Shout Out for Chef Jay at Pepper Market

[Leota]

Last night we decided to run over to WDW to grab a quick bite. This is our first time back in our Clermont place since Dec. & my need to go low fodmap, so I wasn't sure how it would go. But since they were always ace about my other issues (gluten, dairy, egg, peanut & some lesser things) I figured it should go ok.

We picked Pepper Market as I wanted to show DH the resort, which he had never checked out & I love. We couldn't stay long enough for a sit down meal as we have a blind/deaf dog & she is still re-acclimating herself to the FL house.

We told the hostess when we walked in that I had food allergies & she called Chef Jay over to talk with us. He was fine with the gluten, lactose, egg as an emulsifier, peanut thing. But the fomaps had him a little stumped. He said the onions & garlic were the big challenge (tell me about it!) But he offered to make me a batch of pizza sauce with none in it if I wanted pizza.

We settled on a kids burger with lettuce, tomato & a little avocado & fries. He said the adult burgers have a filler that is not safe, but the kids patties are 100% beef (good thing to know even if you don't have allergies) Chef Jay said he wasn't positive they had any avocados left that hadn't been turned into guac yet, but he would check in the back & let the guys at the grill station know I was coming.

DH & I were able to watch as the Chefs at the grill prepared my food. I wish I had known the guy's name at the grill who took care of my order because he was so careful & thorough with making sure there was no x contamination.

Now a burger & fries is not what you would call haute cuisine, I realize that. But, it's the everyday things that you miss sometimes. And I had been missing me a burger, with a bun and fries. Maybe it's because I had been craving a burger for a few days, I don't know... but it was a really delicious burger! And I have to find out what kind of bun they used, because the texture was really good - not gummy or sandy at all.

We went at about 7:45 pm, thinking that the main dinner rush would be over, which it wasn't. They were slammed. I felt bad about going at such a busy time, as I know what a PITA my issues are. But the Chefs were nothing but gracious & generous, like always.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures. I totally forgot. I just wanted to give them a shout out & let other people with tricky food issues know that the Pepper Market might be worth checking out.

 

[Aaeolien]

That's awesome to hear. We don't have allergies to deal with in our immediate household but have travelled and will travel again with folks that do.

 

[sleepingbean]

You have no idea how happy I am to read this. CSR is my favorite resort, but the food has been a bad experience for us time and time again (with allergies). I am always hopeful they will improve enough that we can eat there, regularly, when we stay. As it stands, the last evening meal we had there was a disaster and they never bring a chef to us. They always tell us to flag someone down, which is difficult (to say the least) given their setting and crowds.
So, this review gives me hope! We will be there again in November, so I'll cautiously test the waters and report back on how it went! Thanks

 

[Leota]

I hope it goes well for you sleepingbean. CSR is also one of my favorites - a vastly underappreciated gem, IMHO. It does seem a little chaotic & maybe we were just really lucky. Chef Jay came over to us by the hostess stand right away & then once we decided what I could eat, he handled it before I even got to the grill line.
Now, because of my fodmap thing, I was limited, as mostly everything has onions or garlic in some forms. But he said my gluten,lactose, egg, peanut thing was not at all a problem.

I think when I go back there, I'd try to time it better. We really thought the crowds would be thru, but I under estimated the effects of the evening storms.