Napa Rose Chef's Counter- Have you been?

[Daisybell911]

I'M SO EXCITED!! My wonderful BF just made reservations at the Chef's Counter at Napa Rose for my birthday on 9/11. It's my first time at DL and I'm just about to pop! Has anyone been before? Anything I should know/prepare for? How long is the walk the Grand Floridian? Is there something I should see while I am there? We are doing the first seating because I want to catch fireworks to end the day on a high note. The food and reviews look awesome!

**I meant Grand Californian. D'OH!!

 

[Aladora]

We have been twice and are planning a third time next March for my 45th birthday. We love it and I can't wait to go back! I posted on a thread a few days ago and linked a slideshow of our second visit there, the the head was asking about meal recommendations for a honeymoon.

I'm not sure about the walk to the Grand Floridian but the walk to the Grand Californian depends on where you are walking from. From the middle of the Esplanade between the two park entrances it is a short walk, maybe 5 minutes.

 

[Nonsuch]

Napa Rose is located adjacent to the Grand Californian entrance to California Adventure (near Grizzly River Rapids), you can go from inside DCA to NR in less than a minute!

Have a happy birthday.

 

[MikeRx]

It's our must do date night each trip and I know you will love it. Seeing the fireworks depends on your seating if you have the early seating you could see them, but not if you have the late seating (8:30p) as dinner is 2.5 -3 hrs long. Make sure you simply ask Chef to "cook for you" and he/she will ask you a few questions about dietary restrictions and likes and dislikes and take it from there. We do the wine pairing too as it adds another level of complexity to the experience. We are looking forward to our 4th adventure in July!

Have fun,
Mike

 

[Daisybell911]

Lol Can you tell I'm a WDW veteran?!?

 

[ImDMous]

We've done it once and it was awesome! We let the chef pick and did the wine pairings. DH and I had different dishes every course so getting to taste 2 different things for each was great. So delicious!

 

[MikeRx]

When the Flying Fish reopens at the Boardwalk you will need to try the chef's counter there too. It's our east coast date night spot...and dare I say...just as wonderful as Napa Rose. We had Chef Tim Keating just before he anounced he was leaving in October so it was really special.

Back to Napa Rose..
We've also had Chef Sutton at the Napa Rose so the Disney culinary gods have smiled upon us! We had Chef Gloria in March at the Napa Rose and she was amazing, so you,will be in good hands regardless.

Mike

 

[avalon451]

I've done it twice, once with my daughter and once solo. The first time was wonderful. Staff was very friendly to me and especially to my 13y.o. DD. Food was fabulous.

Solo last year, food was still very good, but I did have a few issues, possibly because I was alone. I had the wine pairing with dinner. I don't know what it was about me that the waiter saw, but apparently he got the impression that I was some fluffy soccer mom who knows nothing about good wine. He kept trying to pass off super sweet stuff that I'd never normally drink. When he tried to pour me a Vouvray, I just kind of looked at him sharply and said, "Really, Vouvray? A bit sweet, I think?" He backed off but still didn't seem to think I knew anything about wine, maybe because I was alone? I don't know. Anyway. Then the head chef kind of ignored me a lot, (compared to the other patrons at the counter) again, maybe because I was alone. Also he was harassing one of the sous chefs a lot. The poor guy was working hard, but the head chef kept berating him and speaking contemptuously to him-- picked up one of his dishes and tossed it in the garbage. The sous chef kept saying respectfully, "Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef." and I was cringing for him. So that kind of ruined it for me.

However, I was sitting in front of the appetizer chef, and he was so nice, and very informative and interesting. So that redeemed it a bit.

We're doing it again for my birthday in September. If the head chef repeats that performance, though, I'm saying something about it.

 

[Daisybell911]

It sounds like I'm in for a real treat! I've been looking forward to it all day. I'm glad I stumbled on it last night. I didn't know Disney dining doesn't do the reservations. I happened to see an article that said they don't go by the 60 day rule. The start reservations on the first of the month for the whole month 60 days after. So July 1st, they started taking reservations for all of September. I'm so glad I hear! We called last night to confirm that was true. The super sweet people who answered took our info and promised that they would make our reservation for us today and call us back to confirm, which they did!

I'm pretty excited about the DCA entrance. I didn't know there was one. Maybe I'll do WOC that night instead of fireworks since we have park hopper tickets and will be there for three days.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I've been there three times, and had wine pairings both times. I'm not a big drinker so my companions benefited. The first time was with two very good DIS friends and we had 15 different things to eat and drink, and tasted off of each others plates. It was divine. The second time was with the same couple and another friend of mine, and again we had had different things. The last time I used my Disney Visa Rewards points (I saved a long time for those points), and treated my kids. The first and last time we had Chef Gloria. The second time was a different chef. My favorites were the first and last time we went.

