866 · The Best Food at Walt Disney World Isn't Where You Think It Is

Lou Mongello: 00:00:38

I have a bold claim to make today and I am prepared to defend it.

Disney's Animal Kingdom is home to the most creative, the most culturally rich, the most diverse, and in many cases, the most downright delicious food of any theme park in Walt Disney World. And I think most guests have no idea. Last week I was invited by Disney on a full day culinary tour and adventure through the park. Yay.

From a tiny walk up kiosk that most guests walk right past to a signature restaurant celebrating 10 years of some of the most globally inspired cuisine in any theme park on the planet, I ate things I never tasted before. I met the chefs behind them.

Chefs who were bringing their actual cultural heritage, their childhood memories, and their personal travels directly into the food they create for guests every single day.

And somewhere in the middle of all this, sitting out in front of the tree of life with the sounds of the park all around me, I sat down with chef Greg Hannon, the culinary director of Disney's Animal Kingdom, to talk about how all this happened, why it happened, and where it's going next. This is not only one of my favorite foodie episodes that I have ever made, but I also have a special announcement at the end of the show. Stay tuned.

Let's eat. Hello, my friend, and welcome to WW Radio, your guide to the Disney parks and experiences around the world.

I am Lou Mongello and this is show number 866.

Whether this is your first time listening or you've been with me for more than 20 years, since the very beginning, thank you for being here, welcome home and welcome back. Before we dive in, don't forget to join the community and conversation over in the WW Radio clubhouse.

Watch the live show every Wednesday at 7:30pm Eastern on Facebook and YouTube and sign up for my free weekly email newsletter@www.radio.com.

And when you're ready to plan your next Disney trip, whether it's to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Aulani, Disneyland, Hong Kong, Disneyland, or Disney Cruise Line or anywhere on planet Earth.

Visit my friends over@m MouseFanTravel.com, it's who I have used, it's who I have trusted for more than 20 years for completely free expert and personalized vacation planning. So now sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WW Radio show. Disney's Animal Kingdom has, for a very long time had a reputation.

And that reputation, fair or not, is that it's a quote unquote half day park. You get there early, you ride Flight of Passage, you do the Kikilimanjaro safaris, maybe you catch a show.

And by noon 12 o', clock, you are hopping over to Magic Kingdom or Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios. That's the plan. It's what a lot of guests do every single day. And look, I get it. I understand where that comes from.

Animal Kingdom opened back in: 1998

And at the time, the food kind of matched those expectations. The food wasn't the reason why you were there. And right now, I think this park is in what I like to call a little bit of an in between phase.

Dinoland is gone. May you rest in peace. Tropical Americas is being built. I'm very excited. There's construction happening, and some of the park feels like it's.

Like it's missing something a little incomplete. So I understand why some guests are shortchanging it or skipping it altogether. But here's what I want to say, and I want to say it clearly.

If you are leaving Disney's Animal Kingdom before lunch, you are leaving the best food in a Walt Disney World theme park sitting on the table, literally.

re between the opening day in: 1998

And today, right now, today, I would argue that, I guess I am, that Disney's Animal Kingdom is home to the most creative, the most culturally rich, the most diverse, and I think in many cases, the most downright delicious food of any theme park at Walt Disney World. And most guests have absolutely no idea. That ends today. Let's eat.

Because here's the thing about Disney's Animal Kingdom that I think makes it uniquely suited to be a food destination. And it actually comes down to what the park is about at its core. Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's not a zoo, right?

Remember when it used to be called not a zoo, it was like sort of the marketing term.

Disney's Animal Kingdom tells stories about the world, about cultures, about places, about the relationship between people and nature and the living things we share this planet with every land. Africa, Asia.

Yes, Pandora, and soon tropical Americas represents a real or obviously imagined destination with its own identity, its own history, possibly imagineered, and its own people. And I think food is one of the most powerful ways to tell that kind of story. Because think about it.

When you visit a new country or a new culture, what's one of the first things you do or I do? You eat? Food is how cultures express themselves. It's how families pass down history. It's how communities and families come together.

And at a park that's fundamentally about the richness and diversity of life on this planet and beyond. Pandora, I'm looking at you. Food becomes something much more than just fuel for the day. It becomes part of that story.

And that's the foundation that the culinary team at Disney's Animal Kingdom gets to build on. And I think the result is a park where chefs aren't just cooking food. They are expressing cultures.

They are drawing on their own backgrounds and experiences and travels. They're collaborating with filmmakers and imagineers and are designing flavors for worlds that don't even exist yet or ever.

Pandora, I'm looking at you once again. No other park in Walt Disney World gives its culinary team a canvas like that.

And when you add to that foundation the sheer range of what's available.

And I promise you probably don't realize just how many food options there are, from an ice cream sandwich at a walk up kiosk to a signature restaurant celebrating a decade of some of the most globally inspired cuisine in any theme park on the planet.

What you end up with is a food program that could meet any guest exactly where they are, give them exactly what they want, when they want, in the way that they want to consume it. Whether you are a budget traveler, we have families with picky eaters.

If you are a foodie who is maybe splurging on a special meal, maybe somebody who just wants to go in, grab a great cocktail and a little small plate in a beautiful setting, Disney's Animal Kingdom really has all of it, and I think it does all of it really well. So let's get into it, stop by stop, bite by bite.

Because Last week, I was invited on a true culinary tour Expedition Adventure through Disney's Animal Kingdom by Disney. And while I am so incredibly grateful to be able to do and share what I do, some days really are even more special. This was one of them.

An entire day. I'm still smiling.

That entire day that was really around getting to explore and enjoy not just the food, but getting to understand the story, the people, the chefs behind it. And our first stop was at the Smiling Crocodile. And you might be saying, I don't even know what or where that is.

So I want to make sure you can find this because it's very easy to walk right past it as I think some of the other locations we're going to talk about are because you are making that brisk don't walk, don't run, trip, trek over to Kilimanjaro Safaris or Expedition Everest.

So as you enter the park and head towards Discovery island, you're going to want to sort of bear right, frog left past the Zootopia meet and Greet, past where you'd normally head over towards Flame Tree Barbecue, which I still love. Arguably the best barbecue in Walt Disney World, but I digress.

And just down on the right you're going to see a small food kiosk called the Smiling Crocodile. It is very small. I think it's very easy to miss. And it's just a walk up window. Like there's no big signage like pulling you in. Do not walk past this.

Because what they're serving here, and I did not expect this to be my reaction, might be my single favorite thing. I ate all day and I ate a lot, trust me. And this was the very first stop because here they are serving arepas. They are Colombian inspired arepas.

And there are two different options. There's a pulled pork and a pulled chicken.

And they are both served on a corn cake which is grilled so it has a little bit of texture on the outside with an avocado dressing, queso fresco and salsa verde served with a mountain of plantain chips, which I love by the way. It's about $13.49. And just to be clear, when I say corn cake, I don't want you to picture something that is soft and sweet like a piece of cornbread.

And arepa is grilled, so there's structure to it and there's a little bit of a chew to it and the filling.

And my favorite was the pulled chicken especially cause it was almost like a chicken salad consistency because of that avocado dressing, but it was creamy. And bright and light and refreshing. And that salsa verde cuts right through it. And that queso fresco adds this little salty bite.

And then you have the plantain chips adding the crunch. I'm smiling and thinking, can I make it to Animal Kingdom tonight? And when I'm done recording, it was so good.

And I'm like, we're going to eat a lot of food today. And still by the end, I'm like, is this maybe my favorite item here? Yeah. It's one of the reasons why I'm talking about it first.

And I think here's what makes this more than just a great snack, because this is not a one or two bite, little snack. This is a. I mean, you could really make a full meal of it.

But more importantly, the chef who created the dish, who we got a chance to meet and talk with, Chef Camilo Velasco is one of the executive chefs over at Disney's Animal Kingdom. He's from Colombia.

So this is not from a theme park team sitting in a conference room saying, let's try and do something with Latin or Colombian inspired flavors. It is a Colombian chef bringing his actual cultural identity and his actual food heritage into. Into a dish that he created for guests to enjoy.

It's different. You can taste the difference. Like, I actually have experience eating a lot of Colombian food.

I love arepas and bulos, and yes, it was because of a girl, but it's another story for another day.

It doesn't really matter here, but this feels and tastes like not just something you would get at a Colombian restaurant or a Colombian bakery, but that you would get from a Colombian household. And I think there's another layer to the story that is pretty cool because these arepas are really being tested right now.

You'll know Smiling crocodile. On some of these other locations, the menus do change seasonally, sometimes relatively often.

And I think my feeling is that this is being tested as a potential dish for the tropical Americas, which is being built where Dinoland used to be. So if you've seen encanto, and hopefully you have, you know that the arepa has a very beautiful, meaningful role in the film.

Giulietta's gift is that she is expressive through her cooking. The arepa is central to that.

So the idea that you could walk into tropical America's one day relatively soon, and have this dish made by a chef who grew up eating it right outside the encanto ride, that is storytelling through food, and it's absolutely best. So 1. If you want a preview of what tropical America is going to taste like, go to Smiling Crocodile. Get the arepa or arepas, plural.

