Really good food at Disney World

I cannot believe I haven't posted in over a year, when I have really had so much to say! There are going to have to be some catch up posts, I believe.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend a class at the Disney Institute through work. When this was announced around 9 months ago, my first thought was that this was a great opportunity for me to get back to Victoria and Albert's. Many years ago I took my friend here to celebrate her PhD (I bought dinner, she bought wine) and I remembered the food being out of this world. I found a few coworkers who wanted to go with me so I booked the dinner as soon as possible (Disney has this rule about reservations being available 180 days before the first day of your visit. Navigating DisneyWorld dining might be a future post....).

First of all, I cannot say enough about the service at V&A. They know what you want before you do, and to me, that is priceless. For example...

This is a stool. This stool is put next to ladies' seats...for their purses. Of course you don't want to leave your purse on the table or on the floor! It gets its own chair. 

Another example:

What you might not notice right away because this is so small, is that this menu is personalized. Yes, it was presented to me in a hard-cover, book-like way that you would expect in any nice restaurant but we were all told that these sheets would be given to us at the end of the night so that we could remember our meals. In fact, they called me a week or so earlier to make sure they had the spelling of all of our names correct. And would I like the wine pairing with dinner tonight? Oh, yes, of course I would. 

The first thing served to us was an off-menu amuse bouche.

This was a shrimp "sausage" in a tempura wrapper with seasonal mushrooms. It was light and the mushrooms were delicious. I am a mushroom fan. It was served with a Jacquart Mosaique Brut NV Reims. That was a delicious champagne. It was super light and extremely bubbly. 

The next course was a Colorado bison with celery and radish slaw with kumquats.

I was really worried that bison would be too gamey for me. The wine, however, really balanced it out. It was a Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc, 2013. I didn't like the wine by itself but once paired with the bison, both were perfect. It's amazing what a good pairing can do. I'll never learn that skill. This had a bright aioli on the plate that was also good at mellowing out the bison. This dish was super successful to me because I was skeptical but in the end it all worked. The bison ended up being tender and juicy.

The next course was Alaskan King salmon and crab, asparagus, and Bearnaise sauce.

I expected this dish to be something special and it was. This was probably one of my most favorite dishes in the history of eating, even with asparagus (which I hate), so that is saying something. The crab was so fresh and tender, the salmon was cooked only from the bottom so the texture was really interested where it was sort of raw-ish and soft on top but firm on bottom. The sauce was flavorful yet delicate. It was served with a Hanzell "Sebella" Chardonnay (2013). Maybe my 2nd favorite of the night. I gave the asparagus to someone else.

I was full, but pressed on. The next course was onion-ash crusted Berkshire pork with sauce soubise.

This had fiddleheads on it. Does anything more need be said? Fiddleheads and pork are a delightful combo, I learned here. The sauces were a little heavier on this one. It had a potato risotto underneath that was creamy and delicious as well. Another hit here, served with Ridge "Three Valleys"(2012).

Next, if there were any misses on the night at all, was the roasted duck with fennel and leeks a l'orange.

This had turnip and sweet potato with it. The restaurant was very dark, so you can't tell that, in my opinion, this duck was just 1 minute over. It was delicious, really, but I said to the waiter that, in my opinion, it was one minute over. He offered to redo it or give me something else and I said, no thanks, it's really good....but it was over. The end pieces had no pink. That's over for duck. It was super super good. The sauce was not "too" orange. It was served with a Lafond Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills (2013), which was  my favorite wine of the night by far.

I think that because I complained about my duck, the chef sent this out special for us. Just a few hunks of Waygu beef with oxtail reduction...

with potato gratin. This was the most delicious beef I've ever had in my entire life. No question. It was so tender I could cut it with a fork. And the oxtail reduction? Well, I had oxtail braised a few months ago and it became a favorite. This reduction is so unctuous and savory, it is so rich and meaty, I'm still thinking about it. This beef was something you had to pay extra for on the Prix Fixe menu so I am really glad I complained about the duck.

Do you think there was any room left in my stomach? Oh, there was bread...

There was vacuum-brewed coffee...

The steam goes up into the top carafe to mix with the grounds, and when the heat is shut off, the water plunges back down into the bottom pot as coffee, while the grounds stay up top. Perfect coffee for the rest of the meal.

The next course was a roasted white chocolate gelato with asian pear.

This was exactly as described. No secrets or mysteries, a nice palate cleanser. It was served with a Cascinetta Vietti Moscato D'Asti (2014), which I did not drink. Ewww, Moscato. It was nasty.

One would think we were done but no, not quite. Next I was served a Hawaiian Kona chocolate souffle with Godiva chocolate sauce and chocolate ice cream. Wow.

I have to admit I only had 3 or 4 bites of this because I was so full. I also tried my friend's chocolate timbale.

Doesn't it look like a chocolate sea urchin? It had a really rich ganache in the middle. It was wonderful.

After all this, they brought us a tray of fruit chocolates and jellies and a creme brulee tart.

I didn't even attempt to eat these--I asked them to box them up so I could take them. I ate them for breakfast the next morning. I mostly remember the caramel in the middle, and picking the sea salt off.

If you have never done a wine pairing dinner, do it. Don't eat the whole day before but do it. Also I want to mention that I ate a huge part of my friend's veal cheek that was part of one of her courses and that was so so so good. Now that I have typed all this out and looked at all the pictures, I'm full (and happy) all over again. I can't wait to go back to this restaurant.