Pie That Brownie, Fruitcake! Updated Post #1832 - The End

[BriarRosie]

Sunday, October 18th - Just Once I'd Like Someone to Call Me Ma'am Without Adding "You're Making a Scene."

But you haven't succeeded quite yet.

This was a dinner that wasn't supposed to happen ... at least not at Victoria and Albert's. Initally we were all going to try for a Bluezoo redux but someone got advance notice that Todd English was going to host a big, salty dinner there on the night we were planning to meet up and so we moved to plan B, which was the Chef's Domaine at Citricos. Lori was good enough to call the restaurant and get some details about the experience and it didn't take long for us to agree that for the price we would all rather try for plan CT: the Chef's Table at V&A.

It sounds way more complicated than it actually was. Until I was trying to finagle a Chef's Table dinner in the main dining room while on the Magical Express bus to the Beach Club.

While we weren't able to nab the Chef's Table, Lori was able to make an early dinner reservation for the six of us and she was thoughtful enough to ask me about my dietary restrictions and general Crohns-related pickiness so that it could be passed along to the staff. The result of this was that my menu was adjusted to exclude nuts, seeds, grains, and loathesome mushrooms. My menu also noted that I'd just celebrated a birthday and our serving team very kindly wished me a happy one.

I enjoy the planning. I used to be a huge planning geek but have mellowed out a lot over the years. Some of my planning geek comes out in moments like these.

Thanks Lori, for taking the time to coordinate everything and getting us all to the table and for helping me baby the Crohn goblin.

Twas nothing!

Our reservation was early - 5:15PM - and I think it was closer to 5:30PM when Lori, Catherine, Jason, and I arrived at the Grand Floridian and met Chelsi and Jason ouetside the restaurant. This was another instance where I really wanted to get some group pictures and somehow lost the moment and / or opportunity. But we did manage to get some good individual pictures showing great good cheer which was further enhanced by the exchange of gift bags from Chelsi & Jason. So sweet!

Guilty as charged. No group photos. And Chelsi was sweet to do that.

Skipping over the photos. But I have to say Catherine gets points for the vogue pose.

For those of you not familiar with Victoria and Albert's ... the dining room serves a 7-course fixed price meal for $125 per person; wine pairings are an additional $60 per person. The restaurant is Central Florida's only AAA 5-Diamond dining establishment: the decor is understated and elegant; the service is exceptional; and the food is delightful ... even though the Disney Dining Dictator has decreed that foie gras is verboten.

Gotta give a tiny dig whenever we can about the foie gras. I don't think we'll ever see that stuff again.

What you need to understand is that Vickie & Al's is a classy joint; someone like me, who grew up eating spam, potted meat, and Swanson's TV Dinners, is probably not amongst their target guest market. I've come a long way in overcoming these early culinary abominations, but my lack of training shows. If it weren't for repeated viewings of Pretty Woman I wouldn't have even known which piece of cutlery to use with which course during the meal. Thank goodness for the advent of cable television.

I credit the Food Network for sharing with me the culinary secret words like mise-en-place and mirepoix. And the overuse of the word "unctuous". They even put a definition on screen during "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" show after someone called a dish "unctuous".

It was a given that we were all going to opt for the wine pairings with our respective meals;

Duh! LOL!

Amuse Bouche

A Quartet of Tasty Treats ...

Here's what we were presented with starting at the top left-hand corner and moving clockwise around the plate: Celery Root Cream; Egg Mousse; Spot Prawn, and Octopus Bit.

I surely wish I could remember more about this ... but nothing really stands out very much after three months. I enjoyed the egg-y mousse quite a bit, perhaps as much for the presentation as the taste. The celery cream seemed a bit potent, the shrimp was shrimp, and I'm pretty sure I gave the octopus to Jay because I just don't like it (too chewy and squishy for my taste).

I think we all felt that way about the amuse bouche. I think V&A is starting to become complacent. They seem to have a seasonal rotation of items that have the egg shell cup, a soup, and a couple of small bites.

