Tag: Walt Disney World

This is the final part in a series that included Part 1: The Planning, Part 2: Eating on Bay Lake, Part 3: Eating on the Monorail, and Part 4: Eating in the Parks.

Now, 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 that we’ve only ever dreamed of experiencing.

At the end of Part 4, we had dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby on the second-to-last Friday night, and Sean received a card from Mickey on Saturday morning thanking him for his help in defeated Maleficent during Fantasmic! On Sunday, he received this (perfectly themed) card (right). Inside, it read:

Jambo!
Please join Chuck, Mandy, and I for a cocktail at the Victoria Falls Lounge before we head downstairs for a delicious African-inspired dinner at
Jiko: The Cooking Place.
Shellie has the night off, but I’ll do my best to serve.

You will remember Chuck from Part 4, as she kept Sean company while I was preparing and presenting the 7-course Monsieur Paul dinner. Mandy is Chuck’s wife. When the four of us took a trip to Walt Disney World together in 2019, we stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and dragged them to all of our favorite places. In fact, the card echoes exactly what we did on the day they arrived: we let them refresh in their room, then we all went to have a cocktail at the Victoria Falls Lounge before heading to dinner at Jiko.

“But wait,” astute observers may say, “who is Shellie?” For that, we need to take a side trip back in time:

THE MEMORY
It was June 2003 and we were staying at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside on a fairly tight budget. Sean’s Mom and sister joined us for several days in the parks, and we wanted to take his Mom out for a special dinner as our trip came to a close. We had a Dining Plan, and had saved an extra dinner for her (or else we couldn’t have afforded it). We had read wonderful things about Jiko: The Cooking Place and thought that it would be a nice close to our trip and a new experience for all of us. When we arrived, they sat us at the heart of the restaurant, The Cooking Place that is in the title (see photo). The counter seats overlook two large brick ovens (the Jiko) as well as a wood grill and prep area. We had a cocktail and chatted with the chef making flatbreads in the ovens. The smells and the atmosphere were unlike anything we had experienced before, and we ordered the bread course from our waiter while we eagerly looked through the menu. We were having such a good time watching the dishes go by and reading all of the descriptions, that we were having some trouble deciding. We asked our waiter if there was a sommelier on duty that could help us navigate the extensive wine list while making our dinner choices. She immediately came over and helped Sean’s Mom and I with our choices. When it came Sean’s turn, he played his favorite game: closing the menu, he told her “I want the chef to pick out an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert for me, and I’d like you to pair a wine for each.” Her face split into a grin and her eyes sparkled as she snatched the menu out of his hands and dismissed our waiter, for we were now HERS! With only three questions (spice level? allergies? dislikes?), she was off. She would swing by our seats with our food and their perfectly-paired wines, explaining why she chose each one, and would check-in to make sure everyone was happy. When it came time for dessert, Sean’s Mom joined the fun and let the chef choose her dessert. I had my heart set on the chocolate selection, but asked her to pick an aperitif. She said “Amarula, definitely,” at which point the chef turned around and cooed “Ammmaaaarruuulllaaa” dreamily. This was our first introduction to that delicious South African cream liqueur, and our first introduction to Shellie – the Star of Jiko: The Cooking Place.

As with Monsieur Paul, Jiko is now one of our favorite restaurants to return to. Lucky for us, we have serendipitously been seated in Shellie’s section each time, including that first night with Chuck and Mandy in 2019, hence the reference in the card.

Unfortunately, like most of the Signature Dining locations at the resorts, Jiko was closed during the initial lockdown, and (as of the moment of publishing this) still has not reopened.

I felt bad that Mandy couldn’t join us for the Monsieur Paul dinner, but with dietary restrictions (Vegan with allergies), she literally couldn’t eat anything on that menu (and I wasn’t prepared to make an additional 7 dishes). When Jiko came up, I knew I could make it up to her.

You can see from my version of the menu that the appetizer was already Vegan (minus the shortbread crumble), so I picked an entrée and dessert from the menus that could work well alongside what I had chosen for Sean. Since a Rib-Eye steak would be wasted on me, I was already making a substitution for my entrée, so what was one more?

