Storytellers Café – A Tribute to the Art of Story

Do you have a restaurant where you feel instantly relaxed and immersed in the atmosphere? One of my favorite restaurants is the Storytellers Café in Downtown Disney Anaheim. It’s part of the Grand Californian Hotel that borders Disneyland. Not only is the food delicious, but also the setting and theme make me want to settle in the comfy booth and take it all in.

Storytellers Café is dedicated to the age-old tradition of storytelling.

The waiting area is decorated with this quotation from author Geoffrey Chaucer to get you thinking about reading and stories before you even sit down to eat.

The large wall hangings depict scenes from California folklore. This one is from Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. It’s about miners training frogs to jump and betting on which could jump highest and bilking each other out of money.

The painting on the end shows the young woman from Island of the Blue Dolphins. This suspenseful and uplifting adventure by Scott O’Dell won the Newberry Medal.

Recently I was delighted to connect with one of the artists who helped create this place. Diane Winters did some of the letter block tiles above the open kitchen, as well as other parts of the décor. Diane designed these lovely tiles. 

She knew the people who worked on the massive mural of a young boy with an open book.

Diane has good memories of her time working against deadlines to open the café. She writes:

“You know, Disneyland calls itself the happiest place on earth. The folks who were overseeing the construction of the hotel and grounds could not have been more patient and helpful and gracious under what must have been enormous pressure and stress just before the hotel was to open in January 2001. Work was going on round the clock in three 8-hour shifts, workers dealing with every different element navigating around one another like a three-ring circus – large cranes going in and out of the lobby to hoist up the giant light fixtures, Mexican stone setters in cowboy hats laying pathways, a huge number of full-grown evergreen trees being brought in and planted in a single day between the hotel and the pool plaza. Downtown Disney was still being finished too. A thousand or so people were regularly on site.

“And the Disney Imagineering people were as calm and kind as could be.”

Diane’s artistry can also be found in the pool tile design outside the café.

You’ll also find her friend Susan Dannenfelser’s delightful dancing bears in the hotel lobby.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, plan a meal at the Storytellers Café. Breakfast features Disney characters and Mickey Mouse waffles to charm the young at heart, and dinner is complete with homemade breads, a buffet laden with all manner of food, and scrumptious desserts. You’ll want to write a story all about your experience!

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