There was much pre-vacation discussion in outer-Stinktown about V&A's caviar option. I have wanted to try it for some time, and thought this would be a good opportunity to do so. The price was more than we expected it to be - for years the 1/2 ounce upcharge has been $125 - but I guess the market price must have soared or V&A got their hands on some really good fish eggs because we were now looking at a $190 upcharge. That's a lot of cash for a Midwestern rube to spend on an appetizer she knows nothing about; in fact, we could have ordered a third dinner with change leftover for the cab ride back to the Beach Club for that price.

But we had already budgeted for the splurge and we had our Tables in Wonderland card which would give us a 20% discount off the final bill; I'm married to a wonderfully indulgent man who simply asked me, "Do you want the caviar?"

And when I replied in the affirmative he said, "Then order it."

Check out the presentation! Caviar in a little chilling dish ... creme fraiche, miniature blinis, a fun little hard boiled egg souffle, and a mother of pearl serving spoon for fishing out the caviar. I was charmed right away ... and a little apprehensive because as I said earlier, I know nothing about caviar except that it should never be touched with metal because that can adversely affect its taste.

I picked up the spoon, slathered a bit of creme fraiche on a blini, lopped off a bit of egg, and then scooped out some caviar and sprinked it on top of it all. With a shrug and a smile I popped it all in my mouth and hoped for the best.

And it was divine!

It was slightly salty and had a delicate, nutty flavor - it wasn't remotely gacky and left no nasty coating or aftertaste in my mouth. I totally understand now why people order this stuff; it was amazing and delicious. Given the price, it's unlikely that we will order a caviar presentation again anytime soon, but I'm so glad that Jay gave me the chance to try a true delicacy. And I was nice enough to share a taste with my friends around the table if they were interested ... seems like most of them were but I don't recall if they liked it or not.

That's presentation!

Fish eggs; fish eggs; teeny, tiny fish eggs.

That looked awesome, but I could not bring myself to ask you for a taste. You were already giving so much of it away. I had a hangup about asking mainly because of the price of the upcharge and the scant amount you had. It looked fantastic though!

I was given the option of having a second glass of champagne with my caviar service or an ice cold glass of Cirroc vodka. Jay and I are big fans of Cirroc so I opted for that. As an aside, I loved the glass it was served in ... if we had more room for glassware I'd buy a couple of these glasses for our collection, but there is no more room at the inn.

Bendy flashes for Vodka, too ...

I think it's a nice twist to offer vodka to go with it!

Course II:

Maine Diver Scallop with Zellwood Corn and Chorizo Sauce
King Salmon with California Asparagus, Crab, and Sauce Bearnaise
Wild Turbot with Toasted Capers and Meyer Lemon ($30 upcharge)

For this course I selected the salmon ... in retrospect I'm not sure why I didn't choose the scallop. I far prefer a scallop to a salmon but this is what I chose and it was quite good, if a little more saucy than I usually like. The wine that accompanied this dish was Baileyana Chardonnay - it seemed like a decent chardonnay ... not too overpowering or strong and it didn't taste of oak, which is always a good thing!

All hail King Salmon!

I have ordered the salmon the last couple times I was there, but different presentations of it. Maybe next time I'll get out of the salmon rut, but I liked it both times I did a course with it.

This time it was Jason's turn to splurge on a pricey dish and he chose the turbot, which he'd tried here on our first visit in October 2006. He fell in love with it then and hasn't had much of a chance, if any, to feast on it since. He shared a taste with me and I understand why he likes it so much - it was very flavorful but light at the same time, if that makes any sense. The wine that accompanied this course was a Heller Estate Chenin Blanc.

Turbot-charged!

I've been known to splurge on meat upcharges. Just for my 40th birthday, though.

Course III:

Poulet Rouge with English Peas and Salsify
Duck Breast, Sausage, and Confit with Delicata Squash Puree

Jason went with the duck this time and it was served with an Acacia Pinot Noir. I don't really like duck unless I'm being served its seared, fatty liver, so I didn't try this, but Jason thought it was one of the best courses he was served all evening.

It's Ducky!

By process of elimination I chose the Poulet Rouge which was served with a Spatburgunder. To each his own but I didn't care for this - it struck me as way too salty and I didn't eat very much of it. This was the only course of the night that I didn't like. Truth be told I was missing the seared foie gras which was usually served with a glass of Royal Takaji, so I'm not sure there was much I could have ordered that would have made me happy.

Again with the foie gras regret! Heheheh. I liked the duck, but I did have foie gras regret, too.

Now here's where the evening started to get a little wonky. If I remember correctly, we spent the weeks leading up to this dinner joking around about all the inappropriate songs we were going to request from the harpist. Suggestions ranged from Inna Gadda Da Vida to FreeBird to a whole host of other songs that I can't recall. We got a lot of laughs out of the idea here on the boards but it didn't seem like anyone at the table was ready to move forward with the proposition once we were actually in V&A's dining room. I said something to Jay, trying to prod him to go over and request something, but he wouldn't budge.

*Sigh*

I asked him for some cash and then hauled my pistachio-green butt over to the petite lady who makes such lovely music. I had a song in mind, oh yes I did, and I asked her if she could play it for us.

She replied in the affirmative and then told me there was no need to leave her a tip for doing so. Perhaps this is when the uncouth in me shines through, but I left her the cash anyway, in part because I knew six people in the dining room were going to start laughing as soon as they recognized the song she was playing and I felt kind of bad about it.

I refused to divulge the song selection when I came back to the table, telling everyone that they would know the song when they heard it.

It seemed like the dining room was very quiet at this point - we might even have been experiencing a lull in the general conversation - and then the delicate sound of the harp filled the room. Jay and I started snickering right away but I think there was a brief moment of disbelief ... she didn't request that, did she? ... before the others started laughing, too.

I apologize right now to all of you who love Send in the Clowns, especially if you were at V&A that night, but it's a long-standing joke in our house and we had to sing Krusty the Clown's version of the song:

Send in the Clowns
Those laffy, daffy clowns
Those soulful and doleful,
schmaltz-by-the-bowful clowns

That was perfect, and I immediately thought of Krusty when she started playing.

We crooned quietly, but there was a lot of giggling and then we were interrupted by a member of the staff who told me that a strange person had stopped by to leave me a birthday baggie. As soon as I realized it was the hilarious and mysterious LisaDKG, I bolted from the table with my husband in order to meet her. Not only was this undoubtedly rude on my part, but I missed the rest of the darn song, too! So I apologize to my tablemates as well as to the harpist who was no doubt scarred for life by what we did.

The plus side is that I had a chance to meet someone from the DIS that I've been talking with for a couple of years - she is a sharp, very funny lady and so cute and tiny, too! I felt like a mammoth, ready-to-burst pistachio nut standing next to her.

And this concludes the first act ... stay tuned for further updates which will include lots more food, both on the menu and not! Thanks for reading!

And while you were gone, we were saying, "She requested a song and now is missing most of it!"

 

[BriarRosie]

The caviar was awesome awesome awesome. I like salt and I like fish but I don't like salty fish eggs. These were not salty, or maybe Todd English just wasn't there to dump a bunch of salt in them.

I remember I wrote this great big thing about the spot prawn, and nobody else remembers him

I remember Mr. Spot Prawn. I had to be uncouth and pick him up and scrape himk out with my teeth. I would have liked to try the caviar, but the price was prohibitive for me because I knew I had my own Japanase A5 beef upcharge a month later.

 

[DisneyMom5]

I'm caught up now! I always read reviews of v & a and imagine my poor dh trying to figure out what to order. LOL
Sounds yummy!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[oybolshoi]

SEND IN THE CLOWNS!!!!!!!
OH MY FRICKIN GOD!

Your V&A review is amazing. THANK YOU.

My god that caviar looks fabulous. Tempted to buy when there. Tempted so tempted. When we go back to WDW in Dec. I am going to try SO hard to get Chefs Table, but if not we will be there anyway. We love V&As.

Can't wait for more.

Hey there Poppinsme ... long time no see!! Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed our song selection. It just seemed so appropriate for the evening.

The caviar was amazing ... I've never truly experienced it like that before and I'm sold. But since it really is so expensive it's liable to be a long time before we order something like it again.

Good luck on the CT ... I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I recognize those people!

I've been waiting for this review and it's living up to the wait. That cavier presentation looks incredible and thats the way to splurge on your birthday

Hiya Deb! Thanks for reading and for the kind compliment. I really enjoyed the caviar and would order it again for a really special occasion ... like Jay's 40th birthday in May ...