I have learned throughout this process that when you deconstruct each plate into its component parts, there are often lots of things that can be prepared ahead to lessen the stress of the actual meal preparation. On the days leading up to, and especially the day before, I made the Braai spice, cauliflower bisque, brownies, berry sauce, coffee streusel, tomato-citrus jam (OMG! trust me when I tell you to make this and put it inside a grilled cheese sandwich!), panna cotta, candied pumpkin seeds, shortbread, toasted couscous salad, hibiscus glaze, and the Peri Peri sauce.

On the day of the dinner, all I had to do before dinner was to make rolls (I made sweet potato rolls and purchased gluten-free rolls and flatbreads to fill the basket), roast some cauliflower and carrots, marinate the chicken, make the Chantilly cream and prep the plates. On the TV in the living room, I turned on a slideshow of pictures we had taken at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, hit shuffle on my Spotify playlist created for the dinner, and welcomed our guests.

We reminisced over our 2019 trip and looked at old photos, including from our time at Jiko while enjoying pre-prandials.

When it was time to sit at the table, I greeted everyone with a warm scented towel (wet a washcloth in water scented with a splash of orange blossom water, wring, then microwave) and Moroccan Mint Tea (sweetened green tea with spearmint), just as we were greeted when first seated at our table in the restaurant. Though we hadn’t been in the parks that day, the towel was such a wonderfully refreshing treat and the tea a wonderful palate cleanser to prepare us for the experience. These nearly-forgotten small touches really made the re-experience special.

The first course only needed to be warmed, garnished and presented. We had these lion-headed individual tureens that worked well:

For the entrées, the Vegan option has been simmering and cooking on the back of the stove since before they arrived, and using a large cast iron grill/griddle over two of my remaining stove burners, I was able to perfectly grill the steaks and chicken while the others enjoyed the bisque. The carrots finished roasting just in time, and the couscous salad was served cold.

For the dessert course, I had already plated the Vegan Panna Cotta (with edible flowers and berries) and chilled it, so it came out during our appetizer so it wouldn’t be too cold. I warmed the berry sauce and poured it over just before presentation.

I had prepared the other dessert plate ahead by placing berries, some of the sauce, and dollops of marshmallow fluff that I caramelized with a torch, so all I needed to do was warm the brownie, pour over the warmed berry sauce, sprinkle the coffee streusel, top with the Chantilly cream (which ‘broke’ and I ran out of cream, so I substituted vanilla ice cream at the last minute) and sprinkle a small bit of the leftover Braai spice over it. In a bit of inspiration (and because I had them on hand), I filled small pipettes with Amarula and stuck them in the brownie. We have a restaurant here in Salem that serves doughnuts with booze-filled pipettes to fill them with for brunch. The brownie had come out drier than I anticipated, so this also helped to add some moisture.

We finished the meal with a small glass of Amarula to sip. All-in-all, it was a successful night. I can’t wait to go back to the real Jiko: The Cooking Place again.

Looking at how long this post is becoming, perhaps I should have split these into their own posts. Thank you for sticking with me as we move from recreating fond memories, to creating a meal we have only ever dreamed of.

THE DREAM
If you’ve been with me from the beginning of this series, you know what is coming next – the inspiration, the original gift idea, and the bankroll for the entire month: Victoria & Albert’s at The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. I had scrimped and saved about $1200 US in extra cash over the two year planning of our original trip so that we could comfortably eat at Victoria & Albert’s without worrying about the bill. I used every bit of that extra money for this month long celebration to buy the ingredients for all eight meals (that’s 29 courses!), a table cloth, six cloth napkins, eight bottles of wine, twelve gifts (bought and handmade), four bouquets of flowers, and dozens of cards. I didn’t keep a tally of what the whole month cost, but when I was done, there was only ~$5 left, and I don’t remember dipping into any other sources. I wish I had documented all of the expenses. If I were to guess, Kona Cafe would have been the cheapest to recreate, and Victoria & Albert’s would definitely be the most expensive, given the number of ingredients I had to special order.

