21 hours in Disney for the Dining Gastronomes on Thanksgiving

[Mr. D's K-Man]

Hmm, Bad Boys, Bagels, Bondage and Booze.
Would the flight demo be considered "buoy"?

OK … where DO I pick this up? Bagels, Bondage, Booze and Bad Boys …

Well … I think Mister Disney was generous on the Bagels.

The Bondage … well that’s personal … but we do play well with others.

The Booze … it was 12 O’Clock SOMEWHERE!

Bad Boys … Bad Boys … whatch ya gonna do. If you think we were bad … you should have seen the flight attendants who thought they were a Vegas Act … yes, boys of different demographics!


We LOVE the boys of Southwest Air …

And of COURSE, I’m especially partial to

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

So after the Vegas Act … we landed in Orlando, picked up the rental car and wizzed over to our hotel. Not to be outdone by the free booze on the flight, we checked into the fabulous Marriott where we redeemed some of our rewards points for our FREE ROOM!

After a brief freshening up, a change of clothes …. No I would NEVER let Mister Disney wear THAT outfit to V&A’s … we headed back to the rental car and over to The Grand Floridian to check out the Christmas decorations.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

Still hostage to the Picture Warden …
you’ll have to wait to see what we actually did wear.
Suffice it to say … we wore new matching jackets.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

We toured the wonderful decorations at the Grand …

hopped on the monorail and zipped to the Contemporary Resort …

boarded the boat and breezed over to Wilderness Lodge …

and finally hailed a cab back to the Grand in time for our dinner reservation.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

6:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Twelve hours of winning, wild, wonderful, whizzing from home to our favorite vacation spot on earth … we stood outside the doors of our favorite restaurant.

 

[Maggi May]

Whoo hoo! It only to 6 pages to get to the front doors of V&A!
Love the story so far, can't wait to hear more.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

The doors opened

“Good Evening Misters Disney and K-Man. We’ve been expecting you!”

Immediately, I could hear Mrs. Potts signing “Be Our Guest” and the Adventures began.

We knew it was going to be a night to remember when we were seated next to the Harpist who took her seat as we came in.

Israel Perez came over with his warm smile and friendliest greeting. We rose to shake his hand and to thank him for the special treatment and fabulous seating location.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

After our brief exchange with Israel, he quietly walked over to the young harpist and spoke with her. She finished the song she was playing and began playing one of our favorite songs “Edelweiss” from the “Sound of Music”.


If you haven’t met or heard hear, there is a NEW treasure at the Grand and Victoria and Albert’s. Her name is Elizabeth and she is one of the most talented and up and coming harpists.

 

[Mr. D's K-Man]

After finishing “Edelweiss”, Elizabeth took a brief break and Christian Frederick arrived. Ever the professional, he approached the harp, flipped up the tails on his jacket and took the position.

http://www.christianfrederick.com/


Mister Disney leaned over and whispered, I bet I know what he’s going to play. Within 3 notes we both knew Chris was playing Mister Disney’s favorite song, “Somewhere In Time”.

After the he was finished, again, we rose and thanked Chris for his special performance for us on during our special dinner. We chatted briefly with Chris before he returned to the main lobby of the Grand where he was performing to for the crowds of holiday visitors.

As we took our seats, our servers arrived and introduced themselves and took our beverage order. Yes, more booze!

 

[mlill]

WooHoo! I'm so glad I came back to check on this thread! I can't wait to hear about your fabulous dinner! Thanks for sharing your whirlwind Thanksgiving adventure with us!

*** Happy Holidays ***

-Michelle

 

[Swimnoid]

More, More! We demand more!

 

[BriarRosie]

Very cool. I was expecting the doors to swing wide, but with trumpeteers
with long trumpets that had tapestries hanging from them, along with a
bunch of doves being released.

I've yet to dine in the main room and hear the harp. They've stuck me in
the kitchen a couple of times. I can't wait to see how the V&A
restaurant does Thanksgiving. Should be interesting!

 

[jakenjess]

Love the pictures! More, please!!

 

[Mister Disney]

Beverages? Did someone say beverages?

Oban on the rocks for Mister Disney and a Diet Coke for the K-Man please.

One (being me....Mister Disney) must always start a fine culinary experience with a mild single malt scotch. Oban has always been my choice for starting off a meal. It is one of the mildest (for lack of some technical word that none of us would understand....) Single Malts on the market.

As we sit, enjoying the ambience, the libations and music before us, we ponder what surprises lay before us. You see, we are not given menus to choose from this evening. The offerings will be a complete surprise to us as Israel Perez, Maitre'd Extraordinaire has arranged with Scott Hunnel, Chef de Cuisine, to provide us with the Chef's Table Sampling Menu even though we were dining in the Main Dining room!

We relax sipping our beverages as many of the "Victorias" & "Alberts" moving silently around the room that we have had the pleasure of meeting over the years, come by to say hello and we all exchange holiday greetings....

 

[Mister Disney]

The Amuse Bouche.....lets start with a definition first, shall we?

As defined by Wikipedia:
Amuse Bouches are tiny bite-sized morsels served before the hors d'œuvre or first course of a meal. These, often accompanied by a proper complementing wine, are served as an excitement of taste buds to both prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

The word is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser" [for bouche = mouth; amuser = to amuse, to please].

Well.....here we go......

Ohio Tomatoes and Costa Rican Hearts of Palm with Smoked Salmon on a Himalayan Salt Plate, Smoked Salmon Roulade, Lump Crab Meat Fritter on a Vanilla Bean Stick, Deviled Quail Egg with Ostra Caviar

This was paired with a fine glass of Heidsieck Monopole "Blue Top" Brut Champagne

 

[Mister Disney]

We decided that this portion of the Amuse Bouche should be eaten first since it was the "warm" offering on the plate.

We were amazed at the artistry of this delectable morsel. Who would have ever thought of using a vanilla bean as a skewer or tooth pick?

As we brought the Fritter to our mouths the first sense to be filled was our sense of smell. The warmth of the fritter was imparting into the air the smell of vanilla~! HEAVEN!

We bite into the fritter, through the crispy outer shell as our taste buds are now enrobed in the sweet taste of the crab. It was absolutely perfect…not the least bit greasy from frying, not too hot, not too cool, perfectly seasoned, PEFECTO!

After we finished up the 2 bites of the fritter, I so wanted to run the vanilla bean through my teeth, but I thought that would be uncouth!

To sum it up? HEAVEN ON A STICK!

 

[honeybee213]

Those chefs never cease to amaze me. Vanilla bean skewer? I wish I could have smelled that. Keep it coming!

 

[Mister Disney]

Having had the opportunity to Dine at The Chef's Table twice so far, I would have loved to see how they made this minature version of Devil Eggs.

How did they get the yolk out of such a small egg? How did they cook them so the "white" was not tough and chewy? Who in the kitchen has a steady enough hand to be able to place the beads of Caviar delicately on the top of the piped in yolks?

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

They must have given Ostridge Eggs to "Wonkavision TV" to be turned into Quail Eggs

 

[Mister Disney]

This Tidbit of smoked salmon, cream cheese (was it creme fraiche? I can't remember) and herbs disolved slowly over our tastebuds leaving us ready for more.

(side note....we have up until this point been looking around the dining room to see what the "Amuse Bouche" serving was for the main dining room. This smoked Salmon Roulade, was the choice. Sans everything else we're enjoying.)

 

[shovan]

OMG, that was sooo worth the wait!!!

The pictures and descriptions are heaven!

It was worth the anticipation just to hear the word uncouth used in a sentence!!!!

You guys are too cool!