November 2nd was my Gram's actual birthday. We also decided to celebrate mine on this trip since it was October 27th. We both agreed that we wanted our special birthday dinner to be at Citricos. We ate here back in early April on our last trip and really fell in love with it.
We didn't have time to go back to POP between Epcot and dinner, so we just took the Monorail over to the GF and hung out in the lobby until our ADR time. I love the atmosphere here - it's kind of fancy and upscale, but you don't feel out of place because most people are walking around in t-shirts! We sat on a couch in the middle and listened to wonderful Pianist.
When our ADR time arrived (7:35) we checked in at the podium and I asked if Keira, the waitress we had last time, was working. They said she was, but that none of her tables were free. So we decided we would rather not wait and give someone else a try.
The hostess lead us to one of the few tables in the restaurant that have a partial view of Wishes! I felt like they did they special for us, because when they set down our menus, they were each personalized with our names and, much to my Gram's dismay, the ages we were turning!
We were greeted almost immediately by our server, Nancy. She was a fun bundle of enthusiasm with a very pronounced Minnesotan accent! She talked to us for a bit about Gram's dietary concerns and assured us there would be no problem. I knew I wanted wine with this meal, but hadn't decided on anything yet, so she went and got us some water and bread in the meantime.
We ADORE the bread at Citricos. Everyone in our family is a carboholic so good bread is like oxygen for us! It's baked fresh in house and there's a sundried tomato and a multigrain. I like the sundried tomato and Gram likes the multigrain, so that works out well.
It's served with nice, real butter, sprinkled with sea salt.
We had to ask Nancy for some extra salt since my Gram hogs it all (and also needs it for the rest of the meal).
It's so hard for me not fill up on the bread here!
I finally made my wine selection after we agonized over what food we would be ordering - although I'm a big believer in the "drink what you like" school of wine selection, I didn't want it to totally clash!
So I went with the only champagne they had by the glass:
Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut
This was certainly tasty, good champage, but it wasn't my favorite. It was a little too.....toasty on the finish for my tastes. I'm glad I had some bubbly with our celebratory meal, but it's not something I'd want to spend $15 bucks on again.
After we had noshed on some bread, Nancy brought us out an amuse-bouche, compliments of Chef Cory for our birthdays!
It was a
Chorizo Croqueta with Violet Mustard Sauce
Yum Yum in our tums! We love chorizo. These were just perfect - crispy, hot, soft on the inside, and bursting with an attention grabbing flavor. The violet mustard was tart and really woke up your tastebuds in good way. A perfect dish for an amuse-bouche!
As we were eating our croquetas, Chef Cory came out and spoke with my Gram about what she could eat. Last time they let her order off the kids menu, and she liked what she had so much, she got almost the same dish again! Chef Cory was very sweet and personable with my Gram. He knelt down to talk to her and acted like he had all the time in world and that he wasn't responsible for cooking for anyone except us!
After our consultation with the chef, we decided to split an appetizer of
Arancini- Crispy Risotto with Italian Sausage, Four Cheeses, and a White Truffle Aioli
Now this dish normally comes with four of those balls, but they split the serving for us before bringing it to the table.
Wow were these little buggers fantastic! Whoever came up with the idea of frying balls of risotto is a genius! I loooved the white truffle aioli - so earthy, a nice flavor for the fall on top of the light cheesy goodness.
Wishes started while were enjoying our appetizer. They don't pipe in the music at Citricos since most tables don't have any view of the fireworks, but it was still awesome to look up from the food and see the fireworks.
After we finished the appetizer, they gave us a few minutes before bringing out our entrees. I HATE when your entrees arrive while you're still working on the first course, so I appreciate the effort that goes in to timing this.
Gram had a specially made kid's size meal:
Seared Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushroom Risotto and Broccolini
This was a wonderful little 4oz (or so) tenderloin cooked perfectly to Gram's medium rare specification. Just a simple lightly seasoned steak that was delicous and melt in your mouth tender. The mushroom risotto was great, as was the broccolini. Gram adored this meal just like she did last time. One of the best parts? They only charged us $13 for it!
I selected the
Roast Chicken Breast - Tanglewood Farms Chicken with Pappardelle Pasta, Wine-braised Artichokes, Grape Tomatoes, Basil Pesto, and a Savory Chardonnay Broth
Another wonderful Citricos creation! The skin was all seasoned and salty and the meat was so moist and perfectly cooked. The pasta was obviously house made and just wonderful with the pesto. I don't think I have ever eaten fresh artichoke hearts before....and these were great. None of that tart, tinny flavor you get from the canned kind.
Now....on to the most important part: DESSERT!
Luckily, one of the desserts already on the menu safe for Gram to eat, so that's what she ordered.
Honey Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Poached Cranberries:
What a perfect autumn dessert this was! The cake was almost wet, but not at all soggy. It wasn't too sweet, and was full of warm spice flavor. The pears were so good. I'm not a cranberry fan, but Gram really loved the whole dish. I liked how it was sweet but not too sugary - this isn't one of those desserts that make you feel too full and heavy afterwards.
For my pick, I had the
Lemon Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberry Sauce:
Oooooooohhhhh.
My.
This was the the best thing of the whole trip!
This was a cheesecake, but the texture was different than any other cheesecake I've ever tried. It was.....smoother, very creamy, but not as heavy as regular cheesecake. And the lemon flavor was outstanding - ever so slightly tart, but mostly just Lemony! I love all the fun garnishes on this dish. The big net piece was like a spun, caramelized sugar. It was really great to break off pieces of it and scoop up some of the cheesecake with! The little sign was dark chocolate, and the blue and white spirals were white chocolate. The red sauce was the raspberry, and I think the yellow was passion fruit. My one little complaint with this dish would be that there's not enough raspberry sauce to advertise it as a real part of the dish. Maybe a little bowl of it would be nice on the side, but the cheesecake is so good by itself you don't need the sauces. They are, however, just as tasty!
The lovely Citricos kitchen I would like to steal and plant in my house:
Can I get those all to go please?
And our wonderful Chef Cory:
I wish I had gotten a picture of Nancy - if you go, you'll know her by the accent right away!
Another wonderful experience at Citricos. This is currently my top restaurant choice in all of Disney. They really make you feel special, and give your tatsebuds something to dance about!
. 
But we decided to say goodbye in style with a character breakfast! 
