Sunday Brunch: A Salute to Waffles with Pedro Hernandez

by Reuben Gutierrez

19 May 2013

As our daily readers have noticed, this month of May we are dedicating a week to our beloved Gamer Tuesday writer Pedro Hernandez. When it comes to food, one of Pedro's favorites is the waffle! At Walt Disney World, the waffle is a much sought after breakfast item in the shape of our favorite mouse and has since become a favorite sandwich. Being a voracious eater of waffles myself, I've found I have probably eaten almost every different type of waffle on property and covered almost all of those here on Sunday Brunch. The key word being almost. Today we'll look at the third and final waffle sandwich at Liberty Square's Sleepy Hollow Refreshments in the Magic Kingdom.

A little more than a year ago, we took a look at the Nutella and Fresh Fruit Waffle sandwich...

...while a little less than a year ago we tried out the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich.

A half a year ago, I sampled the final waffle sandwich ' Ham, Swiss, Prosciutto ' on my birthday last fall. My cousin and her friend were down for the weekend for one of the Disney Marathons and spent the day with me and my friend Amanda at Magic Kingdom. They wanted to try something unique for lunch, so I took them to Sleepy Hollow's for some unique waffle sandwiches. I remember the majority of us getting the Ham, Swiss and Prosciutto and realizing we probably could've split a couple between us. We each had before us a sandwich piled high with layers of thinly sliced meat, Swiss cheese, plenty of greens, and large round slices of tomato. The waffle was delicious, as usual, and they spread some kind of mayonnaise on the waffle. I hate mayonnaise, especially when they put it on a burger and you already asked to not have it. Though for some reason, I didn't mind it on this waffle sandwich. The mayo was accented with some kind of seasoning or herbs and complemented the salty meat and sweet cheese very nicely. I would have liked less mayo as it made my waffle a bit soggy. Still, at Sleepy Hollow the waffle sandwiches are a real winner. Now that I've tried each waffle sandwich, I have to say the order in which I reviewed these waffles is probably the order in which I prefer them.

In my birthday excitement, I only got one awful picture of this delicious waffle sandwich

Waffles are fantastic and I don't think Pedro nor I could fully explain our fascination with them, they are just simply delicious and fun to eat. There are still a few I have yet to write about on Sunday Brunch. The first that comes to mind is the waffle with Mascarpone cheese at Kouzzina by Cat Cora at the Board Walk Resort. In the meantime, you and Pedro can check out the following for a Disney waffle extravanaganza!

A Salute to Waffles:

In honor of our friend Pedro, I've compiled a list of waffle articles for you to enjoy

My first (documented) Disney Waffle - Disney Soda Fountain Mickey Waffle

Mini Mickey Waffles

- 1900 Park Fare

- Trail's End

- The Wave's Multigrain Mickeys

Sleepy Hollow Waffle Sandwiches (Links and article above)

Trail's End Chicken and Waffles

Belgian Waffle at the 2011 International Food and Wine Festival

Kringla Bakeri og Kafe Waffle (archived link coming soon)

Sunday Brunch: Great Moments with Fine Disney Dining

by Reuben Gutierrez

12 May 2013

This past April has by chance become a month of fine dining as I've had the great fortune of eating at a different table service restaurant within the Walt Disney World Resort! Luckily I've been working a lot of overtime, so it's been an affordable and lucky month of adventures in food. I may use it more often than I should, but adventures are really what happen when you sample food in this wonderful resort. Not only are you enjoying food from around the world, you're enjoying food in places from all different places, time periods, and cultures.

The half curtain window treatments simulate those found in restaurants in NYC

Our first dining adventure takes us to an elegant, yet humble, Italian restaurant that looks as if it's been plucked from the streets of New York City and placed in Hollywood. With dozens of celebrity food fans decorating the lobby and dining room, this mama and papa run restaurant is Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I've had some excellent Italian food here, but by far my most favorite item was the Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcake.

While not the best tasting cupcake I've had, it certainly is one of the most creatively deceptive. It looks a lot like a small cup of spaghetti with a single meatball on top. The base is a chocolate cupcake topped with white buttercream. Long strands of 'spaghetti' are actually piped buttercream (probably created with a size 3 or 4 round tip for all you pastry chefs out there) that seemed to be tinged with a faint yellow. The 'meatball' is a chocolate cake ball (though my friend Randi and I debated whether or not it was a brownie or cake) rolled in a chocolate sprinkle flake coating. The 'spaghetti sauce' is a delicious strawberry sauce with white chocolate shavings playing the part of parmesan cheese. In Hollywood, actors pretend to be someone else, and at Mama Melrose's, the dessert does just that!

After the previous week's star studded tour of Italy, my friends and I stormed the castle and dined with Disney's finest royalty at the most regal of tables in the land: Cinderella's Royal Table. In celebration of my friend's book launch, our trio schmoozed with princesses, feasted like kings and queens, and ended our meal happily with a trio of desserts. The dessert trio was my favorite part of our meal.

