Review of Olivia's Cafe

Location:

Olivia’s Café, Old Key West Resort

Date:  

1 July  2010

Context:  

We had received an email a few weeks prior about the passholder preview for the return of Captain Eo at Epcot.  Since both Bret and I had very fond memories of that attraction at Epcot, we decided to head down after our respective work days and catch a showing. 

We were able to head out in good time, and planned to stop off at Olivia’s café before heading over to Epcot for our 8:20 showing of the film.  There were, however, several crimps in our plans.  The first was traffic.  Since we were travelling the Thursday night of a holiday weekend, traffic was a little heavier than usual, but I wasn’t overly concerned.  After being stuck in Tampa, the turnpike to Orlando is pretty tame.  The real complication came in when we hit a true Florida downpour.  Thunder, lightening, and rain so thick it was hard to see through.  Traffic slowed to a crawl.  Our hour and a half drive turned into a 2 hour and 15 minute journey.  I-4 was bumper to bumper, and I was pretty enervated by the time we finally reached the turn off for Epcot and Downtown Disney.  We debated whether to even try for dinner with only an hour left before our 7:50 required check-in at Captain Eo, but Bret wanted to try it, and I was game. Besides, we were curious about Olivia’s new menu, which we had not yet tried.

Background: 

Olivia’s is a special place to us.  There have been several times in our visits to Diisney property where something we planned has utterly flopped.  A restaurant we wanted to eat in was utterly packed, or the line just to check in for a reservation was 30 minutes. On a few of those occasions, we’ve had something magical happen – we’ve tried a different restaurant, and it has saved us.  Olivia’s was one of those places.  


Several years ago, we were unable to get into a restaurant, and, terribly disappointed, we decided to head over and try Olivia’s at Old Key West.  We were seated immediately, our server was remarkable, our food was delicious, and we had an overall delightful experience.  Since then Olivia’s has been one of our “home” restaurants – one of the places we could count on. 

Experience: 

Even at 6:00 on a Thursday night, we had less than a 5 minute wait for a table at the restaurant, which was comforting to say the least after the drive we’d just survived.  We were seated at one of the tables in the center of the airy dining room.  Again, I was grateful – Olivia’s is designed with ample space between the tables, so we were comfortable and felt that there was a measure of privacy for our conversations, even in the midst of the dining room.


We looked over the menu (something we’d already checked out online) and quickly decided what we wanted.  Our waiter arrived to take our drink order, and I was delighted.  It was the same gentleman who had served us the very first night we had washed up on the mercy of Olivia’s, and for the first time, I felt that the evening might work out all right.  He was charming, professional, and warm.  I let him know that we were on property for Captain Eo, and that unfortunately, we were rushing dinner to make our show time.  He asked our show time, and reassured me that we’d have a great dinner and get out in time…what a comfort!


Bret ordered a Buzz Lightyear punch, and a Sultry Seahorse (disaronno amaretto, crème de banana, pineapple juice, orange juice, and a float of cherry brandy), and our waiter warned us not to let Buzz at the alcoholic beverage.  I stuck with soft drinks – after the journey down and the possibility of more rain, I didn’t want to drive with any impairment. Bret’s drink was, as usual, amazing; it was tasty and had quite a kick to it.


We started off with the Taste of the Keys for Two (shrimp & smoked cheddar grits paired with conch fritters and dipping sauces).   The plate was beautifully arranged, with two clusters of fritters (3 on each side of the plate) and a pair of barbecue shrimp skewers in the center of the plate, nestled on a scoop of grits.  Being me, I immediately went for the grits, and they were a little bit of heaven.  The smoky cheddar flavor paired beautifully with the sweetness of the corn, and the texture was lovely.  Although shrimp are not my favorite food, I did try one of the little skewered barbecue bits, and it was lovely. It was tender, but not overdone, and the barbecue sauce was smoky and tangy.  The conch fritters were delicious – crisp on the outside and tender-savory on the interior.  Our waiter also shared that, although they weren’t on the menu, one could just order conch fritters as an appetizer, and that the fritters with dip was growing in popularity.


We polished off the whole appetizer, and I thought it was perfect.  For me, “appetizer” portions are often so massive that dinner becomes irrelevant.  I usually find myself ordering soup because I’ve wasted my “dinner” on the appetizer.  The Taste of the Keys was what it was advertised to be – an appetizer.  It was a delicious combination of tastes in a portion just enough to take the bite of hunger off for two.


