2008 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Reviews

[TDC Nala]

I'm confused - by moving my post into this thread, is someone trying to tell that this is what I'm looking for? It's not! I'm looking for the bazillion page thread where everyone had been posting the maps for the F&W booths, the scorecards with the items at each booth, etc. Can anyone help?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1845843

That thread was replaced as a sticky by the review thread when the festival started, as readers stated that they preferred not to go through such a long thread looking for reviews.

It has not been posted to since 10/9, so it is on a later page.

 

[shovan]

We returned on Saturday from our F&W feasting. The Best event we've attended ( in our 3 yrs of F&W) was the French Regional Lunch! The food was outstanding, the service even better! We had Pierre Sparr wines that were excellent, Evan Goldstein was informative & funny. The servers continued to refill all 4 wines during the meal. It was very well paced leisurely lunch, overall great!

We also attended the City Taste of Puglia. Nice in that it was similar to PFTS, but had more than enough tables, food & wine for everyone. I'm sure Disney will feel like they lost money on this one. There were many empty tables & lots of food leftover. The food was good, but nothing really outstanding. We did feel like the wines were all of very good quality. Enjoyed that we were able to taste some wines not available here in the U.S.. But at the same time, disappointed because some were really excellent & we would like to enjoy them again. Down side of this event, there was no program. So other than the few handouts from some of the wineries, we have no idea what we drank or ate.

Biggest disappointment this year, the scaled down seminars. Because there is only one wine seminar being held, instead of 2 as in years past, they were extremely crowded. If you did not get in line at least an hour beforehand, you weren't getting in. Not only did this cause people to leave one seminar & get right back in line for the next. But it also caused people to get up early from seminars to get back in line.

The Culinary demo's were also just as crowded.

I don't know if it's because it's our 3rd year, but we weren't all that excited by the food at the booths. There were a few of stand outs. Argentinian beef with chimichurri sauce was good. All three dishes at the India booth were very good, as was the food from Spain. We liked the Bobotie & the Durban spiced Chicken with the sauce was better than the past year's. Canadian Salmon has been consistently good, but the Cheddar Soup seemed starchy & the size did shrink. The Louisiana Bread pudding was excellent, but the gumbo was not authentic ( to us New Orleanians).

Overall we had a good time. Still disappointed that there were less pairings this year & the way things worked out, we were only able to do the 2 events.

We did enjoy some excellent meals at several Disney restaurants. Blue Zoo, Narcoosee's & breakfast at Cape May were our favs. Artist Point's food was also good, but we didn't have the best server.

 

[EpcotLove]

The chicken from Cape Town was soooooooooooooooooooo amazing. If you like chicken, do not miss this. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..we had some like 4 times this past week!

I had wine from France, Italy, Greece, and Cape Town. All very tasty. I wish I could remember which was my favorite. lol

 

[shovan]

Our favorite wine at the booths was again, Spain's Abadia Retuerta. Big bold delicious red. Favorite new drink, Nuvo Sparkling Vodka. Light fruity flowery and warm going down. Very very different, but at 15 bucks a pop, we only enjoyed one.

 

[BriarRosie]

Oh, Tinkerbelle, calm down! Do you get a kick back from people who have only positive things to say about PFTS?

I would like it to be organized like an elegant cocktail party with people dressed nicely and no table squatting but I clearly said in my post that they can go the other way , too. I don't care- let it be a sit down event if that's what most people want. But if that's what they want, then give people enough tables and chairs for the # of people at the party!

I think overcrowding had a lot to do with the overall problems this year, because they sold out the event on 10/18 (which never usually happened in prior years) plus had a lot of comps given out, since this is Year 2 of a Million Comps.

I know from 5-6 years of experience what I'm getting myself into, and I tried to impart that info to those going for the first time this year. While some people took it in stride, others felt that it was too much of a hassle for them. I might have felt that way had this been my first year, too.

Luckily, the good news is that I doubt they will comp next year like they did this year, so perhaps the crowd levels at the PFTS will calm down a bit. Hopefully if they add back some events next year, it will also help with the amount of admissions sold.

 

[vicki_c]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1845843

That thread was replaced as a sticky by the review thread when the festival started, as readers stated that they preferred not to go through such a long thread looking for reviews.

It has not been posted to since 10/9, so it is on a later page.

Thanks!

 

[Tatania]

Hi,
Do any of you have the recipe for the Butternut Squash and Scallop Pasta. I think it was Tim Donnelly from Publix on Oct 29th...I seem to have lost it, and it was absolutely delicious!! Thanks!!

This was posted on the recipe thread and I thought perhaps we might get luckier here finding someone who was at this demo.

kielbasa and pierogies recipe anyone know how to make this?? We had it last week at the f & W and they were sooo good.

I'll post the recipe today on the Disney Recipe exchange. If anyone has new recipes from this years' food demos or food booths, please feel free to add them.

