Two4Disney Do F&W--Round One About This Page:

[Two4Disney]

Who: Rich and Kathy

What: 2004 Food & Wine Festival

Where: Epcot

When: October 2, 2004





Epcot is our favorite WDW park and the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot is our favorite park event. Friday, October 1, was the opening day so we couldn't wait much longer than the second day. Thanks to Deb for posting the menus at www.allearsnet.com so early on Friday night. We were able to come up with a flexible plan, targeting which new booths would be our first priority and with an estimate of how much cash to bring. We had read last year that not everything was running smoothly during the first couple of days and we thought that cash would be easier to deal with.



The local weather man prounced this weekend a "Hurricance-Free Weekend", so, Saturday morning we left our home in Tampa Bay and arrived at Epcot in about an hour, just in time to park the car close enough to walk to the gate. Future World was decorated for the Festival and we stopped to take turns posing with some of the decorations.















We arrived at World Showcase just in time for the 11 am opening. There was a slight wait in front of Peru, our first choice for this trip. Other nearby booths also had a slight delay in opening. The lady behind us in line shared her umbrella, which certainly offered some relief from the already hot sun. One downside to starting F&W so early in October this year is that it is still a bit hot for comfort. An umbrella might help with the sun but we're not sure we could balance holding the umbrella and our food & wine.



We split most items unless it was shellfish. Rich is allergic to shellfish and it is one of Kathy's favorites so when Kathy had shellfish, Rich would order something else that he liked.



Here are the items we sampled:



PERU: Anticuchos with Papas Huancaina-Peruvian - chicken skewer with purple potato

salad $3.25

Tabernero Blanc de Blanc $2.75

(This was like having a tasty picnic in the park. The chicken was delicious and the wine was light and refreshing.)



IRELAND: Corned Beef and Cabbage $3.50

Bunratty Meade Honey Wine $3.25

(One of Rich's single items. Kathy tasted it and noted how delicious it was.)



CHINA: Pot Stickers with pork and cabbage $3.00

(Smelled so good and tasted even better)



SOUTHEAST ASIA: Shrimp Lettuce Wrap - with lime ginger sauce and cashews $3.00

Chicken Sanbel Spicy Pulled Chicken with Macadamia nuts $2.50

(The pulled chicken was better than the hot lettuce wrap)



CAPE REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA: Beef Boma with Sweet Potato FuFu $3.50

Indaba Merlot $3.25

(A favorite this year -- similar to last year's beef and wine find at Australia , which we plan to sample on the next trip.)



OCTOBERFEST: Goulash with Spatzle $2.50

Apple Strudel with Vanilla Bean Sauce $2.00

Lowenbrau Oktoberfest $2.50

(Loved the strudel with vanilla bean sauce.)



UNITED STATES (New England): Cheddar Crab Cake with Slaw and Mustard Sauce $3.00



FRANCE: Crepe au Fromage et Fambon $3.00

Chocolate Creme Brulee $2.00

Sparr Riesling $3.25



FRESH FROM FLORIDA: Florida Shrimp Salad Roll $2.00

White Chocolate Orange Tartlet $2.00

Florida Orange Groves Mango Wine $2.50

(Kathy's Florida Shrimp Salad was her very favorite and the best bargain. The white chocolate was to die for and the Mango wine smelled and tasted delicious.)



Our favorites in this group were Peru, South Africa, France, and Fresh from Florida. While we normally love lettuce wraps, the shrimp lettuce wrap in Southeast Asia was odd because the shrimp was warm and too slippery for the lettuce wrap. The tastings we had from Fresh from Florida were awesome and our favorites for this trip.



A pleasant surprise for us was that this year some of the booths had small beer samples (6 oz). We looked for that last year but only saw big and bigger.



We plan to return to F&W at least once or twice more. One of those visits will be in late afternoon and evening so that we can enjoy one of the concerts. We hope to revisit some of our favorites from last year. Will post Round Two after our next visit.

[Wendyismyname]

Sounds like you had a great time this past Saturday!! F&W Festival sounds like loads of fun!! One of these days we'll get down there to try it!!

[buckysmom]

Sounds divinely yummy! Thanks for the update!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great day Thanks for sharing, and everything you ate sounds yummy

Can't wait for the second update

[Tara O'Hara]

OHH!!!!!!!!MY!!!!!!!!!GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing that, you are making my mouth water!

[Joy J]

Thanks so much for this little glimpse into the offerings of Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. That's something I've always wanted to visit so it's great to get a little close-up peek at the sorts of delights they offer.

Joy

[Mamacane71]

Hi Rich and Kathy...Sounds like you both had a great time testing and tasteing. I know that I enjoyed hearing Steve Jervey say that it was going to be a lovely Hurricane free weekend . Glad it was for you both to go and taste and enjoy. Can't wait to hear about your next trip.

[luvnwdwgal]

I would love to sample the foods at the F&W Festival some day. Just wish my DH wasn't such a picky eater....he'd never want to. Might just have to plop him on a bench somewhere with a cheeseburger!

[sarah_belle]

Wow! That is a lot of tasty food. I wasn't hungry before, but suddenly....

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Sarah