Disney's CA F&W Fest - Final wrap up for 2010 see you next year!

[franandaj]

So I finally finished up my (what was) live Dining Review from WDW, and I need something to keep me occupied until Food & Wine starts in California on April 16, 2010. I thought that if I started my review now, it might make it come faster! :rotfl2: So for those of you die-hard Epcot F&W Festival people who don't know it, yes, Disney's California Adventure also has a F&W Festival sponsored by Vanity Fair and it takes place in the opposite time of year so it is possible to hit both in one year. I did in 2009! :woohoo:

The Festival is in it's 5th year now, and I have been attending events since before it became a full fledged Festival. In year two when it was still "Food & Wine Weekends", I attended a Winemaker Dinner at Steakhouse 55 with Beaulieu Vineyards for my birthday present. They have been one of my favorite wineries for years...but back to the Festival.

In the third year I started attending the Napa Rose Cooking School. This is one hell of a pricey Event, but I wouldn't miss it for the world! Each year we make a four course meal (well we get to watch how the desserts are made). That we get to eat, complete with wine pairings. Everyone gets a chef's coat and we also get the cookbook which has all the previous years recipies in it too. The cooking school is limited to sixteen participants, and takes place on a Saturdays during the Festival. It sells out every year. In fact one of the dates sold out in three hours!

What I prefer about the CA Festival vs Florida is that I live closer and can attend any events that I want! :lmao: But not only that, the signature events appeal to me a lot more than what I've seen in the Florida Festival. I'll be attending all sorts of events, and reviewing them here. Three weekends, I'll be using our DVC points to stay over at the GCV and the other three I will be driving in for the Winemaker Dinners. Until the Festival starts I'll recap past Festival happenings.

First off here is the game plan:

April 16-19 - Stay in a Studio at the GCV. Friday night Dinner at Steakhouse 55, Saturday Cooking School, Sat & Sun, check out the tasting plates at the "Taste of California" Marketplace, and Sunday night Wine Maker Dinner at Club 33 with the Lasseter Family Winery, and John & Nancy Lasseter will be there!

April 23 - Winemaker Dinner @ Steakhouse 55 - Buena Vista Carneros

May 1-2 - Stay in a Studio at the GCV, Dinner at the Chef's Table at Napa Rose, It's my birthday!), May 2 Lunch at Club 33

May 7 - Brewmaster Dinner @ Steakhouse 55 - Karl Strauss Brewery, now sold out!

May 21 - Winemaker Dinner @ Steakhouse 55 - Groth Vineyards & Winery, now sold out

May 29 - Stay in a 1 Bedroom at the GCV, Taste (Equivalent of Party of the Senses) Saturday

So here it goes!

[franandaj]

My first year at the Napa Rose Cooking School, I had no idea what to expect.

Everyone showed up pretty early for the 10AM Class and upon check-in we were handed our Chef's Coats. They had us take a seat in the lounge and pretty soon and tray of lovely pastries and tasty coffee was set out for us to enjoy while we waited.

Pretty soon Andrew Sutton came out and told us a little bit of what was in store for us. We put on our coats and went straight to the kitchen sink to wash our hands before starting. We were taken to our "stations" and given a knife and some celery to practice cutting. I don't know when it happened, but one lady cut her finger pretty badly. Disney security came in, the legal department. I'm pretty sure that was the last time the knives came out for a cooking class, EVER.

We split into two groups, I was in the "prep your risotto" group. We learned how to prepare the risotto so that it was five minutes away from being completed. That way if you served this meal at a dinner party, you could have everything prepped and ready to go, and not take time away from your guests.

After prepping the risotto, the groups traded and we got to make our first course. Grilled Caesar Salad. Boy is this tasty and simple to make, it's quite impressive. You grill the half head of romaine for about a minute, just enough to get char marks on it. The lettuce is warm and slightly wilted, but still has most of it's crispy texture. I've made it several times on the BBQ for friends and it's always a hit. I took a few bites before realizing I needed to take a picture!

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Once we finished eating our salads, everyone returned to the kitchen to start working on the sauce for our main course. The sauce that we made was full of yummy things like garlic, fennel and shallots, but the star of the dish was yellow tomatoes. Each of us made a small amount in our little pots and then we poured them all into a large pot to simmer. Later they pureed and strained everything. Next we went back to the kitchen to finish up the risotto.

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We added english peas, mushroom, red peppers, and lots of Parmesan Cheese. This was so yummy, but I couldn't finish the whole bowl!

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Our main dish was halibut with yellow tomato sauce. Each chef in training seared their own piece of fish and one of the chefs from the kitchen helped each of us so that we got it to the correct doneness. Then they helped us plate the food over a bed of roasted vegetables, and poured the sauce around the plate. I've made all these dishes several times at home and they are delightful!

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For each course the chefs sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy the meal.

