Serious Disney Dining

The idea, I guess, seemed irresistible, and the group of happy, sated diners launched into a quavery “M-I-C . . . K-E-Y . . . M-O-U-S-E” as it left Napa Rose. A stone’s throw from Disney’s California Adventure, this new restaurant in the entertainment company’s Grand Californian Hotel is the resort’s bid for the brass ring.

Like the new Las Vegas, the new Disney wants to impress with its cuisine. Joachim Splichal, the Brennan family of New Orleans, even La Brea Bakery have all launched restaurants at the new Downtown Disney, while inside the park, Puck’s Avalon is the single serious restaurant. Of the Disney-owned restaurants, Napa Rose is the only one that offers real competition to the chef-owned kitchens.

When I invite my mother and her girlfriends for lunch, these ladies-who-merrily-lunch have already scoped out the place before I arrive. They’re a-goggle. They show off the hotel’s towering lobby, a la Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel, tarted up with Craftsman-inspired lampshades in cartoon-bright colors. Massive light fixtures dangle overhead, and a huge stone fireplace complete with roaring fire is set into an alcove larger than most living rooms. I’m just surprised management hasn’t provided a flurry of snowflakes for atmosphere. The Disney tie-ins abound. When the pianist sits down, the sounds of “When You Wish Upon a Star” issue from the grand.

Manager/maitre d’ Michael Jordan gives everyone an expansive welcome, but I notice that even he has to wear his first name emblazoned on a tag. Friendly down-hominess rules at Disney. We’re seated at a half-moon booth just in front of the busy open kitchen. Overhead, a mural of California wine country unfurls. But its style and saturated colors clash with the amber egg-shaped light fixtures and the MacIntosh-inspired chairs. I’m sure the designer never envisioned people draping their jackets over the tall, skinny backs. You do, though, have the luxury of a dining room quiet enough for talking.

The chef is Andrew Sutton, hired straight from Napa Valley’s Auberge du Soleil, a resort renowned for its view. Here, outside the windows we can glimpse the mass of Grizzly Peak and the occasional flash of the monorail as it speeds toward the park.

I reach out and touch the pink-and-copper rose in a vase on the table. “Yes, it’s real,” says our server. It looks too perfect to be real, but it is.

The roses embroidered on the waiters’ vests are a little hokey, but what do you expect from the creators of Snow White? Napa Rose’s staff has been schooled to recite the specials in luscious detail for folks unfamiliar with the intricacies of California cuisine. The good thing is that their enthusiasm still shows. Our server describes how pizza dough is cooked in their special ovens, then topped with smoked salmon, capers and a drizzle of dill cream. Sold. We fall for the grilled grape leaves filled with Laura Chanel goat cheese, too. Served with a head of roasted garlic and a peppery tomato sauce, the idea is to take a dab of this and that and spread it on bread.

We’ve already demolished the shards of lahvosh sprinkled with Parmesan and herbs, even though it’s rather heavy on the oil. But there are still some crusty little rolls from La Brea Bakery left, along with a dusky olive bread.

A special filet of beef is grilled with rosemary and set on a bed of proper risotto--firm at the core, creamy on the outside. Just for science, my mother, who doesn’t normally like ravioli, orders the ravioli. “These aren’t those fat, chewy things,” she crows. “These are wonderful!” For me, though, the taste of truffle oil, even more prominent on the shredded duck confit garnish, makes them somewhat less than wonderful.

There’s a grilled shrimp and spinach salad strewn with corn and dressed with a light hand, and a delicious chicken breast with artichoke and fingerling potatoes served in a splash of broth. I’m impressed by a lovely piece of sole coated in bread crumbs and fried in butter. It’s sauced in a light beurre blanc punctuated with capers and quartered grapes that add a nice touch of acidity.

A couple of dinners at Napa Rose only confirm my lunch experience. All in all, Sutton and his crew are turning out respectable California cuisine of the hotel variety, with a few flashes of something more. Just taste his seared rock scallops, meaty and sweet, set off by a swath of lemon lobster sauce perfumed with vanilla. His Portobello mushroom cappuccino with a light cap of steamed thyme froth is astonishingly intense in flavor and light of texture. Prime rib of pork from the rotisserie is as thick as a brick, a formidable piece of meat with a handsome caramelized crust. Among the more conservative choices, mustard-crusted rack of lamb and filet of beef with a polished Cabernet “essence” are both tender and perfectly cooked.

The kitchen gets in trouble, though, with the flashier dishes. The seafood platter is a towering structure of raw oysters, clams, steamed mussels, chilled shrimp and half an overcooked crab. With the exception of the prime oysters, none of it has much flavor. Another signature appetizer features a sizzling “beach rock.” Partitions hold sticky, sweet soy-glazed ribs, skewers of chicken and a crock of garlic-seared shrimp in what tastes like al dente baked beans. The hot rock sizzles, but not for long: This dish is a pass. The best is billed as “Seven Sparkling Sins,” a platter of dainty bites similar to really fancy party hors d’oeuvres.

Sutton also offers a four-course vintner’s menu for $52 every night. With wines, it’s $79. The extensive wine list ranges over all of California, not just Napa Valley, and it seems to range all over the page, too. Prices are so far over to the right you almost need a ruler to make sure you’re asking for a $29 wine and not a $120 wine.

Desserts are a strong suit. Meyer lemon mousse brulee has the texture of a cloud and comes with a lacy cookie filled with blood orange sorbet. There’s a dreamy goat cheese flan with a tropical fruit salad, an elegant roasted winter pear and a seductive crepe souffle--crepes puffed in the oven with a half-inch layer of chocolate that come with bananas and good ice cream.

On the last night, we decide to linger near the fire for a while, but the only seat left is a child-sized chair. In the lobby, tuckered-out resort-goers are sprawled across the armchair and sofas, asleep. Just then a flock of couples in black tie streams into the lobby and alights on the remaining sofas. They look impossibly exotic among all the sweatshirts and jeans, like actors let loose from a Cole Porter play.

Napa Rose

Grand Californian Hotel

1600 Disneyland Drive

Anaheim

(714) 300-7170

Cuisine: California

Rating: **

AMBIENCE: Spacious Craftsman-inspired dining room with open kitchen and views of Disney’s California Adventure. SERVICE: Earnest and willing. BEST DISHES: Smoked salmon pizza, grilled goat cheese, California rock scallops, spit-roasted prime rib of pork, rack of lamb, Meyer lemon mousse brulee. Dinner appetizers, $7 to $49 (for two). Main courses, $24 to $33. Corkage, $17. WINE PICKS: 1999 Forman Chardonnay, Napa Valley; 1997 Ojai Vineyards Syrah, Bien Nacido Hillside, Santa Barbara County. FACTS: Lunch and dinner daily. Valet parking. Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.