As discussed at length in an earlier thread below, Amtrak implemented a new style diner service May 1 on the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, CARDINAL and in a slightly simplified form in the cafe car on the SILVER STAR. This is based on off-train prepared catered food, heated from unique vacuum packaging for select entrees on board (other items on these new menus are intended to be served cold) and presented in a preplated format in a diner setting, which Amtrak hopes will only require a single server and no chef/cook. We conceptually debated this at length. I wonder if any of us have been on any of these trains and eaten in the diner since May 1, 2016? Can you share your experience?
Earlier experiences with food service on these specific trains only counts in comparison to your experience of the new catered (as opposed to prepared on-board) menu and service after 5/1/16. Ideally let's also not on this thread wander to diners on other Amtrak routes except as compared to this new service system/menu, as they are not (yet at least) offering the new all-catered menu with no on-board real cooking and no chef.
THANKS if you're willing to share!
Carl H. Fowler
Don Brewer was kind enough to give permiision to share his very complete report on the new diner service as experienced on the CARDINAL from his Facebook posting. It follows below:
Carl, the food was actually pretty good; no plastic wrap to remove - it was served ready-to-eat, and we had real silverware. There were two crew on both #50 and 51 (we rode both), but their responsibilities didn't seem to overlap much. One was primarily the server for the diner half (the one who interacted the most with us), and the other ran the counter and carry-out function at the lounge side, from what I could see. It is possible that the one person staying behind the counter might have been helping with prepping orders for the diner, but it was hard to tell from my vantage point - keep in mind that much of the new product is pre-packaged and ready to micro-wave, airline-style. There were differences between our westbound experience and the eastbound train. The server on #50 had a lot of years' seniority and experience on the line, and it showed positively in her organization and efficiency. As I mentioned earlier on in the thread, the flowers making their appearance in the diner were her initiative and personal investment, and, again, as I'd noted previously, this had come to the attention of the passenger service manager at Chicago and received his approval. Her colleague on #51 was friendly and enthusiastic, but younger and not having the benefit yet of all the experience she had, and wait times were correspondingly longer. And, no flowers on 51. Areas that could have used improvement were upping provisioning to reduce likelihood of running out of menu items - we experienced this both ways, and overall consistency of passenger experience westbound and eastbound, that "C" word. It's obviously not possible to staff every train running in both directions with the same crew, so there's a need to make sure each and every OBS crew receives the same training and support, and that exemplary employee initiative and creativity like the flowers effort gets translated into standard operating procedure in a re-vitalized corporate service culture. - Just my thoughts.
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