In honor of National Culinary Arts Month, Disney Parks Blog spotlighted five chefs working at Walt Disney World Resort, each bringing a deeply personal perspective to the food they create and the teams they lead.
At Magic Kingdom's Be Our Guest Restaurant, sous chef Alex oversees a culinary team of nearly 100 Cast Members. She got her start through the Disney Culinary Program and now focuses on mentoring the next generation of kitchen talent, believing that Cast Members who feel supported behind the scenes deliver warmer, more genuine hospitality in the dining room. Over at EPCOT's Le Cellier Steakhouse, Chef Carlos draws on his Puerto Rican upbringing and works closely with Canadian Cultural Representatives to make sure the restaurant's food feels authentically connected to the Canada Pavilion.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Chef Koli takes his inspiration directly from guests — stopping by tables at Backlot Express to check in on diners and tracking emerging food trends. His philosophy traces back to watching his mother cook with farm-grown ingredients in Africa, using meals as a way to gather the community. Meanwhile, at Satu'li Canteen in Pandora – The World of Avatar, Chef Charles treats every component of a dish as part of the land's storytelling, aiming to create food that could only exist in that specific setting — from customizable bowls to cheeseburger steamed pods and Pandora-inspired desserts.
Rounding out the group is Chef Gregory, an assistant sous chef chocolatier at The Ganachery in Disney Springs. He channels his Salvadoran heritage into handcrafted chocolates featuring tropical flavors like coconut, guava, and passion fruit, and relishes the brief but meaningful conversations those treats spark with guests from around the world.
The full profiles were originally published by Disney Parks Blog and summarized by WDW News Today.
