Acela First Class Dining

Thoughts?

There is nothing there I wouldn't eat, I actually usually enjoy Acela First Class food

Some selections here:
https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-di ... starr.html

That said... um... this is First Class Dining. There's no kitchen on board the Acela. This will probably be pre-made microwaved meals that are plated... and probably first cooked up by a licensed mass-production kitchen like Gate Gourmet or something similar.

Will it taste amazing? Maybe.

Am I hyped about it? Not really. I mean, if I'm heading to Boston from near Baltimore, I'll be tempted to do it. I *may* have the opportunity to do it later on -- a fellow German artist is planning on visiting Boston and I'll be very tempted to meet him in person with my friend that I've mentioned earlier (she came down to DC for a convention, and I wanted to go up to hit the "Flea at MIT"). But... the meals doesn't quite excite me. I'll probably take the lasagna or the pepper beef.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 5:29 pm Some selections here:
https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-di ... starr.html

That said... um... this is First Class Dining. There's no kitchen on board the Acela. This will probably be pre-made microwaved meals that are plated... and probably first cooked up by a licensed mass-production kitchen like Gate Gourmet or something similar.

Will it taste amazing? Maybe.

Am I hyped about it? Not really. I mean, if I'm heading to Boston from near Baltimore, I'll be tempted to do it. I *may* have the opportunity to do it later on -- a fellow German artist is planning on visiting Boston and I'll be very tempted to meet him in person with my friend that I've mentioned earlier (she came down to DC for a convention, and I wanted to go up to hit the "Flea at MIT"). But... the meals doesn't quite excite me. I'll probably take the lasagna or the pepper beef.

If they take the time to heat them up in the convection oven the end product will better than microwave magic. Having only been on an ACELA twice once in first class never paid much attention to how they heated up my meal. Not even sure if they have a choice of ovens like they do on café cars.

The very 1st time I rode Acela 1st Class, very early in this Century, the entire frozen platter was run through the microwave, including the roll, wrapped pat of butter, and wrapped chocolate bar dessert. The last 2 were served in a semi-liquid state. If an electric oven had been used, I'm sure the candy wrapper would have at least been scorched. Things have improved a bit since then.

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/hi ... ning-menu/

Amtrak Launches All-New Acela First Class Dining Menu

One week after the Amtrak Food & Beverage Working Group sent recommendations to Congress following a year-long analysis of the railroad’s onboard service, Amtrak has launched an all-new, premium Acela First Class dining menu on trains traveling on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Boston and Washington, D.C.

The new menu, which is based on customer feedback, is being launched by Amtrak in partnership with STARR Restaurant Group and will be led by James Beard award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr.

According to Amtrak, customers in Acela First Class will enjoy a rotating selection of new signature dishes from STARR Restaurant Group’s renowned NEC-based eateries, including fan favorites like Buddakan’s Black Pepper Beef and The Continental Mid-Town’s Chilled Sesame Noodles.
...

None of these are as good as a 12 Oz strip sirloin charbroiled. Amtrak can try to sell all the microwave crap it wants, it’s not a food properly done by a chef and cooks.

Hopefully the change is for the better, as First Class Acela Express meal service has been on a roller coaster in recent years, but largely in the valley, as far as I am concerned - not as good as it used to be from the 2000’s.

Between this initiative, the food service working group, and the piloting of food service trolleys in Acela business class, I think that Amtrak has recognized that future Acela success depends on either introducing leisure class (aka Coach) fares or improving the "premium" in the Acela premium services to woo back business travelers.

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 8:31 pm None of these are as good as a 12 Oz strip sirloin charbroiled. Amtrak can try to sell all the microwave crap it wants, it’s not a food properly done by a chef and cooks.

This. I wish AMTRAK would concentrate on serving regular food instead of culturally significant, delicate, gently handled, succulent, expensive whatever from some chef from the food network.

WashingtonPark wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 3:25 pm

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 8:31 pm None of these are as good as a 12 Oz strip sirloin charbroiled. Amtrak can try to sell all the microwave crap it wants, it’s not a food properly done by a chef and cooks.

This. I wish AMTRAK would concentrate on serving regular food instead of culturally significant, delicate, gently handled, succulent, expensive whatever from some chef from the food network.

Well... Okay, there's multiple ways I can attack this, because I'm a bit "mixed bag" on this.

I'd agree that having a good basic set of food on Acela is a good idea... but this is Acela we're talking about here, not the Regional! It should have some classiness to it to match the high end and higher fare. Besides, looking at the menus, they're only throwing in one specialty dish in per menu rotation (every 3 weeks).

On the flip side, you don't have a full kitchen on the Acela to begin with. Hell, the regular restaurants would have optimized how to cook the meals in the first place to get it on the plate and out the door in under 20 minutes. Take a look at the menu selection. Wok-cooked food? Baked Manicotti? Lasagna? No, even with everything else, this is basically prepared like it was an airline or caterer: Pre-prepped, cooked, chilled/frozen, then ether baked or nuked warm and plated.

It doesn't matter if it was done by some chef that has their on TV show and/or chain of restaurants. They're not at all the restaurants all the time. They're just figureheads and maybe in R&D for more meal options. What you get is airline food with less salt and spices because you're on a freakin' train at ground level and it's going to taste better than up over cloud cover.

Would I love a 12 oz steak next to a 12 oz steak on an Acela? Sure, if I had time enough for them to cook them and for me to eat both. But as I said, there's no full kitchen on the Acela as on a Viewliner! I won't be surprised if the Acela II consists don't have a full kitchen ether. And frankly put, you're not going to get a freshly charbroiled steak.

Seriously, folks. Don't forget what Acela is and what equipment it has. It's basically a long-haul airplane with meal service on rails instead of wings. That's your constraint. Just be glad you can do a lot more with flavor since you're not dealing with dulled senses.

^In short, don’t expect Mutton from Kean’s Chop House in Manhattan (close to Penn). Give Amtrak credit; they’re trying to improve the F&B service so it’s less Cafe Car crap.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 8:01 am ^In short, don’t expect Mutton from Kean’s Chop House in Manhattan (close to Penn). Give Amtrak credit; they’re trying to improve the F&B service so it’s less Cafe Car crap.

Basically. The cafe car itself is doing better anyway, as they replaced the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee with Starbucks (but using regular brewers so it’s actually good).

Back when I was still commuting to and from DC I sometimes was able to upgrade to Acela and I would post reviews (Found the link here).

That was well over a decade ago. More recently, I had gotten the impression that the quality had diminished. Hopefully this is a sign of improvement. I don't think I'll be riding 1st class any time soon but if I do, I'll post a review!

A couple of articles (may be behind paywall), and photos, from a recent trip Acela First Class:

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AoD9oYq15Nob9n98PjW ... U?e=HlnBu8

Washington Post - Menu Items Ranked

WaPo - Amtrak’s first-class Stephen Starr menu upgrades dining on the rails