Kathy Z
Counting my Blessings
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2009
- Messages
- 1,513
Living in the Eastern Time Zone our Disney Vacations have all been to Walt Disney World in Orlando. But for a few years I've been aware of the Napa Rose restaurant inside the Grand Californian hotel at Disneyland.
My husband and I recently had a 1-week vacation in California. The first 4 days were spent north of LA and the final 2 days were spent in the San Diego area. We decided to make Napa Rose our destination dinner on day number 5. We booked seats for the 5:30 seating at the Chefs Table two months ahead and eagerly looked forward to the evening. We were not disappointed. Alex Flores chefs jacket read Sous Chef but he clearly seemed to be in charge of the kitchen. He explained that we could choose to either order from the menu or to let him make the selections for us. We wanted the full experience and put him in charge of our 5 course meals. Your chef will ask about any food allergies, intolerances, likes and dislikes. Alex was patient with us and did find he needed to write down our slightly long list. Our server was also very attentive, Im sorry that I did not write down his name.
The cost of the meal is $90 p/p plus tip. You have the option to have a wine paring with each course for an additional $45 p/p. My husband and I split a wine pairing which still provided ample wine for each of us and they were all excellent. We had the opportunity to tell them the type of wine we prefer, which, for us is dry.
We were first presented with an amuse bouche consisting of a bit of brioche topped with prosciutto, melon and grape with a basalmic reduction; a tasty few bites. The bread basket contained 2 sour dough rolls, and 2 different kinds of flatbread.
For our salad course my husband had a thick slice of heirloom tomato topped with a yellow tomato sorbet with an herbed oil while I had haricot verts, wax beans, carrots and arugula beside a grilled peach half filled with a goat cheese moose. Both salads were very tasty but I preferred the tomato one. These were paired with a white Italian wine that was a blend of two varieties but I did not get the name written down.
The appetizer course was the only one where Alex chose to serve each of us the same signature dish. It was their scallop with lobster & Tahitian vanilla sauce, paired with La Crema Chardonnay Napa Valley. Were certainly glad that we each had our own to savor.
This was followed by a second small course. My husband was served small meatballs in a pasta with spinach and basil. I was served a triangle of rabbit meatloaf with a portion of quail egg and a side salad of sautéed onion, haricot verts, potato and greens. Alex noticed our dishes just after they had been served and quickly came over to apologize and said, Im sorry this plate is not yours as he took mine away and then also took away my husbands because he wanted us both served at the same time. My original plate had 3 pretty light orange dots of sauce on it, which I suspect contained one of my banned food items. When our plates were presented a few minutes later mine did not have the sauce on it. I was not sure if I would like the meatloaf but it was excellent and I enjoyed my course better than my husbands this time but my husband was quite happy with his own. A Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast came with this course.
We both had fabulous entrees. Mine was slices of grilled filet over creamy potatoes and asparagus spears. Bills was braised short rib of beef and polenta. We enjoyed a Cabernet Sauvignon Napa County.
For dessert we were asked whether we wanted chocolate or fruit. We each chose chocolate. Mine consisted of two parts. One was a ball of dense, moist chocolate cake dipped in chocolate and resembled a truffle. The other part was a rectangle of another chocolate over a very sweet sugary white layer with nuts surrounding the bottom edge and caramel sauce drizzled over. Bills appeared to be shaped in a ring mold with pastry, filling and raspberries. Again, I preferred his dessert. Our final wine was Cabernet Franc Ice Wine from Ontario, Canada. Ice wine is generally too sweet for my taste but I had already had more than enough.
The final instruction we had given Alex at the beginning was that we each needed to limit our salt intake. We normally eat a low sodium diet at home and have difficulty when traveling and consuming all of our meals at restaurants. At Napa Rose our food was all excellent and the chefs and cooks followed our request pertaining to salt because we did not have swollen feet that night.
