Braised pork for lunch and a grilled strip steak for dinner – Chef Michael Deardorff had a hard time choosing, but says those are two of his favorites from the new menu for Be Our Guest Restaurant in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park.
Guests can start making reservations in late August (we’ll let you know the exact date as soon as we can), with the restaurant to be open for the holidays.
Chef Deardorff has been at the helm in Disney kitchens for 25 years, most recently as part of the opening of the restaurants at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i. Now he’s back to open Be Our Guest, inspired by “Beauty and the Beast,” with three dining rooms and seats for over 500 guests.
“Lunch is quick service, but not traditional counter service,” says Deardorff. Guest-activated terminals make ordering a snap (there also will be traditional cashiers for cash orders and special dietary requests). You order, take a seat and lunch is delivered to your table – on china, not paper.
Back to the menu. “It’s all about simple, fresh ingredients,” says Deardorff. “Just like your favorite quick-service restaurants across Magic Kingdom Park, you’ll be able to enjoy sandwiches and salads at Be Our Guest Restaurant for lunch, but all with a twist that transports you to the French setting of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”
There’s a little French bistro flavor with tuna Niçoise salad and a Croque Monsieur sandwich with carved ham, Gruyere cheese, béchamel and pommes frites (a fancy term for French fries). Or go for the carved turkey on a warm baguette with Dijon mayonnaise, or the grilled steak sandwich with garlic butter spread, both with pommes frites. Heartier fare includes braised pork that’s cooked for eight hours, and for vegetarians, there’s a loaded vegetable quiche or quinoa, shallot and chive salad.
Dinner is table service, with diverse starters such as a charcuterie plate with cured meats and sausages, mussels steamed in white wine, French onion or potato leek soup, and a salad with champagne vinaigrette. We’re intrigued by the salad trio with three mini tastes of roasted beet, raisins and orange; green beans, tomatoes and roasted shallots; and watermelon, radish and mint.
Entrées include a thyme-scented pork rack chop with au gratin pasta, rotisserie rock hen with roasted fingerling potatoes, pan-seared salmon in leek fondue, grilled strip steak with pommes frites, sautéed shrimp and scallops with veggies in puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce, and an oven-baked ratatouille.
Oh, and dessert – we vote for the cupcakes, strawberry cream cheese or triple chocolate. If cupcakes aren’t your favorite sweet ending, there’s a chocolate cream puff and a passion fruit cream puff.
For kids 9 and under, the lunch entrées include a carved turkey sandwich, roasted pulled pork, Mickey meatloaf, seared mahi mahi, or whole-grain macaroni topped with marinara and mozzarella. For dinner, it’s grilled steak, grilled fish of the day, whole-grain macaroni or grilled chicken breast.
“We think guests will be pleasantly surprised with the menu and the value,” says Deardorff.
More updates soon!
Keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog and follow @WaltDisneyWorld on Twitter for the latest on the New Fantasyland expansion. While you’re on Twitter, join in the conversation by using the hashtag #NewFantasyland.
Get the latest news about New Fantasyland in the posts below:
Comments
We will be visiting from November 9th to 18th, my husband and I are celebrating Birthdays and we will have 2 First time visitors in our party, Beauty and the Beast is a family favorite and I am so excited, I will call daily during August to find out when we will get to visit…CAN’T WAIT
Is it going to be a Character dining for dinner???
We are planning a trip in June of 2013. We will be including a dinning plan. How soon can we make reservations for dinner at the Beauty and the Beast restaurant. We are brining our grandaughter who loves The Beauty and the Beast and can’t wait to bring her there.
We are planning a trip in June 2013. How soon can we make dinner reservations at the new restaurant Beauty And The Beast?
Will the dishes be the same as they are in the movie? This means that people, such as myself, will want to buy your dishes! I’ve even mentioned the idea to the Lenox gift company (they already do Disney stuff) to make a line of Beauty and the Beast Dishes!
It sounds amazingly magical. We are planning our trip from Guatemala for late October-November. We are waiting for opening dates to make the plane reservations. Thanks!
Besides the menu options, what other differences will be seen at Be Our Guest between the QS Lunch or Dinner times. I understand there will not be character dining, but will there be any character photo ops as guests check in? What is going to set the dining experience apart?
This sounds fantastic! Wish it would open in October! It will be my little brother and sisters first time in Disney! Excited! 🙂
Will we be able to make online reservations?
we are going in the middle of september…hope it will be open by then!
Will alcohol be served at dinner?
I think it should open the last day of MNSSHP!
I wish it would be open for Halloween. <3
Please introduce characters to this great restaurant. Beauty and the Beast is such a beautiful clasic Disney movie. We fans would be delitghted to meet Belle, Beast, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Gaston any of them. It would make the whole experience a magical one. Any hopes our dream could come true?
Wow I am so excited, especially about this “quinoa, shallot and chive salad” that sounds yummy! And it’s so great that variety is creeping into the vegetarian offerings at Disney World.
coming down for thanksgiving week with my 2 little girls and wife and we hope it is open where we can get in our it will be sad that my little girls want be able to go! so thanks for keeping us posted
Is there a possibility of “soft opening” prior to the “holidays”?
This sounds like another intriguing culinary adventure that I can’t wait to experience.
I am so excited about this addition to the Magic Kingdom! Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite Disney movie! I am really hoping that it will be open mid-November as I am getting married November 10th and we are honeymooning at Disney! Looking forward to more updates!
Will we be able to reserve online? Can’t wait…
I’m so excited!!!! We went in June and we’re going back next June so I must make our reservations. Did I say that I was so excited???? I am!!! Wahoo!
I am so looking forward to dining at Be Our Guest when I am down for marathon weekend in January! The menu looks great! Choosing will be the problem! Thanks for the update and I can’t wait until the reservations open so I can rest assured that I have a place at the table!
Our family are annual guests and come every year in December. This year 16th to 24th. We are so looking forward to Be Our Guest and anxious to see the menu.
i love disney
I know no specific dates are out yet, but when saying the new Fantasyland will open up for the holiday season, does that mean by Christmas or by Thanksgiving?
My friends and I strongly suggest you add a dessert called “gray stuff” to the menu. After all it is delicious! Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes! 🙂
Sounds delicious. It will be nice to have some fine dining added to the lineup of Magic Kingdom restaurants.
Hoping it will be open Dec 11-20! Excited they will take the DDP!
Would LOVE for it to be open in October. Halloween is a holiday, right? 🙂 Please, fingers crossed! Thanks for the updates. It sounds awesome!
Do we what time dinner service would start? The updates are fabulous, can’t wait for our visit in December! Also, will there be a restaurant in prince Eric’s castle?
What a welcome addition to the Magic Kingdom! I appreciate the creativity, and also the fact that it’s switching from quick service for lunch to table service for dinner. This is at the top of our list for our end of the year visit!
Oh, so I was thinking though…. You can make a reservation up to 180 days in advance at WDW. And if the date we can start making reservations is in August, that means the opening days are in December…..
Food sounds excellent! Plus, the chef looks like John Travolta!
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