Ten Reasons to Try Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival

I’m no expert, having been only once, but I can tell you –  Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival is a great big bunch of fun!  Raymond and I went last year and are planning another trip to the festival with our (adult) children in 2016…We can’t wait to show them the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that make up one of the very best special events Walt Disney World has to offer.  53 Days of awesomeness!  We’ve tried Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival, we’ve completely enjoyed Star Wars Weekends, but now that the kids will both be over 21 – it’ll be time to eat and drink (responsibly) and enjoy this experience together.  We can’t WAIT!

Ten Reasons to Try Epcot’s Food & Wine FestivalRM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Passport

1.  The Food & Wine Festival invites a more relaxed, laid back touring style.  Nobody’s in a hurry.  Folks are friendly, they share tables, strike up conversations.  Mosey, meander, sample scrumptious, international flavors, and do NOT rush from attraction to attraction in full commando-mode.  It’ll be fine to resume the hard-core touring tomorrow.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Griddled-Cheese

2.  Plan or Don’t Plan – Free-styling is okay!  Roam around World Showcase for hours on end – it’s a great reason to give yourself permission to go un-planned, un-FastPass+-ed, footloose and fancy free.  There are some amazing resources online that will allow you to preview all the food booth offerings before you go and select your Top Ten must-tries (or more).  A strategy is good!  So is a festival-on-the-fly attitude.  Plan some, un-plan some – no matter what, you’ll find something to love.Epcot-International-Food-and-Wine-Festival

3.  Weekdays are the BEST!  Most valuable advice we got pre-festival was to avoid weekends and it proved to be most excellent info!  The crowds were low when we hit the festival about 11:00 am with our special passport booklets and a loose plan for booths we didn’t want to miss.

4. Chillax with Music!  The “Eat to the Beat” concert series means you can pause to digest and ruminate to the tunes of well-know musical artists.  If I were going this year, I would totally want to see and hear Rick Springfield!  When I was 17, he was the man of my dreams!  (Hush, I know I’m old.)  *Sigh*  But Jessie’s Girl!  Live!  Squee!!!RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Table

5.  Splurge!!!  There are all kinds of special events within this special event.  Food & wine pairings, food & beer pairings, mixology seminars, culinary demonstrations, cheese seminars – whatever your taste, there’s something for you.  And merch!  Food & Wine has some really fantastic festival merchandise.  Posters and tee-shirts are just the beginning.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Landscape2

6. The Weather is Fine!  From late September to mid-November, the weather is some of the best you’ll ever find.  October average rainfall is about 3.3 inches compared to June’s of 7.6 inches.  With average temperature lows in the 60’s and highs in the 80’s, it’s an absolutely delightful time to be outdoors strolling among the Food & Wine booths.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Scotland

7. A Party in Your Mouth!  So many choices!  Exotic and familiar, meat, cheese, seafood, veggies – whatever you crave, sweet or savory, you’ll find something to your liking along the way.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Pepper-Bacon-Hash

8. Sample Awesome Adult Beverages – Yes, the servings are small and pricey, but fun.  Every booth has pairings of wine or beer to enjoy with different food items offered.  Be brave and reap the rewards!RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Boeuf-Bourguignon

9. Add a Touch of Romance – The World Showcase is a great place to experience as a couple.  Even more so during the Food & Wine Festival.  Pre-purchase a Memory Maker photo package for your trip and take advantage of the abundant Disney photographers stationed throughout the World Showcase to capture a romantic moment.EPCOT_BACKSIDE 4_7072200359

10.  Share! (and know when not to) – There’s so much to sample, getting a small bite here and there will allow you do try more flavors, but a few of the festival’s booths offer seriously amazing culinary delights (like Crispy Pork Belly) – you might need to savor an entire serving all on your own.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Crispy-Pork-Belly

Epcot Food & Wine: A Tale of Two Splurges

Epcot Food & Wine FestivalAt Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, a smorgasbord awaits visitors in the form of delicious dishes and beverages from all over the world.  For many guests, those festival-only flavors at the specialty booths and kiosks are enough of a draw.  Being able to eat and drink, traveling from country to country, is a fun and tasty way to spend the better part of a day or two.

There are also many special events available to visitors wishing for a more in-depth look at the Festival’s foods, wines, beers, recipes, chefs, and so on.  There’s a lot to choose from!  I was looking for a couple of extras Raymond and I could add that would fit in with our other vacation plans and would be special and unique without breaking the bank.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-LandscapeKeeping in mind that our trip would be like a second honeymoon, I ruled out things like cooking demonstrations and seminars as not being romantic enough – but I would love to try them next time.  I decided on the Italian Food and Wine Pairing (Italy Pavilion) in Via Napoli and the French Regional Lunch at Monsieur Paul (France Pavilion).  We enjoyed them both very much, but not for the reasons we expected.