The Chef's Dessert Trio allows Cinderella's guests to enjoy small samples of each of the desserts the chefs have whipped up. Cinderella seems to think her guests need to have a more worldly palate so she 'sent her Chefs around the world to discover new desserts.' While around the world is quite a broad term, it seems that her Chefs only made it around the country. The three desserts are a Strawberry Jam and Key Lime Cheesecake, White Chocolate Custard, and a Flourless Chocolate Cake. The chocolate cake was just okay. For a flourless cake though it was pretty dry, probably due to an excess of cocoa powder that may have been used in its place. The White Chocolate Custard was great, very similar to a mousse, but a little more like ice cream in flavor and consistency. The Strawberry Jam and Key Lime Cheesecake was by far the best. A small cup of graham crust was lined with the strawberry jam and the cheesecake baked on top. I wish I had ordered the full version for my dessert as the tiny two bite sample was not enough. Overall, the dessert was a terrific fairy tale finale to a fine meal.

Leaving the Castle in the Enchanted Forest, we journey to another kind of forest, one that is nationally protected to conserve nature's beauty. Artist's Point at the Wilderness Lodge takes guests to the Pacific Northwest to a restaurant decorated with incredible murals painted by artists who captured the elegance and majesty of America's National Forests. Additionally, Artist's Point's atmosphere is further enhanced by its excellent food.

The Cedar Plank roasted King Salmon is the restaurant's signature dish, with fresh caught Salmon all the way from Alaska. They actually deliver your filet of salmon on the cedar plank it was cooked on, proving that the smoky rustic flavor of the cedar is true. Of all the fish in the sea, salmon is my favorite, and no cuisine does it better than the culinarians of the Pacific Northwest.

Being surrounded by forests, I found myself pining for the sea, so the following week brought me across the country and to the shores of New England at Yachtsman Steakhouse in the Yacht Club Resort. An elegant dining room with nautical elements in both d'cor and architecture, Yachtsman Steakhouse offers an incredible selection of beef. Though today, we'll be looking at another offering: the Artisanal Cheeses.

This week I was joined by our favourite Canadian Dining Companion Alex, whose favourite food is cheese. Naturally the cheese plate had to be ordered, and after all my cheese sharing meals with Alex, I think this one has to be the best of them all. Five different seasonal cheeses were each paired harmoniously with five different accompaniments ranging from breads, spreads, and pickled fruits. My favorite was the Vermont Creamery Bonne Bouche, a 'good mouthful' of creamy young cheese, highlighted with a citrusy flavor, which was enhanced with pickled blueberries. Blueberries and dairy are always a perfect pair and the characteristics of the Bonne Bouche and the blueberry complement each other very well.

Family and Friends share a meal at Kona

From the shores of North Atlantic we sail around the world to the tropical seas of Polynesia where we end our month of fine dining at the incredible, delectable Kona Caf' at the Polynesian Resort. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I love the Kona Caf'. It is the underdog restaurants of the Polynesian as most guests flock to the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show or the popular family style buffet 'Ohana. The night we ate here, we actually tried to get a walk-up reservation at 'Ohana for my friend John's birthday dinner, but alas its popularity changed our plans and we journeyed to the greatest consolation prize of them all: Kona.

Kona boasts delicious entrees with Asian and Pacific Island influences. I ordered the Pan-Asian Noodles, a blend of Yakisoba Noodles in a ginger-garlic sauce with chicken and Wok-seared vegetables. This is a rich man's Ramen. While not expensive by any means, Kona's Pan-Asian noodles were the freshest stir fry and noodles I've had in a long time. The tangy ginger and strong savory garlic accent the vegetables and chicken with a strong contrast to each ingredient's natural flavor. While we didn't get a chance to share a seemingly endless meal at 'Ohana, my friends and I were completely satisfied with the surprise Polynesian meal we didn't expect to have.

April is the absolute perfect time to visit Walt Disney World. The weather is beautiful as the humidity has not yet set in, but the ocean breezes continue to sweep the state under the cheery Florida sun. Though the best part of this season is the crowds of Spring Break have already gone and the ones for the summer season are no where in site. Low crowds means it is quite easy to get into restaurants (except for'Ohana) without having a months in advance reservation. For each restaurant my various friends and I had dined at this past month, the reservation was made either a few days in advance if not the day of, aside from Cinderella's. Even still, Cinderella's Royal Table requires months to almost a year in advance reservation, and we were quite lucky to snag one merely two months before. April has proven to be an incredible opportunity to try delicious food and venture to places around the country, the world, and our imaginations.

Sunday unchies and Crunchies: Peanut Butter, Bacon, and Banana Pie

by Reuben Gutierrez

6 May 2013

The return of the Board Walk Bakery brought new space for guests, but also more space for new menu items. The former bakery still boasted quite a large menu for its small size, so when the expansion came along, it was quite exciting to see that in addition to more pastries and desserts, the bakery now serves caf' type selections such as more soups, salads, and sandwiches. I was pleasantly surprised that the added selections were not plain and simple, but bold and daring.

New Fruit filled salad. The Pomegranate Vinaigrette sounds delicious

New Sandwiches

The most bold and daring new item combines favorite flavors of food into one singular dessert. The Peanut Butter, Banana and Candied Bacon Pie ' advertised on the Disney Parks Blog, through word of mouth and through tweet of Twitter ' was an unexpected menu choice and its combination of flavors quite the risk on the chef's behalf. Separately, each flavor is independently capable of enhancing any dessert's flavor profile. Together, they create an intriguing dessert. I love Peanut Butter. I like bananas. I love peanut butter and bananas. I like bacon, I like candy, I'd love to try candied bacon. All three together'well, it's just asking to be sampled, even if the end result will be terrible, it's too obscure and such a risk to not try.

