Tour Bus Chef

Think back to school days when your class took an excursion to Washington, DC. Maybe it
was in connection with your civics studies or American History class. From Mount Vernon to
the White House, from the Capitol Building to the Smithsonian museums, history came alive
and memories were made.

If you’ve ever chaperoned a group on such an adventure, you can appreciate the planning and coordinating effort required to create a meaningful experience — keeping everyone together, attending to special needs, shepherding the group from place to place.

You may remember the bus ride, the hotel room, the Apollo 11 capsule. And you may remember a restaurant that provided sustenance for all that energy required to keep up with scheduled activities. 

This is where Primo Family Restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, shines with a reputation as a destination for coaches full of enthusiastic tourists.

Owner Jim Nicopoulos has heard tales from tour guides about waiting outside a restaurant with 80 fifth-graders for 40 minutes. Once inside, they waited another 30 minutes before their food was served.

Not so at Primo. The staff has perfected the art of serving 6 coaches at a time — 300 guests — in 29 minutes. They’re served in a dedicated banquet room, while normal restaurant business continues simultaneously in the dining room.

As a former delivery driver in Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland, I brought meat, eggs, and milk from Polyface and other farms to restaurants and small local grocers. Primo was on my route. 

During tour season, Jim would call to give me the lowdown on the dinner schedule.

“I have buses coming at 5:00, another group of buses at 6:00, and a final group at 7:00. Can you be here before 4:30?”

The food served at Primo is prepared fresh. 

There are no instant mashed potatoes, no microwaved frozen pre-cooked foods, no pre-made sauce packets. 

Jim explains, “There are a lot of moving parts to getting a cooked meal to your table. How many people are involved in that process? When you create a dish, you must begin from where you source it, who will bring it. That’s probably 10-15 people who handle it before it gets to you. It could come on a jet, a boat, a tractor-trailer, or a van.

“When raw proteins arrive whole from the farm, it takes physical labor, expertise, and creativity to prepare it for the table. 

It goes through another 8-10 people before the plate is clean & ready for service again. Someone has to order it. Someone has to check it in. Someone has to store it. Someone has to take it out and begin processing it. Someone has to get it ready for service in portion control.  Someone has to cook it. Someone has to carry it from kitchen to table. Someone has to carry empty plates back and load the dishwasher, run the washer, empty it, & stack the dishes. It’s a cycle.”

So the next time you see smiling faces on the National Mall, groups of tourists, young and old, soaking up the history, consider that they will be dining somewhere. Imagine the choreography of producing their meal: truly a miracle for which to be grateful.

To learn more about Jim and his amazing restaurant, you can read my post: "Drone Pizza Deliveries and Outer Space Restaurants".

May you be deeply nourished,

Susan