Both experiences were similar in several ways.  They were at lunchtime, showcased their respective country’s foods and wines, and lasted a couple of hours.  They also both included a wine specialist to act as event host and explain how/why particular wines were selected, and how best to enjoy them.

The Italian Food & Wine Pairing at Via Napoli ($83 per person, plus tax, gratuity included) October 16, 2014RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-Table

We were greeted by several very friendly Cast Members and handed glasses of wine to enjoy while we waited.  Once the room was ready, we were welcomed into a large, open, very noisy seating area full of tables that looked literally covered in wine glasses.RM-Epcot-GaryThe acoustics made it impossible to talk to our table mates without practically yelling and was the single and significant downside to this event.  We sat with four other people who welcomed us warmly to the table and introduced themselves to us immediately.  We all wished we could hear each other better!  We visited over some delicious bread.RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-Soup

The first course was, for me, the best part of the meal.  A soup of beans and mussels (Zuppa di Cozze e Faglioli) with a big crusty piece of bread on it, like a giant crouton.  I found the soup to be flavorful and hearty like something I would love to make at home.  There are substitute dishes available if a guest doesn’t care for the particular dish being served – Melda, at our table ordered a Caprese salad and her husband, Gary, had melon with prosciutto. RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-Pizza The second course was a tiny individual pizza (Pizza Fritta).  It was very bread-ish with very little topping.  It was my least favorite course.  I decided not to eat all of it to save room for the other courses.  RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-BeefThe main course was Braciola di Manzo which was beef roulade with roasted vegetables.  Basically rolled up beef and veggies in a clear broth.  It wasn’t bad, it tasted okay, but didn’t knock our socks off or anything.  RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-DessertFinally, dessert – just a simple serving of three different sorbets and they were incredibly delicious!!!  If I’d been served only the bean soup and the sorbets, I’d have been perfectly happy.RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-Wine-Bottle  RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-MenuOf course with every dish was a different wine to sample – like the food, some servings were better than others.  Once dessert was finished, the wine expert mingled with the crowd to make sure everyone had enjoyed their lunch.  RM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-HostRM-Italian-Food-and-Wine-Pairing-Gift-BiscottiOne the way out, each guest was given a small bag of Via Napoli Cantucci (biscotti) and the recipe for making it.

High points:  The hospitality, our super sweet and friendly table-mates, the pre-lunch glass of wine, the biscotti as a goodbye gift, the soup, the dessert.

Low points:  The noisiness of the room, the pizza (I expected better from Via Napoli), the entrée.

The French Regional Lunch at Monsieur Paul ($135 per person plus tax, gratuity included) October 17, 2014RM-French-Regional-Lunch-M.Paul

The welcome wasn’t as nice as over in the Italy Pavilion – we waited outside Monsieur Paul in a hot, crowded mass until we were allowed to climb the stairs into the restaurant – and that was a long, slow process.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-SeatingOnce inside the dining room, though, we were enchanted with the décor, the place settings, and our view from our window-side table.    RM-French-Regional-Lunch-ViewMuch quieter and considerably more elegant than our setting at Via Napoli, we once again sat with two couples.  The couple closest to us, we discovered, will be sailing with us on our next Disney cruise in June, 2015!  That was a fun surprise.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Table

The speaker/wine expert for our lunch was Cedric Villars – the U.S. Portfolio Manager, Domaines Barons do Rothschild (Lafite), Pasternak Wine Import.  Our Chefs de Cuisine was Francesco Santin.  I know this because there was a nifty little booklet at each place setting that explained details about the lunch, and descriptions of every wine served.  There were even some pages for taking notes.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-MenuThis was a very welcome and special touch.  What the materials did not detail was the dishes served – I’ll do my best, but at times I wasn’t sure exactly what I was eating.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Amuse-Bouche

The first course, the amuse-bouche, was a delicately flavored slice of pastry-wrapped….I have no idea, but I’m guessing it was meat of some sort.  This was served in a clear broth.  It tasted fine, I found the textures a bit odd together, and overall it was nothing to write home about.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Soup

Next was a mushroom soup with chestnuts (Veloute de cepes, crème de celerie et marrons).  It was very tasty!  Even Raymond ate his soup and he’s not a mushroom fan.  It was rich and creamy and delicious.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Duck

Duck Cassoulet was the main course and it was very simple (probably much more complicated that it looked) but scrumptious. I thought the serving sizes were just right for each course.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Mystery Dish

There was even a surprise mystery dish – which was good, but I couldn’t tell you what was in it.  It wasn’t on the menu and we thought maybe the chef was just being creative and made us a little something extra.  We were feeling pretty full at this point, but there was still one course left.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Dessert

Dessert just blew us away!  Obviously, we were surprised by our personalized servings of the Chestnut dome with vanilla rum cream, caramel sauce, meringue, raisin compote, and vanilla ice cream.  This was absolutely amazing!  It wasn’t overly sweet, the different flavors and textures created such a unique and special treat.  I found myself eating every single bite!RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Chefs

When lunch was coming to an end, all the chefs and servers were presented to the guests and we applauded as they took a walk around the dining room.  It was a fun touch and gave the impression of teamwork and pride in an well executed event.

