The Kaiseki Chef’s Table experience is Epcot’s hottest new foodie splurge

COMMENTARY

The restaurant opened in July, and in the time since, guests have returned repeatedly, not just for the a la carte menu, but the upmarket Kaiseki Chef ’s Table Experience: nine courses presented in a private, eight-seat room. Average price: $200 per person (plus, you’ll have to pay park admission). Another $100 gets you beverage pairings. Guests are logged meticulously; those returning will never be served the same thing twice.

“We have five rooms here at Takumi-Tei,” says Garin Williamson, who wears the dual hats of both manager and beverage director. He chuckles.

“Reservations for four of them can be made through the Disney system, but we wouldn’t let them have the Water Room,” he said.

For this exclusive, three-hour event, guests reserve directly with the staff, via phone or email.

Ingredients both local (Nearby Naturals mushrooms was one namedrop) and exotic (Chef Tyler Schmitt told us that tamagogani — a popular snack in Japan, these small crabs are eaten whole — is difficult to come by in a place like Orlando) abound.

Dishes like ochazuke, a term that combines the words for “tea” and “submerge,” are presented with ceremony. Servers presented beautiful bowls — red shiso rice, delicate shimeji mushrooms, toasted nori and a beautiful piece of caramelized sea bass — before pouring in the housemade ochadashi broth. It was a highlight, for me, among multiple highlights.

Japanese A5 Wagyu paired purposefully with the American five-star version in a dish called

“It’s a term that means ‘comparison,’ ” says Schmitt.

Based on my observations (and those of the folks around me), there’s little comparison. Any leftovers — the portions are substantial, mind you, and you have to save room to taste it all —fell on the American side.

The meal closed with a beautiful tea ceremony, presented by three Japanese servers who prepared our frothy matcha and showed us the traditional way to hold, present and turn the vessel before taking a sip, peacefully, harmoniously.

The concept of harmony, in fact, is omnipresent and ties rather beautifully with the harmonious nature of the meal. The courses flow, much like the bonsai threaded brook in the Water Room’s trickling centerpiece.

And in the end, no guest could deny, there is contentment.

AMY DREW THOMPSON/ORLANDO SENTINEL The Mozaiku, mosaic, Roll’s name speaks for itself. Intricate and lovely, it is made up of tuna, yellowtail, asparagus, tobiko and red shiso rice.