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Then we were treated to a Heavenly dessert, Scharfenberger Chocolate Souffle and Tuxedo Strawberry. The top two Disneyland pastry chefs showed us all the steps in creating this wonderful dessert, but I have yet to try this at home. They made painting the strawberry look so easy, but somehow, I don't think mine would come out like this!

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So those few hours had such a profound impact on my life, later in the year I started an herb garden in my small patio, and even grew my own tomatoes last year (which you will see came in handy for the 2009 cooking school installment).

[franandaj]

This year I went into the Napa Rose Cooking School knowing what to expect, and Chef Sutton did not disapoint! We were again treated to the lovely pastries and coffee, and this time we got right into cooking.

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In preparation the chef had roasted some veal bones. We made a base with onions, fennel, celery, they came around and added a bone and red wine to each of our pots and we let that reduce, then and some veal stock and we let that reduce, and we just put the pots on the back burner and let them reduce for a couple hours.

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He showed us how to make these incredible Blue Cheese Croutons that go with an heirloom tomato salad and the recipe for the dressing. Then we went back to the kitchen to make Snapper Veracruz. We sauteed our choice of vegetables from the mix they provided. I don't like olives, but I thought I would try putting them in, ick. Every so often I try something I don't like again just to see if my palate has changed, nope, still hate olives!

We seared the fish first, then sauteed the veggies, then they scooped a ladle of some sauce in there and we put the fish back to heat up. I don't know what the sauce was (it was tomato based and very good) and that is probably why I haven't attempted to make this dish at home yet. Could be the olives too!

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After we enjoyed our Snapper Veracruz, they served us the Heirloom Tomato Salad that was demonstrated earlier. This is one simple and VERY tasty recipe that I have made numerous times. Remember I told you I planted my own tomatoes? All summer long I would get a yellow heirloom tomato at the store and mix that with my Beefsteak tomatoes to make a tasty salad. It's hard to see the croutons in here, but they're there. Chef said make twice as many as you need because you'll be eating them the whole time you're cooking and he was right!

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Next up New York Steak with that yummy brown sauce. By this point our class that was from 10-1 was not even close to finishing. It was only 12:30, I knew this from last year as was perfectly patient to go through the rest of the class. Back to the kitchen we went, our veal bone sauces had been simmering for over two hours and it was time to finish them up.

We seared the NY Steak, and then added some Portabello Mushrooms, the strained sauce and a big dollop of butter, (BTW the butter they serve here is absolutely divine, I think he said it costs $90 for a tube about the size of those Pilsbury cut & bake cookies).

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Here is what it looked like on the plate. I poured a little too much of my sauce on there, but I didn't want it to go to waste.

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Next up they showed us hot to make Chocolate Pate. Basically you make these loaves of Fudge, cut them into triangles and then they used power tools to spray them with a chocolate coating.

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They also let us make one of the little Hazelnuts coated with sugar that you see on top of this dessert. DP had been lurking throughout the entire class on her scooter reading a book or taking pictures while we were in the kitchen, and when we ate I would pass the plate to her sitting behind me she would finish what I couldn't eat. When the class ran so long over, the man sitting across from me couldn't stay and had to leave so the server offered her his dessert!

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Another year of great recipies and techniques! :yay:

[aspen37]

Wow the Napa Rose cooking school looks amazing. I can't wait to read your reviews.
I will be at DCA F&W during the first weekend. I have been to Epcot's F&W and F&W in Aspen. I am very excited because I have heard great things about F&W at DCA.

[franandaj]

Wow the Napa Rose cooking school looks amazing. I can't wait to read your reviews.
I will be at DCA F&W during the first weekend. I have been to Epcot's F&W and F&W in Aspen. I am very excited because I have heard great things about F&W at DCA.

Hey! I was replying to your PTR while you were reading mine! How funny is that?:rotfl2:

[aspen37]

Hey! I was replying to your PTR while you were reading mine! How funny is that?:rotfl2:

Great minds think alike! ;)
I asked this on my thread but thought I would ask over here too. Do you plan on going to Sweet Sunday's on the 18th? By the way your pictures are great of the Napa Rose Cooking School, they made me very HUNGRY!

[Kewz1]

I have nothing to say but YUM!

We will be at DL the end of May and I was thrilled to find out we'd be there during F&W.

Love all your pictures!

Kristen

[franandaj]

I have nothing to say but YUM!

We will be at DL the end of May and I was thrilled to find out we'd be there during F&W.

Love all your pictures!

Kristen

Thanks! I'll try to clue you in on what's there, so you can try!

[franandaj]

For most who go to the Epcot F&W Festival, most of the appeal is the tasting plates that you can get at the various countries around the world. Hopefully this year DCA has figured that all out with the Taste of California Marketplace.

In 2009 the CS restaurants at DCA all had some sort of special festival offering. This was an attempt at doing what they have in Florida, but each item was almost $10 and a lot of food. I tried all but three of them. I did not care to try the Garlic and Red Bell Pepper Hummus with Tabbouleh Salad, and did not get to the Chicken Tamales or the Dulce de Leche Empanada. I did try the Riviera Lobster Salad in Brioche Baguette with Chips, but didn't remember to take a picture of it.