High Points:  The setting, the event materials and attention to detail, the dessert, and the overall elegance of the experience.

Low Points:  The hot wait outside and the congested, slow walk up the stairway leading to the restaurant.

Raymond and I enjoyed both lunches, but the French Regional Lunch was our favorite of the two.

Have you tried any of the special events available during Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival?  Which would you recommend?

 

 

 

 

Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival – Tasty Treats and Splurges

RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-LandscapeOur first Epcot International Food & Wine festival was a rousing success!  Maybe we should feel a little bit defeated because we didn’t taste all of the dishes on our must-try list, but NO!  We’re not sorry about that one bit.  We had a wonderful time and are formulating plans to return to Walt Disney World again in the fall of 2016 (right after Joseph turns 21!).

I could wax poetic for days about the delicious food, interesting wines and beers, festive party atmosphere, and fun fellow foodies, but instead I think this calls for a list!  Dear, sweet readers, I give to you our…

Top 10 Things We Loved at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival (imagine “da-da-da-da” horns blowing here)

10.  The Rose & Crown Pub – Enjoyable anytime, this place is HOPPING during Food & Wine.  You’d think the kiosks & food booths would get all the attention, but no!  Those rediculously tiny beer samples that go along with the special food offerings seem to make people gravitate towards the places where you can still buy a full serving of adult refreshment.  We didn’t stop at the Rose & Crown for beer on our initial trip around World Showcase…we’d heard about the very reasonably priced single malt scotch flight (Thank you, Mr. Dutch Lombrowski!) and dropped in specifically for that experience.  Excellent!!!RM-Rose-and-Crown

9. Boeuf Bourguignon and French Men Who Shout – Very delicious dish in France, that Boeuf Bourguignon, made even more fun by the tall, strapping young French lad working the food booth – He yelled out each order as they came in (each guest hands their receipt to the Cast Member working the booth) and when I yelled at him in French to say, “That’s right! Very good, thanks!” – He yelled right back in French to say, “You’re Welcome!!!”  Both of us grinning from ear to ear.  Good times.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Boeuf-Bourguignon

8. Two Hour Lunches With Lots of Wine – These were our splurges.  Would we have enjoyed the festival without them?  Absolutely, but I’m so glad we decided to book two very special experiences – The Italian Food & Wine Pairing (Via Napoli) and the French Regional Lunch (Monsieur Paul).  While I will write individual reviews on each, let me just say that these events are so much fun, one of our table mates (Hi Patti!) in Via Napoli admitting to being a repeat attendee – and she doesn’t drink wine!  If you’re anti-social or take your wine very seriously, these lunches are probably not for you.RM-French-Regional-Lunch-Table

7.  Passport Stamping – Guests get a souvenir passport with each country’s foods/beverages in it and can have a Cast Member in each country stamp the booklet as the booth is visited.  Simple, but fun!RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Passport

6. Pepper Bacon Hash – At the Farm Fresh booth.  Seriously – this was good stuff!  Hash, Hollandaise, jalapenos on top.  Had it not been so crowded (with lots of potential witnesses), we would have licked the empty container.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Pepper-Bacon-Hash

RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Pepper-Bacon-Hash-Container5. Sharing – This is the key to Food & Wine Festival happiness.  Knowing that sharing means you can taste more food and sample more beers and wines.  Also knowing when NOT to share is key.  More on that in a sec.

