Disney's Food and Wine Festival 2013

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! Covering Disney's Food and Wine Festival is becoming one of the most fun and intensive traditions I have on this blog. Saying I look forward to this event every year is an understatement. I love trying new foods from other countries. I am a foodie at heart, despite not cooking much myself. So I love running around from booth to booth, trying new dishes and skulking around the Festival Center to spy on chef demonstrations. 

In past years, I've seen Robert Irvine and dozed in top-secret lounges, but I always try to trump myself. So here we go. 

If you're participating in the Food and Wine Festival, you can pick up free Discovery Passports. The passports are incredibly useful and small enough to tuck in your pocket. You will find the menus from each country's booth, along with a spot for stamps. I've never collected the stamps in previous years (usually because of laziness and forgetfulness), I decided to go for it this time. 

And, that means that I cheated.

Although most of the booths are countries, others are kind of random with no geographical home (like the Cheese Booth, Refreshment Port, and Desserts & Champagne). I don't drink... not really, no, so I wouldn't actually buy anything from the booths focused on alcohol. And even though I try new foods, I don't have enough time or money to conquer the whole circuit in one year. So what I did was get on line at each booth and patiently waited to collect the stamps. Fair enough, right? The weird part was that I wasn't the only one doing this. Other people - grown adults - were racing between booths, passports flapping in their hands. It was invigorating to see, haha. 

The ultimate prize is getting the Stamp of Completion from the Festival Center. Hoo-rah. You don't even know how proud I was to show the passport at the front desk. And, ironically, the cast member working the desk didn't even check to see if I got them all. I guess I look like a trustworthy person. Here they are anyway:

Food I Ate: 

In a nutshell, I must say that everything I've eaten this year was fantastic. You'll notice that I had a lot more dessert; that's basically because it's October and still extremely hot. More hot than previous years. So the weather has made the festival less leisurely and more... like a lot of work. To stay hydrated, I stopped at water fountains and kept ordering dessert. The silk ice cream ribbon (kind of like Ninja Ice's ice cream) and lychee aerated water from the China Booth basically saved my hide during a very cloudless midday heat wave. Florida, man. 

Lobster and Seafood Fisherman's Pie

Ireland Booth

Potato & Leek Waffle with Braised Beef

Belgium Booth

Kielbasa & Potato Pierogi with Caramelized Onions & Sour Cream

Poland Booth

Vegetarian Haggis with Neeps and Tatties

Scotland Booth

*My Favorite*

Trick'n Chick'n Curry with Basmati Rice

Terra Booth (Vegan)

Chili Colorado with House-made Chips & Cashew Cheese

Terra Booth (Vegan)

Youki Tofu

Japan Booth

Mango-Flavored Silk Ice Cream Ribbon

China Booth

*My Favorite* 

Lychee Aerated Water

China Booth 

Pavlova 

Australia Booth

Frozen Smores 

Desserts & Champagne

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Seashell Truffles

Desserts & Champagne

*My Favorite*

Little German Village:

Sorry guys! I wasn't able to update this section this year because, even though I've been a few times, it's still early in the festival for the train village to be updated. So, to make up for it, I have pictures of the new chocolate sculptures from the Chocolate Experience: From Bean to the Bar!

Later in the month, I'm going to put together another post about the Boardwalk, including some adorable ducks taking over the swimming pool at the Dolphin and my spending the majority of the night listening to some awesome music at Jellyrolls, the dueling piano bar.

Disney's Food & Wine Festival 2012

Hey! Autumn is lovely. We're nearing the end of the month and the weather here is finally shifting. There's a cool breeze now, even though the sun slices right through it. If you're up early in the morning, it's nice to wear a light sweater.

This is also a time for food. Disney's Food & Wine Festival is in full swing. I've gone twice already this year and I feel like I've got enough photos and food in my mind now to write up a meaty blog post, haha.

BTW: If you missed out on my first blog post about last year's festival, do make sure you check it out here.

