EDITOR’S NOTE: Sean just said “Well, we’ve never eaten ON the Monorail.” To which I countered: “We’ve never eaten ON Bay Lake either!” I was wrong, it seems, as he reminded me of two fireworks cruises we had with refreshments. Technically, one of those only cruised around on Seven Seas Lagoon, though… Anyway, you get my point. Both of these upcoming restaurant experiences are found on the Resort Loop Monorail line.

This is a continuation of a series, including Part 1: The Planning and Part 2: Eating on Bay Lake.

During the week between the meals of Part 2 and Part 3, Sean received a D23 Membership and the first delivery of weekly flowers (with the explanation they would be coming every Wednesday). On Thursday, he received the crystal cocktail mixing glass and cocktail spoon along with a piece of Haunted Mansion-inspired SHAG stationery with a note from some of our favorite characters (Frank & Sadie Doyle of the Thrilling Adventure Hour’s Beyond Belief) making puns about ‘spirits’ and hinting that he would need these things the next night. On Friday morning, he received an embossed gold card with a formal invitation to meet me in the lobby of the Grand Floridian (dressed appropriately) and to bring the glass and spoon so we could have cocktails while enjoying the pianist and Grand Floridian Society Orchestra before dinner at Citrico’s. When he got home from work, I had a playlist of 20 minutes solo piano followed by 20 minutes of the GFSO, followed by 20 minutes of solo piano again, to mimic the actual lobby. Taht played on repeat during dinner. I had also ordered white table linens that I used for this meal and each of the finer dining experiences following. This was also the first meal actually presented at the dining room table.

CITRICO’S
If you were to look through all of the backlog of dining receipts we’ve accumulated from WDW restaurants, by sheer volume (though not cost), the most would be from Citrico’s at The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. In fact, during one unbelievably magic trip staying in a one bedroom at the DVC Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, we ended up eating at Citrico’s three times! When planning our trips, once the Signature Dining ADRs are made (Cinderella’s Table, Jiko, Monsieur Paul, Hollywood Brown Derby), Citrico’s is the next to be booked. And let’s not forget that, as I alluded to in Part 1, it was thinking about having a cocktail in the lobby of the Grand Floridian and listening to the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra while waiting for our Citrico’s ADR that inspired me to come up with this crazy idea of recreating his favorite dining experiences in the first place!

Sean has been watching over my shoulder as I write these up (hence the snarky comment about the title), so I asked him to explain why we eat at Citrico’s so often. “It’s classy, but comfortable,” he immediately answered. “There is no pretense. There are great views of the resort, the yard, the pool, families doing cartwheels on the lawn, and at certain tables you can see the Magic Kingdom Fireworks. The food is accessible. I mean that in the sense that the cuisine, the culture, the comfortable atmosphere, and the price are all accessible to both a family meal or as a romantic dinner.” I completely agree, and would add in that the delicious food brings us back time after time. I love the partially-open kitchen, and the friendly, knowledgeable staff. We have serendipitously been seated in Javier’s section 9 times out of 10, and he always picks the best wines to pair with our meals. He’s one of a handful of our favorite, recognizable servers, but there is only one we ask for by name (see Jiko in Part 5).

In looking at the online menu, I chose the Pâté appetizer, the Plancha-seared Beef Filet, and the Warm Chocolate Banana Torte because Sean ordered that the last time we were there. Sean will eat anything (again: see Jiko in Part 5 for more on that), but I tend to only order chicken or duck or pasta or vegetarian options, though I usually end up ordering scallops at Citirco’s because they are always presented in some new amazing dish. Knowing I was including scallops in a future meal (and not wanting Sean to feel he was cheated out of them this time), I “ordered” the same and opted to have the “chef” (me) alter mine to be chicken.

Here is where the fun really started for me. If you search the internet for exactly what the menus says, you’re not going to find a single recipe. You’re going to have to piece it together.

APPETIZER
Thanks again to the Cheese Shop of Salem, I found a delicious Pâté. Watercress was notoriously hard to find in the store, so those are miniature mustard greens. I repurposed the onion jam from the entrée for the onion confit, and being the way I am (the kids call it “extra” I think?), I made a enormous sheet pan of focaccia and broke-out the stovetop grill plate just so I could have half a dozen grilled slices on the plate. My version of the appetizer is pictured at the top of this post as the feature image. That solid white chocolate Mickey Mouse statue was a gift from the Concierge during our anniversary trip in 2018. We’ve kept it in plastic displayed on the kitchen counter since carefully taking it home on the plane. This was its first (but not last) use as a centerpiece. Also pictured: the first week’s flowers.