The beauty and draw of Victoria & Albert’s is not only the fine décor, the exceptional staff, and the AAA 5-diamond cuisine, but that the menu is constantly changing, especially at the Chef’s Table, where we would be eating (in actuality, we probably would have eaten in the dining room, but I took artistic license for logistical reasons – more below). This proved to be a challenge and a boon. While I could find the Chefs Degustation Tasting Menu from November 2019 on the official website (plus Vegetarian version), I also found posted menus from many guests before and after that date with completely different courses, and had many back-up ideas from menu items I didn’t pick for previous meals. using all of these sources, I came up with my own 10-course menu:

For all of the other meals, I had devoted a page to each day of the month in a cheap composition notebook where I noted the card, note and gift, when applicable. I also used the daily pages to plan out my shopping and prep work for the week leading-up to each meal. For this one, I definitely needed extra planning, since I didn’t have extra hands. Once I had decided on the menu, I wrote out each course description on its own page, then I went back and filled-in the ingredients that were not listed in the descriptions, marking each as cold, hot, or room temperature. Finally, I went through and indicated which items could be prepared ahead, and which needed to be done during the dinner. This became my obsessive planning document for the weeks leading-up to the dinner. With pandemic protocols in full-swing, I ordered non-perishable specialty items 2 weeks ahead, and made out my shopping list with planned dates of order or pick-up depending on their delicacy or needed freshness. Specialty flours, chocolate, nuts, rice, gold leaf, salts and spices were ordered first. I went to the store three times for this meal where frozen items were purchased a week in advance, fruits and vegetables a few days ahead, and all proteins (and flowers) were purchased within 24 hours of the dinner.

As we got closer to the dinner, I realized two things: I needed to have this dinner happen in the kitchen, and I needed a run-of-show (a throwback to my theatre days that I still employ to this day for event planning).

Location: At Victoria & Albert’s, you can choose from one of three experiences: eating in the Dining Room (14 tables), the Queen Victoria Room (semi-private, seating 8), or the Chef’s Table (2-4 guests) adjacent to the kitchen. Since this was originally meant to be a romantic, celebratory dinner, I didn’t want to have anyone over (breaking tradition, I told Sean which restaurant was coming and he agreed), plus, the necessity and pacing of the menu (as I had planned it) would be difficult to pull-off without Sean sitting by himself in the dining room while I was in the kitchen. So I decided to change the plan to “Chef’s Table.” Just as with the real one, I would be talking with him while making the meals in front of him – the only difference from the real thing is that I’d be eating, too.

Run-Of-Show: With so many courses and so many small, fiddly bits of cooking and plating for each, I also needed to break-down the timing of everything. When we are having a regular dinner party (like with Jiko above), I always mentally plan-out the use of the oven and temperatures needed, the pots and pans needed, and the number of stovetop burners being used at one time. It’s also helpful to know how to time everything so that it is all done at the same time, so I sometimes have a sticky with times and temperatures that I refer to, to know when to throw the rolls in the oven, or to preheat it during dinner for the dessert, etc. I didn’t want anything to go wrong with these 10 courses, so I (of course) made a spreadsheet of all of the timing, and that became my run-of-show that night.

I kept Sean out of the kitchen all day as I laid-out the 10 different dishes I’d be using and started pre-plating what I could off to the side. I set the kitchen island up as the Chef’s Table with tablecloth, napkins, serving utensils, water and wine glasses, bread basket, and salts. One of the things not listed on the official menu that everyone comments on during their videos or reviews is the parade of breads and butters that come out between each meal. They are usually presented as quenelle, molded, or in crocks. I did not have the time nor wherewithal to create eight different breads and butters, so I had a basket of epi bread broken into individual baguettes and Kerrygold unsalted Irish butter in individual crocks. To mimic the variety, I purchased a set of sea salts and presented them on the table to flavor the butter.

As with the Monsieur Paul dinner, the courses were chosen and arranged in such a way that “easy” courses bookended or lead into complicated ones. The first two courses were all made ahead, the third required a short stir fry, the fourth a bit more cooking, a sear on the fifth, a passive braise for the sixth, a sear on the seventh, sear and bake on the eighth, and the last two courses were completely pre-made. This sounds simple, but it was much more complicated than that. Let’s go course by course.

