Just a reminder to everyone! The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival officially opens tomorrow!

The shrimp taco was one of my favorite treats last year. What was yours? Don’t forget to check out this year’s new booths:

Florida will be offering shrimp ceviche with fire roasted veggies, fried plantains and cilantro, as well as a white corn arepa with pork rillette and sweet corn salad. There are local brews and cocktails available too! The Florida booth is located in the American Adventure Pavilion!

Terra is the new vegetarian both to check out! There will be a veggie chili and a veggie “chicken” curry! The Terra booth is located at the entrance to World Showcase from Future World.

Those will be my first visits tomorrow and then I’ll probably head to Mexico for my crispy shrimp taco fix!

If you have a Chase Visa there is a card holder’s lounge in the Festival Center–I’m going to check that out tomorrow as well!

Don’t forget that Epcot’s 3oth anniversary is on Monday! There are special events being hosted all day. The limited edition Epcot 30 merchandise hits the shelves tomorrow! (Some of it is very limited–the iPhone case I have my eye on is an addition of only 300 pieces!)

Bistro de Paris in Epcot’s France Pavilion has won the Theme Park Insider’s award for Best Restaurant three years in a row. Since 2002 only three others have won this distinction: Blue Bayou at Disneyland, Mythos at Universal’s Island’s of Adventure and Chefs de France right down stairs from Bistro. (Mythos managed to win six years in a row.) Best theme park restaurant is certainly subjective. I think the best restaurant in a theme park is the Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, the people have spoken, which meant that I needed to go eat! (You can find out more about the Theme Park Insider at http://www.themeparkinsider.com/)

Bistro de Paris is a Signature Dining restaurant at Walt Disney World. There are only a handful of them and they are supposed to have the highest level of service and the best quality of food. This also makes them small, popular, and expensive. As we will soon see, just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s good. If you are going to head to Bistro de Paris and you are using the Disney Dining Plan, be aware that your meal will cost you two Table Service Credits. The only discount available at Bistro is the Tables in Wonderland card and Bistro de Paris is only open for dinner.

I absolutely love Chefs de France, so I assumed that I would love it’s big brother. We all know what happens when you assume, right? I already knew the wine list was impeccable. If you ask nicely they will let you order from the Bistro by the bottle list at Chefs. I headed into the France Pavilion quite a bit early for my reservation and found the small sign and hostess stand that barely announces that there is a restaurant to be found within. It was no problem to be seated early and I was whisked away up the stairs. It’s a good thing too, because there isn’t any waiting area down stairs. Once up the stairs I was met by another host who told me they would be able to seat me in just a few minutes. About five minutes later I was being led through an almost empty dining room to a table for two in the center area of the room.

My waiter greeted me shortly there after and I ordered a bottle of sparkling water and asked for time to peruse the wines by the glass list. My waiter explained that they only had liter size bottles of sparkling, did I want something else? I also explained to him that I had noted on the reservation that I had an allergy and since he hadn’t mentioned it, I wanted to make sure he knew. He looked vaguely confused. My sparkling water appeared while I looked at the menu, although a chef from the kitchen did not.

My waiter came back to the table to take my dinner order and I let him know what I wanted. He took the order and went back to the kitchen to talk to the chef. He was back fairly quickly to let me know that everything I had ordered had nuts in it. One of the dishes they could take them out of, but not the others. Okay then. It took three trips back to the kitchen to determine what I could and couldn’t have. I would have been a lot happier if they had just sent someone who knew the menu out to talk to me in the first place. Turns out that five of the seven appetizers on the menu have nuts in them. I was so frustrated that I didn’t even bother with asking about entrees. It would have taken another year. I decided to go with two appetizers and dessert.

After all of this happened, the glass of wine I ordered, a Pouilly Fumé appeared at the table along with a French baguette, butter and as amuse bouche of vichyssoise (cold leek soup) with a Parmesan froth. I wondered, as I ate, why there wasn’t a French cheese used for this, however it might have been the best bite I had for most of the evening!

My first course of Serrano ham with celery root remoulade and artichoke hearts arrived, after about twenty minutes. I can only assume that my waiter had to grab the dish from some crazy French chef and pick the nuts off of it himself. It looks tasty and it was. The saltiness of the ham pared well with the delicate flavors of artichoke and the celery root, which was almost a slaw, provided a nice textural balance. The dots of balsamic glaze placed around the plate added another element of both sweet and sour to the dish. Unfortunately, or not as would later seem to be the case, this dish is enormous. It is definitely big enough for two people to share if they have entrees following. I was almost full when I finished. While I was waiting for my next course I noticed fairly large sized entrees going out to other tables. I would be prepared for larger than normal French restaurant portions. Bigger, however, is not always better.

My next dish was to be a fresh goat cheese terrine with tomato aspic and zucchini salad. The dish looked lovely upon arrival, all topped with tiny micro herbs. Alas, I had two bites and sent it back to the kitchen–it was too rich to eat. Everything on the plate from the cheese to the vinegar dressing on the zucchini was acidic and altogether unpalatable. I really wanted to love this dish because I love cheese, but it was not to be. I would steer clear of this one.