Entrée
Sean LOVES steak, and is very particular about how it is cooked when ordering it at a restaurant. Since I don’t eat a lot of red meat, it’s not something we had at home that often. If he is craving a steak and we can’t go out to have it (hello quarantine!), then he tries to make one at home. I have watched him struggle with expensive cuts that get overcooked, or cheap cuts that don’t cook evenly. He’s tried everything, and always seems to be disappointed in the result, so I spent hours searching for every tip and trick I could find. In researching this menu, I learned that a Plancha is a super hot wide metal plate, like a griddle, but hotter. For those of you paying attention, this is where the first weekend’s Cast Iron Skillet earns its keep. This post has some great tips, and I trusted in the cut of meat (be nice to your Whole Foods butcher), getting the right heat on the cast iron skillet, and paying attention. He claims it was one of the best he’s had, and that it was perfectly cooked. We have repeated this several times now, and so we have a permanent sticky note on the side of the fridge that just says:

3 min. then 1 min.
425^o
6 min (130^o)
Rest 5 min

In a very hot cast iron skillet, sear the filet mignon for 3 minutes on one side, then 1 minute on the other, place the skillet in a preheated 425 F oven for 5-6 minutes (internal temp should be 130 F for Medium-rare, 140 for Medium (it will rise another 5-10 degrees), let rest for 5 minutes on a plate or board.

For the cippolini jam, I adapted this recipe from Food & Wine magazine, and pulled out my copy of The French Chef by Julia Child for the Bordelaise (here is another version).

DESSERT
Again, I had seen all of these meals presented in the actual restaurant, so plating them was easy, if not very memorable, so I knew I had to make a statement with the dessert. Thankfully, the one I chose is well documented online, as guests love to take photos of it, and I’ve had it in the restaurant.

I wanted a rich, dense, brownie-like warm torte, so I turned to this recipe, making them ahead (slightly undercooked), then warming them while we were eating dinner. I also made the banana ice cream (just frozen bananas blended with a touch of rum, frozen, blended, frozen, and blended again for smooth texture), and several versions of the chocolate lattice during the week leading-up to the dinner. On the day of, I secured the lattice and graham cracker dust on the plate, caramelized the bananas (in butter and sugar on the stove top), pre-scooped the ice cream (and stuck back in the freezer), warmed the torte and the hot fudge, then assembled it all after were were done eating the entrée.

Looking at the picture, I’m slightly embarrassed how wonky the lattice looks. It is certain I am no chocolatier, but I tried. Also, my bananas were definitely more caramelized, and my banana ice cream was made from actual banana, not banana flavoring, so it would never be bright white like theirs. But Sean loved all of it, and really, that’s all that matters.

On Saturday, Sean got a note on another piece of SHAG stationery, this time Jungle Cruise-themed, inviting him to join me for breakfast the next morning.

KONA Café
Full disclosure: I love all things Hawai’ian, Modern Tiki culture, and the mix that Disney has brought together of authentic Polynesian culture and the fabricated kitsch of mid-Century Tiki design. While we haven’t stayed there (yet…), I drag Sean to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort every trip to spend an hour or so in the shop and drop a lot of money on souvenir mugs (and the rum that I have to drain out of them) at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto. He also enjoys the resort, and is happy whenever we eat at The Kona Café. We can always get a table at the Kona Cafe, and it always a surprise to me, because the food is amazing, and since it overlooks the 2-story lobby of the Grand Ceremonial House, it’s a beautiful experience. Most families go for the Ohana restaurant, where meals are served family-style and characters from Lilo & Stitch roam the tables (fun!!), or they choose the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show in Luau Cove (amazing!). Several times we have walked into the Poly lobby thronged with large groups lounging on the furniture or getting their picture taken waiting for their Ohana seating, and have stepped right into Kona Café to be seated at a table without a reservation.

While the pan Asian/Polynesian cuisine served during lunch and dinner are perfect when you want a lighter meal, especially after spending time out in the Florida heat, it’s one particularly famous (and certainly not light) item on their breakfast menu that made me want to include Kona Café in the list: Tonga Toast.

If you have not experienced the Tonga Toast, let me break it down for you: Take half a loaf of unsliced white bread, cut a slit in it, fill it with sliced banana, soak it in eggs and cream (like French Toast), deep fry it, roll it in cinnamon & sugar, and drizzle with strawberry compote. That’s a serving for one person.

I ended up making a loaf of white bread from my grandmother’s recipe box (this one is a good substitute), slicing it into 5 or 6 slices (thick, but not HALF A LOAF), stuffing with banana, dipping in egg, and pan frying it (thanks again, cast iron skillet!) before dredging it in cinnamon & sugar. I made a strawberry compote (simmer together chopped strawberries, sugar, a little lemon juice, and vanilla until thickened, cool and store in a jar in the fridge) and the bread in the days leading-up to breakfast.

Liliko’i Juice (Poly), Jungle Juice (Animal Kingdom) and Moonshine Juice are several names given to POG (equal parts Passion, Orange & Guava) Juice that is a staple at many Disney Resorts. I made a huge batch and froze half of it for summer time Trader Sam concoctions. You can see it in the photo on the top right of the menu. Because this was a breakfast, I set us up on the kitchen island again, but this time I laid-out some vintage Hawai’ian fabric I had as table cloths and played an appropriate playlist (I had many in my collections to choose from. Go for Alfred Apaka or Don Ho if you don’t mind lyrics, or search for Led Kaapana or other Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar masters for instrumental).

This was a fun weekend, and a nice progression from the relative ease of the first weekend to the complexity of the ambitious meals coming up. Will he bite off more than he can chew? Wait and see…

Coming up on Part 4: Eating in the Parks!
Monsieur Paul at Epcot World Showcase’s France Pavilion
The Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Coming up on Part 5: A Memory & A Dream!
Jiko: The Cooking Place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Victoria & Albert’s at The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa