Disneyland’s French Market Restaurant has been a staple of the park’s New Orleans Square for as long as I can remember. The quick-service Cajun- and Creole-inspired eatery featuring a garden patio and live jazz is being reimagined into Tiana’s Palace. Inspired by the princess’ dream restaurant in Disney’s The Princess and The Frog, Disney Imagineers transformed the French Market Restaurant space into a place that acts as a love letter to the film in its design and cuisine.
The Nerds of Color joined fellow journalists to attend the Tiana’s Palace Media Briefing & Tasting. There, we sampled some of the dishes offered at the restaurant, intending to imbue the visuals of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Princess and the Frog into the restaurant’s ambiance and bring the soul of New Orleans cuisine to Anaheim, California.
The look and design of the restaurant pull from the visuals of The Princess and The Frog and the real-life French Quarter. Imagineers looked at second-floor balconies, as well as interior and exterior seating. They wanted to make this the most elegant part of the park with chandeliers and unique fixtures combining the existing French Quarter architecture. So, the end result is a blend of the old sugar mill restaurant that Tiana wanted to buy as her restaurant and a river boat.
Tiana’s Palace marquee is the crown jewel of the restaurant’s exterior. And to complement it while making it feel more New Orleans, the classic riverboat wheelhouse and two crowned smokestacks have been added to the rooftop. The building will also have the traditional red brickwork that you’d find at a sugar mill. The remaining portion of the building is painted with soft gold and greens, colors associated with Tiana. Even the popcorn lighting is a nod to Tiana’s necklace. The patio, live-music stage, and mint julep bar remain intact so guests can feel like they are in New Orleans without having to fly to the city itself.
As for the interior, it will have softer yellows and green paint. Imagineers worked with artists from The Princess and The Frog to make it feel like you are stepping into the film. So even if you haven’t watched it, you’d know where you’d be just by stepping into it. Decorations like the lilypad light fixtures, frog bells, cookbooks, and hanging cask iron skillets give Tiana’s Palace more dimension and stay true to the film’s spirit. Even the door knobs and details of the cobbled street bring you to this world.
However, it’s less Disneyland removing French Market Restaurant and replacing it with Tiana’s Palace. It’s more of building upon the old bones and adding to the world. Walt Disney said, “Disneyland will never be complete as long as there’s imagination left in the world.” And the Imagineers constantly consider that as they improve and refurbish the park.
Research is everything for Disney. And not just for the films, it’s also for the parks. Since Disneyland is designed to be an escapist experience, Imagineers went on a tour of New Orleans, taking thousands of photos of the city and its many restaurants. Many of these would influence the look and feel of Tiana’s Palace. Ultimately, they wanted guests to feel like they were taken back to the golden era of the famed Crescent City.
The restaurant itself doesn’t pull any punches regarding the spicy flavor, which is surprising considering this theme park has to cater to a diverse crowd. So, one might expect their food to be more tepid but still call it New Orleans-inspired. Instead, we get something that stays true to the city without it being overwhelmingly spicy. Of course, only some people’s tolerance towards heat is the same as the next. So prepare accordingly if you prefer something other than spicy food. And even if you feel it needs to be hotter, you are free to add a few more dashes of heat if it’s not up to your spicy standards.
And even if you or your kids can’t handle the heat but want something other than the usual burgers and pizza, Tiana’s Palace has something for you.
The ingredients composed to make some of the dishes, like the bread that makes the Beef Po’boy Sandwich and the shrimp in the Gulf Shrimp and Grits, are all locally sourced. Which means that they all come from Louisiana. The French baguette in the Po’Boy isn’t like any baguette you’d find, and the water it takes to make it has a different quality than the one if it were baked in-house. As such, it tastes different. And the same can be said for the Gulf Shrimp and Grits. It’s important to recognize those genuine ingredients that bring authenticity to life and are critical to these dishes in the story.
It wouldn’t be much of a restaurant review without talking about the food itself. And while we didn’t eat everything on the menu, Disney Parks was kind enough to give us a hearty portion of samples.
