Matt's Fall, 2019 adventure with Club 33 and 21 Royal

Around 6:15, we were informed it was time to sit for dinner. Paul and Jackie moved us into the dining room and we all found our seats. We had beautiful, calligraphied envelopes sealed with wax with the 21 Royal Crest.

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Inside were our menus for the night. As I did sneak a peak of the menu prior to dinner, I noticed they had changed it last minute.... more on that later.

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Oh this charger..... how I need you in my life!!

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Oh we were so ready for this!!

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We were then introduced to our guide for tonight’s meal, Matt Ellingson who is the manager of C33/21 Royal and the Sommelier. Matt is just charming and a great storyteller, as all Disney Cast members are. He welcomed us to 21 Royal and started to walk us through the history and about where we were now seated. Matt told us about the re-imagined dining room and the Artist who crafted both the murals for this room and the rest of the 21 Royal Suite. Leslee Turnbull was her name and you can also find her work in Club 33. Matt described his favorite, which was the one of the bayou next to the door. He said that even in the middle of the day when it’s bright in the room the painting just comes to life with color and light changing the aspect of how it looks. On the topic of the murals in this room, she did them at home oddly enough and when they were brought in to be hung, the molding was already up. She glued them to the wall and they started cutting, razor blade in hand. It was all very tense because if they had miss-cut, she would have had to redo them.

Before dinner started, a special guest appeared. Tinker Bell flew around the mirror lighting the candles one by one. So fun!

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They asked if there were any big wine fans at the table. There were only two of us. He also asked if there were any not-wine fans. Amy answered that she was "wine-curious" which he declared the best answer ever. He told us a story of how he started his career. He stared in restaurants and his first day of training was with Wolfgang puck and it was a 4-hour wine tasting and he couldn’t get through it, he thought it was all disgusting and he was just agreeing with this guy in a suit. Disbelieving all of it like you don't taste apple, you don't taste that stuff...But he forced his way forward to learn his craft and figure it out. Then he fell in love with it, spent most of his life believing that Wine was the secret of life and we just needed to find our way through it. He appreciated Amy being wine-curious and predicted that tonight was going to be a pretty good example and if she was ever going to be experimental with wine and to dive right in that he has some pretty good wine tonight and if it doesn't work, there’s always the cocktails.

He went on to say, one of the reasons he loves wine is not just the historical aspect and not the fermented beverage or bottle of juice but it tells the story of places and tells the story of people sometimes over hundreds of years. The first course they are calling The Widow's Welcome because of the wine they are pouring for you. If you know of Champagne, you may have heard of Veuve Clicquot. Veuve Clicquot is not only one of the finest producers of champagne, but it dates to the early 1800s when a lady named Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin whose husband was a failed business man in the wine trade and he passed away. She was in her mid-late-20s and she decided to take over the business in a time when women just didn't do that. She really pioneered the champagne industry that we now know. She was a ruthless business woman, even evading war-time blockades so that she would be the first to market. She was the first woman to pioneer riddling, which is where they clarify champagne by getting the sediment out before bottling. Prior, Champagne was a cloudy, sweet, mess. She deserves all the credit for making modern champagne clear and making it shine.

Her story became so prevalent that around the turn of the century, the early 1900s, that if you ordered a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in England, you didn't order a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, you would ask for a bottle of "The Widow" because the legend of her was so respected. Despite her importance, we don't talk about her nearly enough these days and if you want to know more, there is even a fascinating biography about her and her life.

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The one poured for us is the finest vintage that Veuve Clicquot makes and called La Grande Dame, which is only produced in exceptional years and a tribute to the great lady or La Grande Dame, who is Madame Barbe-Nicole. This was the only wine which was appropriate to start this evening. We were reminded everything tastes better after some Champagne.

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This was a lead in to the first course, which they designed a dish around caviar. Specifically, the Golden Osetra which is imported from Israel. As caviar goes, Osetra is a nicely balanced caviar. You get a nice creaminess with a nutty finish. It is paired with Kona Kampachi and Sunburst Tomato. The puffs on top are potato pillows. He recommended popping one in at a time and getting a little bit of everything in a bite. The fancy tater tots were a huge hit.

Per the menu, here's the official description of the first course. I do notice that the vintage poured was actually a 2006 vintage, not 2004. I wonder what prompted the vintage change.

The Widow's Welcome

Golden Osetra Caviar, Kona Kampachi Crudo, Sunburst Tomato, Avocado, Potato Pillow

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, La Grande Dame, Champagne, Reims 2004


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We ate with wonderful jazz wafting from unseen speakers in the room and discussed when we had last had caviar, much less caviar this good. For me, it was circa 2000 at a friend's restaurant in Bay City, Michigan. How I miss those two brothers. They were such generous friends treating the likes of me and my other friend to so many great wines and food both at their house and restaurant. Lots of discussion of the dish occurred about how people liked various aspects, and as we tried to decipher what was what in the dish as it related to the menu description.

