Disney Dining

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — With drinks like the Antioxidant Cocktail, entrées such as whole-wheat linguine with clams, rock shrimp and fresh thyme in chunky tomato broth, and crispy almond-raisin “baklava” for dessert, The Wave brings a surge of new dining ideas to Walt Disney World Resort.

Located in Disney’s Contemporary Resort, the new restaurant is “bold cooking inspired by fresh markets,” said Dieter Hannig, vice president of new concepts for Walt Disney World Food & Beverage. “America is more and more a melting pot, and The Wave features American cooking with world flavors.”

Guests enter the stylish new space on the first floor of the hotel through a brushed steel arch “tunnel” into The Wave’s lounge, one of the largest at Walt Disney World Resort. The sleek, serene décor is earthy browns and golds, with frosted glass lamps for soft ambient light and a copper-colored metal ceiling. Banquettes and booths line the perimeter of the dining room, and wooden tables are set with white linen napkins. A large central table is draped in sheer fabric in purples and golds.

Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the 220-seat restaurant takes casual dining into the health-conscious 21st century. The classic American breakfast menu includes plenty of egg creations, but guests also can make their own Wave muesli or sip a Beta Berry Smoothie with raspberry puree and non-fat yogurt blended with Odwalla Berries GoMega (a great source of Omega-3). The Pure Sunshine breakfast cocktail features organic vodka and orange juice topped with Vitamin Energy Drink. Coffee is organic Colombian (fair trade and “Smithsonian-certified bird-friendly”) and teas are whole leaf Pyramid bags in flavors from chamomile blossoms to monsoon chai.

At lunch, light eaters might enjoy lettuce wraps with sautéed lamb and bay scallops, or a lump crab cake with crispy papaya slaw. Entrées include oversized salads and a vegetarian sandwich with grilled tofu, roasted veggies and herb goat cheese on multi-grain bread, but guests also can chow down on an Angus chuck burger with cheese and Applewood smoked bacon, or a classic grilled Reuben.

The dinner menu offers a delicious spin on comfort classics such as pan-seared Alaskan black cod with corn and edamame (soybean) stew with cilantro chutney; braised lamb shank with bulgur lentil stew and red wine sauce, and a nouvelle chicken pot pie with thyme pastry. Sides at both lunch and dinner include braised greens and roasted sweet potatoes and carrots.

“Lots of stocks, lots of broths and seasonal ingredients keep the menu well balanced,” said Chef Frank Brough. “We are sourcing ingredients locally and regionally to create fresh flavors, and our fresh catch of the day features sustainable seafood.”

Desserts continue the theme with a dozen choices for mixing and matching three mini-favorites for one price. From chocolate mousse with chocolate ganache, to yogurt sorbet with blueberry compote and coconut panna cotta with passion fruit, guests can indulge their sweet tooth without a big hit in calories. Or go overboard with a dessert cocktail like the Mudslide martini: Baileys Irish Cream, vanilla vodka, Kahlúa and vanilla ice cream.

Wine ‘With a Twist,’ Innovative Spirits Menu

The wine program, with only screw cap wines, is cutting-edge and supports sustainable agriculture, says Master Sommelier John Blazon, manager of wine sales and standards for Walt Disney World Resort.

“The surge in the use of the screw cap is nothing short of a revolution in wine packaging,” says Blazon. Industry experts say that the screw cap is the most significant technical evolution in the wine industry since the glass bottle was introduced 250 years ago.

And the options for screw cap wine are growing, said Blazon. The Wave serves no California wines (California Grill on the resort’s 15th floor has a corner on the California market), but instead focuses on bright-style New World wines from the Southern Hemisphere, including Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Sparkling wines from Tasmania, Rieslings from South Australia, floral New Wave whites from Argentina and pinot noirs from New Zealand are among the interesting choices, with 50 available by the glass. A flight of 3-ounce samplings and dessert wines, ports and sherries round out the wine list.

For beer fans, certified organic ales from Orlando Brewing are on the menu. Produced in Orlando, these handcrafted ales use only American-grown certified-organic barley malt. Three Orlando Brewery ales are available on tap, including Blonde Ale, Pale Ale and Blackwater Dry Porter. Also on the menu is gluten-free Redbridge lager.

Trendy cocktails are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Start the day with a Pomegranate Splash (vodka, pomegranate liqueur, cranberry juice and soda water) or the Ultimate Bloody Mary (organic vodka, Bloody Mary mix and a dash of red chili sauce).