So enough about that, let's get down to business and defeat the hunger pains. The Peanut Butter, Banana and Candied Bacon pie sounds like a recipe accidentally invented by hungry college students. With such fatty ingredients as peanut butter and bacon, the pie causes the arteries to quake in fear. To my dining companion's and my surprise, it was a delightful treat, emphasis on the light. A graham cracker crust square tart shell holds a thin layer of crisp peanut butter (much like in a Butterfingers chocolate bar), a light and fluffy peanut butter filling, and a topping of dark chocolate ganache. The ganache is then topped with a small scoop of banana puree and a sprinkling of candied bacon bits. A chocolate garnish stamped with the Disney's Board Walk logo completes the design for an elegant dessert despite its cockamamie recipe.

After reading about this crazy idea of a pastry, I ventured to the new bakery with gusto and anticipation. I quickly ordered the tricky treat, found a seat outside under the bright Florida sun, and hastily took a bite. I actually liked it'a lot. I'm a fan of the sweet and salty combination and there was a lot of salty found here from the peanut butter and bacon. Sugar in the filling helped balance the peanut butter and the sweet banana puree also assisted. The interesting thing about this pie is that it's 'fillings' are not mixed together in a homogenized blend. The different elements are separated into layers and parts. This allowed my dining companion to focus on the half of the dessert without the banana, which she detests. Overall, I found the unique blend of ingredients to be a winning combination. Though with any food, it could always use more bacon!

The chocolate garnish was melting before our eyes in the heat of the sun

I think this odd, yet familiar, dessert will bring even more guests to the bakery because of its 'I've got to try that' appeal. We've seen this recently at Epcot's 2013 Food and Wine ' I mean Flower and Garden Festival (more on that later). Their new Pineapple Promenade booth features a Pineapple Dole Whip, with spiced rum. Both separately are beloved treats, together they create that 'I've got to try that' attraction. It's too good to not pass up, even if it whomps. For the foodies, it's a food medley waiting to be absorbed. For risk takers, it's a food obscurity waiting to be tackled. For the average guest, it's so strange, by golly, it just might work! With that range of an audience, it was a food risk that was totally worth taking.

Sunday Brunch: BoardWalk Bakery Problems Solved!

by Reuben Gutierrez

28 April 2013

Author's Note: As a former Board Walk Bakery cast member, there are hundreds of things to be excited about with the new Bakery expansion. To fairly address all topics for discussion, this article has been split into two parts, with part one for you to enjoy below!

Opening with the resort on July 1, 1996, the Board Walk Bakery has an ever changing history, which while not necessarily recorded for all of posterity, carried on through the memories of its cast and frequent guests. As some of you may remember, I had done my college program at the Board Walk Bakery, part of the BoardWalk resort, themed to 1920's seaside escapes of the New Jersey shore such as Atlantic City and Ocean City. I always thought Disney's Casting team was clever in my placement as I was on the program as a pastry student from Atlantic City's culinary academy. During my program, I had the pleasure to mostly serve, and at times bake the delicious treats, but I also got the chance to meet some great people and learn about the dozens of changes the bakery has seen over the years.

Here I am representing the real Atlantic City

Over time, the pastry chefs in charge change and move from place to place, each adding their own specific tastes and niches to the menu. In addition to chef's personal tastes, other social matters such as the food, diet, and health concerns of the new millennium caused things like Board Walk's infamous doughnuts to fade away with time. The food though is not the only thing to change with the bakery.

This past Friday, April 26^th, 2013, the Board Walk Bakery reopened after an expansive, major, and much needed renovation. The original Board Walk Bakery was primarily a kitchen, creating desserts and baked goods for the restaurants on Disney's BoardWalk and the guests staying at the BoardWalk Inn. A small corner of the bakery was devoted to retail space in which bakery items were displayed and sold for guests with barely enough room for at most three or four families. Though inefficient and compressed for Disney standards, this worked well in matching the theme of a bakery storefront on the shoreline in a time when vacation crowds were not nearly as large as they are today. As people, times, and attitudes change, unfortunately theme was sacrificed in order to better accommodate the Walt Disney World guests. Now, the bakery has been enhanced by creating a new kitchen in the space previously occupied by one half of the neighboring Arcade and reimagining the original bakery to expand the guest accessible retail area threefold.

The original Board Walk Bakery, compared to the new one below

Notice there are now two entrances to the bakery

The new, left side entrance to the bakery takes guests to now a long winding queue one would expect to find for a theme park attraction. What was once the entire bakery kitchen is now the queue and a brand new, enormous retail display case. The new queue and just merely having space for one helps a lot with controlling crowds as the bakery often had a line out the door, sometimes blocking the walkway. The out-the-door line was often deceptive since there wasn't much room inside to begin with, so now less guests will be turned off by the apparent crowd. The new display case fixes several things as well. With the longer counter, more cast members can assist guests at one time and more food options are made available. We'll get into the new food next week, but for now, I'd like to conclude with a moment to appreciate the efficiency the new entrance, queue, and counter create.

The second entrance on the right is the original entrance to the bakery. This serves as an exit from the long queue and registers and also as (a blatantly marked) an entrance to the soda fountain for the resort refillable mug. While it used to be a main entrance, it's reassignment as an exit and entrance for the new soda fountain helps with the flow of guest traffic going in and out of the bakery.