Amuse-Bouche: Green Apple Baba with Sour Cream Ice Cream
You may know Baba from Baba au rhum, or Rum Cake, a yeast-risen cake baked in a mold, then soaked in a hot rum syrup. For this one, I went with this recipe (which ended-up being super-delicious – when we recovered the next day, this was the first thing Sean wanted more of). I didn’t have the canelé molds typically used, so I baked it as a sheet cake and used a biscuit cutter to make individual cakes (hence the leftovers). I can’t find the exact recipe I used for the Sour Cream Ice cream, but there are a lot out there for you to find, especially on Keto sites. I do not have an ice cream maker, so I made the mixture and poured it into a quart sized zip top bag. I put the sealed quart bag into a larger gallon sized bag filled with ice and rock salt. I then shook shook shook it as I danced around the house. When the mixture started to thicken, I put the small bag in the freezer to firm-up. When the ice cream was firm, I used a small melon-baller scoop to create mini scoops and put them back in the freezer to firm. When it came time for dinner, I warmed the cake and topped it with the tiny ice cream ball.

Soft Poached Quail Egg with Wild Salmon Caviar, Chicken Liver Terrine, Cauliflower Panna Cotta, Porcini Mushroom Cappuccino
I started with the Panna Cotta, confident in my skills after making the dessert version for Jiko. The terrine was purchased (I’m not that extra!), and I found wild salmon roe online. We had once been served Mushroom Cappuccino as an amuse-bouche at a little Bistro in Plymouth, MA that no longer exists, and I’ve often thought about trying to make it at home. I found this recipe, and it was just as I had remembered it, so silky smooth and delicious. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to poach an egg, but think of that on a micro scale. Quail eggs are absolutely tiny, and their thick shells need to be cut with a serrated knife. I used a very shallow, small pan and created a mini-whirlpool, then dropped the egg into the center so it would cook and stay in one piece. I made several and took them out with a slotted spoon to dip into an ice bath to stop their cooking. Then I put them on a wet plate and had them sitting ready to be warmed-through in simmering water when dinner came. When it came time to serve, all I needed to do was make sure the cappuccino was hot, warm-through the egg, and present it.

Gulf Shrimp with Heirloom Tomatoes and Charmoula Sauce
Shrimp is something I just don’t enjoy, so this course was only for Sean. I made the Charmoula sauce the day before, but should have waited and made it fresh that day. It lost a lot of its color and vibrancy overnight. I found these tiny heirloom grape tomatoes in the store and they were perfect! I decided to peel them to showcase the color of the translucent flesh and to make them a more pleasant texture. To do this, you cut a small x in the skin and boil them for 30-45 seconds, then immerse them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. The skin peels off pretty easily. As with most of the things I made for this dinner, I planned for and made extra so that I could use the best looking elements for the final dish. I cooked the shrimp in butter with a little of the sauce in a shallow non-stick skillet, then poured a bit of the sauce over them. While Sean was eating this, I worked on the next course.

Georges Bank Scallop with Herb-Truffle Spaetzle, Corn Puree, Oyster Mushrooms and Fruit Caviar
This was a delicious course, and one I would love to scale-up for a dinner party. Though I hate shrimp (texture, smell and taste), I love scallops. If there is a delicious-sounding scallop dish on the menu, I will order it, especially if on vacation. I took a lot of artistic license on this one due to available ingredients. While the scallops were wild caught in the Atlantic, they were not labelled as being from Georges Bank, specifically. Also, the actual menu item specifies Lime caviar, which is made from the pips of the Finger Lime (unavailable in my area). Since I had Agar Agar powder left over from making the Vegan Panna Cotta for Jiko, I decided to try my hand at fruit caviar (the link is a video showing the steps, but use this recipe because you don’t need that much sugar). It was so much fun, and such a satisfying science project that I’m surprised I haven’t made more. I highly recommend trying it with your kids. I used cranberry juice and did not add sugar. It was the perfect tart counterbalance to the sweet corn and the butter. I’ve made spaetzle before, so I took the standard recipe and added a truffle salt and finely chopped fresh parsley, sage and thyme to the mixture before dropping it in ribbons through the large holes of my box grater. I made them the day before and put them in the refrigerator in a sealed container. The corn puree (cooked frozen corn and polenta, pureed together) was also prepared a day ahead and chilled. During the dinner, I sautéed the oyster mushrooms in a pan until slightly colored, added butter to the pan and did the same to the spaetzle, added much more butter to the pan and butter-poached the scallops until bronzed and tender. This is my favorite way to make scallops. Once the butter is foaming, place the (patted dry) scallops in and cook until brown on one side, flip them over and spoon the butter and juices over the scallops as the other side cooks. Depending on their size, this only takes a few minutes and it is a decadence worth giving in to. My other go-to scallop technique is to chop up cured chorizo and cook it in a relatively dry pan, then sear the scallops in the spicy paprika-scented oil that comes out (adding butter as needed, of course). This also goes well with a corn or pea side to balance the sweet and the heat.

Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon with Bamboo Rice and Soy Beans
This was another Sean-only course. I ordered the Bamboo Rice from Nuts.com (along with Almond flour & Chestnut flour) earlier in the month when I knew what specialty items I would need. While this is a very simple dish, I think its beauty lies in the color combination of the bright green edamame and rice contrasting with the deep, rich, sunset pink of the salmon. The rice was cooked according to the directions during the previous courses, and I steamed the frozen edamame in the microwave. The salmon was cooked in a high-heat skillet with just a thin layer of oil to prevent sticking. In hindsight, the piece I gave him was too big for such a large meal. In reality, this would have 1/3 of the amount of food presented on a giant plate. The salmon was of such quality, that Sean really wanted to eat all of it, but the sheer amount of food was starting to be too much, and we were only halfway through!

Braised Belgian Endive with Compressed Pear and Fennel
This plate was taken from the Vegetarian tasting menu. I chose it because I thought it would be a nice break from all of the seafood, and would help transition to the upcoming poultry and meat dishes. The Braised Belgian Endive recipe was fairly simple, but yielded lovely, rich, complex flavors. The compressed pear gave me a hard time. In my research, compressing the pear gives it an almost meat-like texture and a concentrated flavor. The home chef can achieve this through a careful dance of vacuum sealing, freezing, re-vacuuming, defrosting, and vacuuming again. At the time (now rectified), we did not have a vacuum sealer, so I attempted to create these pears using zip top bags and a straw – literally becoming the vacuum and sucking the air out of the bag and quickly zipping it. Those bags are not as air-tight as they claim, so it was a constant game of checking and sucking. They were not perfect, but the thought and flavor were there. Since the pears and the endive were going to be so soft, I decided to finely shred a bulb of fennel to give a snap of flavor and a crunch to the dish. Now that we have a vacuum sealer, I may try compressing pears again, and I think the braised endive would make a lovely side. Again, I think at Victoria & Albert’s, this would be one half of an endive per person, or maybe even less.

Maple Glazed Quail with Chestnut Gnocchi
I may have said this before, but there are a few things that I HAVE to order if they are on a menu. One of them is Gnocchi (others include Chicken-Under-a-Brick and Short Ribs), so this one made it on the menu for that, for the seasonal use of maple, and because I thought the delicate quail would be the right amount of food for a tasting menu. I found this chestnut gnocchi recipe, made the dough, formed them, and put them in the freezer. During the previous course, I boiled and drained them, then browned them in butter (like the spaetzle earlier) just before serving. I found the Quails in a Portuguese Deli nearby, though when I defrosted them, half of them had freezer burn, so they had probably been there a while. I split one of them in half and pan cooked them until the internal temp was around 145 F, then I deglazed the pan with a little brandy and apple cider vinegar, adding maple syrup and butter for the last 30 seconds as it reduced. I put the quail halves back in the sauce to coat, then served them alongside the gnocchi. The toasty, nutty gnocchi were interesting, but the quail was too gamey for my taste. I think the entire dish could have used some mushrooms or another depth of flavor since we had a lot of mushroom on the menu already. If I was in a restaurant, I would have butterflied/semi-deboned the quail and fried them, then put on the maple glaze, like a fancy tailgate chicken wing.

