July Changes to Lake Shore and Capitol Limited Dining

[cpotisch]

The new version of the menu is up. The beef entree is described as "Slow braised beef short rib with polenta and mixed baby vegetables in a red wine and beer sauce. Served with arcadian lettuce mix, julienne carrots and grape tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette and salted caramel cheese cake."

That salad sounds very similar to the standard side salad available in the regular diners. If they offered exactly that combination (that salad and the cheesecake) with the black bean veggie burger, everything would be perfect. I'm cautiously optimistic that things are going to get better.

 

[Rheavon]

A few weeks back, I expressed concerns about food for my upcoming trip on the CL. I also inquired if there was any option for reimbursement or some kind of voucher for folks who decline the complimentary alcoholic beverage (I don't drink). I never heard back until today:

Thank you for your comments regarding our upcoming Contemporary Dining service on the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited routes.

Amtrak is introducing new dining options this summer on board these routes. Amtrak aims to provide a more sustainable approach that produces less waste while maintaining the quality that our passengers have come to expect. These new offerings are intended to provide a more contemporary food service and will contribute to improved financial performance on these routes.

The existing café menu will continue to be available to all passengers. Customers purchasing premium service will have additional amenities including exclusive access to tables in the sleeper lounge or in the private comfort of our passenger’s accommodations. In the future, customers will be able to pre-select their meals prior to departure. Our new service will allow additional investment into these routes to further improve the passenger experience.

As information, dining options have been updated on Amtrak.com to include the recent changes to our Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited service. You can view all long-distance dining options at the following link: Dining Car Menus (This Link didn't work, but I'm guessing it might be the July 11th menu that was posted a few posts ago in this thread). In addition, it is not possible to get a credit for lounge car purchases for passengers who do not consume any complimentary alcoholic beverages.

[SIZE=12pt]Customer comments will play an important role in how we offer our service and we will take your valuable feedback into consideration as we make future changes to the dining experience on our trains. Thank you for taking the time to write to us and we hope to see you on board soon.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Sincerely, [/SIZE]
Donna E.

 

[Chey]

Bob, I think you are referring to Peter Le Cody, correct?

The article quotes someone named Charles LeCody, CEO of RPA. But Jim Mathews is CEO of RPA.

Peter LeCody is Chairman of RPA and President of Texas Rail Advocates. I'd guess that is who the writer talked to, garbling the first name and position...

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

No lounge credit if you don't drink the free alcohol (or soda, either, I assume).

So you are penalized for being health-conscious and not putting garbage in your body, but rewarded for drinking too much.

Also, how are boxes, plastic, and unwrapped uneaten food being thrown away contributing to a sustainable environment?

 

[JoeBas]

Interesting Column by Ben Wear( His Column is called "Getting There") in Monday's 7/09 Austin American-Statesman entitled "Want to Dine on Amtrak? Better Get it while its Hot!"

It includes a nice picture of the Texas Eagle rolling thru the High Rises that surround the Amtrak Station in downtown Ausin.

After discussing the recent "Contemporary and Fresh Dining Choices" on the LakeShore and Cap, he quotes Amtrak Flak Marc Magliari as saying this will save Amtrak a Million Dollars a year, which is crumbs when it comes to the Federal Budget.

He goes on to talk about he and his family talking about taking a Long Distance Trip trip before its too late, and quotes Charles LeCody,CEO of the Rail Passenger Association, as predicting the demise of the Full Service Diner on ALL Amtrak Routes, with Airline style Heat and Eat Meals becoming the Norm.

Seems we're headed that way, nostalgia and hope won't prevent this, only action by concerned riders and political pressure by the real rulers of Amtrak in Washington and the various States, the Politicians!

It's not crumbs when you're under a federal mandate to eliminate food and beverage losses.

A federal mandate to eliminate crumbs is still crumbs.

 

[PVD]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

 

[bratkinson]

It's apparent to all that Mr Andersons' disdain for long distance train will, if allowed to continue, force all but short-haul riders to fly or drive instead. It's well documented in many places that airlines see themselves as long distance carriers, and less than 500 miles or so should be relegated to buses & trains. I suspect that is still his mindset.

So, cutting the Pacific Parlor cars, eliminating CHI-NYP trains for the summer, providing dog food in a box to passengers paying $70-100 in the price of their sleeping car tickets for full diner service, and likely implementing a bus bridge on the Southwest Chief are all various ways to drive traffic away from LD trains. I say this very carefully....has anyone checked to see how many shares of airline stock and/or options he controls?

I can only wonder how Congress will feel when they discover $70-80 million in brand new dining cars sitting idle or providing so-called first class lounge duty without anything for sale and everyone has to sit in bare, cramped booths. Hardly a lounge by any stretch of the imagination, in my opinion. Or, perhaps he plans to remove the diners on all Superliner trains, put the new Viewliner diners in front of the transition/dorm car and call that the 'replacement' Pacific Parlor Cars...

