This is a continuation of a series, including Part 1: The Planning,  Part 2: Eating on Bay Lake, and Part 3: Eating on the Monorail. As I may have alluded to at the end of Part 3, everything to this point served as a warm-up to the remaining meals, as we only get more complicated from here on.

The Monday after Kona Café was Labor Day here in the U.S, and the card Sean received that morning had a drawing of a TV on it, and the message that we should relax and watch a movie marathon of his choice. For me, it was truly a day off, as I did not do any prep for the coming weekend.

Tuesday included a gift: a desk organizer (insert snoring noises). I hate giving practical gifts, but this was on his wish list and he really needed it. The card was a piece of Ursula stationary sarcastically lauding this “exciting” gift, that was obviously needed, since he didn’t have 8 tentacles to help him file. Tuesday began my prep, which mostly consisted of an Instacart order of the fresh ingredients I needed. But wait – I haven’t revealed what Friday would bring:

As I mentioned last time, when planning a WDW vacation, we tend to book the Signature Dining ADRs first, and then work our parks schedule around when we can get in. Hands down, the first in-park restaurant we book is always
Monsieur Paul at Epcot World Showcase’s France Pavilion.

Some background: Sean LOVES French cuisine, and this restaurant has a very special place in our hearts. We took our first WDW trip together in 2001. It was not planned (that is, it was meticulously planned, but we ended up moving the reservation earlier due to unhappy circumstances, and cutting the time in half), but Sean had researched and researched places he had wanted to try. When we found ourselves on property (then known as Dixie Landings, now Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside), Sean was able to score a last-minute ADR for Chefs de France (now Monsieur Paul, named after Paul Bocuse). As with almost all of the land pavilions at Epcot, the front of house was staffed entirely with French nationals on a one-year visa. Before the restaurant’s redecoration and name change (a sad, but understandable business decision for a restaurant located in a theme park), Chefs de France had a fairly strict dress code (for inside a park where tank tops and shorts are necessary) and an atmosphere of high class and elegance. The night we first ate there, all of the waiters wore tuxedos (we were served by ridiculously handsome twins!), and the table service was beyond anything I had ever experienced. We found out that each was a career waiter at home and took their jobs seriously (something not common here in the U.S.). The service and food are still of the highest quality (we have been back MANY times), but it is now a more relaxed, ‘friendly’ and ‘accessible’ environment for families. It was the quiet, exclusive vibe of the original restaurant (you enter under a small arched sign through a door in the alley behind a large family-style bistro and climb a circular stair up to the restaurant, leaving the noise of the crowd for the hushed and dimly-lit oasis) that made it so unique, especially in the middle of a crowded theme park. Still, we try to always include it.

On that first trip, we were only able to book a late (8 or 8:30pm) seating. We made sure to leave enough time in our day to return to the resort to shower and dress before heading over to Epcot for dinner. The meal was amazing, and we were seated in a table by the window, so we were able to experience the color and spectacle (if not the heat, crowd, and noise) of Illuminations (RIP) though the frosted windows. We had a tight budget for all of our trip, but we also had a Deluxe Dining Plan, so we used it to our full advantage and each enjoyed our own amuse bouche (compliments of the chef), appetizer, entrée, and dessert (Side note: in the past, tip was included in the Dining Plan and was calculated on what you ordered – we often ordered more than we could eat and chose the most expensive items). We splurged on pre-prandial cocktails, and wine with the entrée (tipping accordingly), and the bread service and delicious butter kept coming. By the time we were finished, we were stuffed. Looking up from this amazing meal, we realized we were the last ones in the restaurant! We never once felt pressured or guilted into leaving, in fact, the staff seemed to love us enjoying this experience so much and brought us coffees and offered us chocolates. We waddled out of the restaurant “Merci”-ing everyone we passed and stepped out onto a magical scene. While we were eating, the park had closed. Staff at WDW are not allowed to “turn off the magic” while a guest is in the park. When we stepped out into the France pavilion, all of the lights, music, and atmosphere were still on, but there were no other guests in sight! We held hands and walked slowly from the pavilion towards the front gate. We know now that (even then) Disney knows where every guest is. The restaurant had let the front gate security know we were still there, so while crossing over the bridge from France to the United Kingdom, a very nice Cast Member pulled up in a golf cart and “offered” us a ride to the front of the park. We knew we couldn’t refuse, but he only took around the lagoon to Showcase Plaza and let us walk ourselves to the gate (maybe he was only a World Showcase security?). We continued walking hand-in-hand towards the gate when the Fountain of Nations (RIP) show started playing. We were the only people there, so it was a private show! As we stood and watched the water and lights dance to the music, two Cast Members came along and asked if we would take their picture. They were part of the College Program and they had just finished their last shift. We chatted with them as they reminisced, hugged and mugged for the camera, and we all floated towards the front gate. What an experience!! The entire evening is one I will never forget.

