A new family cooking competition series just launched on Disney+ that incorporates Disney elements at every turn. Be Our Chef, named after the song “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, is filmed at the Walt Disney World Resort and features a spoonful of Disney Parks in this show that’s guaranteed to make you hungry. It’s the kind of cooking competition the whole family will love to watch, especially if they love Disney.
Each episode will feature a theme and the premiere, “Bibbidi Bobbidi Bon Appetit,” is inspired by Cinderella. The two competing families, the Merrill’s and the Robbins’, must reimagine a classic comfort food inspired by Cinderella in sixty-minutes. For inspiration, they visit the Princess Fairytale Hall in Magic Kingdom Park to meet Cinderella herself. The show’s most heartwarming moment comes with the youngest Robbins child meets her favorite princess and asks her a very important question before comparing footwear.
Host Angela Kinsey (The Office, Hulu’s Hotwives of Orlando) keeps the energy and has a lot of fun with her role. Part of the competition includes a Garden Game where the families compete for the magic spoon, which they can trade in for extra help, extra time, a loss of time for the other team, or a wish advantage. The Garden Game for the Cinderella-inspired episode is based on Gus Gus and his love of corn. Families compete in a timed corn shucking challenge.
Since the show is filmed at Walt Disney World, the series has access to all of Disney’s world class chefs. The Guest Judge in this episode is Chef Douglas, Chef de Cuisine at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort on the catering and convention team. The Merrill family prepared elevated grilled cheese with tomato soup in a pumpkin coach bread bowl while the Robbins family made a Gus Gus inspired breakfast including potato hash, bacon, and eggs. Which family wins? You’ll have to watch to find out.
The grand prize at the end of the series is a Disney Cruise Line vacation to the Bahamas and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. The competition is done bracket style, so both the Merrill family and Robbins family will be returning to face off against other competitors on their quest to win a dream vacation. I’ll be tuning in each week, eager to see the Disney themes, meet the guest judges, and get a glimpse of some Walt Disney World magic.
I give Be Our Chef 4 out of 5 magic spoons.