The new 'Bakery Fountain' fixes a lot of problems the bakery and the entire resort had with the refillable mugs. The Board Walk resort was conclusively the worst of the Disney Deluxe resort hotels in providing a functional Quick Service restaurant location (there essentially wasn't one) and maximizing the guest's use of the refillable resort mug. While the majority of the resorts featured a walk-up soda fountain guests could use at their leisure (e.g. the Contempo Caf' has a large seating area with multiple soda fountains), the Board Walk never had such a feature. Guests could only refill their mugs themselves from the self-serve coffee dispenser at Board Walk Joe's coffee stand across the way. Otherwise, they received 'refill' by receiving a standard Disney paper soda cup of their choice of beverage from a variety of locations (such as the bakery) in the resort, thereby completely negating the purpose and convenience of a refillable mug. I usually directed guests across Crescent Lake to use the self-serve soda fountain at the Beach Club's Marketplace. On top of that, the bakery had a limited hot and cold beverage selection and no non-bottled iced or sweet iced tea (which can be argued was thematic, as iced tea is not quite as popular up North as it is down South). We eventually did get freshly brewed iced tea a few months after I started working there. Finally, with the bakery expansion, the beautiful, new, inspiring, and guest self-serve soda and beverage fountain includes all these things and more.

More choices and multiple fountains will surely please guests with more selection and efficiency

Four Flavors of Iced Tea! As well as Hot Chocolate and Coffee

While the expansion has brought in many fixes to the bakery, there are also a few losses. As with any small, quaint, endearing establishment, the very purpose of an expansion causes all those qualities to disappear. For one thing, one of the best parts of the old BoardWalk Bakery was its intimate setting of the bakery kitchen in such proximity to the guest. When I worked as pastry cook, it was fantastic to be close to the guests in such a way that they could see, hear, smell, and interact with everything around me. As a cast member, it was great to chat with the pastry cooks and be able to directly link them to the guests and the food we were serving. The new bakery kitchen is in a completely separate space. While still connected to the new retail space, it is out of view when inside. Luckily, large windows allow guests strolling on the Board Walk to peer in and see the bakers at work, though it is quite a difference between the excitement of interacting with the bakers in the old bakery and the walk-by bakers exhibit.

Still a window allows for other methods of communication besides speech, as I had done this past Friday to see some old friends and co-workers at my former Disney location. While a lot was lost by separating the kitchen and the retail space, a lot was gained by just the mere expansion. Cast Members strive to achieve happiness for the guests and while the intimacy of the original bakery was lost, I foresee more guest happiness and satisfaction from an efficient bakery offering a wide selection of food and beverage in an environment expected for a fantastic and beautiful resort.

Sunday Brunch

by Reuben Gutierrez

21 April 2013

Last week, we journeyed to Adventureland for an immersive experience at the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean as portrayed by the tiki gods and birds at Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and the Tiki Juice Bar. Guests to Disneyland can extend their island escape outside the park, at the Disneyland Hotel. In the depths of the center courtyard of the Disneyland Hotel, adventurers will find a thatched roof building with rafters extending far out from the main building, creating an enveloping cavern of a roof. The humble tropical structure appears to be made of natural materials amid a dense thicket of lush palm trees, punctuated with tall fiery torches. This is Tangaroa Terrace, the tiki themed counter service restaurant for the hotel resort, located conveniently by the pool. After last week's exciting visit to the Enchanted Tiki Room, it is quite appropriate that we find ourselves in a new restaurant named after one of the Tiki gods, the great Tangaroa.

In recent years, the courtyard of the Disneyland Hotel contained a very elaborate and imaginative Never Land themed pool area with such dining venues as Hook's Pointe, Croc's Bites and Bits, the Wine Cellar, and the Lost Bar. In conjunction with the resort wide makeover, the Never Land eateries were transformed into the Polynesian house that is the Tangaroa Terrace. Heavily inspired by the once popular Tahitian Terrace restaurant (as discussed in my Bengal Barbecue review) and the general atmosphere of Adventureland, the new restaurant not only is Polynesian in d'cor, but also features a matching Polynesian menu.

The adjacent hotel room tower is fittingly the Adventure Tower

Inside the tiki hut

During my latest adventure to Disneyland, one morning my companions and I made a brief stop to the Terrace and found a variety of tropical inspired baked goods. We took a moment to sample such exotic treats as the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Muffin and the Pineapple Lilikoi Pie.

The muffin was as expected; fluffy, sweet, and delightfully pineapple in both the muffin batter and with bits of pineapple chunks intersperse throughout. The flavors were typical tropical ingredients and while nothing new and exciting, still delicious and desired. Any other flavor muffin with this one in absence would surely be out of place.

On the other hand, the Pineapple Lilikoi pie was something exotic and unfamiliar. Lilikoi, of course being the unfamiliar part, made it sound like there were flowers in this pie, but actually, the beautiful Hawaiian word is what they call passion fruit. I like to think of passion fruit as an intensely tropical flavor, and as I ponder other descriptions, I can think of no other words. Pineapple, though a bit sour with its acidity is overall more sweet than anything, so paired with the strong passion fruit, the Pineapple Lilikoi Pie is a burst of sunshine and tropical fruit contained in a small, coconut streusel topped pie. I think my favorite part about this pie is the blending of cuisines and flavors. Pie is such an American and European baked good, it is exciting to see it made with such exotic ingredients.

