That is so great that you got to talk with their chef, that they will do something different for you (I'm not actually surprised, after an hour long talk with Chef Chris once), and that you let us know the answer!
I know it's not helpful to you, hula, b/c you don't eat fried foods, but for the one that asked about the beignets etc...when I talked with Chef Chris, we talked of their food philosophy. And their philosophy is that they want to accomodate as many people as possible with one dish. So they aren't going to use meat-based oil in something like that, because doing so would make vegetarians and a few religions unable to eat the foods. That means fewer people ordering, and fewer people happy. So the Mexican rice and the beans at the Mexican places there are made with vegetable oil, NOT lard, so they can make as many people happy as possible. It's a lovely philosophy!
They also have ingredient lists pretty much everywhere. The only problem I've had with finding an ingredient list is for that silly Celebrate birthday cake thing....they wanted to be the gatekeepers for finding out what was in it, and then it took AGES to get ahold of the bakery (they are made in their newish bakery area which isn't in either park), and then they gave me questionable info...like, the cake is sugar free, which is just SO unlikely (especially since it's geared for little kids, and most people don't use artificial sweeteners with little kids unless there are serious reasons)...that I just didn't order one.
But everywhere else, getting the ingredients is NOT a problem.
And now I'm drooling for the veggie gumbo at Royal Street Veranda (and I didn't even know you could get the veggie gumbo at Cafe Orleans!).
)
It might be a good substitute.
They are so good too!