Here are those that I did capture on film:

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[aspen37]

Wow everything looks great! I do hope the price and portion size is smaller this year. I would like try as many items as possible but with only one full day it might be hard. Seeing your pictures is getting really excited about F&W in DCA.

[anthonut]

DLR Food and Wine looks great. I really like the idea of having a cooking class to learn some new techniques. The food marketplace offerings look incredible as well. Very different from the offerings at Epcot.

[PinkPrincessZ]

Thanks so much for posting info and pics on the DL F&W Festival! We are going for the first time this year - we'll actually be there the last weekend of the festival. We are talking about getting tickets to Taste - would you recommend it?

Great report! :thumbsup2

[franandaj]

DLR Food and Wine looks great. I really like the idea of having a cooking class to learn some new techniques. The food marketplace offerings look incredible as well. Very different from the offerings at Epcot.

I'm hoping with the new "Taste of California" Marketplace that the "tapas size offerings" will be a little bit more like the kiosks in Epcot. And I do love my cooking school!

Thanks so much for posting info and pics on the DL F&W Festival! We are going for the first time this year - we'll actually be there the last weekend of the festival. We are talking about getting tickets to Taste - would you recommend it?

Great report! :thumbsup2

TOTALLY! :woohoo: I'll post my pictures from last year. The only thing is there is very limited seating so if you want a seat at a table people started lining up four hours in advance. There are plenty of counters where you can stand and eat. The idea is to mingle around at the different restaurants represented there. We ate some very yummy things and got to try lots of different wines too!

[franandaj]

Friday nights during the F&W Festival, Steakhouse 55 and Chef Jason Martin put on some fabulous Winemakers Dinners with a great variety of dishes and superb wines. On May 1, 2009 Kate MacMurray from MacMurray Ranch presented a variety of great wines, and Chef Jason put together some fabulous dishes to go along with the wines.

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We were given an Amuse Bouche, I think it was a stuffed mushroom. I believe we had a glass of champagne with it as well.

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Our first course was Gravlax and Calamari accompanied by Mixed Baby Greens with a Peach & Yogurt Dressing. The wine was a Pino Gris, Sonoma Coast, 2007.

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Second course was a Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin with Russian Fingerling Potatoes, Baby Beets, and Spring Cippolini Shoots. This was paired with a Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, 2007. This was very good and I must say that the thinly sliced apple was perfect with the pork.

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Next up Certified Angus Beef Tenderloin with Portabello Mushroom En Croute, Barley Risotto and Bloomsdale Spinach served with Winemakers Block Selection Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2005. This was mighty tasty, I love a good steak and it was cooked to perfection! I’ll have to remember at my upcoming F&W dinners to take a picture after I’ve cut into the meat to show it’s beautiful warm red center.

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Dessert was Spring Cherry and Vanilla Cocktail with Warm Cherry Cobbler served with a Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2005. Normally I’m not a fan of Cherry, but this was so good and it really made me want another serving! I must say that after tasting all these different MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noirs, any time I see a Pinot Noir from there I usually order a glass of it!

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Next up Kenwood Winemaker Dinner!

[PinkPrincessZ]

TOTALLY! :woohoo: I'll post my pictures from last year. The only thing is there is very limited seating so if you want a seat at a table people started lining up four hours in advance. There are plenty of counters where you can stand and eat. The idea is to mingle around at the different restaurants represented there. We ate some very yummy things and got to try lots of different wines too!

Sounds like so much fun! Is it pretty casual or are people dressed up?

I'm loving your report - keep it coming! :goodvibes

[pdxJolene]

This is awesome, thanks! I'm going to be there during the festival this year (didn't plan it that way, but now I'm pretty excited for it!) My only question though, I'm not 21 but the girl I'm going with will be. Are there areas restricted to minors? Thanks again! :)

[franandaj]

Sounds like so much fun! Is it pretty casual or are people dressed up?

I'm loving your report - keep it coming! :goodvibes

Most everything is casual. The evening events people dress nicely, probably because the Winemaker Dinners take place at Steakhouse 55, and that's a nice restaurant. A lot of men wear jackets without ties, or collared button front shirts. The women tend to wear smart pant suits or a dress (blouse/skirt). People don't generally wear T-shirts to the evening events, but it's certainly not a Tuxedo & Ball Gown event!

This is awesome, thanks! I'm going to be there during the festival this year (didn't plan it that way, but now I'm pretty excited for it!) My only question though, I'm not 21 but the girl I'm going with will be. Are there areas restricted to minors? Thanks again! :)

Any events that alcohol is the focus is restricted to minors, such as the wine, beer & spirits tastings. The signature events as well. However, you can go to the Complimentary Culinary Demonstrations, purchase tasting plates at the Taste of California Marketplace, and you could probably order food in the Lounge upstairs at the Golden Vine Winery.

