Dining
Sanaa Brings Flavors of India, Africa To Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
03/31/09 06:27 PM
Fans of Jiko-The
Cooking Place and Boma-Flavors of Africa have a new reason to dine
at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge as Sanaa debuts May 1 in the
resort’s new Kidani Village expansion.
The new Walt Disney World restaurant’s unusual name, pronounced “Sah-NAH,” is the Swahili word for “artwork.” With interiors inspired by African art and remarkable views of the resort’s Sunset Savannah through 9-foot windows, diners experience “the art of African cooking with Indian flavors” in the 150-seat, family-oriented restaurant located on the ground floor just below the lobby.
Sanaa’s cuisine is a melting pot of tastes from the islands of the Indian Ocean that all are part of Africa – Zanzibar, the Seychelles, Comoro Islands, Mauritius and Madagascar. “These islands were on important trade routes with influences from French, Portuguese, Dutch, British, Arab and Chinese traders,” said Chef Bob Getchell. “The diverse spices and flavors give us an endless array of options for Sanaa.”
The most indelible mark on the cuisine of the region was made by Indian traders who introduced curries, spice blends and breads. Central to African-Indian cuisine is the use of the tandoor oven, essentially a large clay pot similar to a pizza oven. The tandoor provides very high, dry heat that creates a crisp outer layer and moist interior. Along with meats, a favorite tandoor oven treat is the Indian bread naan, which is slapped directly onto the oven’s clay walls and allowed to bake until puffy and lightly browned. The Sanaa kitchen will have two custom tandoor ovens.
Specialties include tandoori chicken, lamb and shrimp, slow-cooked curries, and braised short ribs. “Don’t think of curry as spicy,” said Chef Getchell, “but as a centuries-old cooking method that allows flavors to fully develop in the meats, vegetables, and sauces.” The base blend of seasonings for Sanaa’s curries include cardamom, chiles, cinnamon, cloves, saffron, coriander, nutmeg, fennel seed, cumin, tamarind, turmeric and more. The turmeric is what gives many curry dishes their characteristic yellow color.
Appetizers such as lamb kefta with tamarind-dried papaya sauce, and unusual salads like okra, radishes and tomato, roasted beets, and carrot, orange and mint start the dining experience.
Entrées include the tandoori-roasted meats, curries, and sides such as dahl (stewed lentils), curried crushed potatoes, stir-fried green beans and slow-cooked spinach and paneer (a mild South Asian cheese). Indian style flatbreads including naan, roti, and paratha are paired with chutneys, Indian style pickles and raita (yogurt-based dip).
For guests who prefer more American flavors, there is a grilled pork chop and club sandwich at lunch, and grilled flank steak at dinner.
Sweets are the final adventure, including mango pudding, cardamom-butter cake, papaya with sea salt and lime and vanilla-coconut rice pudding.
The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and from 5-9 p.m. An adjacent 24-seat lounge serves African wines, beer and spirits. For reservations, call 407/WDW-DINE.
Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is part of Disney Vacation Club.
The new Walt Disney World restaurant’s unusual name, pronounced “Sah-NAH,” is the Swahili word for “artwork.” With interiors inspired by African art and remarkable views of the resort’s Sunset Savannah through 9-foot windows, diners experience “the art of African cooking with Indian flavors” in the 150-seat, family-oriented restaurant located on the ground floor just below the lobby.
Sanaa’s cuisine is a melting pot of tastes from the islands of the Indian Ocean that all are part of Africa – Zanzibar, the Seychelles, Comoro Islands, Mauritius and Madagascar. “These islands were on important trade routes with influences from French, Portuguese, Dutch, British, Arab and Chinese traders,” said Chef Bob Getchell. “The diverse spices and flavors give us an endless array of options for Sanaa.”
The most indelible mark on the cuisine of the region was made by Indian traders who introduced curries, spice blends and breads. Central to African-Indian cuisine is the use of the tandoor oven, essentially a large clay pot similar to a pizza oven. The tandoor provides very high, dry heat that creates a crisp outer layer and moist interior. Along with meats, a favorite tandoor oven treat is the Indian bread naan, which is slapped directly onto the oven’s clay walls and allowed to bake until puffy and lightly browned. The Sanaa kitchen will have two custom tandoor ovens.
Specialties include tandoori chicken, lamb and shrimp, slow-cooked curries, and braised short ribs. “Don’t think of curry as spicy,” said Chef Getchell, “but as a centuries-old cooking method that allows flavors to fully develop in the meats, vegetables, and sauces.” The base blend of seasonings for Sanaa’s curries include cardamom, chiles, cinnamon, cloves, saffron, coriander, nutmeg, fennel seed, cumin, tamarind, turmeric and more. The turmeric is what gives many curry dishes their characteristic yellow color.