Tangaroa Terrace offers a lot more than tropical desserts, though our limited time did not afford us the chance to sample the other exciting entrees on the menu. Hopefully future adventures will include a more extensive feast at the Terrace, but for now I can certainly say the little slice of Adventureland is a welcome new addition to the resort. As a frequent guest to Walt Disney World, myself and other friends have found the restaurant to be highly reminiscent of Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Resort, which in turn was also inspired by the Tahitian Terrace restaurant and Polynesian craze of the 60s and 70s. With the excitement of a new experience in the exotic locale and immersiveness of the area, I enjoyed the fact that the new adventure still managed to also feel a little like home.

Sunday Brunch: Aloha, Tastebuds, Welcome to the Islands!

by Reuben Gutierrez

14 April 2013

Authors' Note: From Screen to Theme dot com Days of the Week readers know that throughout the year we have special themed weeks to celebrate the latest and greatest with the Walt Disney Company. This year we are celebrating the latest and greatest of the Days of the Week writers, or rather all of them! The celebration begins this week as we celebrate Alexandra M, Hidden Mickey Monday's mouse silhouette hunting expert.

A plump and juicy hot dog at a ballpark, buttery corn on the cob at a country hoedown, foie gras at an elegant French restaurant, warm and toasty poutine in a Canadian moose lodge'food seems to taste the best when it has a setting to match. With those thoughts in mind, I bring you a dining experience that our good friend Alex believes to be one of the best Disney has to offer. I've had many a Dole Whip in my lifetime, and while my first Dole Whip was at Disneyland four years ago, I did not fully enjoy it until my trip to the land with my sister and Alex this past winter. One has not truly had the ultimate Dole Whip experience until the pineapple frozen treat is enjoyed in the shelter of a tropical thatched roof hut while relaxing with the lulling melodies of a troupe of Polynesian parrots.

While most theme park attractions prohibit guests from having any food or drink, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland does not only allow such things but actually encourages it. The tiki garden pre-show area to the attraction serves not only an exciting tropical atmosphere, but also access to the park's most popular snack stand ' the Tiki Juice Bar. Thankfully, this means a treat enjoyed outside the show can also be brought inside.

From the Tiki Garden side, there is an additional counter to order Dole Whips

Having stayed long term at the Walt Disney World resort, Alex, my sister, and I have all frequently journeyed to Adventureland under the hot Florida sun for a refreshing Dole Whip, but no experience can compare to enjoying one amidst the tropical settings of the Enchanted Tiki Room. Our trip was in winter for crying out loud, but the Tiki Room Dole Whip experience is so perfect that we still made sure to have the treat on that cold February day. The shady palm trees and Pacific Islands themed atmosphere paired with a distinctly tropical fruit dessert can make anyone forget about the reality of a cold winter's day.

Alex relaxes under a tiki tree, contemplating whether or not to get a second Dole Whip for the day

Once inside the Enchanted Tiki Room, guests totally forget the winter weather since crossing the threshold fully immerses them in the tropical escape of the Tiki birds. The melodic pounding of the tribal drums, the rhythm of the rainstorm, and the music resonating from the Polynesian flora and fauna, all make a terrific attraction but the experience is enhanced with a Dole Whip in hand. The same could be said for the Dole Whip, which at Disneyland is decorated with a tiny paper umbrella for further thematic snacking. The creamy goodness of a frozen dessert paired with the flavorful bursts of sunshine and ocean breeze tastes of the pineapple make the Dole Whip a terrific treat, but tasting it in the Tiki Room completely transports you to the islands.

I can go on and on, but words can only do so much to describe this rite of passage for any Dole Whip fan. Snacks and treats are always a pleasure when viewing any kind of show, be it live in a theater, on television, at the movies, etc. So Disneyland's Tiki Room already wins for allowing snacks to be eaten while the show goes on. Though the experience is made even better when the snacks offered right outside by its tropical lanai is appropriately themed to the setting the attraction already so successfully thrusts you in. The Tiki Room Dole Whip experience is a prime example of the immersive experiences Disney theme parks are known for, but also a perfect presentation of how the food taste experience is ultimately enhanced by the setting it is enjoyed in.

Brunch de Domingo Con Cones

By Reuben Gutierrez

7 April 2013

The greatest moment when visiting a Disney theme park is when you suddenly find yourself in the same exact world of the Disney characters. Sometimes it's more an 'inspired by' world (see Pizza PlaNOT), other times a 'you never saw this but you know it's there' world (see Cinderella's Royal Table), but much of the times it's the world in which the Disney characters inhabited and the parks allow us to visit such lands. Carsland in Disney's California Adventure is pretty much a faithful replica of Radiator Springs from Pixar's Cars. With each character's 'home' recreated, guests find themselves visually in Radiator Springs, though their little highway town had been redone to better accommodate the human guests, making Carsland not so much the world of Cars, nor an inspired by world, but something in between.

Case in point, Sally's Cozy Cone Motel looks just like it did in the movie, complete with cone windmill water feature, but it's actually not a motel at all. As great as it would be to sleep overnight in a Disney park inside a giant, orange, rubber cone, the Imagineers and Sally have instead turned the Cozy Cone into a court of snack stands! Save for one, each cone has a different cone inspired snack and serves beverages in a traffic cone souvenir mug.

Naturally at the Disneyland Resort, the one non-cone snack is of course the Churro, served as churro bites with Cinnamon spiced Chocolate Sauce. Also available at Cone 1 is the first of several Cars themed beverages: Ramone's 'Pear of Dice' soda, a pear flavored soft drink.