Keep in mind, if you want to see any Celebrity Chef demonstrations, I had to get in line at 10:30AM for Cat Cora's 2:00PM demonstration, and I was like #30 in line. I have no idea how early they lined up for Guy Fieri. Both of them are scheduled to be back this year, plus some others.

[kabuki]

I'm hoping with the new "Taste of California" Marketplace that the "tapas size offerings" will be a little bit more like the kiosks in Epcot. And I do love my cooking school!



TOTALLY! :woohoo: I'll post my pictures from last year. The only thing is there is very limited seating so if you want a seat at a table people started lining up four hours in advance. There are plenty of counters where you can stand and eat. The idea is to mingle around at the different restaurants represented there. We ate some very yummy things and got to try lots of different wines too!

Can't wait to see your pictures from Taste last year! We did it the 1st year and haven't been back. Not that it was bad but unfortunately we compare it and the price to PFTS and it didn't live up to it then. We are doing the Riedel class this year and maybe Taste!

I hope they have smaller Epcot sized tapas this year also .. though the Tuna salad you pictured was so good last year! :love:

[Disney owl]

great report & photos

[franandaj]

Several weeks after the Dinner with MacMurray Ranch we had a Dinner with Kenwood Winery. Again Chef Jason prepared another excellent meal and the wines were also superb.

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Our first course was a Seared Dayboat Scallop with Cheesy Corn Grits and Mango Beurre Blanc, and was served with a Reserve Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, 2007. This was so good! With each bite I ate some of each component, greens, scallop, grits and sauce. Everything paired so nicely

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Our second course was a Grilled Prime Rib Cap with Wild Forest Mushroom Gnocchi and the wine was a Jack London Vineyard Zinfandel Sonoma Valley 2006. This was a really amazing dish, I mean how often do you eat just the cap of a Prime Rib, and how often is the cap meat medium rare? Chef Jason told a story about how difficult it was to get only the caps, since it was such a tender cut of meat. Evidently another customer was trying to outbid him on these.

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The next course was Broiled Buffalo Tenderloin with Vidalia Lyonnaise Potatoes and Braised Pork Belly (Pork & Beans) served with a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County, 2005. This was just incredible, if you haven’t had Buffalo before it is the most amazing meat, it’s lean and flavorful. This was so good and those fancy potatoes with the down home pork & beans made a great pair.

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We didn’t get an amuse bouche with this dinner, but before dessert, we received this bonus cheese course. I don’t remember anything about it other than I enjoyed it.

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Dessert was a Scharfen Berger Chocolate Souffle with Bing Cherry Ice Cream and it was served with a Lake Sonoma Winery Zinfandel Port, Dry Creek Valley, 2005. This was more of a molten chocolate cake, but regardless it was REALLY good, and the cherry ice cream went with the chocolate so well and the Zinfandel Port, Mmmmmm it was so yummy.

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I can’t wait until the Winemaker dinners start again this year. Even more interesting will be the Brewmaster Dinner (a first for the Festival), we’ll have to see how they turn out, I can’t wait!

[lulubelle]

Thank you Alison for the wonderful reviews and pictures. :goodvibes

I really hope my party meets up with yours at Taste this year. And we are in a 2 bedroom villa to boot! We plan on bringing a brekkie casserole to heat up and enjoy with some fresh fruit and mimosas the next morning!:cool1:

I am really hoping they finally follow Florida's queue and have sampling sized tapas in the new location. It just didn't work the year they had them in the old Lucky Fortune Cookie location.

Anyway, looking forward to more from you!

[franandaj]

I really hope my party meets up with yours at Taste this year. And we are in a 2 bedroom villa to boot! We plan on bringing a brekkie casserole to heat up and enjoy with some fresh fruit and mimosas the next morning!:cool1:



Did I already tell you that we will be the ones in scooters with our tray tables attached to the tiller bars, we'll be really easy to recognize!


We plan on bringing a brekkie casserole to heat up and enjoy with some fresh fruit and mimosas the next morning!:cool1:


OK, please share...brekkie casserole?



I am really hoping they finally follow Florida's queue and have sampling sized tapas in the new location. It just didn't work the year they had them in the old Lucky Fortune Cookie location.

Anyway, looking forward to more from you!

Oh I remember that year when they had the tasting portions at Lucky Fortune! We tried a few of them and they were good, but it took a loooooong time to get our order. I hope that this new place has separate stations where you can get each tasting portion instead of having to order everything all together and wait.

Last year at Taste we ended up chatting up the Festival Director and he mentioned that CA food laws won't allow the kiosks like Florida has, and that the Food Police show up at EVERY event in the DCA Festival just to make sure that they are following code. Sheesh!

Glad you're enjoying it, I'm going to run out of past stuff pretty soon, and the Festival is still over a month away! I'm getting so excited. I've decided that I'm going to spend my birthday evening at the Napa Rose, hopefully the Chef's counter. In fact I have some pictures from last year still to post from another evening we spent there during F&W.