Awesome!!!!!! I've had caviar before but nothing I'm sure that could compare to that! What a presentation.

Too funny....Send in the Clowns!

Hi Kathy! Thanks for coming by to read when your Saints had such a big game to play today! The caviar was amazing ... it really was!

The caviar looked absolutely fabulous! Glad that you guys went all out to celebrate your time at V&A's. Your song selection is hilarious, just too sad that you missed most of it. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures at dinner.

Hi Alison! Loved the caviar - it was a fun splurge the likes of which we don't often get to do. V&A is enough of a splurge but 40 is special, right?

I know ... I can't believe I asked for the song and then left. But I really needed to meet this stalker ... er, DISer.

And I'm pretty sure the second half of the dinner was just as silly ... I'm almost sure of it.

The caviar was awesome awesome awesome. I like salt and I like fish but I don't like salty fish eggs. These were not salty, or maybe Todd English just wasn't there to dump a bunch of salt in them.

I remember I wrote this great big thing about the spot prawn, and nobody else remembers him

Good ... I'm glad you liked it, too!

I only knew that it was a spot prawn because I went back to your TR to find out what the heck those amuse offerings were in the first place! Jay and I couldn't remember and I honestly don't recall much about it.

The caviar looked incredible, but I would have been crushed if they didn't offer capers with it! The onions I always leave, but love those capers with it.

Thanks for reading - the caviar was tremendous! And since I don't like capers I didn't even notice there weren't any. But the nice thing about V&A is you could ask for some and they'd find 'em for you.

But you haven't succeeded quite yet.

It's true ... especially on this night!

It sounds way more complicated than it actually was. Until I was trying to finagle a Chef's Table dinner in the main dining room while on the Magical Express bus to the Beach Club.

Yeah, but it seems like we had some people who were in at the beginning and then dropped out over the summer and it did seem like a wee bit of a headache there for a while. But it all worked out in the end and that's what matters!

I enjoy the planning. I used to be a huge planning geek but have mellowed out a lot over the years. Some of my planning geek comes out in moments like these.

Twas nothing!

You did a great job and we all appreciate it!

Guilty as charged. No group photos. And Chelsi was sweet to do that.

Skipping over the photos. But I have to say Catherine gets points for the vogue pose.

We all forgot the group photo ... too busy drinking and exchanging gifties! Chelsi was a sweetheart to put together gift bags and Catherine looks awesome ... talk about working the camera!!

Gotta give a tiny dig whenever we can about the foie gras. I don't think we'll ever see that stuff again.

I can't help it. WDW is the reason Jay and I fell in love with foie gras and then they took it away for bogus reasons. I don't like bait and switch.

I credit the Food Network for sharing with me the culinary secret words like mise-en-place and mirepoix. And the overuse of the word "unctuous". They even put a definition on screen during "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" show after someone called a dish "unctuous".

I know exactly which show you are referring to!

I think we all felt that way about the amuse bouche. I think V&A is starting to become complacent. They seem to have a seasonal rotation of items that have the egg shell cup, a soup, and a couple of small bites.

I agree. Rather than get into it here I'm going to save it for the end of this review but you hit on some things I was going to say.

That looked awesome, but I could not bring myself to ask you for a taste. You were already giving so much of it away. I had a hangup about asking mainly because of the price of the upcharge and the scant amount you had. It looked fantastic though!

I think it's a nice twist to offer vodka to go with it!

Well I think I made up for it by making you try some of my kobe beef on the ... IT'S AN UPCHARGE KINDA NIGHT meal that Jay and I ordered between the two of us.

And I wanted everyone to be able to try it - it's a rare treat!

I have ordered the salmon the last couple times I was there, but different presentations of it. Maybe next time I'll get out of the salmon rut, but I liked it both times I did a course with it.

I did like the salmon but still don't understand why I didn't order the scallop.

I've been known to splurge on meat upcharges. Just for my 40th birthday, though.

YUM! I cannot wait to hear about your Kobe beef gluttony!

Again with the foie gras regret! Heheheh. I liked the duck, but I did have foie gras regret, too.

I think everyone at our table had meat butter regret.