We discussed where everybody was from. Texas, California, Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, Portugal, and Louisiana. As a coincidence the gentleman who now lives in Portugal was actually from my wife's home town in Michigan. What a small world. As the guest from Hawaii was telling us about his area, he mentioned that there was a distillery which made a great barrel-aged rum. We made note to hopefully fit it in on our upcoming trip.

Our guests who were not partaking of alcohol this evening were poured a sparkling apple cider. Matt made special note to discuss the day it arrived in his life. He has the coolest job. He gets to sit in the middle of Disneyland and beverage producers call him and ask to come and have him taste what they have to offer which for him (and would be for me), seems like a LOT of fun. One of his favorite wine distributors called him and asked to come see him. He was having a really bad week and it was really busy. He said he just didn't have time that week, but the man said he really needed to come see him on Wednesday. Matt inquired as to what he was presenting, and he stated it's a non-alcoholic apple cider. Matt responded, he has Martinelli's, he has his non-alcoholic offering figured out and just didn't have time. The gentleman wasn't taking no for an answer. He brought it in, did the tasting and Matt felt like his life was changed. That he'd wasted his life with Martinelli's. This is Duche de Longueville and it comes from Normandy France. Normandy along with its historical significance is known agriculturally for its orchards of pears and apples. They do magical things with pears and apples and make the best non-alcoholic sparkling cider he has ever tasted. We were intrigued and now we wanted some too. He said we’d just have to suffer through with normal champagne. Such a jokester.

Our host mentioned that the club was doing a Leota Masquerade event which was to start next week. They were apparently doing a dry run on the effects this week and we could see the purple lights and flashes and hear the thunder effects from where we sat across Royal Street.

One of our group described how he had created changing portraits and had thunder and lightning tied into them so now there’s thunder and lightning in his kitchen. I wonder if Amy would let me get away with that…. Hmmm…

The first course was a success!! Everybody loved it and we couldn't wait to see what was next!
 
Great report! I'm curious if before the evening if they asked about either food preferences or dietary restrictions? Was there ever a case where one person had a different option than the others due to either preference or allergy?
 
Great report! I'm curious if before the evening if they asked about either food preferences or dietary restrictions? Was there ever a case where one person had a different option than the others due to either preference or allergy?

Much like Napa Chef's counter, Preferences and allergies were taken into consideration... 8 months prior however in this case. My party had one person with tree nut allergy.
 
I am loving this report! Thanks for sharing!!

you may have mentioned this, but was the wine pairing included in the price?
 
I am loving this report! Thanks for sharing!!

you may have mentioned this, but was the wine pairing included in the price?

Yes, it's all-inclusive. Some of the wines were pricey like the champagne and the wine served with the main course. Others, were much lesser in cost, but still great and perfectly paired. The wine served with the main course was $850 retail in a shop, which is probably a $1200-1500 bottle served in any restaurant based upon normal restaurant markups.
 
Yes, it's all-inclusive. Some of the wines were pricey like the champagne and the wine served with the main course. Others, were much lesser in cost, but still great and perfectly paired. The wine served with the main course was $850 retail in a shop, which is probably a $1200-1500 bottle served in any restaurant based upon normal restaurant markups.
I loooooooooove wine. The champagne and wine alone has me longing to do this.
 
I loooooooooove wine. The champagne and wine alone has me longing to do this.

Two of our guests abstained, one for religious reasons, the other because they were literally driving back to the Bay Area after the experience. I soooooo wanted their pours, but they went to our host and organizer respectively if I recall. Well deserved either way. They were amazing pairings. Love Matt's choices.
 
This is so fabulous I can hardly breathe while reading it! It’s just so over the top decadent and amazing...I’d be in heaven.
The first caviar I ever tried was Golden Osetra Caviar. I was ruined for all else from the get go. The “unicorn” of caviars as it was described...
 

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This is so fabulous I can hardly breathe while reading it! It’s just so over the top decadent and amazing...I’d be in heaven.
The first caviar I ever tried was Golden Osetra Caviar. I was ruined for all else from the get go. The “unicorn” of caviars as it was described...

It was soooo good. I may spring for it my next time at the club. I always scoff at the price, but decadent!!! We are just getting started too!
 
At a few minutes before seven, Matt wanted to introduce us to our next course. The wine would be a Chardonnay, which he finds to be polarizing wine. The wines from California over the past 20-30 years have had more and more oak so the wines aren't refreshing. They were just big, buttery, overbearing wines. Thankfully that trend has ebbed and the wines are becoming more clean and refreshing.