I hope we can meet up too! We'll be in a 1 br, since we requested a Handicapped Accessible, I've heard they're on the 1st floor. I'm thinking after all the weekends of such great food, I'll bring a pack of Velveeta Shells & Cheese and some Keilbasa for our dinner the night after Taste. We'll need some peasant food after all the haute cuisine that we'll enjoy! I'm planning on spending a lot of the time Sunday relaxing in the Villa and enjoying that jacuzzi tub!

[kaoden39]

Oh it all looks so wonderful and fun. I am hoping to get a chance to go next year. I would love to take the cooking class.

[franandaj]

Oh it all looks so wonderful and fun. I am hoping to get a chance to go next year. I would love to take the cooking class.

It is sooooooo amazing! Chef Sutton and his staff are so nice and the things you get to make and eat are so good. They make it really easy, and it's all healthy! That's what is so amazing, the first year I was counting calories and I analyzed all the recipies (well not dessert, haven't tried any of those), but all the others were tasty and healthy. I can't wait to see what they have in store for this year!

[franandaj]

Last year at the festival they offered an Advanced Wine Tasting Course with Michael Jordan. The class took place over three different days, Tues, Wed, and Thurs afternoons from 2-4 PM. Each day we covered a different wine region, starting in Italy, going through France and ending up in Germany. The amount of knowledge that he gave us was amazing. We were provided with notepads, and I took diligent notes. I had not taken notes since I’ve was in college, and by the last day my hand was sore! He gave us much of the information on the wine regions and designations that one would have to memorize for their Sommelier’s exam.

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When we entered the room there were places set up, each with four or five glasses of wine and a bottle of water. These were the glasses that we were to taste/drink throughout the class that day.

This image shows the wines (glasses some finished, sorry!) from our first day in Italy, the empty one contained Magicale. This is such a tasty wine! It is actually a sparkling wine from Brachetto, called Brachetto d’Acqui. Michael Jordan has it bottled under the name Magicale for all the Disney resorts, and the brand name Magicale is exclusive to Disney. The white wine is a Soave, the remaining reds are a Tommy Lasorda Chianti and a Negro Amaro, Verve from Solento.

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The next day we went to France. The wines in this picture from left to right are White Burgundy, La Fite Bordeaux, Chateau Neuf de Pape Grenache and a Chateau St. Marten, Coteaux du Languedoc. (Sorry if my spelling is off.)

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The final day I didn’t get a picture because I was almost late for the class. We used some DVC points that we needed to burn through to stay at the Hotel. I was checking in and getting the tour of the Concierge level, but had to cut it short in order to make the class, so I forgot to take pictures of the wines that day. They were all German wines, mostly Reislings which were all of a different age. Michael Jordan wanted to point out to us the different flavors of these wines as they aged.

We tasted a Pfeffingen, Dry Riesling from Pfalz, a Graff Reisling, a Spatlese, then from Wolf a Wachenheimer Belz Reisling also a Spatlese. Then from Wirsching a Slivaner Auslese, and lastly a Kammerberger Spatlese Burgundian QMP.

All the wines we drank we just wonderful, and it was such an informative class, the amount of knowledge this man has in his head is incredible. I’m sorry that he is not running any wine classes this year. At the end of the class we were all presented with a certificate of our participation.

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As I mentioned earlier, we used up some DVC points to stay overnight (it was the day before DP’s birthday) and since it was a Thursday we had enough points to stay on the Concierge level, so here are a few shots from the Concierge Lounge afternoon service. In the morning, they had Continental Breakfast, from 11 to 4 they served snacks, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, finger sandwiches, cheddar goldfish, uncrustables. From 5-7 they served veggies & dip, a few hot items and beer and wine. In the evening they served cookies and other desserts, and some cordials.

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That evening we dined at Napa Rose Restaurant at the Chef’s Counter. We ordered the Vintner’s Menu and split it between the two of us, but we added an extra cup of the signature mushroom cappuccino (soup) to our order. I don’t have pictures of all the courses we ate, but here are a few….

No idea what this was except that it was some sort of fish served over beans and a tasty sauce. I can say that because everything I have eaten at this restaurant has always been GREAT! They split everything for us in the kitchen at no additional charge.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_0929.jpg

The next course was soups, since we ordered two they didn’t split them and we just switched halfway through. One is the signature Mushroom Cappuccino and the other is a Tomato Soup

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_0930.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_0931.jpg

We had the strawberry duck, and one of the accoutrements was sweetbreads, which we never would have eaten had we known what it was. However, we found out that something we thought we’d never eat was actually good! The split portion here was just perfect so that we could eat dessert later.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_0935.jpg

So I thought that I didn’t have pictures of all the courses, but I was wrong, I just didn’t get a very good picture of the dessert. Since it was DP’s birthday and mine was the week before, I think we let that slip sometime during dinner, so they brought us both birthday desserts! Perhaps I had enough wine that I wasn’t thinking when I took these dessert pics!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_0932.jpg

[thmar]

Thank-you! Everything looks wonderful!

