The Hollywood Brown Derby – Ambiance and Great Food
When you are at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you expect a bit of glamour. You want your dining experience to have both ambiance and good food. The Hollywood Brown Derby does not disappoint. During our dinner there, we had the pleasure of meeting with an extremely personable and attentive Chef – Chef Tyron. Now, while all Disney Chefs who come to the tables are superb, Chef Tyron thoroughly enjoys chit-chat, teasing, and fun with his guests. As a matter of fact, it was Tyron who informed us that Chefs take 35 classes before they are permitted to come out and speak with guests. WOW!
If you go to the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, I recommend asking for Chef Tyron if he is working. Discussing meal options is something he loves to do. He told us that he loves to please his diners with amazing dishes. A bonus here is that everything on the menu is customizable. For those on the Paleo or Keto Diets, you will be happy to learn that besides the olive oil/canola oil blend used throughout Walt Disney World, the Hollywood Brown Derby also has pure extra virgin olive oil. For those who prefer, they do have pure butter, although it is not organic or grassfed.
Besides providing you with our photo of the allergy-friendly menu, we also include here the drink menus. They were just so fun and extensive we thought you would like to see them.
On to the food. The fresh vegetables are first steamed plain that tossed in a house-made mix of butter, roasted garlic, and fresh herbs. I must say – they were superb down to the very last bite.
When you look at the Hollywood Brown Derby Allergy-Friendly Dinner Menu, you will see many choices. Under the description of each item, it lists the various allergies. Each dish is customizable based on your needs. I like to order meals that I do not make at home when at signature restaurants. Since I already had a dish similar to the Cioppino at Mama Melrose, I figured I would try the duck here. Being able to have a completely Paleo-Diet friendly dinner here was a wonderful benefit. Note: These menus are from May 2018.
Of course, the Farro Risotto would have to go. The Tuscan kale is blended it, so that was also eliminated from the plate. However, Chef Tyron more than made up with it by adding the vegetables you see in the photo. For those who ask, the risotto contains dairy and gluten. The sweet onion silk contains dairy. You can opt to get the kale on the side without the risotto. You may be thinking that the Duck Two Ways is not gluten-friendly, and that is due to the confit. If you remove that (and get extra duck breast), you are fine. Remember, all dishes are customizable. Now, on to the star of the dish, the Blueberry Gastrique. Since eating there, I have noticed that their menu has changed, and the blueberry is now blood orange. That would not appeal to me at all. If you are interested in this dish and love blueberries like I do, ask if they can still do that for you. The sauce is a mix of blueberries, lemon zest, sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Chef Tyron, my hero, made it fresh for me substituting honey in place of the sugar. The duck was prepared medium rare – I now know that I prefer duck cooked medium. I did not want to send back the small pieces that were under-cooked for my liking simply because I was getting full and wanted to save room for dessert.
My dining companion had the Spit-Fire Roasted Cheshire Pork Chop. His concern is gluten, so the dish was fine for him as it was. The Ancient-Grain Risotto contained parmesan and asiago cheeses and quinoa. Sugar was in all sauces and glaze, so be warned if you want this dish. Perhaps the chef can customize it with honey for you. There is also a small amount of sugar in the pork brine. The dish was superb, with the pork chop cooked to perfection. His one complaint was that the risotto was so good, he wished there was more of it. Even the asparagus, which is not one of his favorite vegetables, was perfectly paired with the meal, and especially tasty with the apricot jam sauce.
Now, on to my one true weakness in life – dessert. You can select any three mini desserts on the menu as part of The Hollywood Brown Derby Dessert Trio. Good luck with that. I wanted them all!
Chef Tyron told us to try the gluten-free lemon cheesecake. Since it comes with the same blueberries used in the duck dish, he made extra for me with honey. Heaven on earth – that’s all I can say about this dessert. Why are there two on the plate? Oh, Chef Tyron, how well you took care of us. He knew we would fight over that dessert when we were talking about it, so he brought us each out one. You have to love that sprinkling of Disney Pixie Dust!
But wait, our dessert trio contains four goodies! That Pixie Dust was certainly flowing. Our wonderful chef also gave us two GF chocolate cakes.
The ingredients taken from the ingredient list included:
• cane sugar
• brown rice flour
• tapioca starch
• cocoa (processed with alkali)
• arrowroot powder
• rice syrup solids (rice syrup solids, rice protein, tocopherols)
• citrus fiber
• baking soda
• salt
• cream of tartar
If you are looking for a wonderful dinner at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant is the right choice.