Wow. That was a lot of back story, but now you know how important it was that I included Monsieur Paul in my WDW Dining@Home experience. Back to planning.

While we have dined at Monsieur Paul many times, and ordered off the a la carte and three course prix fixe menus, one of the things we have not done was to order the Prix Fixe Degustation Tasting Menu, which is typically seven courses. Of COURSE I chose to recreate that! I found three menus online and combined them to create my own:

Tuesday Prep: I made the Truffle Glass Dumplings for the 5th course. On that slide, you can see me rolling-out the potato flour dumpling skins (that’s what made them ‘glass’ dumplings – the skin goes translucent when steamed). I also created the white chocolate disks and the Brittany shortbread for the dessert, as well as the pepper cream for the chilled soup course (key to successful execution – see later).

Wednesday, I made and froze the snail butter balls that would be breaded and fried for the 2nd course on the night, and made the Green Apple Sorbet for the dessert course.

Thursday, I made and chilled the pear soup, I caramelized the apples and pre-scooped the apple sorbet and vanilla gelato into appropriate balls and froze them in a container for easy dessert prep, bought the cheeses, fish, rolls, and delicate garnishes that would have spoiled if I had bought them earlier, made the Chicken Veloute for the second course, breaded and chilled the escargot balls, made the leek fondue, created and baked the windowpane potato chips, and printed the menus. That morning, Sean had a gift of a notecard holder. In addition to his D&D reference cards, I hinted that he could use them to hold his tasting notes and restaurant reviews.

Friday, Sean received a card that said “Bonjour Darling!” on the front, and inside I invited him to join me in the France Pavilion, telling him to check the dress code and to not eat too much before arriving! I also revealed that he would have a guest at dinner: his best friend Chuck! Because I suspected that I would be preparing a lot of food between courses, I didn’t want Sean to have to sit in the dining room alone, so I had scaled the whole meal to three people from the beginning. I would be eating with them for each course, but I would also be jumping up from the table to make sure the next course was ready before they were done with the current course. I would also be the waiter refilling their glasses and offering bread service.

That day, I laid out every plate I was using for all the courses on the kitchen island in order of appearance. I sliced and arranged the fruits for the Napoleon of the first course (and chilled), boiled the potatoes for the second course, pre-set the beet salad for the third, ladled and chilled the pear soup in its bowl for the fourth, made the truffle cream for the fifth, plated and chilled the cheese course, and assembled the dessert in its glass. When Chuck arrived, we had drinks in the living room (see first slide photo – I mad a Martini and Manhattan to their specifications) and they chatted while French music played through the speakers and I ran to the kitchen to continue preparations. The dining room was set with white tablecloth and napkins (folded just as they were at Monsieur Paul), and nearly every utensil we owned.

This meal would truly not have been possible for one person to cook and serve without the meticulous planning and prep I had spent the time laying out. I had a master list of timings for each course and plate that I referred to constantly – when to take the plate out of the refrigerator so the cheese could warm to room temperature, when to change the oven setting, when to heat the oil, when to bring the second type of bread out, when to switch wines, etc. I can also say that the course order and choices also helped a great deal. If you look at how the courses are laid-out, only one or two things needed to be prepared during the dinner:
First course: Cook the scallops – the rest of the dish was prepared ahead.
Second course: Fry the escargot balls while the sauce and potatoes warm.
Third course: Cook the fish – the rest of the dish was assembled earlier.
Fourth course: Add the pepper cream and serve – this was the easiest! I highly recommend a cold soup or salad course!
Fifth course: Cook the tenderloin while the dumplings steam and the fondue warms – because the previous course was mostly hands-off, I could boil the water for the steamer, heat the cast iron skillet and warm the leeks while we enjoyed the soup.
Sixth course: Easiest! Just serve the already-prepared plate.
Dessert: Warm the caramel sauce.

Speaking of dessert, I knew this was the one I wanted to do, especially since their other signature dessert is chocolate, and I already had two chocolate desserts in the month-long plan. When it was Chefs de France, the signature dessert was Crepes Suzette en Flambé. They would prepare it tableside and ignite the Grand Marnier-soaked dessert crepe in towering flames: VERY dramatic. This dessert is just as dramatic, and was delicious to boot. See the “spectacle” of the presentation here:

The warm caramel, the velvety white chocolate, the tart apple sorbet, the creamy vanilla gelato, and the crisp shortbread soaking up all of it – this was SO MUCH BETTER than I dreamed it would be. I would make this again in a heartbeat.

