Happy St. Patty’s Day… Now Go Enjoy the Irish Cream Cheesecake at Disney!

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 15, 2024

 

Disney World has been home to a great many limited time treats over the past few weeks, between Women’s History Month specials, new Flower & Garden festival goodies, and springtime Easter delights.  We are quickly slipping past this week’s unique offerings, though, with a number of holiday indulgences about to expire.

With so many Instagram worthy, over-the-top Disney confections popping up around the parks, here's one dish that we almost bypassed, until three different cast members pointed it out with their recommendations.  Standing in the queue at the quick serve Gasparilla Island Grill at the Grand Floridian, we were refilling our drink mug after visiting the Easter egg displays when a cast member restocking the sweets counter drew our attention to a rather unassuming looking dish of cheesecake.  It would certainly get lost among the brightly colored cupcakes and cookies. As she was replenishing the trays, she looked up and said, “I know these look pretty simple, but they are sooo delicious. You should try one. Trust me!”

  
A second cast member walked by and acknowledged having sampled one the day before… and wholeheartedly agreed with the first cast member. Okay, I was sold.  If a cast member (or two) says they are good, I’ll take their word for it.

Then, I got to the cashier, who gushed, “Oh, you’re getting the Bailey’s cheesecake. That is sooo good.”  So, if you are counting, we’re now up to three votes of confidence, in a ten-foot walk from the counter to the cashier.  Pony up that cash, because I believe them!

The confection that the cast members were enthused about was the St. Patrick’s Day Irish Cream Cheesecake ($6.49).  A circle of goodness in a small tin, this dessert looked pretty enough, with its elegant Grand Floridian “GF” initials in green, with a decorative edging of gold sprinkle “coins” around the edges to jazz it up a little, but what was hidden underneath was even more worthy.

The dessert was Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake, topped with a thin layer of Chantilly cream. It was sweet and creamy, but light as air.  A graham cracker crust on the bottom had an extra dose of cinnamon, giving a counterbalance to the cheesecake.  The cheesecake was not quite as light as a whipped cheesecake, but certainly fluffier than a traditional New York style version.  Don’t let the “Bailey’s” ingredient scare you off.  It was just the subtlest hint of Bailey’s flavor in the cheesecake, not overwhelming at all.  It was enough, however, to give the treat some delicious background flavor without overpowering the cheesecake.

This was quite a heavenly afternoon pick-me-up, and if I were staying anywhere in the vicinity of the Grand Floridian between now and St. Patty’s Day, I’d be tempted to go back and get another one for lunch.  Or dinner. Or maybe even an indulgent breakfast.  (It’s got dairy, after all). I might just have to go back and pick up two or three extra to bring home for dessert for the family on St. Patty’s Day itself.

  
If you like a nice, sweet indulgence in the afternoon, and happen to be heading over to visit the chocolate egg display at Grand Floridian, take the advice of the cast members at Gasparilla, and snap one of these little dishes up before the leprechauns steal them away for good.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner. And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

Grand Floridian’s “1900 Park Fare” To Reopen in April

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 9, 2024

 

One of the last remaining holdouts from the COVID shutdown era is finally returning! On April 10, 2024, the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney World will be bringing back “1900 Park Fare.”  A newly refreshed dining room will be part of the many refurbishments currently taking place at the Grand Floridian, but among the changes will be an update to the cast of characters appearing at the restaurant.

Courtesy of DisneyParksBlog.com

The future characters meeting and greeting at 1900 Park Fare will include Cinderella, Mirabel (Encanto); Aladdin (in his Prince Ali attire); and Tiana (in her “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure” outfit).  The upcoming theming will be “Wish Upon a Star.” Among the previous characters appearing at the “Supercalifragilistic Breakfast” (before the shutdown) were Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and The Mad Hatter (and sometimes Winnie the Pooh and Tigger). In the evening, Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters (Anastasia and Drizella) from Cinderella graced the room with their antics, and Prince Charming accompanied Cinderella to visit guests.

   
Only breakfast and dinner will be served at 1900 Park Fare, and it will be buffet style.  The famed and much-missed Strawberry Soup will be returning with the revamp of the restaurant!  There will also be updates to the rest of the menu, and some of the new items will be a tip-of-the-hat to the characters appearing during the meals.

One of the décor pieces that did not lose her place with the refurb is “Big Bertha,” the antique organ that has been at the Grand Floridian since 1988.  She’ll take her spot among the carousel theming that was also a highlight of the previous version of the eatery.

 
A brand new mural (pictured above) will greet diners as they return to Park Fare, and there will also be fresh artwork created exclusively for the restaurant by Disney artists. Twelve new pieces will each feature “a different Disney character as they hope, dream and wish upon a star (or even a magic lamp or a wishing well).”

Reservations for 1900 Park Fare open on March 5 at DisneyWorld.com, or on your My Disney Experience App. No word yet on pricing, or whether the meals will be available on the Disney Dining Plan.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner.