Cone 2 serves the expected Ice Cream Cones, with soft serve vanilla, chocolate, or twist. Additionally, there is also an option to dip your soft serve ice cream cone in chocolate. The Cars themed beverage here is the 'Route' Beer Float.

We'll visit Cone 3 in a moment, but for now we drive down to Cone 4 where Sally serves Frozen Cone-coctions. The snack item here is Pretzel Bites with a cheesy sauce. The Cars themed beverage is Red's Apple Freeze, which will be strikingly familiar to guests who have had LeFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern.

The Popcone at Cone 5 serves scoops of flavored popcorn in either a regular popcorn box or a Lightning McQueen souvenir bucket. The flavors seem to rotate daily and when we visited, we found regular butter popcorn and a sweet and salty flavor. The beverage here is Doc's Wild Grape tonic.

Finally, Cone 3 is the Chili Cone Queso, one of the more witty play on words and also recipes! This cone serves bread cones filled with either Chili 'cone' Queso or Chicken Verde. At breakfast time, this is the only cone open, serving a Bacon Scramble cone (scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese sauce, and bacon) and the Verde Scramble cone (Scramble eggs, Salsa Verde and Queso Fresco). At my first visit to Carsland, this was the cone we made sure to try!

My number one dining companion Alex had the Chile Cone Queso and I had the Chicken Verde. Alex found her cone to be delicious to the last bite, as it was covered with cheese. My tastebuds cried in terror when they encountered the salsa verde in my cone. In my research salsa verde is supposed to be mild, so I guess I'm a wimp. But overall, the cone food experience was really fantastic as it was an incredibly unique and novel new way of eating familiar foods. The bread cone was fresh and soft with a crisp crust, much like a pretzel. Portion size as seen above is enough to comfortably fit in your hand and serve as a quick meal. Of all the cone inspired snacks, this one was certainly the winner.

The Cozy Cone has some cone covered tables for seating and they seem to employ bussers whose hair color matches the d'cor.

As I write this blog (and every time I write for this blog), I crave for another bread cone concoction. While I am lucky to live near Walt Disney World, there is no Carsland or Cozy Cones serving my new favorite Disney snack. As fate would have it, the bread cones have managed to find their way over to my home Disney resort! While not in one of the parks, these crazy cones can be enjoyed at the Downtown Disney Marketplace, accessible to anyone willing and able to make their way to the popular shopping destination.

Marketplace Snacks across from the Team Mickey store and Guest Relations, sells refreshments including the popular Chili Cone Queso and the new Meatball Cone. The Meatball Cone is filled with marinara sauce, turkey meatballs (a 'healthy' choice), and provolone cheese. It was a rather blustery, rainy day when I made my way to the Marketplace, and this meatball cone was my ticket to warmth and to assuage my cone craving.

The Cozy Cone at Disneyland is such a fun, zany, and quirky food court, it definitely is a must-see when visiting the Disneyland Resort as it thrusts you into the world of Cars. The crazy cone inspired snacks make it a must-dine location as well. Thankfully the popularity of the cones have managed to motor across the country and allow the East Coast Disney park fans a chance to also enjoy the quirky, fun snacks I've discovered Disneyland is known and remembered for.

Sunday Brunchies and Crunchies: Hungry Belly Pillages Surprises

by Reuben Gutierrez

31 March 2013

After a long day's work in the deep wood of the Enchanted Forest, I set out to find something to appease the growling beast within my belly. I wondered as I wandered why each hungry person has someplace to eat at, good things at, a delicious little meal to please. As I turned the corner by the castle I found a sleepy little hollow where people were eating waffles and ice cream, their hand and utensils tearing through with a clip clip and a clippity clop, looking for more food to chop. I needed to figure out a plan, or the crowd would have to reason with a hungry man.

Shaking out the tunes in my head as I weaved through the crowds, I stumbled upon a Tall Tale Inn. Nope, too crowded, the lines are too long, I thought with a grimace, so I ventured on and rounded the bend. Just outside the side entrance to the inn on the outskirts of the wild frontier, I found my last chance to rustle up some grub.

Like a mirage in the dessert, the Golden Oak Outpost called to me with promises of a chicken dinner. The menu listed only two entrees and while I've had many a nugget in this kingdom, I had not yet tried the Fried Chicken Breast Sandwich. When ordering, I was warned that it was spicy, and while not a fan of this form of cuisine, I opted to try it for the sake of adventure. Given the option of apples of French fries, I opted for the hungry man's diet: meat and potatoes.

It seems that everyone in the world is out West

With food in hand, I gazed across the horizon for a place to settle and down this meal, but alas, there was not a seat in sight. The crowds were just too much that even this little post on the edge of town was making bank. So as any hungry explorer in the kingdom will do, I set out for another land to settle in. Luckily I knew of a far off tavern in the Caribbean that seldom opened its doors to guests, but still provided an ample amount of seating under its tiled roof.

Despite the heavy crowds in the land, Tortuga Tavern was not open, but luckily for me, this meant plenty of seats to choose from to enjoy my feast. The feast was quite a surprise. The warden at the outpost wasn't kidding, this sandwich was quite spicy, due to whatever spices the cook tossed in the breading for the chicken. Thankfully, they dressed my sandwich in lettuce, tomato, and a ranch dressing; the dairy aspect helping to calm and smother the excitement from the spices. For a quick meal, this suited me just fine and surprised me with its quirky flavor.