Trust me, you'll understand what I mean. And if you're not sure and want me to go with you, just reach out because I'm craving an arepa something fierce right now. Okay, so stop.

Number two, on our day took us into Pandora, the world of Avatar.

And if you haven't spent real time in Pandora, and I don't mean waiting online for flight of passage, I mean in and around the land itself, you have to put this on your list for your next visit because I think it really is one of the most immersive, and I know we use that word a lot, but also visually stunning lands that Disney has ever created. Please, please, please.

Disney's Animal Kingdom starts staying open later at night because not just the floating mountains and the sounds, but those bioluminescent plants and the ground, it is genuinely transportive. And the food matches.

I have to say something about Toti Canteen before we get into the new drinks, because I feel like it doesn't always get the credit it deserves in conversations about Disney World food.

Now, if you haven't been or I'm sure you know, Satulli Canteen is the main and really only quick service location inside Pantdora that serves real food.

And what I mean that in the most complimentary way is that when you spend a few days in a Disney vacation and sometimes your body is screaming for just like a vegetable or something that's not fried, Satulli Canteen is your answer.

And I would argue and have in the past, and I think I am right now, Satulli Canteen may very well be, maybe by a bit of a gap, the single very best quick service dining location in all of Walt Disney World. Customizable bowls, fresh ingredients, like real flavors, like real seasoning that you can customize and make your own.

It's healthy, but still delicious.

And chef Greg Hannon, who you're going to hear from in a little bit, we had a chance to sit down and chat with him, talked about this during our conversation, like whether Satulli might be the best counter service location in any Disney Park. And I'll let you hear what he has to say about that when we get to the interview, but I'm gonna spoil it for you. He did not disagree.

Now, the reason why we were there on this day was for the drinks, specifically the new drinks that came out to coincide with the release of Avatar Fire and Ash, and they are fantastic. The first one was called A Night Wraith Blaze. It is a Non alcoholic slushie, which I dig. Although you can add alcohol if you.

I mean, don't bring your own. They will add alcohol if you like. It is blood orange and lychee and wild berry, and it's topped with a glow cube that makes the whole drink look red.

It's gonna look super cool at night again. Animal Kingdom, please stay open later. Then passion fruit boba pearls piled high on top.

I always dig me some boba and the whole thing and it's sort of where the inspiration comes from. Looks like a glowing ember or like a flame.

And on a hot Orlando day, which is like 363 days out of the year, it's exactly what you want or maybe need. It's refreshing and it is fun. And it's around $10. And it's served over at Pongo Pongu, which means party party. I am not really a sweets guy.

This one is not too sweet. So this was my favorite of all the drinks. The other two are alcoholic and they are served over at Satulli Canteen.

The first is the U Y O O Fruit margarita. It's tequila and dragon fruit with sour mix. And there's big chunks of actual dragon fruit in it. So it's this very vibrant pink color.

And look, I am not a huge drinker, but this is a very easy drink. Like, you don't really taste the alcohol in it, which for some people might be dangerous. The other is the Trader Tailwind. Drink responsibly.

The other is the Trader Tailwind. This is one that may be, for a little bit more of, let's say, an adventurous drinker.

It's got Captain Morgan spiced rum, which I dig, Triple Sec mango puree orange juice. And it's topped with chamoy, which might be unfamiliar. It's a Mexican condiment that's made from the pickled fruit and chilies and spices.

It's a little bit sweet, sour, salty and spicy. So it's very complex, not necessarily for everybody's palate.

And it also has a ginger beer, chili lime rim and a dehydrated blood orange slice on top. There's a lot of layers to this drink, right? It's spicy and fruity and very complex.

these alcoholic cocktails are: 1650

But I think this is the part of the story, because it is all about story that I love, because these drinks were not just developed by Disney chefs taking inspiration from Avatar, but they were developed in partnership with Lightstorm Entertainment, which is James Cameron's production company. The team got to see a preview of the film before it was released. They got to get a sense of the aesthetic, the.

The environment, the visual language, and then use that as the creative brief for developing these drinks. So the food and beverage team is essentially getting early access to these unreleased films and building flavor profiles around them.

They're designing taste experiences based on a movie that we as guests haven't even seen yet. Like, that's not a theme park food program, quote, unquote.

That is a genuine creative collaboration between the culinary artists and the filmmaker artists. And I think it shows in the result, like, the details matter, the stories matter.

And I think Pandora does something that I think is very difficult extremely well. It makes food feel authentically alien without making it inaccessible. Everything looks a little strange, a little otherworldly.

The colors are a little unexpected. The flavor combinations may be a little exotic, but it still works for an everyday guest with a regular palate.

It's familiar enough to enjoy, yet different enough that you feel like you're somewhere else. And I think this is very hard to do.

Look, Disney hasn't always threaded that needle with quote unquote themed food, but in Pandora, and specifically at Satulli Canteen, I think they absolutely do. We moved on from there to our third stop. We did not. I did not finish all three of the drinks because I would have napped right there in Pantdora.

Stop three was the Kusafiri bakery. And I'm going to guess, possibly for you, Kusafiri is either the place that you don't.

Not exactly sure what I'm talking about, or it's that little coffee place, that sort of coffee window on the way to the safari. So maybe you've grabbed an iced coffee there. By the way, quick tangent.

If you haven't tried the coconut iced coffee, and for me, you get the little pistachio croissant as well. They are wonderful and lovely. And then you go and you sit over in the fort as you're waiting to go and ride on the safari.

I think most guests walk straight past Kuzafari on their way without stopping. But here's what they don't know that's happening inside beyond the quick grab and go breakfast treats. Again, going back to chef Greg.

He was there and introduced these new bowls to us in Africa right outside the bakery. And I love how he framed it.

And I'm paraphrasing, it really is about global flavors and Standing there in Africa, right next to Tusker House, right around the corner from Kilimanjaro Safaris, with the live band and music in the background.

That context really matters because he talked about how the team wanted to make sure that the idea of discovery doesn't just live in the attractions, it lives in the food and beverage too. He was speaking my language. It totally stuck with me. Like discovery within the park and discovery within the food.

That is the Disney's Animal kingdom philosophy in 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 words. So what do they serve there? Rice bowls. And I don't mean rice bowls in like the sad theme park cafeteria sense.

I mean real flavor forward, big and heavy, beautifully composed rice balls. I'm starving. Again, that rival anything you will get at a fast casual restaurant outside the park.

And just for context and relatability, and I am going to release a video where you can actually see these. But for, especially for audio context, think chipotle. Big chipotle sized portions. Literally. Like, this is not just a little snack rice bowl.

This is a meal.

That beautiful yellow rice is jollof rice, which is seasoned with paprika and turmeric and cumin and just a touch of chili pepper, although it is not spicy at all. So don't let the word pepper or cumin or turmeric or paprika throw you off. But on top of that, you have two different protein options.

For the main bowl, there's a Moroccan spice braised beef and a chimichurri marinated chicken. It comes with this cool cucumber and tomato salad and tzatziki sauce. And 16.99 if you want both meats together, which I think is the play.

12.99 For just one. And what I love is that there is a plant based bowl option as well.

Has a traditional picadillo style made with impossible meat, sort of cumin forward with green peppers, onions, olives and raisins. Same cucumber salad plant based aioli. This is 12.99. I loved this one.

And what I dig is that the flavors is sort of this mix of North African and Mediterranean influences. It's not very spicy. So if you don't have a high spice tolerance, don't sweat it, literally and figuratively.

But it is super flavorful and layers of different textures and flavors.

It is not the kind of, I'll call it generic theme park food that you find in some places where everything tastes like it was designed to not like be too spicy or offend anybody. And it ends up sort of tasting like that like it's, it's a sort of a nothing burger.

But I think Chef Greg mentioned something that I thought was a great insider tip if you're in the mood for something a little more traditional after all this global flavor exploration. Harambe Marketplace, right around the corner also has core items like a harissa chicken wrap, a nice plant based couscous and lentil salad.

So Africa, I think as a whole has literally something for everyone in your group, no matter how adventurous and, or picky you might be.

And if you make it down to tamu tamu, after your bowl, there is a pineapple crisp sundae there which has vanilla ice cream, pineapple caramel that Chef Greg mentioned as like an aside. It sounded incredible. It's on my list for next time.

But as we were standing there and I tried to stand there as long as I could because I wanted to eat as much of this as possible because I absolutely loved it. This almost was my number one item. This food has. The only way I could describe it is it's got personality.

And at 12 to $17, I also think it's one of the best values anywhere in Walt Disney World. It is a huge portion. You can maybe you should share it because there's a lot of other food on our tour. Kusafiri for breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Do not walk past it. Fortunately or unfortunately, we had to move on to stop four. It was at this point that I was like, I wish I'd brought a Tupperware.

I would have just taken this home. It would been a wonderful late night, sit on my couch watching Disney treat.

But I digress and look, after three savory stops, it was time for something sweet.

I know I'm not a sweets guy, and what we had was something I think might be one of the most viral food items at Disney, certainly at Disney's Animal Kingdom, maybe even at Walt Disney World right now. It is of course, the cookie dough brownie ice cream sandwich. If you have the Internets, you know you've probably seen it in your feed.