“Natural and flavorful are the buzzwords for cocktails,” said Stuart McGuire, director of beverage sales and standards for Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. The Pure-tini mixes organic vodka with organic mango and passion fruit liqueur. The Antioxidant Cocktail features wild berry vodka, black raspberry liqueur, açai juice with agave, lychee, aloe juice and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The Wave is part of a revitalization at Disney’s Contemporary Resort that includes a makeover of the hotel’s fourth floor with a new game arcade and new quick-service eatery for salads and sandwiches (replacing Concourse Steakhouse). The popular Chef Mickey’s restaurant and the monorail station anchor that family-friendly area.

© 2008 Disney

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Hello everyone!

I finally got around to posting the pictures of the Boma buffet from our September trip.  You can check it out by clicking here:

http://www.diningindisney.com/animal-kingdom-lodge-boma-flavors-of-africa/

Just a quick story about our dinner at Boma (which was back at the end of September.)  We arrived for our 4:40pm advanced reservations about 20-minutes early and there was a little bit of a crowd already waiting so I had to stand in a short line to get checked in.  We ended up waiting for about 10-15 minutes before they actually opened up the restaurant so I was able to walk through and get some pictures of the untouched buffet!  (before all the hungry crowds jumped on it.) 

Of all the times we’ve eaten at Boma we never experienced buffet lines like this before.  At one point, while waiting for 15-20 minutes in line for the Spit Fired Prime Rib, I looked back and counted 40 people in line!  It stretched from the right side of the restaurant near the Prime Rib table all the way back to about mid-way through the dining area.  Mind you this was a Sunday night, but holy cow was that a long time to wait in.  It was like the “Perfect Storm” of buffets because as the night went on the crowds dispersed from the Prime Rib area and slowly moved to the dessert tables like a Hurricane moving up the East Coast.  Everyone must have been eating the same things at the same time as you could see the lines forming at the next logical area of the buffet. It moved from salads, to soups, then to meats, then finally over to the coveted dessert bar.  It was almost like a herd of cattle gradually moving from one area of the buffet to another as the night went on! Sure enough towards the end of dinner we looked back and the lines were building at the dessert bar!!  OH NO!  I will not lose out on Zebra Domes without a fight!  My wife immediately dispatched me to the dessert area with orders to stand in line and not come back until I had enough desserts for both of us (well, she was much nicer about it than that but I’m in BUFFET BATTLE mode so that’s what it felt like!)  I immediately walked very briskly (and yes, I contemplated running through the crowds of women and children but figured I would look like a nut and would end up knocking over a few tables which wouldn’t go over too well with the staff) to grab a plate of whatever I could get my hands on.  I was in luck……..I ended up getting some tasty treats including the zebra domes, cookies, yummy fruit tartlets and a very good Peach Crumble. Success!

Looking back I’m not sure if it was the mere thought of getting to an empty dessert bar (which I now know is a near impossibility in Walt Disney World) or whether I was just locked in the moment of feeling like I was in a Buffet Battle with hundreds of other hungry people (a battle I was NOT going to lose.) But it was one crazy night at the buffet which felt more like a Hot Dog eating competition with Takeru Kobayashi to eat as much as you can as fast as you can so you don’t miss out on the Zebra Domes at the dessert bar!

I can’t be the only one who feels this way……..hmmmm……or am I ??

Bottom line is that Boma still takes the cake in my book for best buffet in Walt Disney World.  Long lines or not.

Enjoy the pictures and try not to salivate on your computer keyboard too much! 

Technorati Tags: Boma, Disney Dining, Buffet, Walt Disney World, pictures

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — People can eat themselves out of house and home, eat until they can’t take another bite, or eat to their heart’s content. But eating around the world? It’s a thought that might make even the greatest gourmand wince. Eating around the world is a much easier task if “the world” is Walt Disney World Resort, home to at least 60 theme park and resort table-service restaurants.At the Vacation Kingdom’s 22 sit-down theme park restaurants, guests can find a wide range of fare and flair, from sushi at Tokyo Dining at Epcot to meat loaf at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe at Disney-MGM Studios.

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Just wanted to post some pictures I took on September 25th of the progress they’re making on the new Yak and Yeti Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom. Kind of tough to take good pictures as they have the “great wall of Disney makeovers” that makes it tough (unless you’re 7-foot tall and have long arms.)

Looks like things are moving along quite nicely. I heard a lot of scraping noises and saw some workers doing a lot of the cosmetic work on the outside of the buildings to give them the old distressed look so it’s looking good. Can’t say much for the inside as I couldn’t see anything.

All signs are pointing to a November 2007 opening so we’ll see how things go.

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