SeaWorld eatery adds Spice to lineup
Bob Mervine
Staff Writer
ORLANDO -- SeaWorld is spicing up its summertime offerings, with the debut of a new restaurant and a nighttime water, lights, fire and pyrotechnic spectacular called Mistify.
The star attraction is dubbed Mistify because it's built around a high-definition video that is projected onto a cloud of water vapor -- two clouds, in fact, so that thousands of guests get the best possible view.
The show can be seen from the 5-acre Waterfront area, which opened last May. Designed as a place to keep visitors longer after stops at the park's shows and attractions, the area emphasizes dining, shopping and live entertainment.
The latest addition to the dining lineup is the Spice Mill, which opened last week when the nighttime show began.
Spice Mill, with 401 seats, joins the Seafire Inn, home for the park's nightly luau; Voyager's Wood Fired Pizzas, with 650 seats and four varieties of hand-tossed pizza; and The SandBar, which is located at the base of the park's iconic 400-foot Skytower and emphasizes sushi and signature martinis with live music in an intimate atmosphere.
The idea with the newest restaurant is "not to serve theme park food in a theme park," says Executive Chef Lenny Martinsen, who spent the last year researching the menu for the Spice Mill.
Every item is built around a spice, he says, noting that "even the salad has saffron dressing."
Some of the choices are obvious.
There's a chili with beans, built upon a base of Anheuser-Busch's Amber Bock beer. Also featured is a cheese steak sandwich marinated and basted with a peppercorn and mustard sauce, chicken strips with a habanero hot sauce that's fruity and not too spicy, a jerk chicken breast sandwich lightly touched with Caribbean spices and jambalaya with an island-style rice with pigeon peas.
Perhaps the biggest spice surprise comes in the dessert lineup: chocolate pizza topped with M&M candy, dense spice cake with a cream cheese frosting and cinnamon caramel cheesecake topped with pecans.
The cheesecake is Martinsen's favorite.
"I love cinnamon," he says. "Some people like salt -- I like cinnamon. It's my favorite spice."
Bob Mervine
Staff Writer
ORLANDO -- SeaWorld is spicing up its summertime offerings, with the debut of a new restaurant and a nighttime water, lights, fire and pyrotechnic spectacular called Mistify.
The star attraction is dubbed Mistify because it's built around a high-definition video that is projected onto a cloud of water vapor -- two clouds, in fact, so that thousands of guests get the best possible view.
The show can be seen from the 5-acre Waterfront area, which opened last May. Designed as a place to keep visitors longer after stops at the park's shows and attractions, the area emphasizes dining, shopping and live entertainment.
The latest addition to the dining lineup is the Spice Mill, which opened last week when the nighttime show began.
Spice Mill, with 401 seats, joins the Seafire Inn, home for the park's nightly luau; Voyager's Wood Fired Pizzas, with 650 seats and four varieties of hand-tossed pizza; and The SandBar, which is located at the base of the park's iconic 400-foot Skytower and emphasizes sushi and signature martinis with live music in an intimate atmosphere.
The idea with the newest restaurant is "not to serve theme park food in a theme park," says Executive Chef Lenny Martinsen, who spent the last year researching the menu for the Spice Mill.
Every item is built around a spice, he says, noting that "even the salad has saffron dressing."
Some of the choices are obvious.
There's a chili with beans, built upon a base of Anheuser-Busch's Amber Bock beer. Also featured is a cheese steak sandwich marinated and basted with a peppercorn and mustard sauce, chicken strips with a habanero hot sauce that's fruity and not too spicy, a jerk chicken breast sandwich lightly touched with Caribbean spices and jambalaya with an island-style rice with pigeon peas.
Perhaps the biggest spice surprise comes in the dessert lineup: chocolate pizza topped with M&M candy, dense spice cake with a cream cheese frosting and cinnamon caramel cheesecake topped with pecans.
The cheesecake is Martinsen's favorite.
"I love cinnamon," he says. "Some people like salt -- I like cinnamon. It's my favorite spice."
