David Montoya, a front of house culinary support specialist, says that his passion in life is simple: he loves food. From visiting restaurants to expand his palette, to spending evening dinners deciphering the key flavors in a dish, Chef Montoya’s favorite pastime is dreaming up new dishes.
“When I go to eat at new restaurants, my first thought is always, ‘How can I replicate something like this? How can I put a twist on it? How can I bring it to our locations?’”
For Chef Montoya, the opportunity to bring unique culinary experiences to guests is what makes his job at Pym Test Kitchen in Disney California Adventure Park so fulfilling. He fell in love with the art of food as a steward at Golden Vine Winery in Disney California Adventure Park nearly 13 years ago.
“I liked the organized chaos and how fast paced the kitchen was,” said Chef Montoya. “I immediately went to work in food prep, and then when I finally became an order cook, I fell in love with it. I kept progressing in any way I could. I was reading and learning. The rest is history.”
Collaborative effort brings new item to the Pym Test Kitchen menu: the Humongous Taco Salad
This year, Chef Montoya got the unique opportunity to work with a team of fellow innovators at Disneyland Resort to create the newest subatomic Pym Test Kitchen menu item, the Humongous Taco Salad, which includes a one-of-a-kind super-sized taco shell.
The process for making an Ant-Man-themed Humongous Taco Salad requires humongous amounts of collaboration, which Chef Montoya says is the key ingredient to creating any new Disneyland food item.
Chef Montoya (fourth from left) stands alongside his fellow team members who helped create the Humongous Taco Salad, a new addition to the Pym Test Kitchen menu.
“One chef threw out a cool idea to do something with a taco shell. So, I started looking online and calling our vendors to see what kind of molds we could use to give the salad a fried tortilla. Nothing was out there. It’s a giant taco shell. It’s massive and unheard of,” said Chef Montoya.
Pym Test Kitchen chefs use Disney innovation to create huge taco shells
In the true spirit of innovation, Chef Montoya turned to some unexpected partners to help bring the taco shell of his imagination to Pym Test Kitchen’s menu.
“I just kept thinking of ideas until finally I realized that our [Disneyland Resort] metal shop team could possibly make it. I reached out to their manager, and we soon teamed up,” said Chef Montoya. “I gave them a drawing of how the mold would need to be shaped and what I thought the dimensions could be. They said it was perfect and that the drawing made it easier for them. Two days later, we had our mold.”
Once the Disneyland Resort metal shop team made their own behind-the-scenes magic, Chef Montoya and his fellow cast members at Pym Test Kitchen began to work on pinpointing what makes an Avengers-level salad.
Chef Montoya shows off his creation of the Humongous Taco Salad at Pym Test Kitchen.
“If one chef had a morning shift, they’d start making a dressing. Then they’d combine it with romaine and try it. If they thought it was good, we all would try it later. I would do some components and other chefs would do other components. Eventually we took all the ingredients and put them together,” said Chef Montoya.
This detailed process was repeated for nearly three months until the culinary team at Pym Test Kitchen determined they had created the Pym-particle-perfect salad to add to the foods of Disneyland Resort. Today, the Pym Test Kitchen’s Humongous Taco Salad is a guest favorite, with the kitchen at one point making a record-breaking 800 salads in a single day.
Chef Montoya says that although taste is subjective, developing new Disney food offerings has very little to do with what one person likes versus another person, but instead, the process takes every guest into consideration through consistent teamwork.
“Someone will make a sauce and someone else will ask if we can make the same flavor if we take out an ingredient, like soy, that people are often allergic to,” said Chef Montoya. “Collaboration with your team is everything. I don’t know everything and sometimes the next chef doesn’t know something, but a different chef does. It’s all about teamwork and collaborating to make it a success and keep moving forward.”
The food and beverage team, including Chef Montoya, show off their newest creation, the Humongous Taco Salad at Pym Test Kitchen in Avengers Campus.
For innovators like Chef Montoya, working at Disneyland Resort continues to provide the space and support for him to create new Disneyland food offerings that guests have never seen before. With this kind of blank slate in the kitchen, the possibilities are endless… and delicious.
Sample the Pym Test Kitchen Menu Yourself
To try the Humongous Taco Salad yourself, guests can visit Pym Test Kitchen (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure Park. You might even run into the man who first helped bring super-sized taco shells to Disneyland Resort.