Regardless of whether Mr Anderson is 'making the desired numbers' like all business management must do to keep their job, eliminating all LD service and selling off the equipment will REALLY be saving money for Amtrak! Regretably, I can't help but think that will be a reality within the next 10 years or so.

 

[Dakota 400]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Singapore Airlines has a "Book the Cook" option for Business Class guests where specific meals can be ordered from an extensive menu. Is Amtrak, currently, at the same operational level as Singapore Airlines?

 

[cpotisch]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Not really. Just add an extra step in the booking process where you check off the options. I see no reason why that would be an issue.

 

[Palmetto]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Singapore Airlines has a "Book the Cook" option for Business Class guests where specific meals can be ordered from an extensive menu. Is Amtrak, currently, at the same operational level as Singapore Airlines?

American Airlines goes further. You can pre-order food if you're traveling economy. Did it last month.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Not really. Just add an extra step in the booking process where you check off the options. I see no reason why that would be an issue.

Being someone who writes applications, it's not just "add where you can check off the options". There's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And take it from me, the "that looks simple enough to do" usually turn out to be not so simple.

(I have a few grey hairs and bald spots to prove it.

)

 

[cpotisch]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Not really. Just add an extra step in the booking process where you check off the options. I see no reason why that would be an issue.

Being someone who writes applications, it's not just "add where you can check off the options". There's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And take it from me, the "that looks simple enough to do" usually turn out to be not so simple.

(I have a few grey hairs and bold spots to prove it.

)

I've done a lot of programming as well. I feel like the difficult part is going to be after they have collected everybody's meal choices. IMO, it's going to be difficult compiling all the choices that people have made, ordering the correct amount of food to each train, making sure each passenger gets what they ordered, etc. My feeling us that a lot of the tech infrastructure needed to take peoples' orders and record it, is already in place.

 

[iplaybass]

My time is coming... I'll try the hot entree Thursday night, and pray for an on-time arrival in DC. I will have backup from Giordano's, and day-old breads from... Any suggestions for a good bakery in Chicago?

 

[amtrakpass]

"Any suggestions for a good bakery in Chicago?" You could probably find something in the french market on the lower level of the Ogilvie Train Station. https://frenchmarketchicago.com/vendors/

Otherwise there is an Austrian place in Lincoln Park called Vienna Cafe you might think about.

http://www.cafeviennachicago.com/about.html

 

[PVD]

My comment on the pre ordering of meals was based on the response that a previous poster received from Amtrak, not conjecture on my part. Whether or not they have the ability to do it on their present system I can't say, but apparently either they think they can, or will soon be able too.

 

[jebr]

To me, the best part of what I saw above is acceptance of the concept of pre ordering. That might provide more of the mix and match ability that pretty much everyone favors.

Re: the concept of pre-ordering a meal or two: Is the computer system that Amtrak has capable of handling such details?

Does such a concept simply add more complexity into a reservation that will be difficult to achieve?

Not really. Just add an extra step in the booking process where you check off the options. I see no reason why that would be an issue.

Being someone who writes applications, it's not just "add where you can check off the options". There's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And take it from me, the "that looks simple enough to do" usually turn out to be not so simple.

(I have a few grey hairs and bold spots to prove it.

)

I've done a lot of programming as well. I feel like the difficult part is going to be after they have collected everybody's meal choices. IMO, it's going to be difficult compiling all the choices that people have made, ordering the correct amount of food to each train, making sure each passenger gets what they ordered, etc. My feeling us that a lot of the tech infrastructure needed to take peoples' orders and record it, is already in place.

The reservation system Amtrak uses, ARROW, is actually quite limited in scope. I'm not sure if it's designed to handle meal selections at all or, if it is, if it can handle it well enough to accommodate the use case desired. If it can't handle it, it's probably not terribly difficult to spin up a web page that prompts for a reservation number and phone number/email, pulls the details down from ARROW, presents the options available for that train, and then stores it in a separate database. It could even look through after the deadline closes to pre-order to see if any cancellations have occurred and, if they have, remove them from the list. However, there may be a lot more work to make the process look streamlined or as part of the actual ticketing process, instead of a bolted on after-the-fact addition.

The bigger problem is handling the edge cases. How reliably can data be pulled from ARROW into this system? Can phone agents access this system easily, or will it require significant effort when they're handling calls to do so? Can travel agents easily add this into their workflow? How reliably can this information be pushed to the vendor to order the meals? What other edge cases are there that may not be accounted for? It's rather easy to design a system that theoretically should work for the most part; it's significantly more difficult to implement that in an environment that needs to be reliable, user-friendly, and has data sources/accessibility that's extremely old and limited.

 

[PVD]

An interesting spin on that question is to look at how the data is gathered and sent to the vendors for the food right now.What will really be needed to implement this. It may not be that involved. As pointed out, how this influences workflow may be a bigger problem than developing the means to do it. We have banged around the issue of advance seat selection for years, with lots of speculation on whether Arrow would be up to the task, and yet, here we are.

