|
Vegetarian Dining at WDW
by Lani Teshima
Many first-time visitors assume
that Walt Disney World is filled with junk food. Similarly, many
vegetarians think that WDW is geared towards the meat-and-potato crowd,
and assume they have to eat french fries and fruit cups for the duration
of their stay.
 Vegetarian Walt Disney
World and Greater Orlando (click on the image to
order from Amazon.com)
Nothing could be further from the truth, and authors Susan Shumaker
and Thal Saffel prove this with their book, Vegetarian Walt Disney
World and Greater Orlando. In it, Shumaker and Saffel introduce
the readers to the bountiful garden of vegetarian fare available at WDW.
Although this book does not discuss such topics as height
restrictions or resort accommodations, at the heart of Vegetarian Walt
Disney World and Greater Orlando is a solid travel guide. It is obvious
that the authors spent considerable time becoming familiar with the WDW
resort, and it shows in the amount of hidden gems they reveal in the
form of restaurant tips for vegetarians.
If you are a vegetarian
(or even a stricter vegan) planning a WDW trip, then Vegetarian Walt
Disney World and Greater Orlando is an absolute requirement for you: do
not go to WDW without reading this book. Not only should you read the
book beforehand, but you should take the book with you on your trip.
It's that essential.
The authors have a very approachable writing style that makes it very
easy to go through the book. Restaurants are rated and described in
detail, and multiple indexes (for example, one is sorted from
"excellent" to "fair", another is sorted by food
type, while another is sorted by price range) provide easy access to
their descriptions in the middle of the book.
In addition, they have set up a Web
site, Vegetarian
World Guides in order to deal with the numerous and frequent
updates the resort experiences with its many menus. The primary section
of the Web site is their update section, which offers first-hand
information from recent visitors. Not only do you get updates; they are
also dated so you know how recent the information is.
Vegetarian World Guides is a
tremendous resource for trip planning.
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with the book's authors:
Q: I have to think that you wanted to write this book because of
the sheer amount of food available at WDW, and the maze a vegetarian has
to go through to find veg-friendly foods at the resort. However, can you
share with the readers the primary reasons that finally motivated you to
make this tremendous effort?
The reasons were twofold: first, we wanted to point people to some
of the hidden treasures we were able to find, like Cliff Pleau at the
California Grill (in the Contemporary Resort), or Scott Hunnel's
amazing vegetarian (or vegan!) tasting menu at Victoria and Albert's
(at the Grand Floridian). Similarly, the new Boma restaurant at the
Animal Kingdom Lodge gives veggie diners a lot to choose from without
having to negotiate, cajole or threaten. These are places that aren't
just OK, they're outstanding places for vegetarians to dine. So that
was one priority: standing up and telling the world, "Hey,
believe it or not, this is a pretty good destination for
vegetarians!"
Victoria and Albert's has a great
vegetarian menu
Our second mission, as you say, was to steer people through the
maze of options. Why settle for chips and a pint at the Rose and Crown
Pub (in Epcot) when you could be feasting on the surprisingly yummy
vegetable terrine at Chefs de France? Because you prefer Bass Ale to
Cotes du Rhone, that's why! But it shouldn't be because you didn't
know there would be anything at Chefs de France for you to enjoy.
Q: Tell me a little bit about how you went about researching this
book. How long did it take? How difficult was it to talk with the
various chefs and kitchen staff?
We started researching the book in Fall 1996 for a piece that
originally appeared in Vegetarian Times magazine (February 1997). Even
before we wrote that piece, we knew we wanted to put together some
sort of a veggie travel guide. We just didn't know what the
destination would be. We had originally planned to do a national
guide, but the research was really overwhelming us: by the time we
finished writing about the last destination on the list, we worried,
the first one would be out of date.
We pitched the Disney story to Vegetarian Times after a
mind-blowing trip in August 1996 when we had some of the best food
either of us had ever eaten. So we wrote the article and continued to
bandy about possibilities for our first book. In Autumn 1998 we
decided to commit to the Disney Guide, and Vegetarian Walt Disney
World and Greater Orlando was the result!
