New Disney Theme Park Nets Puck Seafood Restaurant

Wolfgang Puck Food Co. will operate a 250-seat seafood restaurant with a 100-seat cocktail lounge inside California Adventure, the Walt Disney Co. amusement park that opens next year in Anaheim.

Disney said Tuesday that the restaurant, Avalon Cove, will resemble a sand castle from the outside and will have an undersea motif inside.

Puck Food’s president, Frank Guidara, told The Times a year ago that Puck would run a restaurant inside the park, but no details were disclosed at that time. Puck Food operates a restaurant outside Disney World’s four parks in Florida in the Downtown Disney entertainment zone.

Puck, whose restaurants include Spago Hollywood, Chinois on Main in Santa Monica and Granita in Malibu, as well as the Puck Cafe chain, is the fourth food company selected for the new park. The others are Robert Mondavi Wines, Andre-Boudin Bakeries and Mission Foods.

Disney hopes to broaden its appeal in its Anaheim expansion by including better restaurants and an upscale hotel and by opening Downtown Disney, a shopping, dining and nightclub zone between the new park and Disneyland.

Analysts say those components are a crucial part of the mix that Disney hopes will transform Anaheim into a destination resort for vacationers.