Appetizers such as lamb kefta with tamarind-dried papaya sauce, and unusual salads like okra, radishes and tomato, roasted beets, and carrot, orange and mint start the dining experience.
Entrées include the tandoori-roasted meats, curries, and sides such as dahl (stewed lentils), curried crushed potatoes, stir-fried green beans and slow-cooked spinach and paneer (a mild South Asian cheese). Indian style flatbreads including naan, roti, and paratha are paired with chutneys, Indian style pickles and raita (yogurt-based dip).
For guests who prefer more American flavors, there is a grilled pork chop and club sandwich at lunch, and grilled flank steak at dinner.
Sweets are the final adventure, including mango pudding, cardamom-butter cake, papaya with sea salt and lime and vanilla-coconut rice pudding.
The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and from 5-9 p.m. An adjacent 24-seat lounge serves African wines, beer and spirits. For reservations, call 407/WDW-DINE.
Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is part of Disney Vacation Club.
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Top Walt Disney World restaurant executive will take buyout
02/26/09 08:08 PM
Dieter Hannig, who has led the
development of new restaurants at Walt Disney World for more than a
decade, will leave at the end of March.
The man who has led the development of new restaurants at Walt Disney World for more than a decade is stepping down.
Dieter Hannig, Disney World's vice president for food and beverage new concepts, said this week that he will leave the resort at the end of March.
"I'm sad to say goodbye," Hannig said. "But you know, we must be willing to let go of the life we had planned in order to have the life we have waiting for us."
Hannig, 59, accepted one of the buyouts that Disney last month offered to more than 600 executives across its domestic theme-park division, as the Burbank, Calif.-based media and entertainment giant cuts costs amid a deepening global recession.
Disney has declined to say how many executives will depart through the buyouts beyond saying it received a "satisfactory response." The company also plans to lay off an undisclosed number of employees in the coming weeks as part of a plan to combine back-office operations at Disney World and Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
Disney has been hit hard by the worst recession in decades. Operating profit at its worldwide parks and resorts division fell by $123 million, or 24 percent, during the three months ended Dec. 27; attendance at Disney World fell 5 percent during the period.
Hannig has overseen the development of dozens of new restaurants at Disney World over the years. Critics credited him for elevating the resort into a top dining destination in the early 1990s, when he began encouraging executive chefs at Disney restaurants to run their eateries as if they owned them.
The German-born chef said his fondest projects included developing the California Grill atop Disney's Contemporary Resort and creating the African-inspired Jiko and Boma in Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
He has most recently been developing a third African restaurant, which will feature dishes infused with Indian flavors in the time-share addition Disney is building next to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The restaurant -- "Sanaa," which is Swahili for "work of art" -- is scheduled to open in mid-April.
Hannig has spent 21 years with Disney, beginning his tenure at Disneyland Paris. He said the buyouts arrived at an opportune moment.
He and his wife, Ursula, are building a retreat in the mountains of Panama that will offer guests a combination of yoga and organically grown tropical food. It's an ideal next chapter for Hannig, who earned the nickname "Tofu King" for his devotion to healthy cooking and who is an avid mountain-climber and marathon runner.
Hannig and his wife celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary at base camp on Mt. Everest. "It's not what I would call a business. It's more a passion," Hannig said of the retreat.
Hannig said he expects to return to Central Florida frequently. Disney plans to use him as a consultant on future dining projects.
The man who has led the development of new restaurants at Walt Disney World for more than a decade is stepping down.
Dieter Hannig, Disney World's vice president for food and beverage new concepts, said this week that he will leave the resort at the end of March.
"I'm sad to say goodbye," Hannig said. "But you know, we must be willing to let go of the life we had planned in order to have the life we have waiting for us."
Hannig, 59, accepted one of the buyouts that Disney last month offered to more than 600 executives across its domestic theme-park division, as the Burbank, Calif.-based media and entertainment giant cuts costs amid a deepening global recession.
Disney has declined to say how many executives will depart through the buyouts beyond saying it received a "satisfactory response." The company also plans to lay off an undisclosed number of employees in the coming weeks as part of a plan to combine back-office operations at Disney World and Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
Disney has been hit hard by the worst recession in decades. Operating profit at its worldwide parks and resorts division fell by $123 million, or 24 percent, during the three months ended Dec. 27; attendance at Disney World fell 5 percent during the period.
