Cat Cora Opening Mediterranean-Style Restaurant on Disney's BoardWalk
To be named Kouzzina, the restaurant will feature "time-honored recipes passed down from my ancestors, as well as my favorite Greek and Mediterranean dishes that my family loves." It will be located on the Disney BoardWalk, between Epcot Center and Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. [Seattle Times via jcrisco]
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18 Comments:
I always thought she was kind of a mickey mouse chef...
Bergamot at 12:28AM on 03/18/09
I'm excited by this news. I'll have to add this to my list of "must go" places on my annual trips to the Diz!
juliebugsmama at 8:49AM on 03/18/09
Yay for us living in Orlando! Disney needs something new!
jcrisco at 8:56AM on 03/18/09
@jcrisco: Thanks for the tip on this story. A question: I've only been to Disney World, Epcot, and Disney Hollywood ("Disney-MGM" at the time). At Disney BoardWalk, do you have to pay to get in? Is it closed to the public unless you are staying there?
Also, the fact that it's replacing a spot called Spoodles is only a good thing. ;)
Adam Kuban at 9:09AM on 03/18/09
@Adam--You do not have to pay to get the to the Boardwalk. You can access it by parking the resort parking, taking one of the buses, or taking the back exit out of Epcot between the UK and France and it's a very short walk. I like the Boardwalk a lot. There is the ESPN Zone Restaurant, Big River Grille, the soon to be gone Spoodles (and I agree on the name!), and Flying Fish Cafe. Flying Fish is by far the best place to go and one of my favorites in all of Disney World. There is also a dueling piano bar to entertain the adults now that Pleasure Island is no more! I should write a book...serioulsy.
jcrisco at 10:18AM on 03/18/09
.........or if you're feeling lazy you can take the boat from the back of Epcot which also links to Disney Hollywood Studios. ;)
jcrisco at 10:22AM on 03/18/09
I'm disapointed. Spoodles was one of my fav options for dining at WDW, it's food was as just about as good as the 'top end' WDW places (Ca Grill Flying Fish) for a lower price and it wasn't that crowded.
Also it was already a Mediterranean place with a lot of Greek influences (at least when i ate there last WDW seems to be dumbing down menus and this may have hit Spoodles) so I'm not sure if Cora will really have an impact or if it's just a name chef being brought in to prop up an existing restaurant that may not be performing as well as Disney would like (and to give it a better name and probably an excuse to raise prices at it but given the proximity to the flying fish i doubt the prices will go up too much).
Harlock_jds at 10:58AM on 03/18/09
If you are going to completely sell out your culinary reputation and sell crap food to idiots, why not just buy a McDonalds franchise?
Truff at 11:56AM on 03/18/09
So...if you live in Florida or go to DW, you're an idiot? Adam---did you know you're an idiot?
jcrisco at 12:07PM on 03/18/09
@jcrisco: Sometimes I'm an idiot. But for many other things than going to WDW. I do remember being unimpressed with the park fare at Magic Kingdom and D-MGM, but I wasn't expecting much. Makes sense that the better stuff is in the accommodations area of the resort.
You should write a book—or better yet, start a blog—about the dining options around the resort and Orlando. You'd have a large audience for it. Food for thought.
Adam Kuban at 12:13PM on 03/18/09
Yeah...in general don't eat at the parks. The good stuff is going to be at the resorts like Grand Floridian (home to Victoria & Alberts) and Wilderness Lodge (Artist Point--buffalo anyone?).
I did start a review of dining at Disney and got pics and reviews of about 20 of the restaurants. Hmmm....I need a website :)
jcrisco at 12:20PM on 03/18/09
@ Adam Kuban
Magic Kingdom is famous for having bad food at it's sit down restaurants (however the 'fast food' is still better than mos theme parks). MGM has the Brown Derby which is one of the best restaurants at Disney and a out of the way Italian Restaurant i can't remember the name of but was surprisingly good.
But the good places tend to be at the resorts (i consider the flying fish and this place part of the boardwalk resort) and EPCOT.
Harlock_jds at 1:12PM on 03/18/09
she looks like one tough cookie to me.... wish her luck.
pooch at 10:35PM on 03/18/09
I agree, the best places to eat are out of the parks, at the resorts and places like the Boardwalk. I think Cat will do well there.
juliebugsmama at 4:32PM on 03/19/09
Interesting to read through all this discussion between apparent Disney experts!
I agree here: I sincerely hope Cat's intentions are honorable [adhere to her existing vision, etc], and that her place flourishes as an icon in that context.
Disney does have fantastic food in the right places (resorts, agreed); we hope Cat's will be one of those 'right places'. She is brilliant.
emilytaylor at 6:55AM on 03/20/09
Well, hopefully Cat will stay true to herself and not allow herself to become devoured by "Team Rodent." Although Hiaasen's book : Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World is ten years old, it certainly speaks to the commodification that still goes on today.
dhorst at 4:55PM on 03/25/09
The Cat and the Mouse.
Lorenzo at 5:31PM on 03/25/09
@Lorenzo...well said! Touche, pussy cat!
dhorst at 7:33PM on 03/25/09