As I finished my meal, I got up and stretched, and while looking up I saw something new in this area, but very familiar. It was a remnant and salute to the proprietor that once served this establishment.

Do you see it?

One of the old signs from El Pirate y El Perico

This was certainly a treasured piece of history in this kingdom (and there's more to pillage at Tortuga Tavern), and now it's displayed for all to discover. With the belly beast quelled and a new treasure found, I set off out of the kingdom feeling peaceful and satisfied at the fantastic adventure a hungry stomach so often inspires.

Sunday Brunch: The Norwegian Churro

by Reuben Gutierrez

24 March 2013

I have been craving a churro since I saw all 57 churro carts at the Disneyland Resort last month (more on that another Sunday). Cinnamon and sugar bursts in every bite of this both soft and crispy snack. So last Tuesday after work, I journeyed to Epcot to join my friends for a limited time egg hunt with the hopes of highlighting the evening with a sweet and cinnamon reward. Epcot is the home of a pavilion that pays homage to creator of the sweet treat, so what better destination? Wrong.

The Mexico pavilion does not offer the churro most are familiar with. In lieu of the feet long fried dough treat, they offer churritos, little dough circles fried and prepared the same way as the much superior churro. Mexico's food and beverage locations offer quality food, they did not offer the traditional Disney parks churro I was expecting. My hopes and dreams of a churro were crushed. As my friends and I continued to look for a snack to close the evening, we decided the one place we can never go wrong: Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe.

I cannot write enough about this place. While only my second article exploring this fantastic bakeshop (and several hundredth time visiting), I foresee more stories and visits in the weeks to come. This is simply because not only does Kringla offer delicious desserts, it continues to epitomize quality products and service Disney is known for. Unlike the other popular bakery in World Showcase, Walt Disney World owns and operates Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe, ensuring the Disney seal of freshness and quality, thus resulting in repeat visitors.

Fresh from my sudden depression of missed churros, I threw myself at an old favorite: the School Bread. This sweet, custard filled roll topped with coconut and more custard is a genuine traditional Norwegian favorite. Norwegian children often found a roll of school bread packed with their lunch for school. Also, the bread is a common baked good used at bake sales.

In my experience, this pastry more often than not becomes an instant favorite to anyone who tries it. The bread itself is a soft and fluffy sweet roll enhanced with cardamom, a strongly aromatic and fragrant sweet spice originating from South Asia and heavily used in Nordic baking. Though the bread portion of the school bread is delicious by itself, the vanilla custard filling really completes the pastry, adding a moist and creamy component. Toasted and glazed coconut flakes garnish the dessert and add an additional exotic flavor.

After brightening my spirits with a school bread, another treat caught my eye: the Lefse. We read on the menu that this long, rolled up pastry was actually potato flat bread rolled with a sweet cinnamon sugar butter spread. My friend Ashley had commented that it actually seemed like the Norwegian version of a churro. Were my evening snack dreams suddenly made true?

I ordered one, but it looked like I was getting two upon receiving the Lefse. Lefse actually is a lot like the Norwegian version of a churro in that it's a long pastry with a sweet cinnamon flavor. My friend Aaron had said he remembers eating a longer version of the pastry in his youth, so I suspect what looked like two pastries was one cut in half to fit in the box. Still having two pastries in a box is a nice surprise and terrific value, since the dessert is already priced at $1.99, preposterously low for a Disney treat! While not the crispy, doughy fried goodness that is a churro, the Lefse was a suitable substitute. It actually is used a lot like a tortilla is used in Latin cuisine, as both a savory or sweet wrapper. Lefse is a broad term for the flatbread itself and the lefse served at Kringla is commonly known as tynnlefse (thin lefse) in Norway. I enjoyed it for what it was, though served cold, I wondered how it would taste if warm, like a churro.

Our Norwegian snack adventure was rounded out with the crowd-pleasing waffle. While waffles are popular worldwide, they are indeed most popular in Belgium as well as Scandinavia. The Norwegian waffle is no different than most, though here at Kringla, a hot waffle is folded over with a strawberry preserves filling. What I like most about this waffle is the ensured freshness as whenever ordered, it is baked fresh and delivered hot off the iron, enhancing the goodness of any waffle dining experience.

Most do not think of Norway when looking for a global sample of baked goods. While I have not yet fulfilled my churro craving, I certainly am happy to snack at Kringla in the meanwhile. The quality and freshness associated with Kringla Bakeri og Kafe helps to bring Norway's fantastic pastries out of obscurity and into the hearts, minds, and bellies of snackers around the Disney World. With still a half dozen more Norwegian pastries to try, the churro can continue to wait its turn for my next snacking adventure.

Sunday Brunch: Luck O' the Irish fed by the Norse 'Cross the Sea

By Reuben Gutierrez

17 March 2013

Tis a lucky day indeed, for the day of St. Patrick, falls on a Sunday this year so what better way to celebrate than with a Sunday Brunch at the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe. Okay, while seemingly not the most obvious choice, the connection between Epcot's Norwegian bakery and the Irish holiday is actually quite fitting. As it turns out, Ireland was heavily influenced by Norwegian culture since Viking raiders in the 700s and later traders and settlers in the 900s brought custom and culture to the island across the North Sea.