This is from Terra Treats. Just as you cross over into Africa past the Starbucks, which is called Creature Comforts.

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, Terra Treats is just going to be on your right hand side before you cross over the bridge into Africa. It's simple. Cookie dough brownie ice cream sandwich. Do I need to sell you on this anymore?

I don't think I do, but I want to quickly tell you the story behind it because I think it makes it taste even better. We got a chance to meet the chef who created this, Chef Kelly, who is a pastry chef at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

And as soon as she starts talking about the sandwich, you can tell she's not just sort of reciting what somebody in PR wrote for her. You can tell how much this meant to her. She said, and I'm going to quote this directly because I think she said it perfectly.

She said, I am Talking to my 8 year old self when I am talking about this item. As a kid, as all kids do, loved cookie dough ice cream. But I was always frustrated. I get you, Kelly.

She's always digging around the ice cream to actually find the cookie dough bite. I was the same way. I thought it was just me. She even remembered telling her mom, mom, there's not enough cookie dough in here.

And her mom says, well, there's nothing I could do about it. So Chef Kelly's like, really? I can do something about that. And she described her, I love this.

She described her job as not as a chef, but being a little bit of a mad scientist and thinking in the same way the imagineers do in a blue sky world about what she wants to eat in the parks, what she can and could and did create, but that the hard part is figuring out how to mass produce it for thousands of guests every day.

And that's something that has always fascinated me about sort of having the creative vision as a chef and making something, you know, once or twice in your kitchen. And then the operational reality is something that they have to live with, like, how do they do this at scale?

And I think the great chefs and Disney culinary team is filled with lots of them figured out. So she told us that they were in the test kitchen, they built it, she cut into it and she screams out loud like, this is it. This is awesome.

Like, she knew, like this was going to be the item that was going to make it out for guests in the park.

And I love that so much because that's the energy behind this $8 ice cream sandwich who was created by a chef who was an eight year old girl in a slightly older body screaming in a test kitchen because she finally gave her eight year old self everything that she ever wanted. And if you haven't seen it or heard about it, you're like, mangello, it's an ice cream sandwich. How great could it be?

Again, I'm not a sweets guy, but think about this. Close your eyes, unless you're driving. It is a full layer of cookie dough on top, which is fine. I would eat that just as a bar it's not sprinkled in.

It's not mixed in.

It is a whole, wonderfully beautiful layer of cookie dough ice cream in the middle, a brownie on the bottom, and rainbow sprinkles throughout the cookie dough. Because Chef Kelly said, if you're here on vacation, you're treating yourself. You gotta have a little bit of rainbow magic. I dig it.

There's also a little bit of a salt finish on top, so it keeps it from being too sweet and just perfectly balanced. It's $8. It's worth every single penny.

And, yes, the lines have gotten long because this thing went understandably viral, but they've gotten also much more efficient. We talked about that. They've gotten much more efficient at moving the line, making sure everybody has the same experience.

Nobody's ice cream is softer or harder or melted more than the other. It is worth the wait.

But I also, like, stop for a second, because this talking about Chef Kelly made me think about something, because it's something that was striking me sort of over and over throughout the day. Through every stop, through every item, there's a chef behind it with a story.

There is an individual who took personal inspiration to create these items.

Chef Camillo's Colombian heritage in the Araba, the Lightstorm team behind the Pandora drinks, Chef Greg's philosophy of global discovery that's woven into the Kusafiri bowls. And Chef Kelly taking her childhood memory of loving cookie doughs and making it into a sandwich like that is not by accident. It is by design.

We talk about Disney in terms of hiring for culture, right? Not just talent. There's this culinary culture that was clearly built very intentionally, specifically at this park.

And I think it's there at every level, from the $8 snack to the fries to the dumplings to the signature restaurants. That intention is very consistent, and that care is consistent. And you see it throughout the wide range of dining options that are available.

And I think that's one of the things that I took away from this that really sort of makes Disney's Animal Kingdom different and why I said.

And I know I have recency bias, but I think I will sort of stand by this and be able to defend what makes this the best food park at Walt Disney World. And I haven't even been to Nomad Lounge yet, by the way. I don't know about you. I'm famished at this point.

But in this point during the day, I have now eaten four Incredible and brand new to me. I have never tried any of these items before at Four very different locations.

And I'm starting to feel, which is why I was sort of talking about the chefs and the people behind it, like I'm understanding something about the park that I hadn't fully articulated, I think, before, because I think there's a philosophy to it. There's a very clear intentionality.

We see that when we talk about designing an attraction, designing a land, when we talk about imagineers and imagineering. And I really wanted to get a sense of understanding this and maybe confirming this from the inside.

So I was able to sit down with Chef Greg Hannon, who is the culinary director of Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. I have known Chef Greg for years. Had him on the show a few different times at a few different locations. Sat down with Serena from Living by Disney.

And just to give you a quick sense of what this man oversees, there's 150 culinary professionals, 25 food and beverage locations, and I think one of the most culturally diverse, as we've seen already, dining portfolios in Walt Disney World. So he has not just decades of culinary experience, but leadership as well.

om was like when it opened in: 1998

But the philosophy behind the food about Satulli Canteen a lot, and I think what it means to design food for a world that doesn't exist, like Pandora, about the future. What is tropical America is going to look and smell and taste like.

And then I had to ask him about what his own perfect food day at Disney's Animal Kingdom, which may or may not be what you'd expect. So here is our full conversation with Chef Greg Hannon, the culinary director of Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Lou Mongello: 00:32:39

ey's Animal Kingdom opened in: 1998

Lou Mongello: 00:32:43

Food was never really the focus.

Lou Mongello: 00:32:46

The park was built around animals, conservation, wonder, men and women, sort of how we sort of interact with animals and nature. But somewhere between a Harambe food stall and an alien moon, something shifted.

And today, I think Animal Kingdom is home to some of the most ambitious and culinary rich dining in any Disney theme park around the world. I paused for effect.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:33:19

Wow

Lou Mongello: 00:33:19

Today we're gonna go behind the story and a little bit behind the counter as we talk about how that happened, why that happened, and some of the people specifically who helped make that happen. I am sitting here At Disney's Animal Kingdom on a beautiful. I think it's still spring day with.

Lou Mongello: 00:33:38

Serena from Living by Disney.

Serena Lyn: 00:33:39

Hello.

Lou Mongello: 00:33:41

And once again, long time no see. Chef Greg, the culinary director for Disney's Animal Kingdom. Welcome back to the show. You've been on a few times over the years.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:33:51

I have been on a few times, but I think I took a hiatus for about eight years. So I'm super excited to be back and have an opportunity to chat with you.

Lou Mongello: 00:33:59

Well, thank you very much for being here. And you know, what I said about how this park has evolved.

Lou Mongello: 00:34:05

I really think it has, because I.

Lou Mongello: 00:34:06

Think when Animal Kingdom first opened, it really wasn't. No, well, you know, it was. It was the quote unquote, half day park.

Lou Mongello: 00:34:15

And I don't think really that the.

Lou Mongello: 00:34:16

Focus was on the food. Not saying that it was really an afterthought, but, you know, sort of the food matched what the expectations were for the park.

And now when we think about Disney parks, the food is so much an integral part of the experience. And clearly over time, Disney's Animal Kingdom has very much matched and I think to a certain degree, almost surpassed those expectations.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:34:43

Absolutely. I think the, the discovery part is really where I am. I'm focused and, and I think that evolution, right as it started. Right. It is, it is.

It's always going to be, you know, truly centered around the conservation, around, around the animal.

uite a bit since it opened in: 1998

You know, we have Pandora, we have Tiffins, you know, so I think that's really when you start to see the evolution. And then throughout all the parks, we have, we have continued to highlight and elevate food offerings.

And I think, I think today we're, we're just, you know, we're just making sure that everyone knows that, that, that we are a supporting cast, but a strong one.

Serena Lyn: 00:35:42

Very strong one. And I think too, you know, Disney always comes down to storytelling.

And when you're talking about, like we were speaking about this earlier, when you're talking about visiting cultures, food is such a huge part of that. And for Animal Kingdom, a lot of the storytelling is involving the destinations that you're.

So you guys really have a lot to sink your teeth into when it comes to that.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:36:04

Yeah, absolutely. You know, and, you know, you know, with my hiatus from your show for Eight years I was at Epcot for, for quite a while.

And we did talk about cultures and we talked about food and I think this is just a great place to really intertwine because we have lands that are seen towards certain countries or certain continents. Right. When you think about Africa, you think about move to see about Asia.

I mean, what better to integrate food and culture than here at, you know, Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. I mean it's kind of almost like a no brainer to me. And then you've got all the wildlife and all the surroundings.

It's really in my opinion almost like a perfect backdrop. When you think about all, all four.

Serena Lyn: 00:36:50

Parks, the wildlife that's joining our conversation.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:36:53

As we're talking, you are truly immersed in that. Yes.

Here I think as part of the census, like when you think about like we're hearing the birds and we're hearing the animals, you might actually smell some things from that. So it's all, I think, I think intertwined.

Lou Mongello: 00:37:10

Yeah.