Grass Fed Filet Mignon with Creamy Mushroom Risotto, King Oyster Mushrooms and Parmesan Sauce
When I make Sean a steak (or he makes one himself), he will often ask me to make mushroom risotto to go with it, so this was a “typical” item amongst all of the other courses. I’ve made risotto so many times over the years, that I don’t use a recipe any more, but it goes like this: rehydrate dried wild mushrooms in hot stock (chicken, beef or vegetable) with one bay leaf on the back burner while you heat olive oil and butter in a large pan. Sauté minced shallot and garlic until soft, but not colored, then add Arborio rice, stirring until it is all coated and until the edges start to turn translucent. Add splash of wine (or brandy, bourbon, stock, or even water) and stir to make sure nothing is sticking, letting any alcohol smell dissipate, then add a ladle of the stock from the back burner (just the stock, not the mushrooms) to the rice, stirring until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat one ladle at a time until the rice has absorbed as much as it can and is tender throughout (typically ~25-35 minutes, depending on the volume). Remove the rehydrated mushrooms from the stock, chop finely, and add to the risotto with pinch of salt and plenty of pepper to taste. This can stay covered, off-heat, on a warm stove until you are ready to serve. To reheat, add in a little liquid and turn on the heat, stirring until warmed through, then add grated Romano (or Parmesan) cheese to taste. Sometimes I sauté fresh chopped mushrooms and add those as well. The rehydrated mushrooms tend to be rather soft, so having the crisp sautéed fresh mushrooms contrasts nicely. Depending on what else you are serving, thyme, sage, parsley, and rosemary all love mushrooms. For the Oyster mushrooms, I roasted and pan fried the them like the scallops course. The filet was seared and finished in the cast iron skillet (see Part 3 Citrico’s) and came out perfectly. The only problem was that Sean was getting too full from all of the other courses, and though it was a petit filet, I should have cut it down further, or split it with him. The only thing I had never made for this course was the Parmesan sauce. I found several recipes that all seemed to be very similar, so I downsized the ratios and pre-made this sauce the day before. I warmed it in a small pan while the filet cooked, and spooned it over.

Selection of Cheese from the Market: Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, Blueberry Wensleydale, Organic Von Trapp Oma; Vanilla Gelato with Plum Compote and White Chocolate
At this point, all of the live cooking was done. The problem was, so was Sean. While I had skipped the shrimp and salmon, and had only a bit of the filet, he had eaten everything, plus bread and butter, wine, and a cocktail beforehand. I had served too much food, and he could not eat any more at this point. I still presented each remaining course to him so he could experience everything and continue taking his pictures to post. In the restaurant, the cheese cart comes to you and you choose (or have the waiter choose) a few things to taste. I chose these three for taste, color, and texture variety, and paired them with a Bourbon Bacon jam, cherry preserves, honey in the comb, fig jam, and apricot preserves. What really confused me in all of the menus that I saw was the addition of the gelato with compote and chocolate alongside the cheese course, but it (or something similar) was there in every single menu that I found. Perhaps, like the cake and sour cream ice cream at the start, it was a palate cleanser. I made the plum compote and bought the vanilla gelato, making quenelles and freezing them. Not pictured were the white chocolate shavings I was planning to add to the top. We enjoyed the cheeses the next day, as well as the compote and gelato.

Chocolate Mousse Dome on Praline Crunch
At Victoria & Albert’s there is always a show-stopping dessert, plus selections of handmade chocolates (every video or review I have seen ends with the couple taking the chocolates in a box to go because they couldn’t eat any more), and the coffee service is a must. In reading the menu description, I interpreted it as a praline crunch cookie/wafer base, with a bittersweet chocolate dome filled with chocolate mousse inside, so that’s what I did. I started thinking that I would make a traditional Trianon Royal, omitting the dacquoise layer, but came up with my own instead. I made a sheet-pan sized thin layer of praline meringue (ground almonds and pecans, brown sugar, and egg whites) and set it aside to cool and dry. I lined a half sphere silicone mold with a thin layer of melted chocolate, then filled it with a rich homemade chocolate mousse and a dollop of caramel in the center and set it to chill. I carefully cut circles from the praline meringue to serve as a base. I tried to make a mirror glaze, but it wasn’t working, so I coated the domes in more bittersweet chocolate. This made a shell that made them too hard to eat, but they were still delicious. I took the leftover pieces of meringue and broke them into pieces and dust. I spread the leftover melted bittersweet chocolate on a piece of parchment and created thin shards. On a chilled plate, I spread melted milk chocolate and caramel in alternating dots, then placed the bittersweet chocolate shards standing up in them, covered the caramel with the meringue pieces and dust, placed the mousse dome on top of the meringue circle, dusted everything with powdered sugar, and then topped the dome with edible gold leaf. Though our eyes and stomachs were bulging, we did eat one of the extra domes I made before giving up entirely. Besides the issue with the hard chocolate shell, it was so decadent and delicious. We each had one on Sean’s actual birthday, and gave the rest away to friends because we had so much Baba in the freezer.