As journalists, Disney's chefs were very available to us, so we
quickly realized we needed to be a little sneakier. We not only
visited restaurants and spoke with chefs ourselves; we also solicited
the help of undercover tasters, researchers, and so on. We also made a
number of calls from our offices, posing as future visitors, to
confirm statements made by chefs and managers.
Q: Did you live near the resort during your research? If not, how
many separate trips did you have to make in order to get the information
you needed?
We didn't live there before we wrote the guide, or during. We took
about five different trips down to Orlando from our home base in West
Virginia between Autumn 1998 and Spring 2000, when we finished the
research and began production, putting in about two months in the
area, all told. We were also really fortunate to have as our resident
expert Gardenia, reigning diva of special diets in the
rec.arts.disney.parks Usenet newsgroup. After the book was published
in July 2000, we went on a Fall tour of Florida, during which we spent
about a month in Orlando promoting the book and doing followup
research for our Web site.
Q: Are you big WDW fans? Do you own annual passes or visit
regularly for fun?
Susan has been a big fan of WDW since visiting there as a youngster
in 1972. More than two dozen visits later, her heart still skips a
beat at the thought of cruising around the lagoon in the Pirates of
the Caribbean, or heading down into the bowels of the Haunted Mansion.
But neither of us is as big a Disney fan as our 3-year-old daughter
Rhowyn, who at times has refused to answer to any name other than
"Ariel."
In addition to enjoying the parks, we both have a massive
appreciation for the achievements of Walt Disney and the heirs to his
legacy. We also applaud some of the gutsier moves the company has
made: giving benefits to same-sex partners, continuing the company's
ambitious recycling and environmental programs, and standing behind
the artistic decisions of the creative people who fuel the
company--and that includes chefs!
Q: We often feel intimidated about the prospects of having to make
arrangements with chefs in advance. How important is this, and are
eateries in the resort generally still veg-friendly if we just showed
up?
If you're dining in one of the sit-down restaurants in the resorts,
you're generally always going to receive a meal that's competently
prepared, if not inspired. However, we've even had disappointing meals
at the California Grill (although not often), even though it's one of
our favorite dining spots. After those meals, we've always come away
with the feeling that things would have been different if we'd called
ahead and spoken to the right person.
Even WDW's best restaurants can be disappointing
if you don't plan ahead
Look at this way: When you're a line cook at, say, Spoodles (at the
Boardwalk), your kitchen is churning out meal after meal after meal
every night, and you've pretty much seen it all. You've cooked for
anybody and everybody: for vegetarians, for vegans, for fruitarians,
for diabetics, people with fibromyalgia, celiac disease, gluten
allergies. But if it's 8 o'clock, the kitchen is getting hammered,
you've got 12 tickets due right now, and a waiter asks you to
improvise something for a vegetarian, your culinary creativity is not
necessarily primed to achieve its full flowering at that moment.
Chances are, your first instinct will be to fall back on the dish
you made for the most recent vegetarian you cooked for, because those 12
tickets are now overdue, and you've got an endless stream of meals
still to be cooked before the night is through. This is why we end up
seeing a certain uniformity among vegetarian meals served in many
non-vegetarian restaurants.
If, however, a prospective diner has phoned in a special request
the day, or the week, before, your creativity is much more likely to
be stimulated, and simply to have an opportunity to grow in that time.
You've had a chance to look at a cookbook or two, order in some
special ingredients, think about presentation--in other words, you can
think like a chef instead of just a cook. The difference between the
two situations isn't just like night and day--it's like Disney and
Dreamworks!
So to diners who are a bit intimidated about calling in advance, we
say: Do it! Any chef worth her mise en place* wants to send everybody
home with a smile on his face. If you give those chefs a chance to
perform, chances are they will. [*Mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs):
having all the ingredients prepared and ready for cooking.]
And if you don't know a lot about food, don't pretend. Just tell
the truth and say, "You know, I'm really looking forward to this
meal because I don't often get to dine in a magical setting like
Disney World. As a vegetarian, I often get a pasta dish or a steamed
vegetable plate when I eat out at a non-vegetarian place. Is there
anything really special you can do for me? I'd be so grateful."
If you take this approach, chances are your companions are all going
to say "Wow!" when your meal shows up.