Lou Mongello: 00:37:10

Because to your point, you are feeding guests inside Africa and Asia and an alien moon.

So I think that has to present both opportunities as well as challenges as you're trying to design the culinary journey and the culinary, the storytelling. It has to match the place that guests are immersed in.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:37:31

Yeah. And we are really trying not to make sure that we are touching, you know, all, all price points.

So from a budget standpoint, also from the demographics because we want to make sure that we have some of our core or, or traditional items. So as we talked, we have Burundi market that's got, you know, our bacon double cheeseburger or bacon cheeseburger. Excuse me, no doubles.

Maybe I'm the one wishful thinking. It's you can order two or chicken shrimps, but then you can just go right around the corner. Yeah.

You know, it's a goose far bakery and have some rice bowls. But then you can be transformed into the land of Pandora and have some cheeseburger pods which that is very different.

Or you can have some great coffees.

So I think that it's really important for us to stay in theme, be authentic, but also deliver something that can be approachable to an extent to all of our guests.

Lou Mongello: 00:38:28

And I want to talk about sort of that balance of authenticity and approachability. But you mentioned Pandora.

We were chatting earlier this morning and I think we are in agreement that Satulli canteen and I may or may not be willing to die on this hill might possibly be the single best counter service location in any park, period. And obviously Pandora has no real World cuisine to draw from. So how do you design food for.

Lou Mongello: 00:39:01

A place that doesn't exist?

Lou Mongello: 00:39:03

Like, what does that creative brief for Satulli Canteen look like?

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:39:07

So we don't want you to die on the sword, but I would agree with you. I might be on that same side. I think it is the best.

I think that when you think about the food that's there and how we are doing it, we are wanting to take somewhat familiar foods, but also integrate some different flavor profiles and some approachability, but also working with some of our partners in Lightstorm to understand what are some of these themes, what are some of these inspirations that they have when they are storytelling throughout their. Their movies, and how can we kind of bring that back? So when you think about, for the breakfast offering, we've got that.

The blueberry cream cheese, I believe on the French toast, it's just a little different. Right. It looks a little. A little out there, but still familiar. Same with the ube, UBE Cold brew. I mean, super, super good.

Lou Mongello: 00:40:03

Right.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:40:04

Cold brew. Some people like ube, but the look of it is like, that's not on a normal planet. Right? It's not on our planet. It's. It's in another planet.

So I think we.

We're trying to do that by ensuring that we're partnering with the creative individuals with Light Storm to kind of make sure that we're telling that true story. So that's what we're. That's what we're trying to do.

Serena Lyn: 00:40:28

And Lightstorm being James Cameron's group. Group.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:40:33

Yeah.

Serena Lyn: 00:40:33

And so sometimes you're pulling from stories that you haven't even heard yet, because the. The movies maybe are.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:40:40

Yes.

Serena Lyn: 00:40:40

Still to come. Or about to come.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:40:42

Yeah. Yes. So. So one of the inspirations that we had was from. From fire and ash. Yeah. So we have a dessert there that is a banana chocolate caramel mousse.

It's got some sesame, some sesame crumble, and there's. If you look at it, there is a chocolate garnish that kind of is like going in, like, almost like a curve. That was an inspiration of a smoldering.

A smoldering fire pit in a scene from the movie. Well, we were able to see that scene, and then we were able to draw inspiration based on that. That's cool.

So it's pretty cool when you start to get images and.

Or even scents or smells that might be on that planet or in the movie, and we're able to get some of those little, you know, the information a little bit ahead of time to Start to start to figure out how can we support the movie.

Serena Lyn: 00:41:35

Yeah.

Lou Mongello: 00:41:36

So unlike Pandora, you mentioned Harambe Market, which when it opened, I sort of.

Lou Mongello: 00:41:41

I felt it shift.

Lou Mongello: 00:41:42

Like, I felt it all shift from a culinary perspective. And it very quickly became my and my family's like, it was our go to place for someplace like that.

Harambe Market, which is sort of rooted in African cuisine and culture. How deep does that research go? How deep is it bringing in chefs from Africa?

Are there sort of food anthropologists that you consult with to ensure that you are bringing a bit of authenticity?

Because I think there's also a responsibility because you're introducing so many people to cuisine that they might not have tried anywhere else, but we trust the ability to almost taste test it here.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:42:20

So we definitely draw on our chefs and our cast members. We have a. We have a diverse cast base. Do we have.

We don't necessarily have a ton of cats that are from Africa, but we have cats that have traveled there. We have our animal programs team that have traveled there and done research. Right. We have our WDI team. So when we're starting to do that, we're.

We're going to be doing. Scouring the Internet, obviously. Right. That's what a lot of us are doing. We have a basic fundamental of what that cuisine is going to be.

But just like in any other type of cuisine, Indian. Right. It's deep rooted in how you're using those spices.

So you need to be open as a chef to gravitate towards anyone who has traveled there, who has tasted it. Because there is a difference in research over a computer and talking to someone that has tasted it in any walk of life.

So we continue to be stewards of that, of being open to the collaboration. And I think that has helped us and also looking at the different ways that we can, you know, getting feedback to. From, you know, you know, from our.

Not our guests, but even our cast saying, hey, listen, this might be too spicy for my kids. And we're serving it at here. Oh. Because for me it was great. So I'm really trying to make sure that we're touching all those bases.

Have a well balanced, have authentic food, but also somewhat approachable or not too spicy or if it is going to be spicy, we're going to put it spicy and it's going to. It's going to pack a punch.

Lou Mongello: 00:43:49

Yeah. Because that's an interesting balance that you have to sort of maintain, which is authenticity versus something that is approachable.

Because I think when I mentioned the word responsibility, I think for A lot of guests. So, for example, we had arepas this morning, which might be someone's first foray into trying food from Colombia.

And it opens up not just their palates, but the doors to say, hey, now when we're out, we can go try a Colombian restaurant. We can try Indian food, because we've had butter chicken or something somewhere.

So you are really sort of having that responsibility of introducing such a huge portion of the population to foods that they might not have tried otherwise.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:44:26

Yeah. And speaking of the arepos, you know, we have.

Lou Mongello: 00:44:29

Yes, please talk more about the arepas. These are so good.

Serena Lyn: 00:44:32

And we met Chef Camilo, who is amazing.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:44:35

Right. So he is amazing. He is from Colombia, but we also have other chefs. They're from Colombia. Right. We have some chefs from. From Venezuela.

So it's about instilling that. It's about inspiring them to say, hey, listen, we think we want to do a rape bush. Is that something that probably I should be creating? Maybe not.

But if I have that vision of what it should be, I'm going to then go to the. Truly the content experts. We have a chef that you'll meet later on, Chef Daniel. He had just traveled to Colombia. He is from there.

So it's like, all right, what did you just taste?

Serena Lyn: 00:45:12

Right.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:45:12

And that is, I think, the key of what we're trying to do to not only inspire, but also have authentic. Authentic flavors and food.

Serena Lyn: 00:45:21

I think, too, it's. You know, right now, the hot topic is AI. And this is why people will never be replaceable.

Because I can tell you a flavor profile or a spice list, but they will never be able to say, I was just here. This is my culture. This is my home. This is what it should smell like. This is what it should taste like. This is the texture of the food.

That's what makes it so interesting.

That's what I love about Disney, is that they go back to that authenticity of having the people that care about those things involved in the creative process. And you can tell as a guest, you don't have to have a super refined palette to be able to appreciate the difference.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:46:04

Yeah. And I think that we, as the. As the chef team or as a culinarian team, we really have our ears open.

So when we hear about our cast members and they have traveled and we're going to talk to them and ask them what their experiences are, because it is. It is so important to us to have to. To protect the.

I'd say, the integrity of what we're trying to articulate and not mislead or misguide someone to say, yeah, these are, these are. And then it's totally off of what that rape should be.

It's like we have done research and we, and we have met with individuals and we've met with others just because Chef Carmelo says so. Okay, what's some of our other, other council members who live there? There might be a certain recipe. So it's pretty important for us to do that.

Lou Mongello: 00:46:55

Is there a, is there a menu items you could think of, like, that is secretly the most authentic one that maybe guests don't think about, they don't have on the radar, but in your mind, like, this is the one you need to try to really give you a sense of flavor.

Lou Mongello: 00:47:12

More probably.

Lou Mongello: 00:47:13

Like we're introduced to so many cultures through their food. This is the one that really is going to sort of open your culinary journey to trying something truly authentic.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:47:25

I love, I love Tusker House. I love lunch and dinner there. The food is. I think you're gonna get some great authenticity, great authentic flavors, I think.

And it's a great opportunity for you to one, just have fun with the characters, first of all, because we all love, I hope we all love characters. You like characters?

Lou Mongello: 00:47:45

I do.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:47:46

Okay. All right. I'm just double checking if we've changed or not.

Lou Mongello: 00:47:49

I do.

Lou Mongello: 00:47:50

I still, I still, I'm still a 7 year old kid trapped in a slightly older, much more huggable, non threatening design type body. But it's fine.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:47:59

Good. I think, I think Tusker's packs that you can taste so many different salads. Couscous. I've never had lentils. There's a lentil salad on there.