The remaining two days in Sean’s birthday month were quiet and we reflected a lot on the wonderful meals we had and I think that we may have succeeded in distracting him from the fact that we were not able to be in Walt Disney World celebrating his 50th in the way we planned.

LESSONS LEARNED

• Do not expect that you can cook (or eat) a 10-course meal in just 2-3 hours. We should have made it a day-long affair, starting the first courses at lunch time and spreading them out to last through dinner time.
• 10-course meals are only possible if the volume of the 10 courses is equal to that of a very large 3 or 4 course meal.
• Thorough planning is key.
• Substitutions are acceptable, and sometimes better than the original.
• You are limited only by your own self-imposed limits.
• Conversely: You must set limits, or things can get out of hand.
• Trust your instincts, but still do your research.
• A white tablecloth and cloth napkins can transform your everyday meal to something special.
• A well-presented and garnished plate turns a great meal into an amazing one.
• Music, lighting, and table design should set the mood, but also complement the meal, like a well-chosen wine.
• Life is too short to not use the crystal, silver, or china in your cupboards.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We are now (at the time of writing this) almost 7 months from the end of that month-long celebration. Going back to look through my notes, mine our memories, and find the pictures so I could write-up the background and process has been both bittersweet and revelatory. I remember and re-live the pain and struggle of watching Sean’s spirits sink deeper and deeper as the dates of our original trip came and went, as well as the self-induced stress of wracking my brain to come up with an appropriate, yet safe, celebration of this landmark birthday during a worldwide crisis. I don’t know where the spark of inspiration came from to embark on this journey, but I am profoundly grateful for it. I learned a great deal during this process about myself, about food, about planning and preparation, about presentation, about sacrifice, about limits, about perseverance, about pride, and about love.

I didn’t save anyone’s life, like the thousands of healthcare workers that risked their lives and sanity to help others during this pandemic. I didn’t climb Everest, or write a Nobel Prize-winning novel, or start a non-profit to bring clean water to a village, or cure Cancer. All I did was sacrifice my free time, my effort, and my savings account to create a unique birthday to remember for the man I cherish. I know that there are people that will read this (now, or long after I’m gone) that will find the whole thing vainglorious and cry “privilege.” Yes, I believe that we do hold a privilege that many others do not. On an almost daily basis, one or both of us can be found wandering around our home, dewy-eyed, remembering our poor, isolated, bullied younger selves dreaming of the impossible: a home full of love with a husband, a cadre of accepting friends and family, with food on the table and no wolf at the door.

Never give up, and never stop giving back.

Thank you for reading through these posts, and for joining us along this journey. I started this series just to document the experience, but I hope you have learned a new technique, laughed, or been inspired to try something new. I would love to hear your comments and your own stories or memories below.

In the spirit of never give up and never stop giving back, I offer these local and national charities* for your consideration and generosity:

ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union/Black Lives Matter
AIDS Action
Alzheimer’s Association
Broadway Cares
Covenant House – Save a homeless child’s life
Greater Boston Food Bank and the World Food Program USA
HAWC – Healing Abuse Working for Change – for abused women, children and men.
Human Rights Campaign
Imagination Library
Lamda Legal
Lifebridge – bringing dignity and safety to MA Northshore homeless
MSPCA – MA Society for the Cruelty of Animals
nAGLY – North Shore Alliance for LGBTQ+ Youth
New England Foundation for the Arts
Pine Street Inn – serving metropolitan Boston’s homeless since 1969
ROOT – giving at-risk youth the skills needed to work in the hospitality industry, North Shore, MA
Salem Arts Association
Salem Arts Festival – I am on the planning committee and thank you for any help you can give,
Salem Main Streets – If you’ve read any of my Salem October Info Booth posts, please donate
Trustees of Reservations – maintaining and making available the historic and natural landmarks of New England
UNICEF – Give the Gift of Health – International humanitarian aid

For WDW Cast Members that have lost their jobs, please consider giving to the Cast Member Pantry. They have also created this Google doc with a list of small businesses and “side hustles” that furloughed/laid-off cast members are undertaking to keep financially afloat – please consider purchasing directly from a former CM.

*I receive no kickback or recognition for your donations through these links, but this list includes many of the charities Sean and I have given back to in 2020 and 2021 so far. If you do donate, please leave a comment below so I can thank you.

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