[Kewz1]

Thanks! I'll try to clue you in on what's there, so you can try!


I'm counting on it, Alison!

Kristen

[kaoden39]

Alison,
Looking at these pictures just cement my decision to go for some of the F&W next year.

[franandaj]

Thank-you! Everything looks wonderful!

Just wait until I post the pictures from Taste!

Alison,
Looking at these pictures just cement my decision to go for some of the F&W next year.

Oh you definitely should! You're close enough, take your BWG (is that his nickname?) and leave the kids! :rotfl: The events are pricey, but I save all year for this. We bought points at the GCV so we can stay there for "free" every year during F&W at least 2 weekends a year.

[aspen37]

I have been making sure that I have eaten before I read your updates. ;) Everything looks sooo goood that I get hungry looking at the pictures! :rotfl:

[kaoden39]

Just wait until I post the pictures from Taste!



Oh you definitely should! You're close enough, take your BWG (is that his nickname?) and leave the kids! :rotfl: The events are pricey, but I save all year for this. We bought points at the GCV so we can stay there for "free" every year during F&W at least 2 weekends a year.

Honestly, I am bad WBG is staying home too. I am going with my best friend. He is happier that way.

[franandaj]

We didn’t do very many of the complimentary demonstrations this year. Probably because we did so many of the dinners and other events! Here is a view of the set up for the culinary demo tent.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/dra.jpg

One morning we watched the winners of the Navy cooking competition present their version of some famous French chicken dish whose name escapes me. Basically what they did was remove the skin from a chicken, debone it, fill it with some stuffing, roll it back up and roast it, then they added a very tasty gravy. We got to try a sample of it and it was very good, I can see why they won!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/dsa.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/dta.jpg

Later that day we also went to a demonstration with Cat Cora but my camera battery was so low I wanted to save every little bit of it for the autograph session so I could get a picture with her, so no food pics. She did make some shrimp that was spicy and very tasty, and a yogurt parfait.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/dya.jpg

On another day we visited the Lounge at the Golden Vine Winery. Here you could purchase flights of wine and special appetizers and desserts. We got a flight of Pinot Noir, but I also think we got a flight of Riesling, just no pictures of it. We got the bread and cheese plate which was plenty for two to share. We had wanted to order one of the desserts, but we were too full.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/cna.jpg

On yet another day we went back because I wanted to try the Filet Mignon sliders. They were pretty good, but the filet was so small that it was overcooked. I would have been happier if they put the meat on the grill, turned it over and took it off, in as much time as it took to read that! Mmmmm rare meat, but alas, they were medium to well, however I still ate them, and had a glass of MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir to go along with them.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1061.jpg

One of the afternoons in the park we did a beer tasting.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/coa.jpg

They didn’t give us much in the way of samples, but we learned some pretty interesting things about the palate and the presenter was quite entertaining.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/cpa.jpg

All festival long I had been curious about the Tequila tastings that I had seen on the schedule and several times we had tried to make it to one, but something always came up. On the last weekend of the Festival, the afternoon before we were attending Taste, I was dead set on getting to this tasting, and we did!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1056.jpg

The tasting was sponsored by Don Julio Tequila, they gave us four samples, the first (left to right) was a Blanco, the next a Reposado, the third an Añejo and the last was their new Tequila 1942 which retails for $70-100 per bottle :scared1:. If you’re not familiar with Tequila, each one of the Tequilas as we moved from left to right (other than the Blanco) was aged in an oak barrel. Two years aging is required for Reposado and I think it’s five years for Añejo. My favorite is the Blanco or the Reposado, the taste of the Añejo is a little too strong when it picks up all that oak. But I’ll tell you that 1942 was pretty darned smooth!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1052.jpg

So that’s it for my tootling around the festival shots, as you can see most of what I did was Signature Events and I have two more coming up for you!

[kaoden39]

Isn't Cat Cora just a doll? She used to live here, we used to shop in the same grocery store, and we worked out at the same gym. She always had a smile and a kind word.

[Mouse13]

Great report! We were in the parks last year during the Food & Wine Fest and are heading back for it again this year!

[franandaj]

Great report! We were in the parks last year during the Food & Wine Fest and are heading back for it again this year!

Thanks! I love your signature picture BTW.

It looks like you're coming one week before my last weekend there. By the time you get there I should have posted a pretty good selection of what there is to offer at the festival. I am just counting down the days!

[aspen37]

I'm starting to get really excited about checking DCA's out Food & Wine. Thank you for all of the pictures and reviews. :thumbsup2

When do they announce what demos will be going on?

[franandaj]

I'm starting to get really excited about checking DCA's out Food & Wine. Thank you for all of the pictures and reviews. :thumbsup2

When do they announce what demos will be going on?