There's curries. And it's not so overbearing where you're like, oh. And so I think, I think Tusker has that. It has authenticity. Little bites that you can try.

Because it's a buffet. I think that's all the. I think that's a hidden one.

Serena Lyn: 00:48:24

That's a good one.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:48:25

I think that's a hidden one. I really do.

Serena Lyn: 00:48:27

So I have a question for you. All right, so a lot of my listeners are planning their next trip and they're looking at it from the standpoint of like, what is a perfect day?

That's why I talk about a lot like a perfect day. So if you're a foodie and you're coming to Animal Kingdom from your perspective as a chef, what is your perfect day? Food day at Animal Kingdom.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:48:47

Perfect food day.

Lou Mongello: 00:48:49

I know, I'm taking notes.

Serena Lyn: 00:48:51

Where would you Start.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:48:53

Well, I think I'm going to start at Satuli. I'm going to walk over there. I'm going to have the UBE cold brew. Okay.

I might skip breakfast there only because I'm going to try the pancake breakfast sandwich that's got some sausage, egg, guava. So a couple small bites. Because I have to leave room.

Serena Lyn: 00:49:16

We got to pace ourselves.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:49:17

We do have to pace ourselves. Absolutely. I would hit the Safari bakery and I would do the. The beef and chicken bowl.

And the reason why I still want to leave room, because I'll probably. Then, you know, I got to walk it off. I'm going to. Then I'm over in Africa. I'm going to make sure I go on the safari.

Um, I might hit Mr. Kamal's for some dumplings. Okay. Simple but good. Okay, excellent. And just to let you know, I can eat. Yeah. Okay. So I can eat. So I'm gonna hit dumplings.

I'll probably have fries because I do like fries. And why not? It is. It is. You know, they're somewhat approachable. They are approachable. Smoked paprika on there. Really good. Yes.

But I am gonna leave room for. For Tiffin's a Nomad, if I can. And if I can't get into Tiffin's Nomad. Great cocktails, great wine list, small bites.

You're going to be able to taste some later, but really, some. Some, you know, some great, great menu and just an awesome setting. So I think I'm going to start off with coffee and end at Nomad Lounge.

Yeah, I think that's. That's the perfect day.

Lou Mongello: 00:50:29

This right here, this is why we're friends.

Serena Lyn: 00:50:31

This is it.

Lou Mongello: 00:50:31

If it wasn't appropriate and super hot, I'd give you a hug.

Lou Mongello: 00:50:36

Like, I was sweating.

Lou Mongello: 00:50:37

Not just from the heat, but because, like, it is. That is like a perfect day in the park. And that's what I mean.

Like, you can sort of have a culinary, like, as we've had today, have sort of a culinary exploration and journey. And if you open yourself up to the experience and trying something new, I think you're in for a real treat.

And, you know, you talk about places like Tiffin's and character meals, but where I think Disney's Animal Kingdom has really started to shine. And today I feel like you turned it up to 11 is with the quick bites and the counter service locations.

Lou Mongello: 00:51:12

I think some of, you know, look, counter service often moves very, very fast. But some of the best places like.

Lou Mongello: 00:51:17

Flametree and Satuli and Harambe allow you and I think almost require you to sort of slow down a little bit. But I love what you have done. Not just in some of those, but even some of like the marketplace kiosks that we have found as we walked around again.

Crocodile drawing a blank smiling crocodile with the arepas cruciferi used to be like the secret place that nobody went to. And now between the coconut cold brew and get the pistachio croissant, it is a very nice morning, I promise you.

And now what we tried for lunch, like Animal Kingdom is forget being a half day park.

Lou Mongello: 00:51:56

It's like a three day park if.

Lou Mongello: 00:51:57

You want to go and explore all the different options.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:52:01

You just reminded me, reminded me about the pistachio croissant.

There are, there is a lot of nice, let's say small bites that you could snack on that are new that you can if you wanted to skip, you know, some of the traditional table service restaurants, you know. And then if you're just a traditionalist, I mean, I mean Dole whip, we got a variety of cool dole whips.

We still have churros and if you are like a, a churro connoisseur and, and, and can't get into Nomad Lounge, we do have our churros that we, that you could do to go out of Nomad. So the, the gluten friendly churros, signature ones, you can get a Nomad. You can get them to go.

Serena Lyn: 00:52:41

They're amazing. I may have done that.

Lou Mongello: 00:52:43

Please stop talking about Nomad because it used to be the secret and now people are rope dropping Nomad for real.

Serena Lyn: 00:52:50

Nomad has, is no longer a hidden gem. But that's okay. That's okay because it truly is an exception. Exceptional dining spot. It really is so good.

Lou Mongello: 00:53:00

Yeah. I've had full meals and if you get a chance to sit outside, it is.

Lou Mongello: 00:53:04

But I think that's the beauty.

Lou Mongello: 00:53:06

And I was thinking about this today. It's not just about the types of food and where you can get it, but it's also the speed.

And what I mean is if you want to have something that's a quick grab and go, maybe you want to slow down a little bit, add a satuli or a Harambe market or you want to have a very nice, leisurely, very upscale meal at Tiffin's, which sometimes you forget that you're dining inside a Disney theme park when you dine there. You do have that. You can sort of pace out your day however you want from a dining perspective.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:53:37

Yeah. And the setting is super cool and story rich story Rich, immersive. We're sitting here. We're. We're tree of life. You can hear the waterfall.

I think this park lends itself to that immersiveness. And yet you can. You can take your time, Lou. You can. You can have some of our traditional offerings. You can be.

You can go on the other side, have some really flavorful, authentic food, and then you can really just enjoy yourself. And that's what's kind of hard to pick. Like you're asking. Perfect.

Serena Lyn: 00:54:10

Your favorite child. I know, exactly.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:54:13

And I'm a huge fan of Tusker and our table service.

But our focus has been over this past year to really focus on some of our outlying areas and really kind of bring them and make them some, you know, some destination items. And then when we find them, you know, you know, be proud of them. And, you know, we'll just keep going with them and see where it takes.

Serena Lyn: 00:54:36

Us, you know, And Animal Kingdom's just growing. You've got tropical Americas coming.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:54:41

Yes, we do.

Serena Lyn: 00:54:41

Whole new culinary experience there.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:54:44

Yeah. You know, we have a team that is working hard on, you know, making sure that whatever comes to life in tropical America supports that story.

And we're super proud of that. And I think, as you have seen what we've done so far, I think that's just going to translate so well into. Into the future, you know.

Tropical Americas. Yeah.

Lou Mongello: 00:55:07

Cause it's so incredibly regional and diverse. You know, you really have sort of a huge blank canvas almost, which to paint on.

How early in the process are you and your culinary team starting to think about what is. What are the dining experiences going to look and more importantly, taste like from there? And do you need a taste tester asking for a friend?

Serena Lyn: 00:55:27

We. We. We would volunteer as tribute.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:55:31

I'm sure that you'll be taste testing. Yeah. Before anyone else. Yeah. The team is in the culinary process. I think that we are always in the culinary process.

When you think about some of the things that you have seen, we're always kind of testing and adjusting. The big thing for us is to ensure, again, that we have something in that land that is a balanced approach. Right.

So if I think about geographically, we need to now look at from a holistic standpoint, what does the park need? Right. And where are those placements?

And working with the teams to ensure that and making sure that the food supports the story of the land and the attractions. Because, yes, I still feel like we are the support and we are the ones that will tie that story together, as I've always said.

So Hard to give you what it will be, but I will tell you, one's going to be great.

It's going to be authentic and for sure it's going to support that storyline that we want to make sure and just geographically making sure that we have those food offerings for our guests around the park, not just on one side or the other. It's a little bit harder to balance that.

Lou Mongello: 00:56:47

Well, you mentioned support and it makes me think it takes people to make a dream reality.

And you help lead 150 plus culinarians over 25 different locations, which is insane scale for something that still feels so very thoughtful and curated.

And you have a responsibility, not just from a curative perspective, but to maintain that storytelling and authenticity and at scale and be able to serve, you know, thousands of people every day.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:57:17

Yeah. And yes, it is, it is important to me to, to have that integrity to the food and to the holistic vision of the park.

And, you know, we're really focused on, on that, on making sure that we have a well rounded portfolio of food and beverage offerings and to inspire the chefs and the cast to think about something new and to bring to life, you know, their travels. Because when you think about, you know, tiffins or nomad was about their travels.

Lou Mongello: 00:57:50

Right.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:57:50

Tiffins is about their trap, about travels for the park research. And so we can also draw on that inspiration. And as we're traveling, we also are able to bring some of this back and share with the culinary team.

Lou Mongello: 00:58:07

As a, you, as a leader, how do you train someone not quote unquote,.

Lou Mongello: 00:58:14

Just to cook, but really help sort.

Lou Mongello: 00:58:16

Of understand and tell a story through the cuisine that they're preparing for a guest.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:58:22

I think it's sitting down with them and articulating some of the whys, articulating that there should be a holistic view and vision. I think as well that through collaboration.

