak dining and cafe service

[user 14106]

As an example - the traditional chicken and fish entrees are sous Vide prepared by the commissary. Those are still nothing like flexible. The raw chicken is ordered by the commissary, precooked by the commissary kitchen and sous vide sealed in bags. The chef on board then opens it, finishes the chicken and then has to do the remaining prep, any sauces, garnishes, adding the side component of the meal and plating it. With flexible all of what I just said is already done by the commercial vendor and arrives to the commissary that way.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

they need people to prepare the sous vide

the commissary uses the sous vide method of precooking and packaging.

Chicken is sous vide prepared and finished in the oven.

Aramark operated commissary (sous vide cooking etc).

traditional chicken and fish entrees are sous Vide

The last time I saw Amtrak or Aramark talking about sous vide cooking was nearly a decade ago during the Chef Inspired era.

 

[user 14106]

Sous vide is how the meats/fish are prepared (with the exception of the steak which comes raw.)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Sous vide is how the meats/fish are prepared (with the exception of the steak which comes raw.)

What source or information is this based upon and are you talking about Long Distance dining or just the Acela?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

What source or information is this based upon and are you talking about Long Distance dining or just the Acela?

I’m guessing the current entrees (fish and chicken) are cooked souse vide and then warmed up in the oven on board.

I remember in the past the menu did day “pan cooked on board” for certain fish dishes. Can’t remember when that was. Now it says “oven baked” I think.

 

[JoshP]

If anyone wants to know what or how they prepare the food, you can check: www.amtrakfoodfacts.com and it is maintained by Amtrak.

 

[Maverickstation]

If anyone wants to know what or how they prepare the food, you can check: www.amtrakfoodfacts.com and it is maintained by Amtrak.

They should be able to, except for the fact that over the past few weeks all it shows are details on Cafe Menu items, with the exception of the Auto Train.

Ken

 

[user 14106]

What source or information is this based upon and are you talking about Long Distance dining or just the Acela?

Chicken and fish entrees on Traditional dining is all I'm referring to. I honestly don't know anything about what's done for Acela meals. I honestly don't remember exactly where I first heard about their use of sous vide preparation, but I do remember it being discussed on this board numerous times and it is a common practice in this kind of situation. I kind of thought it was pretty common knowledge that for the larger courses the steak was really the only one delivered raw and cooked to order.

 

[nferr]

Except that they don't bother with the Flex plastic plate holders anymore. Even in the dining car, everything was handed to me piled in cardboard to-go trays.

And salads have been MIA around 50% of the time. Excuses given to me by LSAs include:

• The commissary didn't load them;
• They were frozen;
• They were too disgustingly brown to serve.

In November on the Star I was getting the Flex plastic plate holders at least in the dining car. But everything was still all wrapped up anyway. Can't wait for this nonsense to end.

 

[MARC Rider]

I’m guessing the current entrees (fish and chicken) are cooked souse vide and then warmed up in the oven on board.

I remember in the past the menu did day “pan cooked on board” for certain fish dishes. Can’t remember when that was. Now it says “oven baked” I think.

I wouldn't believe anything written on a menu, on or off a train. Well, I might believe that if they say "fish," "beef," "chicken," "pork," etc. what you will be served will be mostly the type of food indicated.

As long as it tastes good and doesn't make me sick, I'm not too worried about how it's cooked.

As an example - the traditional chicken and fish entrees are sous Vide prepared by the commissary. Those are still nothing like flexible. The raw chicken is ordered by the commissary, precooked by the commissary kitchen and sous vide sealed in bags. The chef on board then opens it, finishes the chicken and then has to do the remaining prep, any sauces, garnishes, adding the side component of the meal and plating it. With flexible all of what I just said is already done by the commercial vendor and arrives to the commissary that way.

All I can see is that previously, Aramark ordered raw food and cooked it in their commissary, and then sent their precooked food (with the exception of the steak) to the dining car, where the chef heated it up and plated it. In the flex model, Aramark's subcontractor orders the raw food, cooks it and packages it in the plate it's served in. This goes to the dining car where the LSA heats it up and then serves it. Anyway, somebody has to cook the food, and, with the exception of steaks in traditional dining, it's not anybody on board any train.

Most of if not all, of the European sleeping cars have a pantry in each car that can prepare light meals, snacks and breakfast. See link to OBB Nightjet menu. Breakfast is included for sleeping car passengers. https://www.nightjet.com/dam/jcr:57df4df9-c7b6-45f6-8adc-7d850bf914b4/speisekarte-schlafwagen.pdf

That's sounds like the Italian sleeper train in the video. They got served hot coffee, orange juice and packaged breakfast items in their room, and that was about it. But then, the term "continental breakfast" did come from the continent of Europe, no?

 

[user 14106]

All I can see is that previously, Aramark ordered raw food and cooked it in their commissary, and then sent their precooked food (with the exception of the steak) to the dining car, where the chef heated it up and plated it. In the flex model, Aramark's subcontractor orders the raw food, cooks it and packages it in the plate it's served in. This goes to the dining car where the LSA heats it up and then serves it. Anyway, somebody has to cook the food, and, with the exception of steaks in traditional dining, it's not anybody on board any train.