You're in for a very special treat!

 

[Astylla]

If I could afford it every visit I would go , our one experience with it was THAT amazing. My hubby at the time was super picky and they didn't break a sweat accommodating his " no green things" request LOL. The wine pairings are amazing too.

It was fun trying each other's plates and every course was fantastic. We ended up doing the Flying Fish dinner at WDW last May and both got the wine pairings also. I had a cake made for him from Boardwalk Bakery at WDW as a surprise for our 5th wedding anniversary and they pulled it off like a pro delivering it to us.

 

[ParkHopper1]

As other said...be sure to allot 2-3 hours of unscheduled time to fully enjoy it. First time we thought "oh, this may take an hour or so" then were rushing at the end to get to Fantastic that night...were we wrong!

I have enjoyed the dessert counter (which is still part of the "chef counter" there are two sections of four seats that are adjacent to the main kitchen and section of 6 down overlooking the dessert area but you can still see the whole kitchen). It is a bit more secluded, can take a party of 6 and felt a bit more relaxed being able to interact with the dessert chef...plus you get to see ALL the options to choose from if you want to select by time you get to your dessert course!

 

[McNs]

We went last year, dropped the kids off at Pinoccio's Workshop. The food was sublime, each plate worked really well. It was great watching the chefs at work, the kitchen was very calm when we were there.

Only down side was one or two of the wine pairings. I had a lamb dish that was overpowered by a monster Napa Cabernet, would have preferred a Pinot noir.

To top it off, we were seated next to the daughter of Disney legend Don Edgren, so got to hear some wonderful stories from her.

 

[GrandBob]

What's the cost per person? I can't find it on WDWinfo or disneyland.com. And how much additional for the wine pairings?

Thanks much,
Bob

 

[McNs]

From memory it was $100 for the meal and $50 for the wine. That was October 2015. Worth it for a great dining experience. Finished the evening off at Trader Sams

ETA you need to phone them to book, which is a bit of a pain when you live in New Zealand...

 

[Daisybell911]

Yes. It's $100 for dinner and $45 for the wine tasting.

 

[DizMe]

I did this with my sister a few years ago. It was wonderful in most ways and not so great in others.

The wonderful: the food was amazing. We were asked specific likes and dislikes but we let the chef choose our food. There was only one course that was not something I was comfortable with, but they whisked it away and brought me something incredible in its place. We were constantly given new wine pairings to try...far beyond what we paid for. Even the course I was given that was not what I wanted was amazing.

The not-so-wonderful: it was expensive. I'm not a gourmet foodie or a big eater so I was rather shocked that I paid close to $200 for a meal. We were the last chef's counter patrons and were the only ones sitting there; we were basically ignored by all of the chefs except the lowest on the totem pole. It felt odd because we were expecting to share the experience--at least with the chefs!--but we felt somewhat rushed and in the way as we were the only ones there. No one wanted to talk to us about the food and our waiter was excellent but more than ready to see us leave well before it was time.

I've not done it again. It was fabulous and fun but IMO overpriced for what we got, which was an uncomfortable dining experience. Wonderful food, but not a wonderful atmosphere.

On the plus side, we met a REALLY fun couple in the lobby of GCH afterward and sat at the fireplace drinking wine (the man was a tech guru who lived in the wine country) and having fun. We actually got kicked out of the GCH lobby! Apparently, we were having too much fun and learned, to our surprise, that it was well past 1 am. We sheepishly retired to our room but I have to say it was one of the most fun nights of my life. Next time I go, I would like to make sure we're not the only ones there!

 

[Aladora]

Back to Napa Rose..
We've also had Chef Sutton at the Napa Rose so the Disney culinary gods have smiled upon us! We had Chef Gloria in March at the Napa Rose and she was amazing, so you,will be in good hands regardless.

Mike

We have been very lucky and had Chef Gloria our first time and Chef Sutton our second! The first time we were sitting at the appetizer side and the second at the dessert one. Both were very enjoyable!

 

[Nonsuch]

...I'm pretty excited about the DCA entrance. I didn't know there was one. Maybe I'll do WOC that night instead of fireworks since we have park hopper tickets and will be there for three days.

While not at the Chef's Counter, I have dined at Napa Rose with WOC on the same evening -- certainly easier than park hopping. If your budget (and appetite) allow, you could do the WOC Desert Party on the same night.

 

[whoever]

Here's my detailed write-up from a year and a half back.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ma...-halloween-party.3344654/page-2#post-52996098