Chardonnay originates in Burgundy, France, and this wine was from a place called Chassange-Montrachet (which flowed off his tongue much better than I wrote it). It is a premier Cru Vineyard which is all really cool and important, from a producer called Domaine Guy Amiot (same flowery pronunciation), but it is delicious.

Matt wanted to have a little wine experiment to get geeky with us so he took us down a sensory journey. He described how you can taste and smell the soil which the vine is grown upon in your glass (from my miss-spent youth dabbling in, selling, and drinking a LOT of wine, we call that the Terroir). The soil this wine is grown in is limestone which is nothing but millions of years of decayed sea life. What he equated it to was a white seashell which was baked all day long. If you lifted it to your nose, what would it smell like?
If you swirled your glass, there is a smokiness in this wine which smells like that baked sea shell. Almost chalky, smoky flavor, which isn't from the barrels, but literally from the soil on which the vines were grown. The reason he loves it in this course is because he jokingly told the chefs if they had invited him down to the beach for a barbecue and said what they were cooking and told him to bring a wine, this course is what he would dream of sitting on a beach.

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Back to Ninja Turtles (inside joke)...Ecto 1 may have also come up.

For the next course, they titled it "The Craftsman's Ghost". What inspired them for this dish was the ingredients themselves. What they did was get a live, Alaskan King Crab, and thought, what was the best way to cook this ingredient? What came to mind was grilling. When you grill crab, it brings out the sweetness and certain nutty undertones. The next thing that popped into their mind was how to grill a huge crab like this, which is where a true craftsman comes into place. First they steam it and still keep it raw and then truss the legs together and gently grill it on the grill, remove the truss, and if you do it right, it holds together in what you see before you. Someone asked "Where's the rest of the crab"... LOL. We really wanted that crab!!! SO GOOD! I felt like there may have been a lobster stock or cognac in the sauce ala bisque. I would never know…

Here is the menu's description of the meal:

The Crastsman's Ghost

Grilled Alaskan King Crab, Golen Cauliflower, Pignoli, Leeks, Summer Velvet.

Domaine Guy Amiot, Chassagne-Montrachet, Macherelle, 1ER Cru, Burgundy, France 2014



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This course for whatever reason brought out discussion of "This should have been a murder mystery". If Club 33 ever does a "Who Done It?", I claim the credit. We also where we were on the Hidden Mickeys which I had previously not mentioned. There were many in the room and there was an emphasis on finding them all. Then we inquired who was planning to extend their evening and go to the park afterwards and which was the best attraction. Per our debate, the park closed at 11 today, which would likely leave time for a quick pop into the park. We discussed the pre-meeting at the club today and the events of tomorrow. Sadly, we would already be on a flight back home.

The second non-alcoholic drink was actually a good palate cleanser. Paul had whipped it up, and it contained a Seedlip (non-alcoholic spirit water), floral essences, egg white, lemon, pinot noir grape juice, and some sparkling water. The concept was passed on from one of Matt's mentors in the wine industry. When she would go out during her pregnancy and request a non-alcohoic drink, she’d often get wine-grape juice and soda water with a squeeze of lemon. It became their obsession to create temperance drinks that tasted good and are wonderful and Paul picked it up from Matt. You don't want too sweet, too sour, or too bitter, just a nice blend.
 
I'm in awe, not only of your wonderful photos, but of your intricate descriptions of an event that happened almost six months ago! I'm just grateful I remember why I went into the bathroom!!

The envelopes and menus are making my scrapbooker heart sing! Were you allowed to keep the menus?

I am totally in the next time you (or anyone) wants to repeat this experience. I'll get the money together somehow. This is amazing.
 
I'm in awe, not only of your wonderful photos, but of your intricate descriptions of an event that happened almost six months ago! I'm just grateful I remember why I went into the bathroom!!
I have a trademarked secret to my TRs... I could tell you but I'd have to kill you (hint, I may be the last person alive to read/write shorthand).

The envelopes and menus are making my scrapbooker heart sing! Were you allowed to keep the menus?
You'll have to wait and see.... ;)

I am totally in the next time you (or anyone) wants to repeat this experience. I'll get the money together somehow. This is amazing.
I should solicit Disney to be part of their marketing campaign and I'll go and review stuff like this... if they'll cover it for me. LOL. Sadly, there's so much demand for this, they are booked months in advance.

Awesome stuff, cant wait for the rest of the report.

Thanks! More coming today.
 
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I thought eating at Victoria and Albert's at WDW was going to be the top end dining Disney dinning experience.....now I need to do this! Thank you for continuing to share your experience. Even if I never get to do it I can feel like I am living vicariously through this post. 😄
 
I thought eating at Victoria and Albert's at WDW was going to be the top end dining Disney dinning experience.....now I need to do this! Thank you for continuing to share your experience. Even if I never get to do it I can feel like I am living vicariously through this post. 😄
If we ever get to WDW, V&A's Chef's table is so on our list.
 

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