Reservations for the Chefs Table are only available for 5:30 or 8:30. The meal is paced well so that we finished just around 8:15. We feel very fortunate to have enjoyed this dining experience.
My husband and I recently had a 1-week vacation in California. The first 4 days were spent north of LA and the final 2 days were spent in the San Diego area. We decided to make Napa Rose our destination dinner on day number 5. We booked seats for the 5:30 seating at the Chefs Table two months ahead and eagerly looked forward to the evening. We were not disappointed. Alex Flores chefs jacket read Sous Chef but he clearly seemed to be in charge of the kitchen. He explained that we could choose to either order from the menu or to let him make the selections for us. We wanted the full experience and put him in charge of our 5 course meals. Your chef will ask about any food allergies, intolerances, likes and dislikes. Alex was patient with us and did find he needed to write down our slightly long list. Our server was also very attentive, Im sorry that I did not write down his name.
The cost of the meal is $90 p/p plus tip. You have the option to have a wine paring with each course for an additional $45 p/p. My husband and I split a wine pairing which still provided ample wine for each of us and they were all excellent. We had the opportunity to tell them the type of wine we prefer, which, for us is dry.
We were first presented with an amuse bouche consisting of a bit of brioche topped with prosciutto, melon and grape with a basalmic reduction; a tasty few bites. The bread basket contained 2 sour dough rolls, and 2 different kinds of flatbread.
For our salad course my husband had a thick slice of heirloom tomato topped with a yellow tomato sorbet with an herbed oil while I had haricot verts, wax beans, carrots and arugula beside a grilled peach half filled with a goat cheese moose. Both salads were very tasty but I preferred the tomato one. These were paired with a white Italian wine that was a blend of two varieties but I did not get the name written down.
The appetizer course was the only one where Alex chose to serve each of us the same signature dish. It was their scallop with lobster & Tahitian vanilla sauce, paired with La Crema Chardonnay Napa Valley. Were certainly glad that we each had our own to savor.
This was followed by a second small course. My husband was served small meatballs in a pasta with spinach and basil. I was served a triangle of rabbit meatloaf with a portion of quail egg and a side salad of sautéed onion, haricot verts, potato and greens. Alex noticed our dishes just after they had been served and quickly came over to apologize and said, Im sorry this plate is not yours as he took mine away and then also took away my husbands because he wanted us both served at the same time. My original plate had 3 pretty light orange dots of sauce on it, which I suspect contained one of my banned food items. When our plates were presented a few minutes later mine did not have the sauce on it. I was not sure if I would like the meatloaf but it was excellent and I enjoyed my course better than my husbands this time but my husband was quite happy with his own. A Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast came with this course.
We both had fabulous entrees. Mine was slices of grilled filet over creamy potatoes and asparagus spears. Bills was braised short rib of beef and polenta. We enjoyed a Cabernet Sauvignon Napa County.
For dessert we were asked whether we wanted chocolate or fruit. We each chose chocolate. Mine consisted of two parts. One was a ball of dense, moist chocolate cake dipped in chocolate and resembled a truffle. The other part was a rectangle of another chocolate over a very sweet sugary white layer with nuts surrounding the bottom edge and caramel sauce drizzled over. Bills appeared to be shaped in a ring mold with pastry, filling and raspberries. Again, I preferred his dessert. Our final wine was Cabernet Franc Ice Wine from Ontario, Canada. Ice wine is generally too sweet for my taste but I had already had more than enough.
The final instruction we had given Alex at the beginning was that we each needed to limit our salt intake. We normally eat a low sodium diet at home and have difficulty when traveling and consuming all of our meals at restaurants. At Napa Rose our food was all excellent and the chefs and cooks followed our request pertaining to salt because we did not have swollen feet that night.
Reservations for the Chefs Table are only available for 5:30 or 8:30. The meal is paced well so that we finished just around 8:15. We feel very fortunate to have enjoyed this dining experience.
