(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Katy Reckdahl on November 11.)
NEW ORLEANS — Before buying tickets on the legendary City of New Orleans, some Amtrak passengers ask what chef will be on duty.
For years, they requested rides with longtime chef Charlie “Dog” Sims, who retired from Amtrak’s kitchens in 2000 to run his Rampart Street club, Donna’s Bar & Grill.
“Some chefs put a little flair on it,” said Christina Chandler.
Now some passengers are requesting Chandler, a Gentilly native who returned to New Orleans from her temporary home in Atlanta after landing a regular gig on the City of New Orleans, the overnight train that runs from New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal north to Chicago.
But no one, including Sims and Chandler, has cooked red beans and rice in Amtrak’s kitchens.
Until recently.
Along with red beans, the City of New Orleans is offering other regionally influenced dishes such as shrimp remoulade, chicken and sausage jambalaya, creme brulee cheesecake and bread pudding pie.
It used to be that Amtrak food was Amtrak food; the company had a standard national menu that varied only slightly from line to line. “It had no New Orleans flavor,” said Amtrak chef Daniel Malzhan, who designed the new menu.
Food-service hours were also limited.
But with newly installed combination ovens that blend convection and microwave technology, passengers can graze from an expanded menu nonstop, from the time the train pulls out of New Orleans at 1:45 p.m. every day until it enters Chicago’s Union Station at 8 a.m. the next morning.
Although passenger trains have long had dining cars, the first floors of the new two-level cars now boast gleaming – albeit windowless – stainless-steel kitchens. Rows of comfortable blue booths line the upstairs level. Amtrak has dubbed the new cars “Cross-Country Cafes.”
While ridership has risen on Amtrak routes in recent years, it has increased more rapidly on the City of New Orleans, which carried 180,473 passengers during the most recent fiscal year, which ended in September.
Part of that increase may be due to the displacement of residents, who often take the train to and from New Orleans to check on their houses, visit relatives or attend Road Home meetings, Chandler said. Those passengers tell her they commute via train because “it’s cheaper than driving, cheaper than the bus and more comfortable than airplanes,” she said.
High gasoline prices have driven the across-the-board increases, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. “Driving is our main competition.”
Chandler said she believes the City of New Orleans has a different vibe than the other Amtrak routes she’s worked. During the 18-hour train trip, naturally chatty New Orleanian passengers meet up with equally chatty New Orleanian Amtrak workers like Chandler, who is one of about 225 Amtrak staffers based in the city.
As a result, the entire ride is more enjoyable than any other, she said. “It’s like New Orleans, it has that fun feeling.”