What's new:

Last year, I reported that Disney installed fancy utensil dispensers - and they're back! What's more, Disney seems to be moving towards using paper dishes for most of the food. You'll notice that in the photos in place of last year's plastic dishes. I'm really impressed with the paper because it's strong enough to withstand even the most watery sauces and not leak.

A new booth joined the crew this year as well; Terra, the vegan booth. One of my friends is vegan, and ever since she had that decision, I've been curious about those foods and how inventive vegans are at creating tasty substitutes for meat and dairy dishes. You'll see the fake chicken dish below - it was delicious and, really, tastes just like real chicken (even though it's made of veggies. Amazing!).

This year, a new space opened up in the festival center called the Chase Lounge. The lounge is hidden inside the Ghiradelli showcase called The Chocolate Experience: From Bean to the Bar.

There are two awesome parts about the showcase itself.

1) Free Ghiradelli chocolate. You have to keep an eye out for it - a cast member holding a straw basket is the key, haha.

2) Chocolate sculptures. I mean. Woah.

All the chocolate sculptures displayed behind glass

Seeing the sculptures was surreal, especially because I've only been as close as the other end of a television screen to seeing one (Yes, yes, I watch way too many Food Network competitions). The details in each sculpture were amazing, but I'll just post one of 'em so you have an idea.

Deep inside the chocolate showcase, there's a small hallway that a cast member diligently guards. You have to show the cast member your Chase Visa card (hopefully you have one) that will allow you inside the top-secret lounge. I only have one good photo of the interior since the lighting wasn't friendly towards my camera. The walls were painted bright blue with stamps of the different countries. There were TVs and two small seating areas, as well as an odd, giant table with high chairs that looked more like a toadstool than anything.

The overall design of the room makes you think of a perfect picnic under a cloudless blue sky. The carpet is green enough to pass for grass if you're not looking straight at it and there are tiny booths that house the coffee and soda fountains. Very, very cute.

Me and the 'rents experienced the lounge on the opening day, so there had been a big spread of breakfast food like muffins and cinnamon rolls, as well as giant glass dispensers of orange and apple juice.

The second time (today), we found out that only the coffee and soda are staples in the lounge on a normal day. But that's okay. The best part about the lounge is that it feels like a secret. I'm enjoying it while it's still here (so fleeting - it'll be off limits again after the festival is over).

Foods I Ate:

Between my two visits, there had been a lot of dishes I ended up eating. Each one was delicious. I'm not even lying, haha. My favorite is still, by far, the fisherman's pie, but the potato pierogie comes in second (my first time trying a pierogie!). The only dish that wasn't too too good was the cheese fondue - only because the fondue itself was an unidentified concoction that didn't quite work (it was sharp, a little bitter, and had the particular zing of wine in it).

Here's a visual representation of what I ate (and feel free to see the similarities and differences from last year's - it's fun!):

Cheese Fondue with Sourdough Bread Cheese Booth

Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll Germany Booth

Sweet Italian Sausage with Peppers and Onions Italy Booth

Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream Poland Booth

Trick'n Chick'n Curry with Basmati Rice featuring Gardein Chick'n Breast Terra (Vegan Booth)

Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise Hawaii Booth

Lobster and Seafood Fisherman's Pie Ireland Booth

Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney New Zealand Booth

Seared Sea Scallop with Kumara - Red Curry Puree and Apple Radish Salad New Zealand Booth

Little German Village:

So, sadly I haven't seen any super cool food celebrities this year (i.e. Robert Irvine from last year). The closest I got was missing Andrew Zimmerman (from Bizarre Foods) by one day. Ugh. Ugh. What a loss. Even so, attending the festival on a Sunday is pretty relaxing. The morning is slower, less hectic, and most of the booth lines are small. I checked in with the train village in Germany - just like I always do - and saw that it was decked out in honor of the festival again this year.

Don't know what I'm talking about? I made a post all about it here.

All the booths are out!

And the cranberry bog!

You'll need to see a bigger version, but the poor man in the chair has fallen over. I hope someone sits him back up again.