Walt Disney World has announced the first three dates for its Delicious Disney Chef Series — Storytelling with Food, an ultra fine dining event that showcases the talents of the resort’s top chefs.
The first dinner will be Jan. 28 at Markham’s at Golden Oak, the exclusive community of multi-million dollar homes. Markham’s is the community’s clubhouse and private restaurant that is usually off limits to nonresidents.
Dominique Filoni, chef at Citricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, will lead a team of chefs in the evening’s theme: A celebration of the 60th anniversary of Sleeping Beauty. The actual menus are always a surprise, but each course will somehow be tied to an aspect of the classic animated feature. I’m going out on a limb and predicting there will be apples somewhere.
The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with a reception followed by dinner in the elegant dining room. Tickets for this dinner are $399 per person, all inclusive. Reservations, if they are still available, may be made by calling 407-939-5773.
The series started in the summer of 2016 as something of an experiment and was available only to residents at Golden Oak. It proved popular enough to move beyond summer and was eventually opened to the general public. It offers a chance for the Disney chefs to step away from their regular kitchens and to get creative. I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few of the past dinners and they’ve always wowed everyone there, including me. I wrote about the first dinner here and one that took place in Cinderella’s Castle after hours here.
The other two dates announced are Feb. 25, with Flying Fish chef Timothy Majoras leading A Salute to Walt Disney’s “It’s a Small World” 55th Anniversary: A Tasting of the Many Lands of the Small World. If Majoras wanted to be cruel he could just serve the same thing over and over and over, but he has many options with the world as his inspiration.
And on March 25, Michael Rodriguez of the Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort will offer a Fantasy Culinary Adventure of DUMBO.
As with the Jan. 28 event, the dinners will take place at Markham’s at Golden Oak at 6:30. Cost for the February and March series is $349 per person, all inclusive.
