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The Stew

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 22, 2008

Updated: 04/22/2008 05:57 pm

DINING AT DISNEY

I'll admit it: Until relatively recently, I didn't think fine dining when I thought of Disney. I had always heard outstanding things about Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian resort, but not much else.

That changed last year when I ate a six-course tasting lunch by chef Jens Dahlmann at the California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World. Dahlmann, formerly the executive chef at Cafe L'Europe in Palm Beach, prepared poached veal tenderloin with morel mushrooms and spring vegetables. The food was buttery soft.

My new assessment of what Disney offers was reinforced earlier this month during a dinner I had at the Flying Fish Cafe at Disney's Boardwalk resort. Chef Tim Keating started with an amuse bouche of smoked salmon tartare with shirred quail egg, American sturgeon caviar, miso vinaigrette and wasabi ginger oil. The second course was a fennel pollen-dusted North Atlantic monkfish with a fondue of Maine lobster, celery root, fennel, spring onions and hazelnut-tarragon emulsion. But my favorite was the oak-grilled diver scallop with English pea, basil and mascarpone-laced risotto di Carnarolli, morel mushrooms and pancetta cracklins. The flavor of the tender scallop mixed with the creamy risotto and crispy pancetta was amazing.

Keating, a finalist for several James Beard awards when he lived in Houston, worked at the Biltmore Hotel & Resort in Coral Gables for a brief time before coming to Lake Buena Vista.

In May, Keating will join Dahlmann and chefs from Disney's California resorts to cook at the James Beard House on West 12th Street in New York City. It will be the first time that chefs from the company's Florida and California operations cook together at an event.

MELFI-LICIOUS

The Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival announced Tuesday that Lorraine Bracco, aka Dr. Jennifer Melfi of the former HBO show "The Sopranos," will serve as a judge at the Titanium Chef Challenge on May 16 in the Grand Ballroom at the Don CeSar Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach.

Bracco, also known for her role as Karen Hill in "Goodfellas," also will appear the afternoon of May 17 at the beachfront grand tasting village, where samples of her namesake imported wines will be featured. (For information, go online to www.braccowines.com.)

The festival's VIP Black-Tie Gala Dinner on May 17 will feature Don CeSar executive chef Eric Neri and chefs from Bay area restaurants, including Tom Pritchard of Salt Rock Grill, Island Way Grill, Rumba Island Grill and Marlin Darlin'; Marty Blitz of Mise en Place; Tyson Grant of Parkshore Grill; Dan Tederous of The Capital Grille; Robert Masson from 717 South; John Harris of Rusty's at the Sheraton Sand Key; and B.T. Nguyen-Batley of Cafe BT

For tickets and festival information, go to www.unleashyourpalate.com or call (866) 630-5615.

WORST TELEVISED FOOD MOMENT OF THE WEEK

During the Alaska Week episode of "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel on Monday, host Mike Rowe traveled to the Great Land to do an episode aboard a fish-processing ship.

That was plenty gross, but a small segment near the end of the episode, where he disposes of human waste in a 1,000-degree Fahrenheit incinerator at a national park, quickly turned ugly.

After firing up the caca kiln, Rowe verbalized his inner monologue: "I bet this gets hot enough to cook pancakes on." A quick video edit later and Rowe was flipping flapjacks on a griddle perched on top of the burner. He then fed a hotcake to one of his camera operators.

WEEKEND WITH NORMAN

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando is partnering with the father of New World Cuisine, Miami-based chef Norman Van Aken, to offer a culinary weekend July 12-13. Guests will have a wine tasting with Van Aken, a four-course dinner and a cooking class by chef Clay Miller of Norman's Orlando.

Cost: $489 for two people, plus room/occupancy tax. For reservations, call (800) 576-5760.

The culinary immersion package is part of a growing trend at hotels and resorts. In Tampa, the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza offers a "book to cook" lodging and cooking package with chef Fabrizio Schenardi of Pelagia Trattoria for $349. It recently was featured on MSNBC.com.

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