Grand Floridian Café Offers Relaxed and Varied Menu

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 24, 2023

 

The first time we went to the Grand Floridian Café, we were expecting the dining room to match the rest of the Grand Floridian Resort – upscale and maybe too fancy for our theme park t-shirts. But we were new to Florida at the time, and hadn’t yet been able to get annual passes, so we had been making the rounds of the various Disney Resorts, getting a Disney fix without breaking the bank buying individual park tickets, biding our time until the annual pass sales resumed.  Grand Floridian Café turned out to be a lovely evening, and so much more relaxed than we’d anticipated.

Now, a few years later, we were heading over to the Grand Floridian to take in the chocolate Easter egg display (see our article and video here), and we decided to check out the Grand Floridian’s lunch offerings.  It was once again a lovely, albeit extended, meal.

 

The Grand Floridian Café does offer breakfast, lunch and dinner seatings, but there is a brief closure between lunch and dinner. The café is closed from 2:00-5:00 so the cast members can prepare for the meal switchover.

 

Lunch at the Grand Floridian Café is served as “Blunch,” as our cast member explained. It’s the opportunity to order lunch items, but breakfast items continue to be offered as well. It’s not a large menu, but the widely varying offerings include everything from Banana Foster Oatmeal, steak and eggs, avocado toast, quiche, pancakes, and Brioche French Toast, to Reubens, salads, burgers, salmon, and Lobster Benedict.

 

We were hoping the famed Strawberry Soup from the not-yet-reopened 1900 Park Fare next door was available, but alas, it wasn’t on the day’s menu.  Instead it was a butternut squash soup ($12.00), which we skipped in favor of the Chilled Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail ($16.00) and the Heirloom Apple Salad ($13.00).

Normally, you would see a shrimp cocktail served draped over the edge of a stemmed glass, hovering over a splash of cocktail sauce.  But this delicious appetizer was far from the ordinary presentation of shrimp cocktail.  The Grand Floridian Café’s rendition featured five very large, very chilled shrimp, perched on top of a bed of greens and a layer of grapefruit sections, paired with a side of freshly sliced avocado.  It was, indeed, served with the obligatory cocktail sauce, but the dish was so fresh and citrusy tasting that you really didn’t need it. 

The Apple Salad was also an unexpected treat, a pretty substantial starter-sized salad of organic baby lettuce, tossed with heirloom apples and sharp cheddar, and topped with crunchy pecan brittle and a salty prosciutto.  It was dressed with a sweet honey-apple vinaigrette that I would love to have again and again.

Our entrées had a delightful twist as well.  I ordered the Buttermilk-fried Chicken and Waffle ($26.00), which came with two hand-breaded crispy chicken cutlets served with a sriracha-honey drizzle that was just delicious.  The drizzle was sweet, with the barest hint of a kick from the sriracha, and it was expertly applied, because it was the perfect amount of glaze. The chicken wasn’t drowning in the sauce, but it also had an adequate amount that flavored the chicken without overwhelming the crunchy texture.  But the big surprise was the malted waffle that was the centerpiece of the dish.  It was one large waffle, fluffy and uniquely flavored… and in the shape of Mickey!  How can you not love Mickey-shaped food at Disney World?   My son, who was dining with me, thought I was nuts because I was so excited over the Mickey waffle.

 

My son chose the Lobster 'Thermidor' Burger ($26.00), a dish that the Grand Floridian Café is famous for, and it did not disappoint. A 7-oz burger patty topped by a creamy lobster-parmesan Thermidor sauce, the burger is served on a seared brioche bun, with a bonus cheese crisp perched on top. The burger came with a small handful of seasoned fries on the side.  The Thermidor sauce was exceptional, and was happily more lobster than sauce.  There were large, whole pieces of tender lobster, which made for a decadent feel to our lunch. It was more “luncheon” than “lunch.”

Sadly, we were so full by the time we finished that we did not make it to dessert, which was disappointing because there were several interesting choices, including a Key Lime tart, and a cookies n’ cream Mickey Dome.   

 

The Grand Floridian Café is a good choice for lunch, with its very diverse menu, but for us, we were glad that we were not staring down Lightning Lane reservations at the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon.  While the service was excellent, the kitchen was very slow, with an hour and a half meal time for us.  To be fair, it was Spring Break week, and there wasn’t an open seat in the restaurant, and I suspect there were also conferences going on because we watched large trolleys of food trays heading down the sidewalks during our meal, but meals were slow to come out of the kitchen.  It wasn’t a problem for us because we were meandering our way through the chocolate egg displays that afternoon, but just be aware that your yummy lunch may take longer than you thought.  Take it as a sign that you should relax and stay awhile.

 

The restaurant itself was clean (in the care taken at the restaurant, as well as the architectural lines of the room) and bright, with lots of huge windows looking out on the beautiful grounds of the Grand Floridian.  It was a lovely, peaceful meal, and I am sure we’ll find ourselves dining here again in the future.  Especially knowing there’s a few Mickey-themed foods waiting for us!

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.