Starting with dessert, because that’s how Tiana likes to start dinner, we had a beignet. A staple sweet treat of New Orleans, pastry chefs put a spin on dessert by bringing the flavors of an ice box lemon pie into it. A lemon icebox pie is something you couldn’t find in a commercial restaurant. You really have to go into the neighborhoods and find this pie. As such, they wanted to pay homage to that search for the elusive pie by bringing its flavors into the beignet. And they were successful.
It’s sweet but not overpowering. It’s almost like a cream-filled puff pastry. The dough is light and airy, while the cream filling doesn’t burst when you bite it. What’s more, the icing that goes on top is just as sweet. And for those who want something a little extra, you can purchase their novelty lily pad ceramic plate and lotus cup to take home.
Next up is the Cold Brew Chicory Blend from Joffrey’s with cream sweetened with sugar cane syrup sourced from New Orleans. Again, the fact that these are locally sourced ingredients makes each menu item all the sweeter. There’s bitterness that comes through it which is cut down a bit by the sweat cream. Considering that Tiana’s Palace is renovated from an old sugar mill, it’s no surprise that there is some sweetness incorporated into the drink. Additionally, the coffees come with a Firefly Ray Glow Cube.
Our first savory item was the 7 Greens Gumbo (Left). As a guy who likes to needs to have an animal protein in his dishes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this Plant-Based dish was just as delicious as a chicken and andouille sausage gumbo. In fact, you can order 7 greens gumbo with Braised Chicken and Andouille Sausage (Right), but it wouldn’t make it plant-based anymore. That said, the 7 Greens Gumbo is a hearty dish that comes with earthy roasted vegetables like yams, sweet potato, white beans, okra, garlic and collard greens. Mixed in with a little Crystal Hot Sauce, the dish exceeded expectations and even made me a fan of plant-based foods.
Next was the the Slow-cooked Beef Po-boy. The bread was perfectly soft and was enough to soak up any of the beef juices. The Po-boy comes fully dressed, meaning it includes lettuce, tomato, and mayo. And it comes with house pickles, that have just the right amount of sourness to it to give the dish more depth and flavor. Additionally, it comes with Red Beans and Rice. The red beans are cooked with ham hocks and Andouille sausage.
Later, we got a small sample of the Buttermilk Cornbread. This was soft and sweet, however, it did not come with a side of honey or butter. However, our chef did say that there would be an option for that later on.
The House Gumbo is another New Orleans staple that combines Braised Chicken and Andouille Sausage with Carolina Heirloom Rice. Both the sausage and rice are locally sourced. Though a little bit salty for my taste, this was my favorite dish, by far. Again, we have to remember that this is something that has to be cooked in massive quantities for a large number of guests. So, I am not surprised that this dish tastes the way it does. If you’re looking to balance that out, it pairs well with the Buttermilk Cornbread and Joffery Coffee with Sweet Cream. And though it may have a little bit of spiciness to it, I found that it needed a little more kick to it. So I added some Tabasco.
Lastly, the Gulf Shrimp and Grits were a perfect way to end the sampling. There is a stronger corn flavor to the granular cheesy grits, which comes with some plump and juicy gulf shrimp slathered in spicy Creole Sauce. It’s a bit heavy when compared to the other dishes, but something one might want to consider if they want to eat seafood.
Though we did not get to eat the entire menu, we learned about some of the things that weren’t sampled. The Cajun Spiced Half-Chicken, it is a half-chicken with a housemade spice-blend and then basted with its housemade barbeque sauce, a sauce comprised of cloves, coriander, molasses, Joffrey’s chicory cold brew, and tomatoes. The dish comes with a creamy cole slaw. comes with Macaroni and Cheese.
And if that’s too much and if you have kids, you can order the Other items on the kids menu BBQ Drumstick with Carolina Rice (Right), Macaroni and Cheese (Center), and a Toasted Ham & Cheese Sandwich (Left). All three come with a Cutie Tangerine Orange.
Having never been to New Orleans, I can say that the sampler took me there and made me hope I could visit the iconic city. Each item was bursting with flavor and had a lot of love and care put into the preparation and cooking. So, Tiana’s Palace is easily one of the places I would like to eat at whenever I visit Disneyland. And if you don’t want to wait in line you can order through the Disneyland Mobile App.
Inspired by the restaurant Tiana created in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Princess and the Frog, this reimagined quick-service style location will open September 7, 2023.
For more information, head over to D23.Com.
