Disneyland Chefs Share Most Controversial Dish They’ve Ever Created and Increased Push For Plant-Based Items

Disneyland has several classic food offerings it is well known for, from churros to Dole Whip, Mickey beignets, and beyond. Beyond the more standard theme park fare, however, Disney strives to create a variety of inclusive and interesting options for all guests.

At D23, we had a conversation with some influential figures in Disneyland's culinary scene about how they have expanded their food offerings to create inclusive items and how experimentation has led to some particular successes.

Keep reading for a glimpse into how the chefs of Disneyland approach these offerings and experiment with new items for festivals.

Experimenting With New and Interesting Food Offerings

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We had the opportunity to chat with some of Disneyland's culinary figures, including Graciela Gomez, Pastry Sous Chef of the Central Bakery, and Jimmy Weita, Executive Chef of Festivals and Park Events. The conversation was part of the promotion of “The Official Disney Parks Celebration Cookbook: 101 Festival Recipes from the Delicious Disney Vault” which is available for pre-order now.

We asked about the broader trend of Disneyland expanding its offerings to include some healthier options and more variety. The Disneyland chefs aim to achieve balance in the food offerings at the parks to include a variety of allergy-friendly and plant-based options for guests.

Graciela Gomez shared her take as Pastry Sous Chef: “I think that especially with pastry we are introducing a lot more plant-based items, items for gluten-friendly guests, because there are those guests that cannot have those items or prefer not to, so we want to make sure that they're being included in the menus as well, because everyone wants to eat when they go to the park, right? And we want their stuff to be just as beautiful as the macaron or the cookie that everyone else is eating, so we are taking that into account when creating the menus.”

Jimmy Weita jumped in and added, “It's a very large spectrum too, because we're trying to balance it across the table for everyone, and trying to be creative with something that's plant-based, but it's just as interesting as something that's not. And finding what that sweet spot is and then, with the festivals, re-inventing it three times a year, every year. I think that's where it gets challenging but I think we do a pretty good job of introducing new plant-based items while a lot of vendors come to us with ideas of things they have and some we love and some we're like, yeah we'll put that on the backburner for a future festival.”

It's interesting to hear about the process of experimentation and introducing some of these bold new plant-based items. The presence of IMPOSSIBLE foods has been prominent in some of the recent inventive offerings at Disney California Adventure festival marketplaces in place of meat dishes.

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One of the most notable experimental items for a festival was the Peanut Butter and Jelly Mac that debuted as part of the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. This 2022 item was described as “Peanut Butter & Jelly Mac with brown sugar streusel and strawberry crackle.”

“I'm proud that it was the most controversial dish we've ever done,” Weita commented. He said that “it came from a very honest place of Thai noodles with a peanut sauce” which is where it started, then he expressed he had wanted to do a peanut butter and jelly version.

“The funny part is it's called a Peanut Butter and Jelly Mac, but everyone seemed to add ‘cheese' to the end of it, even though there was no cheese in it.” He commented how the misunderstanding may have “turned people off” from the idea of it. “But it was delicious! It's my kids' favorite.”

Weita also shared what his inspiration for the dish was. “Growing up I used to have warm peanut butter and jelly sandwiches my mom would make. And I wanted that kind of sensation in a mac.”

One of the most fun parts of these festivals, and new Disneyland foods in general, is trying some of these more experimental items that may look a little interesting at first glance but often end up being a highlight!

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