Q: In a related question, how knowledgeable, in your experience,
are the wait staff compared to the kitchen staff if you showed up
without making advanced arrangements?
It really depends on two variables. The first is venue; at a
counter service restaurant like Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland, the
executive chef isn't standing there in the kitchen flipping Gardenburgers
and dispensing culinary wisdom to line cooks and wait staff alike.
Chances are, she's in an office upstairs straightening out vendor
issues or working out next year's menu with WDW Food and Beverage
higher-ups. And yet we recommend Cosmic Ray's for vegetarians in need
of a quick bite. Why? Because the menu simply offers more vegetarian
options than, say, the Pinocchio Village Haus.
Sunny Eclipse entertains at Cosmic
Ray's Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland
It's only natural to expect better food and better service at
higher-priced resort restaurants like the California Grill or the
Flying Fish Cafe (on the Boardwalk). By and large, we'd say the
quality of service at any sit-down WDW restaurant, whether in the
parks or the resorts, is higher than you're likely to find in any
major city. But vegetarians do best at a few restaurants where the
executive chef really cares about the guest, and where the wait staff are trained professionals, frequently as highly skilled in their
discipline as the chefs and line cooks are in theirs.
Q: Are you seeing any trends at the resort towards more veg-friendliness,
or less?
Unfortunately, things seem to be getting a little less veg-friendly.
We've heard reports via the Disney grapevine, and from Veg WDW
readers, that vegetarian items are disappearing from menus, with
instructions to "ask about our vegetarian offerings."
Furthermore, a chef or two has confided in us that there's pressure to
up the formerly-bargain prices of vegetarian items.
However, it's important to note that truth can become fiction, and
vice versa, in a heartbeat in the restaurant world.
Q: We are often disappointed to find that there is only one veg-friendly
entree at restaurants, especially when they seem to be there only to
placate the vegetarians. Did you find this to be the case, and if so,
which restaurants do you consider are standouts that serve as exceptions
to this?
Yup, we're here to tell ya: We, too, are sick of the lone seasonal
vegetable plate or Portobello X of the day. There is actually a fairly
simple set of principles to observe when seeking out decent veggie
fare at the Mouse's house:
- The least expensive restaurants' menus are pretty much set in
stone. Some, like Cosmic Ray's, are pretty veg-friendly. Others,
like Liberty Tree Tavern (at the Magic Kingdom), are almost veg-hostile;
baked-potato territory. The discrepancy is actually part of a
master plan called "itinerary planning." The idea is
that every restaurant at WDW offers a slightly different, but
complimentary, menu. "Don't feel like Mexican? The Dole Whip
stand's coming right up!" And so on. The attitude extends to
vegetarian offerings as well. That's one of the reasons we feel
Vegetarian Walt Disney World and Greater Orlando is a really
useful book: We've already found the veg-friendly places for you,
and their menus, with a few exceptions, have not changed very much
since we wrote the book.
- Second-tier restaurants--by which we mean in-park dining rooms
like Tony's Town Square restaurant (on Main Street in the Magic
Kingdom) or Chefs de France--can be quite good, but again you have
to know where to go. Our book, as well as the
rec.arts.disney.parks Usenet newsgroup and sites like yours and
Deb Wills' WDW Information Guide can be lifesavers in finding
these spots. As a general rule of thumb, the inherent veg-friendliness
of the restaurant's featured cuisine is a good indicator of your
meal's quality as a vegetarian or vegan. Middle Eastern? Yup.
Mexican? Go for it. German? Um...
- By and large, the greatest kudos go to restaurants in the more
expensive resorts. The Contemporary's California Grill, Jiko and
Boma in the year-old Animal Kingdom Lodge, and of course the very
pricey Victoria and Albert's, in the Grand Floridian, are all
veggie standouts. Artist Point (at the Wilderness Lodge) was a
haven for anyone with a special diet a couple of years ago when
Anette Grecchi was behind the stove, but recent meals have been a
little uninspired from our perspective--pretty much since Anette
left! The good news is she's now cooking at Jiko.
Q: In general, are there differences in attitude between the hotel
restaurants and the park restaurants towards veg-friendliness? Would you
recommend one over the other for vegetarians?