I don't know, but I'm getting really ancy about it, I could have sworn that by this time last year they had the complimentary demos on the website. I could be wrong :confused3 but I'm really curious which weekends all the celebrity chefs will be there. We only waited in line on the weekends that we'd already planned to be there so I'm curious about that plus what ever other demos will be going on. I would really like it if they annouced the tapas plates in advance. Last year at WDW I made a whole spreadsheet of what I wanted to try, what world to find it in...I suppose it won't be that complicated here since they are all in one place, but inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!

[franandaj]

Taste was an amazing event. At first I wasn’t interested in it because I had heard that there wasn’t much seating and a lot of standing. I have a foot injury which makes it difficult to walk around the parks. DP has severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and can’t really walk at all, only very short distances. The both of us use scooters when we travel to Disney. So back to my apprehension to attend Taste. I didn’t relish the idea of standing around all night trying to carry plates around for the both of us and possibly spilling things, it just didn’t sound fun.

However DP was really thinking, her solution, attach tray tables to the front of our scooters! That way we have seats wherever we go and a table. I was doubtful, and she kept dragging her heels on this to the point that we were at Home Depot the night before looking for the supplies and figuring out what we could do to attach them. Finally after some sawing, nailing and zip ties, we had our solution!

We were staying at the Grand Californian that night so after hanging out in the park, we checked into our room which was finally ready, took a short nap and got ready for the evening. When the bellman brought out bags up, he said, “We have been looking at these things in storage all day, what ARE they?” I showed him how they would fit on the front of our scooters and he laughed, guess this was the first time they saw that!

We left the room about ½ an hour before the event started and found a HUGE line on the esplanade! Good thing we had our chairs and tables already picked out. They led us through the park to Stage 17, everyone was identified as a paying guest by a little tag that hung around your neck on a lanyard which also had descriptions of all the foods we would be tasting. Each guest was handed a wine glass upon entry. As soon as we got into Stage 17 there were huge lines and bottlenecks for the food immediately in front of the entrance. We decided that a better strategy was to start on the other side of the room in the back.

Our first stop was with Chef Andrew Sutton from the Napa Rose. He had prepared a Laura Chenel goat Cheese Tart. When you approached his station each one of these tasty little morsels was prepared for you. The mushrooms and onion gravy on the plate first, then the tart was placed on top and then the salad garnish. The tart shell was filled with the lovely goat cheese which was not too tangy, just creamy and light.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1073.jpg

We found that we could fit three plates on our little tray tables so we would ride down the aisle, pick up three plates, fill our wine glasses and park at the end of the aisle out of the way of the traffic to enjoy the tasty treats.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1084.jpg

Our next stop was the Cantonese chicken on sticky rice cake from Chef Martha Sigala of Café Orleans. Of course it was good, but the chicken was a little sweet and the sticky rice cake was really sticky. I ate it all though.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1071.jpg

This next morsel was not listed on the card they gave us to help identify what foods came from which restaurants. As I look through my pictures and compare them to the card, I’m going to have to say that this one came from Catal because the only other item that I can’t seem to find was from Brennan’s and somehow, sashimi doesn’t seem to fit their Profile!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1069.jpg

After scarfing down those tasty bits, we went down the row again to pick up what we missed on the first trip. Our first stop was the Beef Carpaccio from Chef Greg Stilman from Naples Ristorante. I was a little reluctant to eat this and I don’t know why because I have been eating raw fish for over 20 years! Why should raw beef scare me? The little bit of salt & pepper seasoning was so tasty and I can’t remember what the stuff on top was, but the whole thing was scrumptious!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1067.jpg

The next item was a Foccacia crostini topped with brie & duck confit from Chef April Ventura of the Golden Vine Winery. This one did not stand out amongst all the others, it was good, but if I had room for seconds, this wouldn’t have been where I went.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1068.jpg

Our final item on this side of Taste was from Chef Marcel St. Pierre of Club 33, it was called Perigord truffle vol-au-vent, raclette fondue. As with everything that I have eaten from Club 33 this was absolutely exquisite. I had to Google this to figure out how all these descriptive factors fit into the sampling, but it was a perfect description. The vol-au-vent refers to the puff pastry which houses the yummy filing, and I suppose that it was made with Perigord truffles. The raclette fondue is the cheese filling that fills this exquisite pastry.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1070.jpg

That’s it for the first side of the room on taste, but there is much more to come.

[aspen37]

I don't know, but I'm getting really ancy about it, I could have sworn that by this time last year they had the complimentary demos on the website. I could be wrong :confused3 but I'm really curious which weekends all the celebrity chefs will be there. We only waited in line on the weekends that we'd already planned to be there so I'm curious about that plus what ever other demos will be going on. I would really like it if they annouced the tapas plates in advance. Last year at WDW I made a whole spreadsheet of what I wanted to try, what world to find it in...I suppose it won't be that complicated here since they are all in one place, but inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!

I hope they announce the demos soon. We have very limited time durning F&W, so it would be nice too have some sort of plan. I guess I will just try and check the website everyday.

[franandaj]

I hope they announce the demos soon. We have very limited time durning F&W, so it would be nice too have some sort of plan. I guess I will just try and check the website everyday.