That was perfect, and I immediately thought of Krusty when she started playing.

Excellent - that's what I was hoping for!

And while you were gone, we were saying, "She requested a song and now is missing most of it!"

I know ... I'm such a dork!

I remember Mr. Spot Prawn. I had to be uncouth and pick him up and scrape himk out with my teeth. I would have liked to try the caviar, but the price was prohibitive for me because I knew I had my own Japanase A5 beef upcharge a month later.

I don't even remember what the prawn tasted like. I'm sure it was good but it just doesn't stand out.

I'm caught up now! I always read reviews of v & a and imagine my poor dh trying to figure out what to order. LOL
Sounds yummy!

Thanks for sharing!

DisneyMom --- so glad to see you here and I hope you and the newest additon are doing well! Thanks for reading - I hope it's been enjoyable so far!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Great update!!! Sadly.. I had to look up what Poulet Rouge was.... It did look like chicken but I wasn't 100% sure. I'm such a nerd!!! Tina

 

[praisehisname]

Your F&W snackage all looked really good, and that chocolate tart--wow!

And in this case Pam saw what I was doing and gave me the giant eyeball

Ooops!

If it weren't for repeated viewings of Pretty Woman I wouldn't have even known which piece of cutlery to use with which course during the meal.

I've never had any interest in trying caviar, but after reading your review I'm more than a little curious! It sounds really tasty!

It looks really good; too bad it was so salty.

I apologize right now to all of you who love Send in the Clowns,

Oh. My. God. I can't believe you did that, but I love that you did!!!

Can't wait for more!

 

[cntkg1]

B, you amaze me...simply amaze me!!!

 

[podsnel]

The caviar....I am so impressed!! It was beautiful, thanks so much for showing me what I'm missing!! I LOVE it with all the little accoutrements- my favorite part is whan all those teeny, tiny fishie eggs go POP! in your mouth...mmmmm...it's heaven!

Can't wait to read about the rest of the night-

 

[mickeys#1fan]

Sunday, October 18th - Just Once I'd Like Someone to Call Me Ma'am Without Adding "You're Making a Scene."

...and so we moved to plan B, which was the Chef's Domaine at Citricos.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...back up the truck. What is this Chef's Domaine you speak of at Citrico's?

 

[mickeys#1fan]

Sunday, October 18th - Just Once I'd Like Someone to Call Me Ma'am Without Adding "You're Making a Scene."


I apologize right now to all of you who love Send in the Clowns, especially if you were at V&A that night, but it's a long-standing joke in our house and we had to sing Krusty the Clown's version of the song:

Send in the Clowns
Those laffy, daffy clowns
Those soulful and doleful,
schmaltz-by-the-bowful clowns

You guys really are hard-core Simpson's freaks! I remember Krusty singing this, but you know the words. I bow to your omniscient Simpsons-ness.

I would have asked for something even more embarrassing...a certain Jimmy Buffet selection perhaps...

 

[TDC Nala]

Poulet Rouge

 

[oybolshoi]

Great update!!! Sadly.. I had to look up what Poulet Rouge was.... It did look like chicken but I wasn't 100% sure. I'm such a nerd!!! Tina

Hi Tina! Thanks for reading and you're not a nerd ... I'm pretty sure I had to ask the serving team what it was when I ordered since I've never had it before. And yes ... it was chicken.

Your F&W snackage all looked really good, and that chocolate tart--wow!

It was a good snacking day - everything was great!

I've never had any interest in trying caviar, but after reading your review I'm more than a little curious! It sounds really tasty!

It was so much better than I had reason to hope it would be!

It looks really good; too bad it was so salty.

It looked great ... tasted not so great. Probably just me ... I think Chelsi remarked that she really enjoyed hers.

Oh. My. God. I can't believe you did that, but I love that you did!!!

Can't wait for more!

I'm not sure I can believe I did it either, but I did!

B, you amaze me...simply amaze me!!!

Thanks Goose! Are you amazed by the amount and type of food that I can put away or just my general silliness?

The caviar....I am so impressed!! It was beautiful, thanks so much for showing me what I'm missing!! I LOVE it with all the little accoutrements- my favorite part is whan all those teeny, tiny fishie eggs go POP! in your mouth...mmmmm...it's heaven!

