Wolfgang Puck

I recently had the opportunity to go to Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Downtown Disney for a cooking demonstration. I signed up for the event and spent the next couple days with fingers crossed thinking maybe Wolfgang would be there. The event details were very ambiguous and it involved a lot of really rich people so I didn't think the possibility was entirely out of the question. All of us were buzzing about it, thinking that maybe... well, he didn't show of course. In his place, his executive chefs put on a show for us. It felt a lot like a taping for a cooking show. It was less about eating and more about technique, hints, and recommendations.

The food was simple and not at all exciting but I would imagine they had to pick a pretty safe menu for a group of people with such a wide variety of tastes. There was no wine which I was kinda sad about especially after the nice pairings we had at the Grape. We started with a sushi making demo. After this I had absolutely no excuse not to try to make sushi at home. I have since tried making it at home with pretty decent results. I need more practice.


Next we went on to a salad that mainly helped illustrate some knife work tips. We had Wolfgang's Asian Chicken Salad. I found it rather bland. There wasn't nearly enough dressing to make it remotely "Asian" tasting. Maybe it was prepared in a hurry.


Next was a pasta dish that was my favorite. The chef didn't make pasta from scratch in front of us, unfortunately, but instead used frozen dough. The ravioli were stuffed with butternut squash and served in a brown butter sauce with fried sage and pine nuts. Really tasty!


Finally we finished the demo with the pastry chef. He broke out his blowtorch and quickly showed us how to make creme brulee. He also showed us some plating techniques for desserts. He made it look very pretty but I think my recipe tastes better.