As a main dish, Bret ordered the Slow-Roasted prime rib with Olivia’s potatoes, rare.  It came with a rich red wine sauce for dipping.  From the moment he popped the first piece in his mouth, he started cooing.  The steak was really amazing – and that’s in the context of having eaten at Yachtsman 2 weeks ago.  It was tender, well cut, and the spices on the exterior coating were succulent.  The dipping sauce was remarkable. It was full bodied and sweet-smoky without overwhelming the taste of the steak.  I actually had a piece (although I don’t usually do rare), and the steak really was wonderful.  The way it was cut produced a shorter grain, and the texture was silky and soft rather than the chewy, slimy texture I often associate with rare steak.  The Olivia’s potatoes were also lovely, paper thin slices of potatoes with a creamy sauce between them.  They reminded me of my mom’s scalloped potatoes, just thinner sliced and fancier.


I chose the Olivia’s pasta with chicken (olive oil, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and spinach in a light cream sauce) because I needed comfort food before venturing out again.  The portion was generous, and the smell coming up from my plate was mah-vellous.  I dug in and was pleasantly surprised.  The pasta was perfectly done – the al dente that all pasta should be. It was soft enough to offer no resistance (not gummy), but it was firm enough to give a wonderful texture and distinctness.  The sauce was an incredibly delicate cream sauce based off a wine that gave it a sweetness, almost like a sweet marsala.  It paired beautifully with the mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes.  The chicken on top was…well…chicken.  The chunks were about 1”, and they were good enough tasting, but they didn’t really seem in any way seasoned to marry them into the dish.  They were the added protein, and they were good enough, but not a real taste addition to the flavors. 


We finished off our meal and boxed up my remaining pasta in time to head out to Captain Eo thanks to our waiter’s consideration, prompt service, and kindness.  I can’t say enough good things about him. He was, as I remembered him being, personable, kind, and efficient.  He chatted with us and made us feel special and cared for, but he never intruded.  He was so considerate of us and made sure that we were done with our meal and on our way in order to meet our reservation at Captain Eo.  Bravo for good Disney service.  That’s why we love Olivia’s.


Overall, the meal held up to my expectation of Olivia’s. The food was good, flavorful, and filling. The atmosphere was “homey,” relaxed, and not overcrowded.  We felt, as usual, well cared for and pleased with our experience.  Of course we’ll be going back!

Once Upon a Never Was

Sometimes remembering something that never existed is the first step on the path to something greater. Sometimes human beings need the inspiration of a dream, the reassurance that there once was before we can believe that there will be. 

That is one of the reasons that I love going to Disney. Now, don’t get me wrong; as a Florida resident, I can be as cynical about the Rat as the next person. I know a good bit about the corporate machine behind the curtain, and I know that I could never work happily within that system. Furthermore, I am more than familiar with the historical and ideological criticism of the parks. I’ve read the structuralist analysis of the ways in which Disney manipulates history and promotes consumerism; I’ve perused diatribes declaring Disney’s watered-down historicism and internationalism to be something akin to the tool of Satan. 

But I think many of those passionate condemnations, for all of the viable points they may raise, ultimately miss an important consideration. Disney promotes itself as a place of dreams, and as saccharine and artificial as that may seem in syntax, it has a deep booming echo in the reality of the parks. I teach history and humanities; I understand what a messy, morally ambiguous place history is, but I still find a chill climbing my spine to settle into a lump of unabashedly emotional patriotism when I read the bronze plaque affixed to the entrance to Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom. That proud place of hard working men and women of integrity and vision who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the dream of Liberty is something of real consequence. And ultimately, it does not matter whether that place ever existed in the convoluted world of reality. It matters that the dream inspires; it matters that the place exists in imagination and that Liberty Square provides enough of a taste of that idealized, unrealistic past that those passing through it may hope for a better future. 

As we age, we learn the harsh reality of our world. We learn that you can’t always trust the policeman to help you when you’re lost. We learn that stories don’t end “happily ever after.” We learn that our heroes all have feet of clay. Losing those illusions is an important part of maturity and of being a contributing part of our world. However, the total abandonment of those ideals is equally destructive. When we completely close the door on the hope of a better world, we fall into the morass of hopelessness. If we accept that there never was a good time, we acknowledge that there will never be a good time, and in so doing we give up on anything worth fighting for beyond the next meal and the next breath for ourselves. That is, certainly, a way of living, and it is more and more frequently a way of living embraced in our world. Our world, however, also reflects the consequences of that path; the death of dreams cheapens the life lived only in sensory reality of the moment. 