Hannig has overseen the development of dozens of new restaurants at Disney World over the years. Critics credited him for elevating the resort into a top dining destination in the early 1990s, when he began encouraging executive chefs at Disney restaurants to run their eateries as if they owned them.
The German-born chef said his fondest projects included developing the California Grill atop Disney's Contemporary Resort and creating the African-inspired Jiko and Boma in Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
He has most recently been developing a third African restaurant, which will feature dishes infused with Indian flavors in the time-share addition Disney is building next to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The restaurant -- "Sanaa," which is Swahili for "work of art" -- is scheduled to open in mid-April.
Hannig has spent 21 years with Disney, beginning his tenure at Disneyland Paris. He said the buyouts arrived at an opportune moment.
He and his wife, Ursula, are building a retreat in the mountains of Panama that will offer guests a combination of yoga and organically grown tropical food. It's an ideal next chapter for Hannig, who earned the nickname "Tofu King" for his devotion to healthy cooking and who is an avid mountain-climber and marathon runner.
Hannig and his wife celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary at base camp on Mt. Everest. "It's not what I would call a business. It's more a passion," Hannig said of the retreat.
Hannig said he expects to return to Central Florida frequently. Disney plans to use him as a consultant on future dining projects.
Artist Point
01/29/09 09:04 PM
On thursday Night I had
Dinner at Artist Point. This is consider a signature restaurant for
Disney. Which means excellent food and a little on the pricey side.
This is a not a cheap dinner.
Artist Point serves specialties from the Pacific Northwest where the focus is on seafood, sirloins and game. Though menu options change seasonally, the kitchen's signature dish is a cedar plank-roasted salmon. For dessert, the chef's special creation is an Artist Point cobbler: seasonal berries and house-made black raspberry ice cream.
I would add this as a must dine restaurant. I have eaten here several times and this restaurant never disappoints.
Artist Point serves specialties from the Pacific Northwest where the focus is on seafood, sirloins and game. Though menu options change seasonally, the kitchen's signature dish is a cedar plank-roasted salmon. For dessert, the chef's special creation is an Artist Point cobbler: seasonal berries and house-made black raspberry ice cream.
I would add this as a must dine restaurant. I have eaten here several times and this restaurant never disappoints.
Whispering Canyon Café
01/29/09 08:52 PM
On Wednesday I had dinner
at the Whispering Canyon Café. This is NOT a quiet restaurant to
have a romantic dinner. This is a family friendly restaurant that
really caters to families. They keep the kids entertained. The food
can be family style or a la carte. If you have never eaten here I
have one tip for you, ask for the ketchup and then stnad back and
let the fun begin. I have had the meatloaf here and it is always
excellent. There is lots of napkin waving, singing, riding ponies
and just good old fashion family fun. it is a must restaurant on my
list.
Tusker House
01/29/09 08:35 PM
I had Lunch on Wednesday
at the Tusker House located deep in the heart of Africa in the
village of Harambe. The buffet seemed to offer a little more choice
then the other buffets I have had this trip. The atmosphere is
definitely African. As for the food there are some bold African
flavors as well as some non African flavors. Here is a list of some
the foods served:
- Curried rice salad
- Fresh fruit
- Green bean and onion salad
- Hummus and baba ghanoush
- Jollaf rice
- Marrakech couscous
- Pearl couscous with sweet basil essence
- Sliced cold cuts
- Spiced tandoori tofu
- Spicy South African preserves
- Tabbouleh
- Traditional salads
- Tunisian couscous salad
- Vegetable samosas
Plaza Restaurant
01/27/09 09:54 PM
I had dinner at the Plaza
restaurant. I close this for 2 reasons, one it was on Main Street
and second i would be able to quickly exit and get have a good
location for Spectromagic parade. I made a ADR and was seated
quickly after checking in. This is a smaller cozy restaurant. The
menu is soups, sandwiches, and burgers. They also serve ice cream.
If you can sit by the window you can have a great view of
Cinderella Castle. I would recommend this to anyone the food was
good and the atmosphere is great.
Crystal Palace
01/27/09 09:45 PM
On Monday I had lunch at
the Crystal palace. I made a ADR (advance Dining Reservation and
was seated with in minutes of checking in. The restaurant was
surprisingly full. The restaurant location and decor is beautiful
it is right off of Main Street and easy to get to. This restaurant
is a buffet with Winnie the Pooh characters. I am not a Pooh fan so
that was not the attraction. The food was good for a buffet but not
great if you compare this to signature dining. Also having to wait
in a slow moving line may not be for everyone. It is hard for
families to move though the buffet line quickly or any reasonable
pace. I would recommend this for Pooh fans and buffet
lovers.