Taste of Disney

If you have looked over my dining schedule in the second post of this thread, you may have noticed that I attended two Party for the Senses during my two week trip. I know this seems rather excessive but I had my reasons for this splurge. I guess I will just leave it that. Anyway, this particular Party was different from all the others in that for the first time all of the guest chefs were Disney chefs. And not just Disney World chefs but also from the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort in California, Disney Cruise Lines and Aulani (the Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii). All of these great Disney chefs from around the world in addition to the Executive Chefs from each of the four Disney World parks and the Chefs de Cuisine from nearly all of the DeLuxe resorts including the Yacht & Beach Club’s Anthony DeLuca, Wilderness Lodge’s Tim Oakley, Grand Floridian’s Scott Hunnel (who was supposed to be there but I think was absent), Polynesian’s Peter Bruenen, Contemporary’s Brian Piasecki and the Boardwalk’s Tim Keating converging in one place was just too much for this Disney foodie to resist. And so it was that I approached the World ShowPlace Events Pavilion at around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 25th…approached it with both excitement and to be honest, with a little apprehension since I was doing this solo.

When I finally decided to do this second PFTS, there of course was no longer any Reserved Seating available so I went with General Admission for $149 plus tax. This meant I would be placed in the holding pen upon check-in and take part in the “running of the bulls” when they opened up the party area to the general admission guests. Those are not my words. This is what I had read during my pre-party research for this event. So I guess you can now understand my nervousness. However, in reality it wasn’t that bad. My time in the “pen” passed by rather quickly, as I was busy looking over the menu booklet I was given at check-in and then trying to formulate a general plan of attack. When the doors to the party were opened around 7:30, I stood back for a minute or two to let the “herd” go on ahead. I then entered the huge room which housed at least 50 different food or beverage stations and I must admit that I felt a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. So of course, rather than following my plan I instead walked up to one of the very first stations that I came upon…

This was the International Cheese & Butter station sponsored by Kerrygold Butters and Cheeses of Ireland. In addition to several cheeses, there were fresh and dried fruits, nuts, breads and crackers here. I placed a sampling of these on a small plate and put it on the plastic tray that I had been given at check-in and then moved on to the next area of the room which had four food and three wine stations. Two of these three wine stations happened to be serving sparkling wines that are among my favorites, MARTINI Asti Spumante and Banfi Rosa Regale. So now I had my first dilemma…two wines, one glass. I chose the Rosa Regale and was given a generous pour. Yay!

Drinking the Rosa Regale, which goes very well with chocolate, reminded me that Paula (smile4stamps) had given me a few pointers regarding the PFTS. One of these was to hit up the Chocolates station early. She warned me that towards the end of the party the line for this station would be long and they would run out of some of the most popular chocolates. Consequently, one of my next stops was the Assorted Chocolates station, which was located in the very back corner of the large room.

They had 9 different chocolates to choose from, including Key Lime, Caramel Apple, Cookies ‘n Cream, Cranberry Cheesecake, and Apple Pie, to name a few. My favorite was the Salted Caramel, which was delicious! I may have taken a cupful of those back to the hotel with me that night.

I then visited a few more food stations in the back area of the room, including the one that served my favorite food of the evening…

Lamb Two Ways – Spiced Sausage with Natural Reduction and Seared Loin over Heirloom Eggplant Bolognese
(Brian Piasecki, Chef de Cuisine and Mark Donovan, Sous Chef of California Grill)

And another of my favorites…

Deep-fried Mille-Feuille of Scallop and Mushrooms Duxelles with Nori Sauce and Wasabi Oil
(Masayoshi Suzuki and Junichi Miyazono, Executive Chefs from Tokyo Disney and the Tokyo DisneySea Resort’s MiraCosta Restaurant)

Luckily I found an open standing table nearby so that I could begin digging in to my choices.

I believe this was the previously shown Lamb Two Ways (middle) and Fried Scallop (left), along with Braised Pork Belly Steam Bun with Green Papaya Salad on the right (made by Peter Bruenen, Chef de Cuisine of the Polynesian Resort).

And a second not so great photo of my choices, all of which were good…

I also really enjoyed this…

Fragrantly Blackened Wild Oceans Day-boat Fish Taco with Poblano-Tomatillo-Cilantro Salsa, Pickled Onions, Epcot Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Hearts of Palm, Queso Fresco, and Crema Mexicana
(Tim Keating, Chef de Cuisine and Chef Tim Majoras of the Boardwalk Resort and Flying Fish Cafe)

As the evening progressed (and my wine intake), it seems my photo taking became rather hit and miss. But here are a few other highlights…

Spicy Ahi Tuna Poke stuffed with a Yuzu Crab Salad, Puffed Furikake Rice, Avocado Mousse, and Ponzu
(Kevin Chong, Chef from Aulani)

Peruvian Chocolate Timbale with Raspberry Foam
(Erich Herbitschek, Executive Pastry Chef from the Grand Floridian Resort)

Butter Mochi Cake with Pineapple
(Ron Viloria, Pastry Chef from Aulani)

Brown Butter Fiancier, Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta, and Sous Vide Seckel Pear
(Matt Avery, Pastry Chef from the Boardwalk Bakery)

Club 33 Traditional Opera Cake with Gianduja Chocolate Curl and Mecker Raspberry Coulis
(Jean-Marc Viallet, Executive Pastry Chef of the Disneyland Resort and Jorge Sotelo, Executive Pastry Chef of the the Grand Californian’s Napa Rose Restaurant and California Adventure’s Carthay Circle Restaurant)

Unfortunately there were several things (at least 10) that I didn’t get to try, as I ran out of time and stomach room. Other dishes which sounded interesting though were Braised Pork Belly (Hong Kong Disneyland), Braised Veal Cheek and Butter-poached Lobster (Disneyland Resort), and Seared High Plains Bison Tenderloin (Magic Kingdom Park). I tried a few more wines after my first glass of Rosa Regale. I seem to recall a La Crema Pinot Noir, a Pacific Rim Reisling, and I went back for a glass of MARTINI Asti Spumante. Oh, and I ended the evening with another glass of Rosa Regale, which I enjoyed while talking to one of my dining partners from the French Lunch I had attended the day before. It was nice to see a familiar face here, one that I would see again at the Swan & Dolphin F & W Festival and the PFTS which I attended with my husband the next weekend.