Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In addition to waiting on tables, each member of the service
crew has other specific duties: setting the tables, filling the salt
shakers, sorting and stocking the packaged condiments, and a
host of other tasks. They're pretty much the same things you
would be doing in your home to prepare for a dinner party.
In Amtrak's early days, most crew members were veterans
of the railroad; many were third or even fourth generation. A
handful of those folks remain, but through normal attrition, their
numbers have diminished.
Chef
Once you enter the kitchen of an Amtrak dining car, you're on
the chef's turf. A good one keeps a sharp eye on everything that
happens within his or her domain. The chef boards the dining car
several hours before the train departs to make sure the kitchen
has been left in proper order by the previous crew. Occasionally
things are not shipshape, and in those cases a long trip begins by
cleaning up after someone else.
An Amtrak computer determines in advance the amount of
food and supplies that should be put aboard a dining car before
each trip. The first order of business for the chef is to check sup-
plies against that list to be sure he or she has received everything
the computer ordered. That's important because every steak and
piece of chicken must be accounted for at the end of the trip—
anything missing might have to be paid for out of the chef's own
pocket. Some food is prepared or cooked ahead of time. Bacon,
for example, is precooked, then heated prior to serving.
Amtrak chefs are permitted some latitude within the frame-
work of the current menu. For example, the chicken dish can
take many savory forms, depending on how the chef chooses to
prepare it. The “chef's special” offers another outlet for some
culinary creativity. Although there isn't a lot of variety on the
menu because of limited storage space, many chefs bring their
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