out and about: napa rose chef's counter

amuse: puréed beets with mashed potatoes, diced potatoes, caviar and chives

One of the fun things you can do at disney, is eat at the chef’s counter at napa rose. Napa rose, for anyone who doesn’t know is a foodie paradise located inside the grand californian hotel. I’ve experienced the chefs counter many times pre-covid, but this was my first venture back. We headed up a day early, before hitting up the food and wine festival, to do some tiki tasting, disney shopping and to eat at the chef’s table.

It’s been hit or miss every time… mostly based on the choice of food, the order, and the amount served. It also changes every few weeks, and seasonally, so there is no set menu or even ingredients you can count on if you go. Some years, we’ve had delicate tasting bites… others we’ve had full course servings and left stuffed. Also, it used to be that every person in your party got an entirely different dish… now, it seems there are a few more course, and some of them are shared by everyone. You can also choose to pair your meal with wine; although we brought in a bottle of our own - iron horse fairy tale- which paired perfectly with every course.

The thing I love about a chef’s counter, and in particular this one, is you get an inside glimpse at a working kitchen. The chef counters at napa rose are literally counters overlooking the open kitchen. You get dinner and a show. We got to chat with the head of disneyland resort’s high end kitchen, andrew sutton, who by the way, is part neanderthal. I’m telling you, the convo’s can’t be beat. We also watched colin, a prep chef, jump to it and basically completely any and every kitchen task given to him. So much so, that we swore he must have a rat hidden in his hat… There was also a party of 17, that took all sorts of prep work; an unnamed tv star, and a large san diego contingent. One of the prep chef’s even opened some of our favorite san diego restaurants… which was a whole conversation in and of itself.

And then, of course, there was the food…

The first course amuse bouche might have been my favorite. I was thoroughly amused. It was a juxtaposition between the sweet beet purée, with the warm mashed potatoes, the cold potato bites topped with caviar and sliced chives. This dish wasn’t on the regular menu… and I’d do the chef’s counter just for this.

grilled spanish octopus: potato fava, green garlic purée

Next up was the seafood course. Here we were given two different dishes, ate half, and then swapped. Best of both worlds.

I really enjoyed the octopus. It was cooked extremely tender, and I enjoyed the potato and green garlic flavoring.

sautéed diver scallop: golden cauliflower, pine nut, caper and tangerine

While I’m normally a huge scallop fan; and I really liked the scallop here, I just didn’t like it as much as I liked the octopus. I did like the flavor punch that the pine nuts and cauliflower added. Both the caper and tangerine felt like add-ons, and were barely negligible.

escargot: foraged mushrooms, hollandaise

Apparently, the day we showed up; they also had a selection of escargot show up. And show up they did, in a rich red wine based, mushroom forward broth. It was so rich. They put some hollandaise over the top, to cut the richness, but there simply wasn’t enough. It was just too rich, and too much. A singular bite with all the components would have been enough. The flavors were perfect, it was just so much, and so heavy, that it would have been better appreciated as a singular bite.

Our second mushroom dish, was full of different roasted mushrooms in a pesto/pea broth and super yummy cheese gnocchi, that was also extremely mushroom forward. Thick and rich, it too, would have been perfect as a singular bite and not entire bowl. Sometimes, less is more.

maple leaf farms duck breast: rhubarb rub, celery root purée

Big fan of duck breast. And this was a perfect medium. It was, however, tougher than it should be. That being said, the flavor was perfect. The taste and the cook perfection. It just tasted like it sat longer than it should have. Or as if, it had been reheated. I still would have eaten it. And enjoyed it. But I was so full for them heavy mushroom course (how does that happen); that it was hard to enjoy as much as i would have, had the previous course been less dense.

pan seared beef filet mignon: braised beef cheek ragout

We were served the filet, along side the duck. And this was not my fav. The filet tasted less like a filet, and more like a gamey hanger steak to me. The beef cheeks? They were fantastic. But gamey meat is not my thing, and not what you expect from a cut like filet. The accompaniments were flavorful and excellent, but I just couldn’t get over the game taste, when I expected a filet.

portabello mushroom “cappuccino”: perigolrd truffle froth

So this was delicious. But it was heavy. And so mushroom forward. The problem as, in a tasting menu, that already had a mushroom course, and a rich mushroom course at that, it was just too much rich mushroom. If there wasn’t the mushroom course, it would have been perfect. If the mushroom course had just been a taste, and paired with the cappuccino, it would have been perfect. But all three dishes, together, and such large portions, left us feeling overwhelmed with shrooms. The broth, the cream, the wine sauce. It was all just too much together. Each, in and of themselves… excellent. But all together, sensory overflow.

puff pastry: pastry with honey and cheese

The simplest dish. But oh my goodness, was this the best. It tasted like when I melt honey and butter together and spread it on rolls for the kiddos. There was honey and butter, and puff pastry wrapped around melty cheese, and I found myself trying to envelope the taste as to recreate it at home. Still not sure how to do that, but you can bet I’m gonna try. Seriously one of the best bites. And, again. Not on the actual menu. And thankfully, a bite we both got to try.

choco taco: chocolate mousse, candied guava, espresso bean

They called it the choco taco. It was the cutest bite ever. And also. Super tasty. Not on the menu. Again a shared bite. While I didn't need the caffeine rush from the espresso, the flavor hit was well worth it.

For dessert, we were each given the choice between chocolate and fruit. Big surprise… we both picked chocolate. It was a chocolate truffle. Mango (i think?) ice cream, chocolate crumbles and a chocolate schmear. A lot of chocolate. A lot of yum. Definitely the correct choice (in my opinion).

We had a lot of food. A lot of heavy food. A lot of good food. I’d totally do it all over again. I know it will be different food, and I know there will be more to look forward to. I just wish the portions were less. That’s really my only complaint. If the portions were true tastings, there would be more to enjoy.