A dinner aboard the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad was the setting when four onetime News-Herald colleagues recently reunited. It had been at least 30 years since most of us had worked together and, except for me, all had moved on to other employment as writers. But now our former editor had moved back to Ohio, and we wanted to reconnect.
The Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which fills more than 33,000 acres along the Cuyahoga River valley between Cleveland and Akron, is now the backyard of Joan Stewart, who returned to Northeast Ohio earlier this year. She had been Joan Gestl when she led the news operation for The News-Herald in the 1980s.
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad train, the only one operating through one of this country’s national parks, seemed a suitable setting for our reunion celebration.
Others gathered at the train’s Rockside Station in Independence were bound for different adventures, including a beer tasting, a trivia night, a murder mystery and even a caboose ride. They would be guided to the correct rail car for their event when the train left the station at 6:30 p.m. There’s no dress code for anyone, but a closer look revealed those destined for the dining experience to be a little more dressed up.
Our reserved seats were in the Silver Solarium, a domed car built in the 1940s for dining and sightseeing between Chicago and San Francisco aboard the Chicago, Quincy & Burlington Railroad’s California Zephyr. Ownership transferred to Amtrak in 1971, and it was restored and upgraded for charters when sold to new owners in 1978. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad acquired the car in 2018, and it’s one of several operated for the dinner train. It’s also the rail car used on the line’s weekend breakfast trains.
The line’s two-hour dinner trains run every Friday through Aug. 5 and boast a four-course meal, the cost of which includes wine, beer and cocktails. Choices between two chef-prepared entrees are made in advance, usually online. Tickets range from $105 to $120 depending on the seat. The dome cars seat groups of four, while single and double seating is available on comfortable seats in the coach cars.
A short set of stairs flanked by lighted railings led us up into our dome car, where white tablecloths draped eight tables for just 24 diners. We were offered wine and cocktails as we were seated before an appetizer already on the table. A delicious combination of salty Cotija cheese with watermelon, tomatillo and a masa dumpling was an impressive starter.
Once underway, Trainman Nancy Prosser told us a little about what we were seeing en route as the train headed south from its Rockside Road station in Independence toward Akron. She showed us where to look for bald eagles and blue herons and pointed out the line’s Fitzwater train yard, where volunteers are trained and restoration work on its rail cars is done.
Our dome car was just a few cars behind the engine, and it was a surprise that the train traveled backward at the beginning of the journey, stopped after 45 minutes, and then traveled forward back to the Rockside Road station.
Chef Christopher Kafcsak and his Nomad Culinary group design the menus and cater the meals, prepping the food in a Broadview Heights kitchen and finishing the meals in the galley kitchen aboard the train. Onboard chef, June Fertig, answered our food questions. Both are graduates of the culinary program at Cuyahoga Community College.
Our group all had chosen the Mole Negro Chicken as our entree, but we couldn’t help being impressed with the portion size when those in the booth across the aisle got their Mole Negro Sirloin. The sauce for both was a traditional Mexican mole — smoky and slightly spicy with a hint of bittersweet chocolate. Both meals were accented with chopped zucchini, chayote, chamomile and chili pepper and served over basmati rice.
The chicken version was delicious, but the unusual iceberg salad second course won rave reviews from all of us. Napped with a delicious cilantro-lime vinaigrette, it had bits of corn, red onion, avocado and tomato nestled amid the iceberg lettuce pieces. The flavor mix was united by the green-tinged dressing.
As we ate, Barman John Coyne, another volunteer, passed through our car, offering refills on wine and other drinks. I chose a delightful pinot noir, which wasn’t overwhelmed by the assertive flavors of the mole sauce.
The central aisle aboard the train is narrow, and the stairs up to the dome car were challenges met by the servers. Their experience working aboard a moving train was obvious in their deft moves.
“It’s more difficult when the train moves faster,” Fertig said. “But erosion from storms earlier this year requires a slower ride.”
That same erosion on the trails along the river and near the tracks also has caused the temporary cancellation of the Explorer series of train rides. Those allow bikers, kayakers and hikers to travel back to their starting point with the vessels that take them the other way. Officials say work is underway, and the popular series should b
e restarted soon.
The Tres Leches cake dessert was the hit of the evening. Made by folding whipped egg whites into the batter with the cake drizzled with three types of milk, it’s sometimes found on the menus of fine-dining Mexican restaurants. Although it was super light, several diners asked for carry-out boxes to take it home.
Meals on the move
Dinner trains, which run on Friday evenings through Aug. 5, are almost always sold out in advance, so reservations are required. They may be made at CVSR.org, where menus can be examined and payment made. Meal prices do not include gratuities. Trains, which also include rail cars for other events such as beer tastings and trivia night, leave promptly at 6:30 p.m.
There also are breakfast trains at 10 a.m. Sundays and other excursions along the rail line, which uses restored rail cars, many dating to the 1940s.
Check CVSR.org often for updates on new offerings such as the Saturday breakfast train that will begin soon and the erosion repairs that will permit the popular Explorer series to reopen.
Recipe
Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
Ingredients
¼ cup chopped Spanish onion
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
⅔ cup fresh lime juice
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup blended oil
Kosher salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Instructions
Add first 8 ingredients to blender or food processor and process on high speed.
Slowly add oil to mixture to form emulsion until all oil is incorporated and mixture is homogeneous.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with salad.
— Courtesy of Nomad Culinary