The hotel restaurants tend to do a little better in the fine dining
department, but for less expensive veggie fare the nod probably has to
go to the parks, simply because there are so many options. If you
don't like the offerings at, say, the All-Star food court, you're
pretty much stuck. But in the parks, there's always something decent
around the corner.
Q: How often do you expect to print revised editions of this book?
I look forward to your new book about Los Angeles and Southern
California. Will Eric Baldwin and Richard Foss (the new book's authors)
be covering Downtown Disney as well as Disney's California Adventure in
their new book?
We hope to do a revised version of the WDW guide within the coming
year. In the meantime, check out our Web site for more up-to-date
additions and corrections to the guide. And yes, Vegetarian Los
Angeles and Southern California will definitely cover all of
Disneyland, including the new park and Downtown Disney.
Q: Could you distill down to a couple, the best tips you would
like to pass on to your vegetarian readers (besides buying your book)?
The following text is a verbatim transcript of a sidebar in our
book, "Strategies for great Veggie Dining at WDW."
Book early - Make your
Priority Seating arrangements for the restaurant of your choice at
least 24 hours in advance. We recommend a week's notice for vegetarian
meals by calling (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463). Priority Seating
arrangements can be made up to 120 days in advance for most
restaurants, although Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table
reservations can (and should) be made 180 days in advance.
Ask and ye shall receive
- If you're a vegetarian or on a strict low-fat diet, call the Walt Disney
World main switchboard at (407) 824-2222 and ask to be transferred to
the restaurant of your choosing. Once connected, ask to speak directly
with a chef and explain your dietary needs. Have fun brainstorming
with the chefs about your special meal. If you give them enough
advance notice (usually a week will do), Disney chefs are more than
happy to purchase special items like rice milk, kamut, or seitan to
make your meal memorable. Remember to get your chef's full name and to
let him or her know the date and time of your dining arrangements.
Be a (well-mannered) pest
- Check in at the restaurant as soon as the park opens and tell the
host that you've made prior arrangements with Chef X for a special
vegetarian meal. Be sure the host verifies this before you head off to
enjoy the park. If you haven't made prior arrangements, do so now.
Be presidential: Stay on message
- Upon being seated at the restaurant, let your server know about your
special dietary needs. If you've made arrangements with the chef for a
meal not usually on the menu, tell the server your name and the name
of the chef with whom you spoke.
Roll with the punches
- If you have not made any special prior arrangements, often a meal
can often be prepared for you "on the fly" at table service
restaurants. Ask your server if you can speak with a chef at your
table. Find out what ingredients are on hand in the kitchen, and have
fun being creative with Disney's culinary talent!
Remember: the squeaky wheel...
gets the monounsaturated fats - If you're at a quick service location
and one of the newer cast members tells you that special meals and
substitutions cannot be made, ask to speak with a manager. Nine times
out of 10, your needs will be accommodated.
Mickey helps those who help
themselves - If you have a very strict diet and simply
can't risk a goof-up with your special meal, feel free to bring a
small cooler of goodies into any of the parks with you (only guests
with special dietary restrictions are allowed this privilege). To
avoid lugging your cooler around all day, stow it in a rental locker,
located near the entrance to each park.
Q: Meat eaters often ignore vegetarian fare altogether, assuming
it doesn't taste good. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions
you would like to pass onto them?
We've heard chefs say that people come to Disney World intending to
watch their diets, but when they get to the resort restaurants and see
the mesquite-grilled pork chops, it all goes out the window.
"When will I have a chance to eat this amazing meal again?,"
they ask themselves, and order the pork chops.
That's certainly an understandable reaction, but diners could also
try the opposite approach. Given the opportunity, for example, to dine
at Victoria and Albert's, why not order a veggie meal? "OK,"
you should ask yourself, "since I am curious about great
vegetarian food, maybe this is my best shot at getting a really
excellent vegetarian meal. When I will I ever have this kind of opportunity
again?" You should go for it!
The books authors Susan Shumaker
and Thal Saffel with their daughter, Rhowyn, and their dogs Morgan and
Hannah
|
