Les Chefs de France
When we last left off, our intrepid Epcot explorers had just finished a quick ride on Spaceship Earth. And now, upon exiting the ride, we needed to double-time it to the World Showcase for a 12:20pm adr at Les Chefs de France. I probably do not need to inform you that Epcot is a big park. Nor do I need to remind you that Florida is a hot place in June. Anyway, we moved as fast as we could and got there a few minutes late but within the acceptable grace period, which is probably fashionable in France, right?
We were immediately led to our table. The restaurant was not overly busy.
I love how Disney will staff places like this with people from the actual country. It’s great because their English is good, but not perfect. For example, the person who brought us to our table said, “the waiter will explain you the menu”. It’s about as authentic an experience as you can get, without traveling thousands of miles.
Here’s a view back across the dining room after we were seated at our table. The windows along the right of the picture are the front of the building, and face the walkway around the World Showcase. The restaurant has kind of a bistro feel with the view of the sidewalk, but considering that this is Florida, it’s good that it’s in the air conditioning.
Our waitress, Fanny from Lyons France, describing the gluten free options to Judy.
The chef (de France) visits our table to understand Judy’s food allergy issues.
One reason we like visiting DisneyWorld so much is that they take such care with food allergies. In addition to being so attentive, they seem to try to have plenty of options available. We decided to order from the price fixe portion of the menu, which meant that for a set price (which I don’t remember) we’d each select a soup or salad, entrée, and dessert. They would be able to accommodate Judy’s gluten issue within the choices.
Our first taste however, was outside of the price fixe menu, an appetizer of escargot. I know what you’re thinking: “Are snails really an
appetizer? Will they really enhance your appetite, or kill it altogether?” Of course, that is a matter of personal preference. But here we were in the World Showcase; a part of the Walt Disney World parks that celebrates different cultures and tastes. (And hopefully the chefs here knew how to make the stuff palatable.) And besides that, we’d tried them once before, on a
Royal Caribbean cruise in 2008, and they weren’t terrible. Anyway, Marlene asked if we could get them and since this was her graduation-celebration trip, and in the restaurant she asked for (due to her fondness for all things France), how could I refuse?
They’re not bad. They’re kind of just a vehicle to eat butter and whatever else is in the sauce. Kind of like raw oysters or something like that. We all ate one and Marlene got two. They would normally be served with bread crumbs on top, but those were left off for Judy.
On to the first course of our price fixe meals, soup. Marlene and I both got lobster bisque.
The others each got French onion soup. I think that both soups were really well received. (Lobster bisque is easier to eat, in my opinion, since you end up fighting with the cheese on the onion soup.)
Fanny brought baguettes to the table and I neglected to take a picture of mine until it was more than half-eaten. But rest assured, it was excellent!
Fanny took a group picture for us. It was cute because she took one picture, looked at the back of the camera and said, “it’s not...clear”, trying to find a word to describe out-of-focus. She did a great job finding a word to communicate her meaning to us, and an equally great job getting a second photo in-focus.
Next course, our entrée’s. I got the macaroni and cheese. I normally wouldn’t order just mac and cheese for an entrée, but we decided that we’d all share our different items and so I got this to try. It was really good though.
Marlene and James got the quiche Lorraine and salad. I don’t remember what the verdict was on this, but I don’t remember any negatives from our meal here so I’m sure it was good.
While we’re on the subject of quiche, allow me to tell a quick family story. A few years ago, James had a French class and each student was supposed to bring in a food item for an international meal. Of course James waited until the night before the meal to inform Judy, and he told her that he needed her to make a dish that he’d signed up for. She asked him what she had to make and he answered, “kwi-shay”. We were like, “what the heck is that?!” until we figured out that it was actually “quiche”. It will always be kwi-shay in our household forevermore!
Judy and Lauren each got the croque Monsieur, Judy’s on gluten-free bread.
This is Lauren’s croque Monsieur, on regular bread.
We could see the acrobats outside the restaurant, putting on their show.
For dessert, I got the profiteroles au chocolat. So good.
Judy and James got chocolate mousse.
Lauren and Marlene each got crème brulee.
In contrast to the Beverly photos at Club Cool in the previous chapter. Here are some pictures of people enjoying the taste of their desserts.
Le Chefs de France was a new restaurant for us and I’m really glad we tried it. It was kind of a fancy meal, but I don’t think the price was outrageous. It may have even been less than some of the buffets we’ve done in the past. I thought that we all enjoyed our meals but I learned afterwards that Lauren wasn't really wow'd by hers. It may have been that she hadn't chosen the best options from the menu for her liking. So, slightly mixed reviews on this one. But, now that we've finally broken away from Biergarten after two or three consecutive visits, I may have an easier time getting the family to try one of the many other great restaurants in the World Showcase.
Up next:
Epcot afternoon
Old habits are hard to break! Glad you're caught up.
(Or, should I say, Food and Wine and more Galaxy's Edge?)
I WILL finish it though!
It's like you knew I was here.
(man I wish they had a smiley with a pinky raised hand holding a tea cup)