I refuse to condemn the “Disney version” of reality out of hand because I think it serves the same purpose as the stories proverbial grandparents tell; stories that far too rarely are heard or heeded. It reminds us of a time that never existed, a time we wish had existed, a time we need to have existed. That perfect, picturesque main street of yesteryear, filled with happy, friendly people had a place in reality, but we need to believe that somewhere, sometime that sense of beauty and good will was a part of our world. If we can believe that and carry that memory with us, we can carry with us the hope of re-creating it. That colonial square with its dreams of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all humankind may never have existed beyond a long ago shattered inkwell, but remembering it as a lost, cherished memory changes our perceptions. It makes us long to bring back that forgotten place, and in that longing we strive for a better future. That inspiration is the greatest gift imagination can give. 

Times are tough. Trust and idealism have become dirty words, along with enterprise and progress. So many of us are too busy trying to get through today to believe that tomorrow will be better; heck, some of us feel that idealism and trust are the things that got us into this mess in the first place. There is a sense that progress and improvement are illusory at best and downright manipulative at worst. Yet I passionately believe that without remembering the world that never existed, without the belief that good things are possible, dreams die beyond resurrection, taking hope with them. And without hope the people may not perish, but the idea of a society based on ideals rather than self-preservation falls into a dark abyss. So I will choose to maintain my annual pass and take my pilgrimage to the plaque outside Liberty Square. I will remind myself of a place that never was in hopes that it will inspire me to put a little hard work into creating a place that someday just might be.


Originally posted 3/16/2009

In the beginning...

...there was a love of Disney, a need to believe that dreams might now and then come true, and a passion for theme parks.  Those things, combined with a lot of exciting (and not so exciting) theme park visits and far too many hours listening to other people talk about Disney brought me here, to a blog completely dedicated to Disney reviews, commentary, and experiences, a different voice added to an already buzzing topic.

Let me introduce myself briefly, before I get started on this new adventure. I am a young at heart professor of humanities and English in the Florida community college system who is gloriously, happily married.  My husband and I have chosen not to have children; we have each other, and that's enough.  We are also the keepers of two very spoiled dogs.  Our love of theme parks is long standing, and as Central Florida residents, we have held passes to every major theme park in the Orlando/Tampa area.  We currently hold premium annual passes to the Walt Disney World complex, and annual passes to  Sea World/Busch Gardens.

So there are already a thousand Disney news sites, blogs, podcasts, and fan pages out there.  Why am I adding to the plethora of information already out there?

Well, there are numerous answers to that question.  One, of course, is the selfish one.  I want a way to track my experiences and record my memories.  Part of what makes theme parks worthwhile is the opportunity they provide to have a unique, precious experience.  I believe that when people talk about "Disney magic," that's a large part of what they mean.  I want to cling to those memories.  But it's more than that.  Listening to others talk about theme parks and their experiences, I have come to realize that my husband and I are a bit different from both the professionals who look with a rather jaded, critical eye at the corporate machine of Disney and the racing tourists who are trying to plan their days to fit the maximum number of rides into a busy schedule.  We go to theme parks for the theme.

For us, the Disney experience is just that - an experience.  We can go to a park, wander hand in hand, marvel at the theming, never ride a ride, and have a glorious, romantic day.  We love history, stories, details, and we love the experience itself.  We are both foodies, and love going to the fine restaurants on property.  But most of all, we love the customer service, the sense of being treated as if we are really special - an experience that years in the real business world teaches one is the best fairy tale of all. Theme parks provide that sense of being away from reality, that sense of being treated well, and that moment of rest from responsibility that lets us truly appreciate the time with those we love.

 In the end, that's why I started this blog - to share our experience. My hope is to record our visits and experiences to Walt Disney World (and occasionally the Busch parks) in terms of our experience, our treatment, and our enjoyment in hopes that those records may serve others.  Some of my posts may be quite abstract - I do love to think and write - others may be quite specific.  Regardless, I hope to fill all of them with hope and wonder.

If you arrive here, I hope you find something that interests you, or something that will help you in finding your own wonder and magic, wherever you are.



Sometimes it's fun to do the impossible.  ~Walt Disney