Actually, I would make ANY of these courses again. This was my favorite of all of the meals that I prepared. I got to enjoy it all along with Sean, but I also got to share it with our friend and bask in her joy and smile at how all of my little touches were noticed, even though she had no idea what to expect. The two of them hadn’t researched all of the courses and seen the photos or videos of what they were supposed to look like, but I had. At the risk of boasting: This is the meal that I am the most proud of. If you have eaten anything on this menu, or image search for these items, you will see that my presentations were 96% (minus 4% for actual table wear) accurate. It also helped to have such an appreciative audience. Most importantly: I learned a lot. There were techniques, sauces, and flavor combinations that I had never attempted before, and now I can draw on them any time I want.

As you can imagine, this was the only recreated meal that weekend, but as the theme of this update is eating in the parks, I’m including the following Friday’s experience: The Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

This restaurant offers another in-park dining experience that feels more elegant than it should, given it’s surroundings. True to its inspiration and namesake, walking into this dining room makes you feel like you are stepping into old Hollywood. It’s a perfectly-themed experience in the Studios, and I feel like it’s overlooked by many guests who think it’s too ‘fancy.’ so they opt for the Hollywood & Vine buffet dinner with their family. I think this is a shame, because it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce children to fine/adult dining. There is a children’s menu, but it’s mainly child-sized versions of the regular menu, not pandering chicken nuggets and plain macaroni, and I think the atmosphere provides enough stimulation, but also brings a bit of seriousness that kids can sense that makes them behave in a different way.

In the week leading-up to this dinner, Sean received Captain America socks (Film/1940s style), and Nick & Nora glasses (glamorous Hollywood) as clues. On the day of the dinner, he received a note from Maleficent announcing our ADR and hinting at our post-dinner entertainment (Fantasmic!).

We have eaten here many times. Sci-Fi Dine In Theater is our go-to lunch spot, and the Tune-In Lounge/Dad’s Bar is our go-to cocktail spot, but The Hollywood Brown Derby is always our choice for dinner, and before the Star Wars Spectacular came to the Studios, the Fantasmic! dinner package was usually what we booked. If you reserved this package, the restaurant would give you a ticket (or update your MagicBand) after dinner to enter the Fantasmic! amphitheater through a special entrance for premium, reserved seating. After a day of standing in sweaty lines, it was well worth the early dinner seating.

There are two menu items that the Hollywood Brown Derby (both the original and the recreation) is famous for: Cobb Salad and Grapefruit Cake., so I knew I had to incorporate those two (even if the grapefruit cake is not our favorite). For the entrée, I went with one that I order there almost every visit: Duck Two Ways.

Finding recipes was pretty easy, but I had to look to find photos of past meals to recreate the look of WDW’s presentations.

Their Duck Two Ways has a Duck Confit Ravioli and Seared Duck Breast. I opted to make my ravioli from duck Foie Gras. It was decadent, to say the least. Sean adores getting Foie Gras at a restaurant when it is the actual seared liver, not a pate, so I created the ravioli with a small portion of a slice I found, and seared the rest of it for him for dinner the next day.

The accompaniments for the duck were a mystery. Nothing is listed on the real menu. I had to rely on my blurry photo and guess at what the red (cherry), yellow (butternut squash), and white (horseradish) dollops were. I already had the beet dust from another project, so I used that for the base. I’m not sure if those choices were correct, but they all worked beautifully together.

The Grapefruit Cake was exact to a photo I found online. It’s still not a favorite for either of us, but it was refreshing and unique. Making the garnish of the stained-glass-looking grapefruit slices was fiddly, and I made many that didn’t come out. You may have noticed on the menu that the Pink Grapefruit Sorbet was “optional.” I knew that all that grapefruit was a bit too much (it’s in every piece of this dish), but I found a pint of the sorbet at Wegman’s while I was buying the foie gras and specialty items for the next meal, so I thought I’d offer it.

After dinner, we watched Fantasmic! and the next morning, Sean received a card from Mickey Mouse!

If you weren’t already aware, I hope you’ve now learned that eating in the parks is more than just grabbing a churro or turkey leg from a cart, or a platter of fried, beige food in a quick-service. There are many fine dining options in the parks, and we encourage you to explore them all for yourselves.

Next, we leave the parks and go back to eating in the Deluxe resorts, recreating a fond memory in one of our favorite restaurants, and creating an epic 10-course meal we’ve only ever dreamed of.

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