4. Glorious Weather and Beautiful Landscaping – We were so thankful for both.  Stopping to enjoy and appreciate the wonderful surroundings is important to us!  It helps us maximize our enjoyment of every single second.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Landscape2

3.  A Seared Sea Scallop, Some Garlic Shrimp and Griddled Cheese – All were absolutely wonderful!  The scallop was from Scotland, the shrimp from Australia, and the cheese from Greece.  Oh, the FOOD!  These were among our absolute favorite flavors.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-ScallopRM-Epcot-Food&Wine-ShrimpRM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Griddled-Cheese

2.  Meeting Duffy the Disney Bear (and lots of other fun folks!) – Sounds weird, the Duffy thing, I know!  We knew where Duffy would be on the Mexico-side of the World Showcase’s entrance since we saw him posing for pictures there in May.  I can think of no way to soften this – our kids loathe, detest, and despise Duffy.  So, being the loving parents that we are, we decided even before we left home for vacation that we needed to have our picture made with Duffy to send to the kids!  The joke was really on us – Duffy was hilarious and super sweet!  We loved Duffy in his cute little pumpkin outfit.  Sigh.  That Duffy!RM-Duffy

1. Crispy. Pork. Belly.  Just say it out loud once or twice and imagine how delicious it sounds… guess what?  It tastes even better!  This, we did not share.  You want to know how to stay married to the same person for 25 years?  Know when NOT to share.  Each of us had our own serving of this incredibly decadent Brazilian delicacy.  We may have made a couple of yummmm sounds, but we ate in companionable silence.  And were happy.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Crispy-Pork-Belly

So It’s Not the Food & Whine Festival

View of World ShowcaseI had a moment of panic today when I thought we might have a problem with our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.  We might have erred, made a mistake, screwed up, taken a wrong turn.  We have certainly looked forward to this particular trip for years (and years!) – I realized today that our expectations could possibly be a tad too high – we might have set ourselves up to be disappointed.  Food & Wine rookie mistake?  Perhaps.

I’d been determined to use my existing knowledge of WDW vacation strategies along with some tips and suggestions from friends, websites, and podcasts to make sure we have a great time – regardless of the weather, the crowd levels, the price tags.  It is our 25th anniversary trip after all and we want it to be memorable – in a good way. Wine Wall in Epcot's Tutto Gusto

The source of my panic…

Do you know Safari Mike?  He and his buddy Dave McBride host the Radio Harambe Podcast – which is one of my absolute favorite, not-to-be-missed shows (no, it’s not your imagination, I do have a bunch of favorite Disney podcasts).  Anyway, on the latest episode of Radio Harambe, Mike said some rather negative things about the Food and Wine Festival – yes, the very event I’ve been waiting years and years to finally attend!  Imagine my horror – my lonely little self, driving along in the car on the way to work, happily enjoying the show and POW!  Waves of doubt came crashing over me!  What if the trip we’d used as a carrot to keep us going through our children’s teen years was not going to be the magical, epic, spectacular week (alone, at last!)  we were envisioning?

Epcot's World ShowcaseNever one to sit and brood, I went straight to the source and reached out to Safari Mike on Twitter.  I asked him for some details about the cause of his somewhat sour attitude toward the event at the heart of Raymond’s and my dream trip.  Mike cleared everything right up for me – it seems that if you go to Food & Wine several times, you become quite familiar with its pros and cons.  Mike offered some valuable tips I’ll share with you now.  I’ll be new to Food & Wine and don’t yet have any tricks and strategies of my own – but with Mike’s help, you and I can make sure that our first visit to Food & Wine doesn’t turn out to be food & whine.

Safari Mike’s Advice and Tips for Enjoying the Food & Wine Festival:  China Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase

1. Weekdays at lunchtime and early afternoon are great times to enjoy the festival – This is good news!  I’d prepared for this by planning to spend Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning/early afternoon at Epcot with no plans other than sampling good eats and drinks and soaking in the festival’s atmosphere.

2. Be prepared for crowds and pricey food – Not much we can do about the crowds except by trying to mostly follow tip #1, but we’re attempting to combat the prices by purchasing a bunch of discounted gift cards in advance.  We can buy $150-worth of cards at our local big box club for $143.  No, it’s not much, but if we set aside the money and stick with the cards for a budget, it’ll keep sticker shock at bay.

Germany Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase3. Expect a different World Showcase experience – the atmosphere of World Showcase is not as it usually is – don’t expect to enjoy it the same way as during other time of the year.  This is also good news for us since we had a wonderful time enjoying our favorite World Showcase pavilions, stores, and restaurants during our May visit.

4. Hit the most popular booths early – I’m pretty sure I know what these are, but a little extra research is in order.  I’ve read that there will be something like 66 different specialty food offerings available.  If I can narrow that list down to a dozen or so we’d really like to try, I think that’ll be doable.

5. The Food & Wine Festival and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party are two events every Walt Disney World fan should try.  That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.  Mike may have been the one to throw me into a bit of a panic, but he was also the one to calm me back down.  We are going to Food & Wine and Mickey’s Not So Scary and we are Walt Disney World fans.  I think we’ve got this.

Got any tips and tricks for Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival?  Please leave them in comments! 

Follow Safari Mike (@JamboEveryone) on Twitter.

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