So we have, although we have over 150 cooks or culinarians, we have a chef team that has, we have a very open relationship and dialogue to talk about these things and sharing the experiences that I have and having the, having the opportunity to invite them and to be open about, about speaking and having. It's not feedback. It's can be just a debate. Right. I think that's what also curates it, the food.

Lou Mongello: 00:59:12

I remember years ago when we spoke, you talked about how you are not just a trainer and a teacher and a leader, but you are a sponge too.

Lou Mongello: 00:59:21

Right. There's a, there's so much global influence.

Lou Mongello: 00:59:23

From so many diverse cast members coming in from reasons that you are a learner as well too. And it's not just having a debate, but a dialogue and be like, hey, it is a great idea, and it's something we can integrate into a menu.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 00:59:36

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, we talk as a team. You know, no one wants to just say, yes, Chef, because I don't want everyone to agree with me.

And so you can learn. Right? We always want to learn. We always want to continue to learn.

And when individuals have experiences or they have a family member that has cooked something or from someplace, as a chef, I think we are one. We are learners, but we're teachers.

And when the opportunity to learn from someone because they have just experience, going to Singapore or France or to a local place here in Orlando and say, wow, this is authentic. Because when I was a child, it tasted exactly like my mother or grandmother tasted. Okay, that should be like, wow, I need to go there.

Because I think that the more curious you are, I think the more that you can also. You can also teach individuals, you know, to do that.

Serena Lyn: 01:00:29

You definitely don't have a boring job. It seems very, very interesting.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:00:35

It is. It is not boring at all.

Serena Lyn: 01:00:37

Always changing.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:00:38

Every day is different. Yeah. You know, our guests are coming in. They are different every day. Ye. They're expecting things also to be different, but also to. To not change.

I think that is the. The fun part is how do we transform some of our new freight items and how do we evolve them?

So our ice cream sandwich, is that something that we might. That we could do for the holidays? Well, you never know. Yeah, right.

And so I think, you know, you keep with that and say, well, I wonder if we change a flavor profile or did something like that or decorated different because it's Halloween. I think that's the cool thing is, like, every day we are thinking about how to still have what guests are expecting.

But is there a new surprise and delight that's uncovered when you uncover the wrapper?

Serena Lyn: 01:01:26

Yeah.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:01:26

Yeah.

Lou Mongello: 01:01:27

This is such a privilege for us.

Lou Mongello: 01:01:29

Because we don't, as guests, get to have these sort of dialogues with the chef.

Lou Mongello: 01:01:33

Right.

Lou Mongello: 01:01:33

You tell us a story by what you craft and what is put on the table in front of us. What do you hope guests feel? Or what is one thing that you want guests to understand about the cuisine at Disney's Animal Kingdom?

When as they're enjoying their meal and when they go home for the evening,.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:01:53

What I would like for them to experience is, you know, the discovery. The discovery that the park has of the animals, the conservation, the plants.

But There is a discovery of food and that there are authentic but approachable flavors that really can have. That can be for everyone. And if you aren't adventurous, then hit the. Hit the churros, hit the cheeseburger.

You're still going to have a great time because. Because those are yummy too, right? I mean, most people like dole whip.

Serena Lyn: 01:02:26

Yeah.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:02:27

Most people like churros.

Serena Lyn: 01:02:28

Right.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:02:28

But that you can come here and you can kind of navigate a place that you might not ever be able to get to. I have never been to Africa. You know, I would like to go one day. But if you come here, you're research trips.

Lou Mongello: 01:02:41

Research trips, yeah.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:02:42

Thank you.

Lou Mongello: 01:02:43

Talk to your lead about a research trip to Africa.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:02:45

All right. I'm going to need some help with that.

So I think that's what I want people to really, you know, take away, is that, you know, they can come, they can be immersed in the land, they can have some immersed food, but also, if they. If they don't want to, they can have some of our. More of our traditional items and still have a good time.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:06

Chef, I could talk to you about.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:07

Food all day long.

Serena Lyn: 01:03:08

I know, right?

Lou Mongello: 01:03:09

Thank you so much for your time. A lot of this, as I point to my physique, is your fault.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:14

So thank you very much for that.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:15

Very last quick question. Serena's buying. What's the one place. What's the one item every guest has to try at Disney? Animal Kingdom?

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:03:25

Ice cream sandwich. Wow.

Serena Lyn: 01:03:27

Nice.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:27

That's the favorite child.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:03:28

Interesting ice cream sandwich. I mean, it's a labor. It's. You know, there's a lot of.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:33

The crowd is nodding.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:03:35

We didn't think it was gonna be a hit. It's a hit. It's staying. Stay tuned for what's next with the ice cream sandwich. That's all I gotta say. You heard it here, because the creative.

Creative juices are flowing.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:45

The bar is very high.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:03:46

The bar is high.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:47

The bar is high.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:48

Can't wait to try it. Chef Greg, thank you so very much for your time and for everything that you do. Absolutely.

Chef Gregg Hannon: 01:03:53

This was lovely. Yes.

Lou Mongello: 01:03:54

Let's eat. So I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Chef Gang is just such a nice, genuine person.

And the thing that stuck with me, and I think that I keep coming back to, was his perfect food day. He is the culinary director of this park. He oversees all 25 locations.

And when I asked him where he'd start his perfect food day, he said Satulli Canteen. He said Kusafiri for the rice bowl. He said Mr. Kamal's, which I wanted to hug him for, for the dumplings and fries.

And he ends his day at Nomad Lounge. He didn't lead with the signature restaurant. He's not sending you straight up to Tiffin's.

He's sending you to the counter service locations, to the kiosks, to the walk up windows. That to me tells you everything you need to know about where the pride lives. Not pride of lions, but the pride that he has in this culinary program.

The best food at Disney's Animal Kingdom is not reserved for the guests who are spending the most money. It's available to every single guest who walks through that gate.

It is something special, I think, that speaks volume about him individually and the team collectively and the overall intent of what they want the guest experience to be like. Okay, I talked about it. We have to go there. I love, love, love it. It is Nomad Lounge.

And I'm going to say something that I have generally mixed feelings about saying out loud because there's one thing I'm a little sad about and that's Nomad Lounge is no longer a hidden gem. It hasn't been for a while. Like the word is out, people know.

And on one hand it's wonderful because it's an incredible place that deserves to be celebrated and enjoyed. But on the other hand, I can't always get in anymore. And that breaks my little heart just a little bit. Like, people are rope dropping.

I'm not kidding, they are rope dropping Nomad Lounge. And I think that speaks volumes about this location. So if you haven't been yet, here's what you need to know.

Nomad Lounge is located right next to and joined up with Tiffin's, which is the signature restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom. They actually share a kitchen and a culinary team. So what you're eating at Nomad Lounge, that's Tiffin's food.

It is signature restaurant quality food in a walk up lounge setting. That's the deal that you're getting. It doesn't take reservations. It is a walk up waitlist situation. But here's the move.

I don't want to tell you this either. Open up your My Disney experience app about 20 to 30 minutes before you want to go. Find Nomad Lounge and join the walk up wait list.

They'll get a text when it's your turn. Usually, like I said, 20, 30 minutes or so. Very manageable. I have seen it get longer on busier days.

I've seen them close the waitlist entirely when it gets crowded. So don't wait until you're starving and standing outside. I think Nomad Lounge deserves to treat it like an attraction.

Plan your day around visiting Nomad Lounge. I promise you will not be disappointed. Now onto the menu. Because this was a surprise to me.

For some reason, I went into Nomad Lounge before our next culinary stop. I wasn't planning on eating, but when I saw that they updated the menu, I felt it was my duty, my responsibility.

Plus, I love dumplings to check it out because now there's a new crispy chicken wing with the chef's seasonal sauce, which we had a chance to sample a little later on. It is fantastic. There's churros, and it's important because the churros at Nomad Lounge are legendary.

They are naturally gluten free, and they keep the churros as a menu constant. But what I love is that they change out the dipping sauces. And right now there's a vanilla sauce and a seasonal blueberry sauce.

I have three words for you. You know what they are. Get the churros. Always get the churros.

We also had a chance to sample a grilled beef kofta, K O F T A, which is like, think like meatballs. Meatloaf, like minced meat with spices and onions and herbs, and that's shaped into little balls or patties that's either grilled or fried or baked.

Here at Nomad Lounge, it has a sort of think like a Middle Eastern inspired beef skewer with hummus, herb honey yogurt. Pickled red onions are so good. And roasted garlic naan bread. It is phenomenal. Oh, my God, I want to go to Nomadland right now.

There's also sticky pork ribs with black sesame barbecue and pickled cucumbers. There are wild mushroom dumplings with dim sum sauce, a little chili crunch, and roasted mushrooms that are incredible.

We stopped in Nomad Lounge as just sort of like a little layover point before we went into our next scheduled time at Tiffin's. And they sounded, and the server sold us on them, deservedly so. So good that we ordered food before our next food stop. I am so happy that I did.

And then there's also something that they call the Traveler's provisions, which has warm onion naan bread, which I love, served with a trio of dips that include roasted garlic hummus, roasted eggplant, and a beautiful beetroot spread with. It's sort of a little earthy, and it's got roasted red peppers and walnut.