In honor of the feast of St. Patrick, we'll have a feast on some traditional food from the ancestors of the saint himself. The Kringla Bakeri og Kafe is a small little bakeshop in the Norway Pavilion of Epcot that serves a variety of traditional Norwegian sweet and savory goods. Its name comes from the Old Norse word for ring or circle as well as the kringla, the Scandinavian version of a pretzel, which happens to be part of the sign for the bakery as well as part of the menu!

image fromdisneyparks.disney.go.com

Sweet Pretzel pastries

While the pastries at Kringla are the main stars, I recently discovered the caf' items deserve equal attention. I've yet to try the traditional Norwegian Salmon and Egg Sandwich, but a few weeks ago I sampled the Ham and Apple Sandwich. Slices of ham are layered with thin apple slices, Jarlsberg and Muenster Cheese and dressed with a sweet Apple Chutney between two slices of Multigrain Bread. Guests can have their sandwich toasted, which I highly recommend as this is the type of sandwich best enjoyed warm.

Besides Elvis Sandwiches, I haven't really encountered fruit in sandwiches and apple and ham makes for a delicious combination. The Jarlsberg cheese ' a traditional cow's milk cheese from Norway 'paired with the Muenster Cheese (a sharp cheddar-like cheese) help to balance the salty ham, though in my opinion it dominates the essence of the apple a bit. I would like to have more apple slices as the ones provided were extremely thin. The apple chutney was amazing, an equal balance of sweet, tart, and astringent, but it was seriously lacking on the sandwich. If any of the Kringla bakers are reading this, please add more chutney to this delicious sandwich!

With brunch down the hatch, dessert was next and while I was longing for my favorite School Bread, I chose to go with something new: the Rullekake. The rullekake is what the name looks like, a rolled cake. Made from a sweet spongy yellow cake and rolled with a creamy raspberry filling with actual raspberries, I found this Norwegian jelly roll quite satisfactory. The cake was very soft and fresh and the filling bursting with raspberry flavor. This pastry definitely deserves to be among some of the best of Epcot's pastries for it quality and simplicity. It's always a lucky day when you try something new and it surprises you!

The infamous School Bread

This St. Patrick's Day I hope you give a toast to both the Irish and the Norse as both cultures account for all that is Ireland. After you've had your fill, be sure to drop by for Brunch next Sunday as we explore the other delicious delights at the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe. Today's Sunday Brunch merely scratched the surface of the tiny little leprechaun sized bakery filled with a feast fit for a Viking fleet.

Sunday Brunch: Popcorn Cart Avatars

by Reuben Gutierrez

10 March 2013

Wreck-it Ralph was released to DVD/Blu-Ray last week and is this week's headlining theme of From Screen to Theme's Days of the Week. On my way home from Disneyland, I was lucky enough to watch Wreck-It Ralph on the plane ride home. My favorite part of the film is when Ralph finds himself in the car racing game Sugar Rush where everything is made from candy, cakes, and sweets, including the character racers! With colorful names and personalities such as Crumblelina Di Carmello and Swizzle Malarkey, the Sugar Racers make up quite the eclectic bunch. The petite little residents of sugar rush reminded me of another cast of little characters found in Disneyland, specifically in their snack carts!

Disney Theme Parks are serious about snacking, and none is more serious than the original, Disneyland itself. Perhaps because of the strong and frequent local guest population visiting the parks, snacking is all the more popular. Part of the joys of snacking in Disneyland is visiting one of dozens of land-specific themed snack carts. Popcorn needs no gimmick, no introduction, no draw, the smell alone is enough to attract guests to come by for a snack. Though in Disneyland, even the snack stands deserve a creative decorative treatment to fit within its whimsical surroundings.

Each popcorn cart in Disneyland Park features some sort of visible mechanical contraption in which a tiny little character appears to be cranking a rolling drum of popcorn to power the whole cart. These 'Roastie-Toasties' are themed to whatever land they reside in. The cast changes throughout the years and the seasons, but the majority have remained the same. There are seven popcorn carts in Disneyland, and I managed to track down all of them during my last visit!

The Red Dapper Dan (sometimes Blue) stops singing for snacking in the Castle Hub

Davy Crocket and the popcorn of the wild Frontier in Frontierland

The Undertaker departs from the Haunted Mansion for popcorn in New Orleans Square

The Conductor of the Jolly Trolley tinkers away near Mickey's House in Toontown

The Abominable Snowman escaped from the Matterhorn to serve popcorn in Fantasyland

Creepy Clown cranks corn near 'it's a small world' also in Fantasyland

The Rocketeer jets away to pack some power into popcorn in Tomorrowland

While the cast of Sugar Rush appropriately feature saccharine designs sweet enough to give you a toothache, the Roastie-Toasties are cute in regards to size, but a bit eerie and creepy in design. They evoke thoughts of horrific inanimate mechanical toys coming to life and terrorizing mankind in horror films. The Roastie-Toasties have been in Disneyland Popcorn carts since 1955 and were modeled after the original 'Rosty Tosty Man' figures in popcorn wagons from the Cretor Co. made in the late 19th century. While intended to be fun and amusing, the little characters are a bit terrifying. Still, I think that is a part of their charm and appeal. While working hard to give you one of the best snacks in Disneyland, one can't help think they have mischief up their sleeves, much like the devious little racers of Sugar Rush.

Roastie Toastie Resources

Check out this video from Disneyland of the recent years' cast of Roastie-Toasties.