The California Grill sits atop Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and is one of the dining jewels at Walt Disney World.
We’re happy to report that starting May 26, it will be adding eight new dishes to its menu, many of which will be plant-based to diversify the menu further.
Chef de Cuisine Daniel Sicilia, Chef Matthew Birch, and their culinary team have been inspired by current fresh ingredients and farm-to-table menus to create the following dishes:
The Florida Peach and Raspberry Salad appetizer highlights some of Florida’s fresh and flavorful ingredients by featuring grilled and fresh peaches, raspberries, steel-cut oat granola tart, red onion, and a whipped raspberry vinaigrette.
Also on the appetizer list, house-made Vegetable Dumplings are made with a Doenjang miso-cola onion sauce, radish, crispy garlic-chili oil, and pickled lotus root in a fusion of Asian culture and Californian cuisine.
One of two new entrées, the House-made Bucatini Cacio e Pepe is a fresh take on spring flavors with sunflower, allium, crispy sunchokes, charred green onions, toasted onions, and a sunflower seed-ramp pistou (pesto), along with delicious house-made bucatini topped with a cashew cream sauce.
The other new plant-based entrée is the Peas and Carrots Risotto with heirloom carrots, English peas, green garlic, confit onion, and sweet carrot foam. The presentation just looks like a delicious garden on a plate.
To end your dine on a sweet note, the plant-based Peanut and Banana Torte is a twist on the classic PB&J. It combines shortbread, peanut ganache, miso-caramel, nut crumbles, and caramelized bananas.
Finally, the Lavender Sugar Donuts featured on the special 50th Anniversary menu is now part of the permanent plant-based menu, featuring some updated fresh ingredients in season. It is served with a coconut frozen dessert, blueberry gin jam, and pistachio crumble.
In addition to all of those plant-based dishes, California Grill is also introducing two new seasonal items:
The Florida Rock Shrimp Salad pays homage to former Chef de Cuisine Brian Piasecki’s signature salad with an update. This version has similar flavors while lightening it up and adding texture with hearts of palm, petite lettuce, yuzu, avocado, jicama, and crisp rice crackers topped with a ginger vinaigrette.
Perfect for summer, the EARidescent Crème Brûlée serves up a pineapple-mango compote, hibiscus meringue, hibiscus crystals, and coconut.
I don’t know about you, but I want to try just about all of these dishes. Which ones are tempting your taste buds? Let us know in the comments!