 

[TreesyB]

where's the recipe exchange? Is the recipe for the Australian lamb chop and carmelized onion there? I want it so bad!

And I know I should have bought the recipe gift book. Are there some recipes from there on the thread?

 

[dizneykid]

Our favorite wine at the booths was again, Spain's Abadia Retuerta. Big bold delicious red. Favorite new drink, Nuvo Sparkling Vodka. Light fruity flowery and warm going down. Very very different, but at 15 bucks a pop, we only enjoyed one.

Remember - you can get the whole bottle of Nuvo for about $16.00-$20.00. We keep a steady supply at home. Yummy, isn't it!!

 

[Tatania]

where's the recipe exchange? Is the recipe for the Australian lamb chop and carmelized onion there? I want it so bad!

And I know I should have bought the recipe gift book. Are there some recipes from there on the thread?

The Disney Recipe Index is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1777635

The Disney recipe exchange: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1575103

The recipe you want is F&W Festival: Grilled Lamb Chops with Caramelized Onions (Australia) on page 151 and there are MANY Food and Wine festival recipes there.

 

[webray]

Hi Guys...

Here are a few photos from the Victoria and Albert's dinner this past Sunday evening. It was fantastic!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZtGTFw5ZuGLpo

(just paste this link in your browser)

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Great pictures Cheryl! We skipped V&A's the last two visits and are so overdue for a visit. I'm salivating over the food pics. The fig dish looked rather interesting...what was that? I have extreme food envy now. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Remember - you can get the whole bottle of Nuvo for about $16.00-$20.00. We keep a steady supply at home. Yummy, isn't it!!

Wow...I'm totally jealous. We get whacked for $24.99 for a bottle at home. Gotta find me a cheaper liquor store!

 

[webray]

Remember - you can get the whole bottle of Nuvo for about $16.00-$20.00. We keep a steady supply at home. Yummy, isn't it!!

We get the large bottle here for $19.99, it only pours about three glasses though.

 

[webray]

Great pictures Cheryl! We skipped V&A's the last two visits and are so overdue for a visit. I'm salivating over the food pics. The fig dish looked rather interesting...what was that? I have extreme food envy now. Thanks for sharing with us.

The menu was:

Amuse Bouche
Kona Kampachi with Edamame Puree, Crispy-Aromatic Salad and Miso Vinaigrette, Dungeness Crab Custard Baked in an Egg Shell with Fresh King Crab paired with Dom Perignon Brut 1999

Maine Lobster Cannelloni with Baby Greens, Radishes, Caviar and French Blue Lobster, paired with S de Suduiraut, Bordeaux 2005

John Dory with Fresh Garbanzo Beans, Zellwood Corn and Geoduck Clam in a Salt Bowl paired with Marcel Deiss Pinot Blanc Bergheim, Alsace 2005

Duo of North Carolina Guinea Hen with Kabocha Squash and matsutake Mushrooms paired with Les Hauts de Pontet-Canet, Pauillac 2003

Juniper Berry seasoned Minnesota Elk with Mustad Spaetzle and Caraway Wine Kraut paired with Chateau Pontet-Canet, Pauillac 2001

Vialone Nano Risotto with White Truffles from Alba

Prime Rib of Veal with Fall Vegetable Ragout, Chestnuts, Pancetta and Macoun Apple Salad paired with Chateau Pontet-Canet 1990

Salad of Arugula, Watercress, Endive and Walnuts with a Fourme d'Amert Fondue paired with a Quinta do Noval 2003 Vintage (port) (this had the fig on the side)

Blood Orange Gateau with Exotic Fruits and Pomegranate Air paired with Dom Perignon Brut 1999

Celebes Coffee and Friandise

 

[shovan]

Remember - you can get the whole bottle of Nuvo for about $16.00-$20.00. We keep a steady supply at home. Yummy, isn't it!!

Thanks Jeanne! I hadn't seen it before & had no idea of the cost. I'm going to go find me some!

Sheryl

 

[bob6sims]

How I wish I was there

We loved the FWF last year .

All those tasty treats....makes my mouth water

 

[married@wdw]

The Nuvo sounds like something I'd like. Keeping a few notes of things we want to try...where can we find this at F&W?

 

[dizneykid]

The Nuvo sounds like something I'd like. Keeping a few notes of things we want to try...where can we find this at F&W?

You can find Nuvo at the Les Vins des Chefs de France which is a little kiosk across from the Chefs de France Restaurant. ENJOY!

 

[TreesyB]

The Disney Recipe Index is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1777635

The Disney recipe exchange: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1575103

The recipe you want is F&W Festival: Grilled Lamb Chops with Caramelized Onions (Australia) on page 151 and there are MANY Food and Wine festival recipes there.

oooh thanks! I wanted the shrimp recipe too!