 

[tommylicious]

I think Lou Mitchell's (1 block from CUS) also sells baked goods, plus u can have a great meal there to boot.

"Any suggestions for a good bakery in Chicago?" You could probably find something in the french market on the lower level of the Ogilvie Train Station. https://frenchmarketchicago.com/vendors/

Otherwise there is an Austrian place in Lincoln Park called Vienna Cafe you might think about.
http://www.cafeviennachicago.com/about.html

 

[tommylicious]

Cafe Vienna makes outstanding appletreudel. As good or better than those in its namesake city, but it's way up in Lincoln Park so not a practical option.

"Any suggestions for a good bakery in Chicago?" You could probably find something in the french market on the lower level of the Ogilvie Train Station. https://frenchmarketchicago.com/vendors/

Otherwise there is an Austrian place in Lincoln Park called Vienna Cafe you might think about.
http://www.cafeviennachicago.com/about.html

 

[Manny T]

Any Mariano's in Chicago has a bakery department that will fill all your potential Amtrak needs.

It's our local super-supermarket chain and there's one not too far from CUS.

If this link works, it will show you the 1/2 mile walk from CUS to Mariano's at 40 S. Halsted St.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Chicago+Union+Station,+South+Canal+Street,+Chicago,+IL/Mariano's,+40+S+Halsted+St,+Chicago,+IL+60661/@41.8793116,-87.6457581,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x880e2cc08d9bb1f1:0xbab36c41f37621ed!2m2!1d-87.6399599!2d41.87864!1m5!1m1!1s0x880e2cc4aea99e7f:0xa091a815340a92d5!2m2!1d-87.6475096!2d41.8807012!3e2

 

[Skyline]

I would definitely try the Beef Short Ribs next opportunity, and will follow this thread to learn what others think about it and the rest of the July menu -- which seems a little better than the June menu. At least the concept of hot food has been reintroduced. Let's see how it is implemented.

I still think lowering the price of sleepers and letting sleeper pax pay for their meals would be a better way to go, however. They could use the same cafe car menu and service (also improved recently) as coach pax, or a somewhat higher end and higher priced sleeper option in the traditional diner that might include ordering at a counter but food brought to your table by a staffer (less spilled food by untrained pax) .

If they begin a pre-ordering flow, I hope it is well tested or we may wind up with something akin to the initial rollout of the ACA website. But like that fiasco, it was eventually fixed and worked well. Maybe Amtrak's pre-ordering of food will not be rolled out until it's ready for prime time, or at least follow a similar track once the gremlins are exorcised.

 

[CHvision]

The Capitol Limited have more items from the cafe side. Both sleepers and coach passengers have chicken ceasear salad. Difference are sandwiches in the coach section.

 

[dogbert617]

Any Mariano's in Chicago has a bakery department that will fill all your potential Amtrak needs.

It's our local super-supermarket chain and there's one not too far from CUS.

If this link works, it will show you the 1/2 mile walk from CUS to Mariano's at 40 S. Halsted St.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Chicago+Union+Station,+South+Canal+Street,+Chicago,+IL/Mariano's,+40+S+Halsted+St,+Chicago,+IL+60661/@41.8793116,-87.6457581,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x880e2cc08d9bb1f1:0xbab36c41f37621ed!2m2!1d-87.6399599!2d41.87864!1m5!1m1!1s0x880e2cc4aea99e7f:0xa091a815340a92d5!2m2!1d-87.6475096!2d41.8807012!3e2

I agree with this suggestion. From Chicago Union Station, this'll be the easiest and shortest walk/cab/Uber/etc. trip away from CUS to a place(Halsted/Greektown Mariano's) with a bakery.

 

[JoeBas]

Being someone who writes applications, it's not just "add where you can check off the options". There's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And take it from me, the "that looks simple enough to do" usually turn out to be not so simple.

(I have a few grey hairs and bold spots to prove it.

)

Sounds like my First Law of IT: Anything that sounds simple is incredibly complex, requiring an investment of (insert your organization's default go away number) man-hours of development time, with a delivery date sometime after the next Mass Extinction.

 

[iplaybass]

On board #30 now. First disappointment: The short rib will probably be gone by the time I eat. No in-room service (to be fair, I didn't ask.) However, my SCA basically said quantities are limited and divvied up across all sleepers (2+the baggage dorm) Good chance for chicken salad, if there's more than one vegetarian on board, they're SOL.

But they have LOTS of antipasto "salad".

Happy I didn't rely on the short rib. Oh, and I went to Alliance Patisserie on State Street. Very fresh, and sealed in a Ziploc as soon as I got back to the Metropolitan Lounge. Betting it will be fresher than the underwhelming breakfast selection.

Sorry for the blur, but it's kinda bumpy in room 7.