Can't wait to read about the rest of the night-

For not knowing what to expect with full caviar service I knew V&A wouldn't let us down - the whole thing was amazing and so tasty! Now you know what to order the next time you're there!

Sunday, October 18th - Just Once I'd Like Someone to Call Me Ma'am Without Adding "You're Making a Scene."

...and so we moved to plan B, which was the Chef's Domaine at Citricos.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...back up the truck. What is this Chef's Domaine you speak of at Citrico's?

The Chef's Domaine at Citricos is a private dining room at the restaurant with a minimum party purchase of about $650 ... from what I understand there are a couple of different menus to choose from but it's not like being at the Chef's Table at V&A. There are some folks here on the DIS who've done it before and if you ask nicely they might share some details with you.

You guys really are hard-core Simpson's freaks! I remember Krusty singing this, but you know the words. I bow to your omniscient Simpsons-ness.

I would have asked for something even more embarrassing...a certain Jimmy Buffet selection perhaps...

Yeah, we have wasted much precious brain cell space with Simpsons cartoon episodes and quotes. Kind of sad, really.

Jimmy Buffet on the harp could be pretty cool! I've heard Stairway to Heaven on the harp before and it was great!

Poulet Rouge

 

[oybolshoi]

I just learned that there are people out there who think food porn is disgusting and weird.

In the words of Ralph Wiggum: That's unpossible!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I just learned that there are people out there who think food porn is disgusting and weird.

In the words of Ralph Wiggum: That's unpossible!

Really? Who are these people and where do they come from? Everyone I know, Diser or otherwise, does food porn. Then again, maybe I just know a lot of sick people.

 

[dvc4life]

Hi Brenda. Haven't been over here for a long time. Don't know why. . .but. . . . .

It has been great fun reading your report. All of the reviews are so enjoyable. My oldest DD loved the titles of your reports that are listed at the bottom of your signature.

I'm glad to see you had such a wonderful b-day. Welcome to the 40's!

Can't wait to read the rest of your report. So many on the DIS are such great writers that I can lose myself in reading all the TR's. Thank you so much for your humor and creative writing. Makes my day.

 

[BriarRosie]

Poulet Rouge

On one level, it's doing the Can Can. On another level, it fits Brenda's M.O. of being accused of possessing only one leg. Sorta. Still, it's a cute chicken.

 

[oybolshoi]

Really? Who are these people and where do they come from? Everyone I know, Diser or otherwise, does food porn. Then again, maybe I just know a lot of sick people.

I don't know anyone here in Stinktown who does food porn but I do know people who like it. I think that poor other person is just very unhappy ...

Hi Brenda. Haven't been over here for a long time. Don't know why. . .but. . . . .

It has been great fun reading your report. All of the reviews are so enjoyable. My oldest DD loved the titles of your reports that are listed at the bottom of your signature.

I'm glad to see you had such a wonderful b-day. Welcome to the 40's!

Can't wait to read the rest of your report. So many on the DIS are such great writers that I can lose myself in reading all the TR's. Thank you so much for your humor and creative writing. Makes my day.

Hi Chris! Long time no see! Hope you and yours are doing well and thanks for taking the time to read through our trip so far! I know what you mean about getting lost in great reports ... I've had it happen to me, too!

Thanks again for the kind words.

On one level, it's doing the Can Can. On another level, it fits Brenda's M.O. of being accused of possessing only one leg. Sorta. Still, it's a cute chicken.

I look like a chicken doing the can-can ... I can see that.

 

[Briarmom]

On one level, it's doing the Can Can. On another level, it fits Brenda's M.O. of being accused of possessing only one leg. Sorta. Still, it's a cute chicken.

That chicken has it's foot in it's armpit!

Do chickens have armpits?

Oh, and I want those vodka glasses!

 

[oybolshoi]

It's a boneless chicken ... that's the only way it could do such a thing.

I actually found glasses like that a couple of years ago on Dean & Deluca's website and was "this close" to ordering them and then they discontinued 'em. Wankers.

Aren't they cool? And they could be used for all kinds of things ... vodka, tequila, scotch, cognac, brandy ... I need a drink.

 

[Hedy]

Send in the clowns...