I probably should have just wrapped it up there, but a French restaurant can’t possible ruin dessert. Thankfully Bistro de Paris lived up to it’s reputation when it came time for my raspberry soufflé. It was perfectly cooked with red raspberries running throughout and a warm chocolate center. The red berry sorbet that came along side it was delightfully refreshing against the chocolate. Beware, however, that this is a blond soufflé base with chocolate inside, not chocolate and chocolate. Sadly, a bad restaurant experience cannot be saved by dessert. Between the very slow service, the lack of menu knowledge of the waiter, the absence of the chef in the dining room, and an inedible course, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to Bistro de Paris unless they change the menu. I’ll have to be content with Chefs de France.

Those of you who have been following my blog, know that I’ve been absent for a few weeks. My apologies, but I’m back and settled in at my new apartment in Orlando, Florida! If you’ve been following, you also know that I decided to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern for my first meal in Orlando. I know you’ve had to wait, but I’m back with the review of my experience. I’ve been to Liberty Tree Tavern several times in the past few months and I have really enjoyed every dinner I’ve had. I have yet to make it over there for lunch, but it’s on my list of things to do! Liberty Tree Tavern serves Thanksgiving Dinner all year round and it’s one of my favorite dining experiences at Walt Disney World. The Colonial Tavern theming perfectly matches the rustic home style food they serve. I also appreciate that every single time I’ve been there the service has been above average, even though the dining room is always busy and I can frequently tell that the servers are over loaded with tables!

When you arrive at the Liberty Tree you are greeted by hosts dressed in Colonial garb and welcomed into the check in area, which is just to the left of the door. I’ve noticed that this area can be particularly congested right at dinner time. Reservations are almost certainly necessary for dinner, as I’ve seen lots of disappointed guests turned away right at the door. You may be able to walk up for lunch, your best bet is to try right around 11:30am, before the lunch rush starts! After checking in, you’ll likely be given a pager and be told to wait in the spacious Great Room. There are several sitting areas scattered around the outside edge of the room and a table set up with crayons and patriotic Minnie and Mickey designs for the kiddos to color. Of course, if there’s room, the adults are welcome to color as well! When the buzzer goes off and your family name is called, you’ll be escorted into one of several dining rooms. Each dining room is themed to a particular Colonial Era leader: George and Martha Washington, Ben Franklin, and Betsy Ross are just a few of them.

On my most recent visit I was seated in the John Paul Jones Dining Room, which has a nautical theme.  John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor who is considered the first hero of the American Navy. He commanded several different ships during the American Revolution and was responsible for the conquest of many different British vessels during the war.

After being seated, your server will take your beverage order. All non-alcoholic beverages are included in the cost of your meal, except for Patriot’s Punch and Glowing Character Punch, those come with a take home Liberty Tree Tavern mug and will run you just over $8.00 extra. Dinner costs $35.99 for adults and $17.99 for children and is an all you care to eat meal.

The sponsorship at LTT has changed recently. Stouffer’s is out and Craisins by Oceanspray has taken over. This has resulted in some menu changes, but the mac and cheese is still the Stouffer’s variety.

After your drinks arrive both rolls and salad arrive at the table. The rolls come with maple syrup butter, which is definitely on the sweet side. I noticed that the rolls themselves have changed slightly and are flatter and more airy then I remember from past visits. Don’t fill up on bread, there’s plenty more coming! The salad is a garden salad with tomato, cucumber, lettuce and onion and is dressed with a strawberry vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is again sweet, but I find I really enjoy it! One of the things I noticed on this visit is that they have adjusted the portion size for solo diners. In the past, I’ve had a huge bowl of salad arrive that takes up most of the table for two, when you figure in the salad plate and the rolls that are still on the table. I was pleased to find that a serving for one, on a salad plate, was delivered to my table on this visit. This is a vast improvement for solo diners. You can always ask for more salad if you’d like it!

After the salad course, the huge Thanksgiving themed spread begins to arrive at the table. Once again, in the past I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of plates that arrived at my very small table. This course has been redesigned for the solo traveler as well. I ended up with one plate with a little bit of everything. Liberty Tree Tavern has added zucchini as an additional veggie and I was excited to see more green on my plate and slightly less of the offending orange mac and cheese. I’m not a huge fan of Stouffer’s mac and cheese and my visits to LTT have not increased my love. (They don’t sponsor anymore, so maybe we could get some yummy homemade mac and cheese, couldn’t we?)

In addition to those two items you’ll find green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, strip steak, and another change! LTT used to serve what I thought of as holiday ham, that’s been replaced by a very tasty pork loin! I only had a few slivers of the pork on my plate and after the first bite, I immediately asked for more! I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the beef on my plate was closer to medium rare than the medium well I usually find. I’ve always been amazed that LTT cooks so many turkeys every single day and I’ve never had a single piece of dried out turkey wind up on my plate. I’ll probably never cook another turkey at my home, so if I’m going to eat it–this is the place!

The major change at Liberty Tree Tavern over the course of the last few months has been the dessert course. The old apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is a thing of the past. I was initially concerned about this because nothing says Thanksgiving like apple pie to me and the dessert at LTT was a pretty close second to my Grandma’s apple pie. Fear not! The new apple and craisin cake, which is still served with vanilla ice cream is fantastic. I think I like it better than the old dessert option. I know that I managed to polish off the entire thing. Then I promptly needed a nap!

This was the perfect first meal in Orlando for me! It gave me a sense of home and was full of things that I never cook for myself. If you haven’t been to Liberty Tree Tavern, you should make a point to stop in on your next trip. It certainly isn’t gourmet, but it is the essence of comfort food in America!

Have fun Dining Out Disney!