So if you want something to Go that's shareable with your little cocktail or your little beverage. Something to kind of graze on from your seat. This is what you get. I think it pairs nicely with one of the.

I think there's probably around 10 to maybe a dozen specialty cocktails. I really like the Lamu Libation. I know I said earlier that I'm not a big drinker, I really am not.

But I like the Lamu Libation and the Leaping Lizard. I also like the Balinese Breeze, which is a non alcoholic drink with mountain berry tea, simple syrup and lemon juice.

They also have a passion fruit vanilla flavored iced tea. I'm a big tea guy, so I dig it. But we were able to try a number of these different items on the Nomad Lounge menu.

I still think it is one of the best lounges in Walt Disney World. I know I've been saying for years that I am going to do a lounge review. Top 10 lounge review.

I've reviewed Nomad Lounge in the past, but I totally dig the new and updated menu. And don't let the word lounge fool you. You can. And I have made this a full, wonderful, shareable meal.

And if you get a chance to sit outside, especially later in the day when it's a little bit cooler, you can hear the sounds of Pandora, get views of the river. It is wonderful. And then there's Tiffin's, which is the signature dining restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom, right next door to Nomad Lounge.

It's celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, which is 10 years of being, in my opinion, I think, one of the top upscale dining experiences at Walt Disney World. And I say experiences deliberately because it is not just about the food that is served on your plate.

We got to spend a little bit of time at Tiffin's with Joan Hartwig, who is an executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, who worked alongside legendary imagineer Joe Rody in helping to create Disney's Animal Kingdom, including Tiffin's. And she's been with Disney nearly 40 years.

And she said something early in our conversation in this tour that she gave us of Tiffins that I keep on coming back to, which is that she said the restaurant is really about reminding guests of the importance of discovery and that emotional payoff of travel and discovery. And I get that. Like, I understand what she means because, yes, I've been very fortunate to have been able to travel around the planet.

But it really is also the whole idea behind Tiffin's, because it's not just a restaurant. It's a window into how Disney's Animal Kingdom was made.

And I think a lot of guests either overlook that or don't realize that because it's not necessarily laid out and explained to you. But as she takes. As she takes us through, I'm like, oh, like, I get it.

When you look, when you walk in to Tiffin's, you are walking into a space filled with the actual research trips that the Imagineering team took while designing and building the park.

Every photograph on the walls, the sketches, display cases, the tile work, the carvings, these are not things that they bought on TEMU or sourced from a stock library. Like, these are photographs she personally took. The people in those photographs are the imagineers in the Himalayas in Tibet.

These are sketches that the Imagineers, including Joe, made in the field. These are artifacts that they brought back or recreated from their travels to places like Nepal or Indonesia or Kenya.

And she shared this cool story about being in the Himalayas when they were building Expedition Everest. And this detail of the prayer flags that you see on the way to the attraction and on the attraction.

And in order to get them to look authentically weathered as they would be in the sandstorms and windstorms or the high Himalayas, she put them in a cement mixer with little pebbles and then ran them through. That's the kind of level of detail and research that went into this park, went into this restaurant, because. And this is a Michael Eisenhower.

Everything speaks and every little detail matters. And I was fascinated, trailing behind her, listening to her tell all of these stories.

But I think the important takeaway was that at Disney's Animal Kingdom, they're not trying to idealize these different locations around the world. They're trying to reflect them and reflect them accurately. The good, the complicated. What's real?

And I think this philosophy that Disney has always had of respect and I think humility towards the cultures being represented is really baked, no pun intended, into every corner of this park. So, for example, there's a room inside Tiffin's that is devoted to conservation.

If you spend time really looking around, you can understand the mission and the message that is being reflected there. And in the center is a totem that was carved by a family of carvers in Bali that Disney's worked with for over 30 years.

And I loved how she talked about how this family is like family. Like it's not just a business transaction. It is a partnership that they have built and a relationship that they built over decades.

And what was an unexpected, pleasant surprise was to find out that Joan is now the creative lead for Tropical Americas, the same person who helped build the park, who put those prayer flags in a cement mixer, who danced with Maasai women in Africa, who brought back these handmade items from places like Kenya.

She is leading the team that right now, as we're sort of talking about this, is doing that same level of intensive field research to build the next chapter of Disney's Animal Kingdom. She talked about how they are in the field constantly and how what they are building is going to be beautiful.

And I believe her because I'm standing in what she helped build in Disney's Animal Kingdom. And she's understandably confident because they've built something extraordinary before.

So if you're wondering, if you're thinking about Tropical Americas, I think we are in very, very good hands. Now, the food, because the food at Tiffin's is as extraordinary as the space it lives in. And I love that. Tiffin's remains an a la carte restaurant.

And it's not like a prefix menu, which I love because it means you can completely customize, like satulli, you can customize the experience to your appetite and to your budget. So if you want to share an appetizer or split an entree, skip dessert or get multiple desserts, you can do that.

If you want to go full multi course wine pairing, you can do that too. And I think that makes the restaurant more accessible than people might assume. By the way, the signature bread service.

God, if bread was healthy, I would be an Adonis. The bread service is the way to go. It's beautifully presented.

If you've been to Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Sanaa, and you love the bread service, it's the same sort of spirit, a little bit more elevated. And for appetizers, we had a nice little sampler platter, which are some of my favorite words.

There was a Korean barbecue pork belly bao bun served with pickled cucumber and a little bit of cilantro and green pepper slaw. There was also a crispy fried cauliflower coated in this manuren sauce with green onions. Both were excellent.

And if you've been to Tiffin's in the past, the menu has a few signature items that have really been there since opening day, including the whole fried fish of the day, which is always a sustainable fish, whatever's in season. There's also a grilled beef tenderloin which some other folks at the table had, which looked beautiful.

I went for the butter chicken, which, if you've had sort of Indian inspired butter Chicken in the past, it's not what you're expecting. It's a little bit more elevated, less saucy than you might think. Not spicy at all. It's served with two large pieces of bone in chicken.

Actually, one of my favorite parts of the dish was a samosa that were served alongside with it and a plate of fresh vegetables. And then we had again a nice little sampler platter of desserts. It was a caramel flan.

There's an African pot de creme, which is this chocolate mousse ganache with pineapple and pistachio. And then to just sort of bookend an entirely wonderful, beautiful culinary day where really we just ate our way through Disney's Animal Kingdom.

It was this wonderful, like Rooibos South African red tea, which was just a perfect way to punctuate our culinary adventure.

But I think if the thing I want you to take away from Tiffins is if you haven't eaten there before, if it seems like it's too upscale or foofy or expensive for a quote unquote theme park restaurant, if the prices might give you pause, it is one absolutely worth it. If you love the food at Nomad Lounge, you're going to love Tiffin's.

And if you are looking for a bit of an elevated dining experience, but still something that is comfortable and casual and in a theme park, I think Tiffin's fits the bill. And if and when you go or go back, don't just enjoy the food. Enjoy the stories that are being told both on the plate and on the walls around you.

So, okay, let's. Let's sort of bring this all home. And I want to sort of make. This is the recovering attorney in me coming out.

I want to make the case one more time about why Disney's Animal Kingdom is arguably the best food park at Walt Disney World. Here's why I think the range is unmatched. I don't think any other park gives you the full spectrum.

From the ice cream sandwich made from a kid's memory to a world class signature restaurant celebrating 10 years of globally inspired cuisine and everything in between. The rice bowls, the arepas, the bao buns, the dumplings, the arepas, the arepas. I really love them so much.

The cocktails, again, created not just inside of a test kitchen, but alongside James Cameron's production company. Everything is made with the same level of care and intention. I think that sets the bar higher than maybe anywhere else.

And look, the cultural authenticity is real, right? I think Epcot gets a lot of Credit deservedly so, for its international food.

And Epcot does a lot of wonderful things, especially during the festival season.

But I think, and this is a positive, I think what you get at Epcot is smaller bite, taste size, version of, yes, possibly approximations of global flavors. Right. You have to sort of be able to speak to and appeal to a global audience that is coming through those gates.

Tens of millions of visitors every single year that might not want or have a very adventurous palate. At Disney's Animal Kingdom, you have chefs with these personal cultural connections to the cuisines that they're cooking.

I think it makes a difference. Like Chef Camillo with the Colombian arepas. I know I keep going back to those.

The flavors from Africa and Asian that are woven into not just the sit down restaurants, but the quick service bowls by chefs who've studied these traditions and take it seriously. I think they take that authenticity very, very seriously. And you can taste it because the food tells the park's story. We always say that.

I think the best way to experience a culture is through their food. Disney's Animal Kingdom is about the world on a global scale.

It's the culture, it's the animals, it's the ecosystems, it's the conservation, it is the wonder that we have for places that maybe we might not ever get to visit in real life. And I think food is a layer of that story. It's not just this add on thing.

It's not quote unquote, the parenthetical chicken tenders and burgers and fries. It's not a supporting player. It is woven into the experience at every level. I think the park and the food are telling the same story.

And to that end, I think Disney's Animal Kingdom rewards a different type of visit from guests. It has always been, I think always should be a place that rewards us as guests for slowing down. It rewards us for exploring.