With flex dining what you're getting from the vendor is a complete meal ready to serve with any starches, vegetables, or sauces already applied as you indicated. With traditional with what I'm talking about the protein itself is precooked and delivered to the train but it's literally just the protein (piece of chicken/fish) in a vacuum sealed bag. The chef has to heat it/finish it and then do all the other aspects of preparation - add the starch if any or vegetables (which may themselves require cooking/heating), add any sauces, garnishes, etc. So it really is rather different. It's not just taking a premade meal and sticking it on a plate and throwing it in a convection oven. The only similarity is that there is a some degree of precooking done. I believe the pasta meal on traditional is probably the closest to flexible dining in that I think with that one the pasta dish is basically completely prepared in the commissary and it's literally just heated and plated - though I don't know if that's delivered in individual portions or if that's cooked in bulk and the chef has to measure out the portions. If anything they might sprinkle some cheese on the top or something.

The vendor for flex isn't really Aramark's. All Aramark really does for Amtrak is to provide managed services for operating the commissary itself and all the logistics that is involved - ordering, cooking, inventorying, storing, and delivering to trains I don't believe they're really involved in the selection of products. Aramark does offer program and menu design up to basically running your entire food service as well but I believe Amtrak doesn't utilize them for that purpose. The selection of product vendors and particular items and menu design is done internally by Amtrak I believe.

Amtrak has an on-board experience office that I believe is in charge of menu and program design.

 

[Kirk2266]

Is it me, or does that sound suspiciously like the "automat cars" that Southern Pacific got into so much controversy about it?

 

[joelkfla]

Is it me, or does that sound suspiciously like the "automat cars" that Southern Pacific got into so much controversy about it?

It's not clear to what you're referring. Please use the "Reply" button under a post to quote and refer back to a particular post.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Anyway, somebody has to cook the food, and, with the exception of steaks in traditional dining, it's not anybody on board any train.

No, that is not true. Eggs, omelettes, baked potatoes and steaks are fully cooked on board. Salads are prepared on board. Veggetables, rice, and mashed potatoes are cooked up separately from the entrees which are also partially cooked on board.

Even the French toast and breakfast potatoes are thrown on the grill in traditional dining. (At least with some chefs, maybe some just warm then in the oven).

 

[IAlam]

If anyone wants to know what or how they prepare the food, you can check: www.amtrakfoodfacts.com and it is maintained by Amtrak.

I don't know what gonna give me a heart attack first the food they serve or reading the nutrition facts for some of those items.

 

[Kirk2266]

It's not clear to what you're referring. Please use the "Reply" button under a post to quote and refer back to a particular post.

Okay, sorry about that, I was referring to your post about the pre-cooked meals that were reheated in the oven or the microwave. I was making a reference to the time that Southern Pacific was still running passenger trains and they cut costs by creating those "automat cars" in the 1960's. If I recall correctly, they had premade foods and those cars had microwave ovens. It was claimed that was one of the events that made train travel have a downward spiral in the 1960's. I must have hit a wrong button. Sorry.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I honestly don't remember exactly where I first heard about their use of sous vide preparation, but I do remember it being discussed on this board numerous times and it is a common practice in this kind of situation. I kind of thought it was pretty common knowledge that for the larger courses the steak was really the only one delivered raw and cooked to order.

Sous vide uses special cooking equipment to retain subtle flavors lost to conventional cooking that takes more time and needs careful monitoring and calibration. It is an uncommon practice for high volume meals with lots of salt and seasoning such as those on Amtrak. Sous vide was advertised in the run-up to Chef Inspired meals but there has been no reference to this style of cooking in nearly a decade.

 

[joelkfla]

Okay, sorry about that, I was referring to your post about the pre-cooked meals that were reheated in the oven or the microwave. I was making a reference to the time that Southern Pacific was still running passenger trains and they cut costs by creating those "automat cars" in the 1960's. If I recall correctly, they had premade foods and those cars had microwave ovens. It was claimed that was one of the events that made train travel have a downward spiral in the 1960's. I must have hit a wrong button. Sorry.

OK, thx. I don't know anything about those infamous Automat cars. I was around in the '60's, but the only trains I was riding were the LIRR, and a class trip to Washington DC on the Pennsylvania.

 

[Winecliff Station]

I don't know what gonna give me a heart attack first the food they serve or reading the nutrition facts for some of those items.

Yeah the sodium on most of those flex meals is off the charts. I’m not sure how someone with high blood pressure or a heart condition can find something to eat on an LD train unless they stick to salads in the cafe car.

 

[Palmland]

Yeah the sodium on most of those flex meals is off the charts.

Wow, I didn’t realize how bad until your post prompted me to check the breakfast sandwich that we have on the AutoTrain. But it is efficient; you get most of the daily amount of bad stuff for you in one serving! Guess it back to yogurt.

 

[user 14106]

Sous vide uses special cooking equipment to retain subtle flavors lost to conventional cooking that takes more time and needs careful monitoring and calibration. It is an uncommon practice for high volume meals with lots of salt and seasoning such as those on Amtrak.

You are probably more familiar with the process of how sous vide is done than I do so I stand corrected on the point on commonality of use.

 

[IAlam]

Yeah the sodium on most of those flex meals is off the charts. I’m not sure how someone with high blood pressure or a heart condition can find something to eat on an LD train unless they stick to salads in the cafe car.

Wow, I didn’t realize how bad until your post prompted me to check the breakfast sandwich that we have on the AutoTrain. But it is efficient; you get most of the daily amount of bad stuff for you in one serving! Guess it back to yogurt.

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*Stares in mac & cheese*

 

[Cal]

https://railfan.com/amtrak-expands-..., Amtrak is once,the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Traditional dining is seemingly opening back up to coach passengers

 

[AmtrakBlue]

https://railfan.com/amtrak-expands-..., Amtrak is once,the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Traditional dining is seemingly opening back up to coach passengers

5 western LDs began allowing 16 coach passengers per meal (not seatings, but meals) starting with the trains that originated on March 1st

 

[Steve4031]

Pathetic