Amtrak Diner and Food Service Discussion

Who needs the smell of burn Starbucks anything on a train, even in a single car? As to Aramark, I still remember the green scrambled eggs they served in my college cafeteria 50 years ago - their food was horrible. Also a company cafeteria where food stunk, prices were high (employee subsidized) run by them. I've no problem with Amtrak finding GOOD caterers, but some out there are especially bad, or smelly!

Of interest, Aramark was named ARA Services before a few mergers came to pass.

Anyone care to guess what ARA designed? Probably the most all time infamous adventure in railroad dining.

The SP Automat Car.

I remember ARA Services - so competent at producing garbage directly from ingredients. At my college, the baker (who was quite good), told students that if they stopped wasting the (horrible) food, he could budget more for deserts. We did, and he did. His deserts were the only edible food in the cafeteria my freshman year. Following year they went with SAGA, and established a food committee to keep things in line.

Read the Wiki article on Aramark; you'll come away with the impression that this is a "less than stellar" outfit.

I've known that for just about 50 years!

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:59 am Food: Apparently no longer Aramark!

Aramark is still the commissary operator for Amtrak and I don't believe anything has changed for that. Aramark isn't really a dealer of food, they are a managed services contractor - you bring in companies like them to take over ancillary services so you don't have to hire in house employees to do it. They may have some in house products that they offer to their customers from central kitchens but they're really more about running your kitchen for you as opposed to selling you food - when they run your kitchen they are ordering food stuffs from the same vendors an in house managed kitchen would. Amtrak has an on board services group that I believe sets the menu and selects the actual on board products from a variety of vendors and directs Aramark what to procure. Aramark operates Amtrak's commissaries and orders, inventories the food, stores it, and delivers it to trains and everything else that is involved with that. Aramark can take over as much of your food service as you want - for Amtrak they're really a logistical middle man.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:39 pm Who needs the smell of burn Starbucks anything on a train, even in a single car?

Great, I get to do my Starbucks spiel again. Let me get to the point: Do not go to a Starbucks store for just coffee. Lattes et al are fine. The coffee is burnt when they brew it.

Seriously. Get a cup of Starbucks coffee from Amtrak or even grab a K-Cup sampler of it. Regular Starbucks coffee is fine provided that it is not brewed in their stores (including the store-in-a-store ones). The in-store coffee makers are tuned so hot that they burn the coffee when the water hits the beans.

Besides, if Amtrak served a cup of burnt coffee, the reaction would be swift and noticeable in testing. I bet Amtrak just got the beans, and are using their own equipment to brew it... which makes things better.

Review of Diner Experience: TRAINS

Some interesting tidbits:

Dining experience worthy of Viewliners is back: Trip review
...
What was missing at dinner? People. Only three of eight available booths were occupied at the height of the dinner hour; two additional tables next to the kitchen were either stacked with supplies or used by crew.
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The only menu difference between fare offered on the Star and Superliner dining cars is that a salad is offered at dinner instead of the western trains’ choice of three appetizers (one a salad with brie cheese). The reason most likely is that the Silver Star and Meteor diners operate with only one chef in the kitchen, not two.
...
Nevertheless, the food quality, preparation, and service were excellent. Porter and Donna Dickfos reported that the oven roasted Atlantic salmon with lemon caper wine sauce was flavorful but not fishy, if somewhat dry, while John Dickfos and I had tender “Amtrak’s signature flat iron steaks” cooked as ordered.
...
The company’s goal has established a dining car model that is cost-focused on minimum staffing rather than generating extra revenue and spreading “surprise and delight” to those who aren’t inclined to pay sleeping car prices or necessarily travel overnight.
...
According to a roster obtained by the Florida Association of Railroad Passengers through a Freedom of Information Act filing, seven of 25 Viewliner II dining cars remained inactive at the end of April 2023. The three eastern long-distance trains that have them, the Star, Meteor, and Lake Shore Limited’s New York section, need a total of 11 to protect regular assignments. The other seven active diners are available as “protect” standbys to substitute while diners cycle through maintenance, which is mandated more often for food service cars than other passenger equipment.
...

ARA is rather diversified. I used to work for ARA back in the 80s. They actually ran the school bus operations for the Boston Public Schools.

Aramark used to run my company's cafeteria, and could have been a case study in how performance is 90% staffing. At one point we had a marvelous cook and the food was wonderful; when she left, her replacement (with the same equipment and food budget) was better suited to running a Subway, and what landed in the chafing dishes effectively sent the contract back out to bid. (Unfortunately, I am not sure that the company that replaced them is of a size that could handle the Amtrak contract.)

Unfortunately, a firm like that can have very wide quality differences based, like you said, on local staffing, also local management and regional management. 50 years ago at my college, there was not just zero quality control, the on site management just didn't care, and that got ARA booted. When SAGA came in, they knew from day 1 that they were being watched very carefully, and were willing to work with students in a quality control committee to intercept and remediate problems. It was never gourmet (except deserts from the well liked hold over baker), but it was much better, and the menu adjusted as needed to avoid boredom and unpopular products. Satisfaction improved, and food waste went way down.

Amtrak needs to get that good dining on long runs (say above several hours) is a huge sales point, and is not about sleeping cars but about having a nice ride. If I'm in coach on a long ride, good meals make it a lot nicer. As it is, even on Acela NYP to DC, though fairly short, food makes a difference. I don't want to have to bring my meal with me, and the cafe car 'food' resembles the worst of what you find in the freezer section of DOLLAR type stores. I don't eat salad as a main course, let alone for breakfast. I don't want a greasy nukeburger or breakfast sandwich - what I get in my supermarket is a few steps higher than that. McD's and other fast food is far better. I don't mind taking decent breakfast or lunch fast food back to my seat.

Someone who I knew was in the providing material and food to various eating establishments. His comment is it is all about the cooks. Cooks tun over and a good restaurant goes bust shortly after. My limited experience - How true.

Quality and preferences for food can vary widely, and it's not uncommon for individuals to have strong opinions about their experiences. It's important for companies and organizations that provide food services, such as Amtrak, to choose reputable caterers that can meet the expectations of their customers.

While Amtrak serves excrement for breakfast, this is what’s happening in Great Britain…

Even though I can't tell for sure what most of it is, it seems decent looking. I've had the displeasure of Amtrak cafe breakfasts - nuked grease sandwiches that aren't as edible as what you find in the freezer section in most supermarkets, or lunches as nuked greasburgers, same story. But I have not been a real Amtrak dining car in decades; are the ones that have restored full dining decent?