There's a reason why, like when it first opened, there was no directional signage. Joe, Rody and the team wanted you to go and get lost, right? To wander.

It rewards the guest who puts down the rope drop checklist mentality and just wanders. That sits in a lounge, not worrying about rushing to what the next attraction or show is.

It rewards you for trying and ordering something that you've never had before.

It has always rewarded you for talking to a cast member, starting a conversation, asking them about where they are from, how authentic is this food to maybe where they come from. It's about like taking it all in, just sort of breathing it all in. I think that is the Disney's Animal Kingdom experience.

I think a lot of guests don't ever give themselves, and I think the food, and I feel even more so now after this food adventure that I was privileged to go on is what makes this experience so very rich. So that's what I want to leave you with.

And this is less of a tip and really more of an invitation to you on your next visit to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Don't necessarily plan your day around the attractions and then hope to fit food in around them. I would flip it. Plan your day around the food.

It's a very Lou Mangello thing to do. And then let the attractions fit in around that. Plan a full day Animal Kingdom, and you deserve it. Start off at Kusafiri with the coconut Cold brew.

And I personally love the pistachio croissant. Or if you want to actually sit down inside, go over to Satulli Canteen. They have an UBE Cold brew and a breakfast menu, which is fantastic.

Go over to Smiling Crocodile. Please, I'm begging you. Get the arepas. Trust me. Get this. And that could be like a little snack. Like, it's like second breakfast, midday snack.

Then go over, get the Kusafiri rice bowl for lunch. Yes, go on the safari. Go see the Lion King, but go wander the Discovery island trails.

Strike up a conversation with some of the cast members who can tell you stories about the animals that you're seeing in their different habitats. And then I wanted you to do something that is not in any guide. It is not on any map. Go find a bench. Put your phone in your pocket or your purse.

Get yourself a snack or a beverage or both, and savor and enjoy eating something delicious in one of the most beautiful places Disney has ever created. Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds of the park. Listen to the sounds of the animals and the birds.

Every now and then in Florida, we do get a nice breeze. Listen and enjoy that, especially if you're there in summer. Slow down.

Because that is where the magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom really shines through. And I think especially after this experience. Again, thank you to Disney for inviting me to change the way you approach it. Look at the food first.

Look at the food as your invitation to slow down long enough to actually feel what this park was designed to do. Do not sleep on or in Disney's Animal Kingdom. I think there's very quietly been building something remarkable for 20. Do the math. 27 Years.

And I think right now, from a culinary perspective, Disney's Animal Kingdom is Absolutely at its best. But now I want to hear from you. What has your culinary experience been like at Disney's Animal Kingdom? What is your favorite place to eat?

What is your hidden gem menu item? What is the thing that you have to get every time you go? What has been the greatest culinary discovery that you've had there?

Or where do you want to try that maybe you haven't been before? Answer any or all these questions.

-: 9391

If you're sitting at Tiffin's, you are enjoying the views from the lower level of Flame Tree Barbecue, call the voicemail, share it with me or come be part of the community and conversation. I'll post this question and this topic over in the WWRADIO Clubhouse on Facebook@www.com clubhouse.

I hope that you enjoyed listening to this as much as I enjoyed getting to experience it and telling it and sharing it with you. Huge thanks again to Disney Parks and Walt Disney World for the access and the opportunity.

And enormous thanks to Chef Greg Hannon and all the chefs that we got to meet throughout the day for sharing their passion and their stories with us. The food is great, but I think the people behind it are even better. And obviously the biggest thanks goes to you.

I'm talking to you, the one person who's listening for being part of this community, for trusting me with a little bit of your time every week. This opportunity would not come without you and it means more than I can say. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I look forward to seeing you and hopefully eating with you in Disney's Animal Animal Kingdom again soon. If you were right here, I'd ask you if you could eat one thing from Disney's Animal Kingdom right now, what would it be?

Call the voicemail, share it on social oh and be sure and check out my Instagram.

I'm going to share videos of my top five things that I ate at Disney's Animal Kingdom and I'm going to share a video about the Kusafiri breakfast and where I like to go to sit and enjoy it in a quiet, peaceful locations. Okay, now I'm starting starving. I need to get some food. Thanks again. It's time finally.

I know it's been a few weeks for our Disney Trivia Question of the Week ish where you can test your knowledge of the sight, sounds, secrets and stories of Disney and test your knowledge, have some some fun and then enter for a chance to win a Disney Prize package. This week's trivia contest is once again brought to you by you the Most important Part of WW Radio.

Cuz by joining the WW Radio Nation, you're not only helping to support the podcast, the live shows and events, but you're becoming part of the magic that makes it all possible.

And for as little as $1 per month, you unlock exclusive perks and rewards like scavenger hunts, group video calls, a private community, surprise K care packages, and much more.

Even better, your support helps power our Dream Team project which has raised more than $550,000 to grant make a wish trips to children with life threatening illnesses, bringing Disney magic to families who need it most. To learn more and become part of the WW Radio Nation family, please visit www.comsupport now.

Before we get to this week's question, let's go back review last our last trivia question. Again, I know it's been a few weeks, I'm sorry and select our winner.

So on our last question I asked you to tell me what Disney attraction was the very first one to use the Omnimover system. Thanks to all of you who entered got this one correct.

h Inner Space which opened in: 1967

Each one was able to rotate and really precisely control what guests saw and when they saw it. And that level of timing and capacity and guest flow through and storytelling really became a game changer in the parks.

And it's why that same system is still used today in attractions like the Haunted Mansion. I took all the correct entries, randomly selected one last week.

Last time you were playing for a WW Radio keychain, stickers pin, a WW Radio iron on or so on patch, and a mystery prize that I brought back from my recent travels. And last week's winner, randomly selected is Lauren Cook. So Lauren, congratulations. I'll get your prize package out to you right away.

And if you pleased last week and didn't last time and didn't win, that's okay. Here's your next chance to enter in this week's RA Walt Disney World Trivia Challenge.

So we are talking obviously a lot about food, including places like tiffins. But tell me, what does the word tiffin actually mean? It comes from somewhere. All you have to do is tell me what does the word tiffin actually mean?

th at: 11:59

Use the form there and again you're going to play for the keychain, the stickers, the pin, the patch, and another mystery prize that I bought back from my recent travels, maybe from the Disney Adventure. So good luck and have fun. That's going to do it for this week's show.

Thank you once again for being here and for letting me be part of your day, your commute, your workout, you're walking the dog, whatever it might be. If you enjoyed this episode, please do me a favor, share it with someone you think might enjoy it as well.

And if you can rate and review the show over on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, don't forget to join me over in the clubhouse, be part of the live show, call the voicemail and connect with me on social I am Lou Mangelo on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I'd love to hear from and chat with you there.

I'm so grateful for the life and the opportunity that you've given to me and that I get to share with you. And if you are a content creator, a podcast blogger, anybody who's building something.

Lou Mongello: 01:31:01

Around a passion and you've been trying.

Lou Mongello: 01:31:03

To figure out how to actually make money doing what you love, I want to tell you something I'm doing. On June 6, I'm once again hosting a live virtual online you don't have to travel anywhere monetization Workshop.

We're going to get into the real practical strategies for turning your content and your community into actual income. No theory, no fluff, real actionable stuff that I've learned for more than 20 years of doing lists.

You're going to be able to get your questions answered, leave with a blueprint and workbook and more. Spots are limited and you can visit lou mongella.com for all the details and to grab your seat.

And if you were wanting to go deeper and spend a full weekend surrounded in person by other passionate creators and entrepreneurs in the most inspiring place on the planet, My Will Momentum Weekend Workshop is coming back to Walt Disney World this October.

It is a 4 day, 1 room, 50 person immersive workshop where we work on your business, your brand, your content and your mindset in Walt Disney World during Food and Wine Festival. That's no accent I know of. No better backdrop for thinking bigger, dreaming louder.

And if you've been on the fence, this is me telling you, do not wait on this one.

You can learn more about the Monetization Work workshop or the weekend workshop in Walt Disney World over@lou mangello.com and if you are thinking of or planning your next Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation, want to maybe want to spend a day like I did, eating my way through Disney's Animal Kingdom? It reminds me that the best Disney experiences don't just happen. They take a lot of planning.

Knowing where to go, when to go, and how to make the most out of every single moment, every single bite and every single dollar. It's exactly why my friends over at mousefan Travel, it's what they do for every single guest they work with.

agical Disney vacations since: 2005

Whether you're planning your first visit to Disney's Animal Kingdom or your 50th, they make sure you don't leave a single thing or a single AREPA on the table. And here's the best part. Their expert planning service is always completely fee free. Disney pays them, not you.

So there's no additional cost to you whatsoever. Visit mousefantravel.com Start planning your next adventure and tell them. Loose, aren't you? All right, that's going to do it for this week's show.

Thank you again for your time, your friendship, your love, support. It means more than you know. If there's ever anything I can do to help you, please reach out and let me know. Be kind, choose the good, be the good.

Set an example for others and always keep moving forward. Have a great day and even better tomorrow. So until next time, I love you. See ya. Well, it sounds pretty good. In fact, that's just the right spirit.