Today I am pleased to welcome Disney Bride Christine to the site! Christine and her husband Anthony celebrated their first wedding anniversary at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel at the Disneyland Resort. They had an extra special meal at the Chef’s Counter at Napa Rose restaurant! Napa Rose is a very nice restaurant within the hotel and features a view of Disney’s California Adventure and an open kitchen. I’ll let Christine explain more about their dining experience. Welcome, Christine!
We were married at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, so dinner at Napa Rose was a fitting choice, especially since neither of us had dined there before. To make the occasion even more special, we booked two seats at the Chef’s Counter.
The view from the Chef’s Counter is incredible! You are seated right in front of the kitchen and can see the chefs cooking and plating everyone’s meal. You’re given the choice to order from the regular menu (which includes a prix fixe option), or let the chef create a completely custom 5-course tasting menu based on your preferences, which in my opinion, is an opportunity not to be missed when seated at the Chef’s Counter.
Sous Chef Ronnie took our order. He asked if we were allergic to anything, if there was anything in particular we didn’t like, and how we liked our meat cooked. (For the record, I answered “no” and “rare.”) From those simple answers, the chefs went to work and created a custom menu filled with items we really wouldn’t have ordered on our own!
Everything was delicious, and it was fun to be surprised by each dish! The choices were spot on, as we found ourselves enjoying expected favorites as well as being introduced to new foods.
By the time dessert was served, we were completely stuffed – with five courses, we felt the portions of each dish were more than enough. In addition to the dessert that came with the meal, they presented us with a recreation of our wedding cupcakes! It was a great way to end our anniversary celebration!
I’ve always found Disneyland to be a great place to celebrate special occasions. We’ve celebrated birthdays, our engagement, our wedding, and now our anniversary at various places around the Disneyland resort and they never cease to make each event memorable. The staff always goes out of their way to ensure you have a great time. The hostess whom I had coordinated with remembered me from my cupcake request, and made it a point to introduce herself, which was very thoughtful. Our server was extremely friendly as well, and while the chefs were really busy that night, they did take a moment to take a picture with us to commemorate the moment.
How can you experience this awesomeness for yourself? There are a limited number of seats available – 8 in front of the kitchen (split into 2 groups of 4), and a few seats on the side by the dessert station. There are also 2 seating times per night – 5:30 and 8:30pm. Our reservations were for a Sunday night, the 5:30pm seating, and all the seats at the chef’s counter were full. I would definitely suggest making your reservations early, and they can be made by calling the Napa Rose directly up to 60 days before your desired date.
The meal lasted about three hours for us, but never felt long because the courses were well paced and there’s always the kitchen show right in front of you to keep you entertained. All in all, we had an incredible time at the Napa Rose and would recommend the chef’s counter to anyone looking for a unique dining experience!