I know what you mean, I just want to plan what I'm going to do! I hope they announce something more soon!

[thmar]

franandaj...the food looks wonderful!! I'm looking forward to more. I'll definately have to try the Beef Carpaccio from Naples Ristorante. I love this dish, and Chef Greg Stilman's looks wonderful!! Thanks for sharing.

[franandaj]

franandaj...the food looks wonderful!! I'm looking forward to more. I'll definately have to try the Beef Carpaccio from Naples Ristorante. I love this dish, and Chef Greg Stilman's looks wonderful!! Thanks for sharing.

I think that was a special Taste exclusive. I just checked allears.net menu and it's not on there. Too bad. I've never eaten at Naples Ristorante, but that's something I might have tried it for!

[thmar]

I think that was a special Taste exclusive. I just checked allears.net menu and it's not on there. Too bad. I've never eaten at Naples Ristorante, but that's something I might have tried it for!

I've never eaten there either, but thought if they had this...I give it a try. Darn! Oh well...maybe I'll have to check them out someday anyway. Again, thanks for the photos!!:thumbsup2

[franandaj]

After sampling everything on the far side of the room, our tummies were definitely getting full, but we persevered! Our first stop was the House of Blues, they were the very first table once you got in the door and were mobbed when we came in, but by this time things had calmed down quite a bit and everyone was slowing down. HOB did a bonus offering not only were they serving their dish that was listed on our lanyard, the Crab Cake Slider with smashed lemon caper tartar sauce, but they also had a plate of home made potato chips.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1062.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1062.jpg)

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1063.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1063.jpg)

OK, now this is becoming a problem, perhaps we should have been splitting these dishes! That crab cake was big enough for a serving for me! How the heck am I going to get through the rest of these dishes? Next stop the Chicken & Waffle Roulade with Vermont Maple Syrup Ice Cream and Raspberry “Caviar” from Chef Sean Layne of Celebration Ranch. This was the perfect balance of sweet and savory, for those who have been to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, imagine a kicked up gourmet version. Yummmmm! This was so good! Good sized portion too, it didn’t break the belt!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1064.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1064.jpg)

Moving on right next door was Chef Jason Martin of Steakhouse 55’s Mediterranean Macaroni & Cheese with Hanger Steak. Now I don’t know what made this “Mediterranean”, to me it tasted just like good ole Mac-n-Cheese. The steak was cooked excellently, but no matter how much I was going to try, there was no way I would be able to finish it

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1065.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1065.jpg)

But still….had…to….try….every…thing…one…more…bite. We stopped at the end of the row and watched Nanta give a performance. They were highly entertaining. The first performance they gave was using knives and cutting boards, they performed rhythmic dance, and the cutting boards were filled with vegetables. Chef Sutton warned us not to get too close, the veggies were flying! The second performance was with pots and pans as drums (I think), no food was involved. That gave us about a 20 minute breather from eating, and a second wind!

This next item was from Chef Jaime Gwen, on the lanyard, it said that it was supposed to be a Pork Belly Slider, but I distinctly remember that it was a Meatloaf Slider, or at least that’s what she called it. Slider! HA! I’d call it more of a boulder. I couldn’t eat this and not because I was too full because there was WAY too much cumin in there. No way in heck, too much spice and besides I couldn’t hardly get my mouth around it. We were sure glad that we started on the side with the little plates!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1066.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1066.jpg)

Now this is where things get blurry, by process of elimination, I’m going to have to say that this is the Spinach and Goat Cheese Stuffed Artichoke Heart from Chef Darrin Finkel at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen, but I don’t remember eating it. If I did I’m sure it was good. The one thing I don’t seem to have is a picture of the Roasted Monkfish Cake with charmoula from Chef Moizes Carranza at the Blue Bayou. Unless this is the elusive Avocado and Dungeness Crab Roll from Catal. I really need to take better notes and pictures this year! I promise I will!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1072.jpg (http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/?action=view&current=IMG_1072.jpg)

This is it for the savories…next up sweets and end of evening.

[PinkPrincessZ]

Awesome review of Taste! :thumbsup2

[franandaj]

Awesome review of Taste! :thumbsup2

Thanks, I'm getting so excited, three weeks to go!

[OurDogCisco]

Just finished reading all 4 pages... great reviews... Once my kids leave the nest, I can't wait to try this. TFS...

[anthonut]

Thanks for posting these pics. I don't know when I would be able to make DLR's Food and Wine fest, but these sure make me willing to try :) Also makes me wish I could get more than the few days I am able to get for the WDW F&W ;)

[aspen37]

Thanks, I'm getting so excited, three weeks to go!

:cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: It is going to be here before we know it.

[franandaj]

This is my final installment of Taste for this year, so I’ll wrap it up with Dessert! By this time I was so overstuffed that I wasn’t thinking very well about the pictures. In fact it wasn’t until after dessert that I realized I should have been taking pictures all along! After taking the pictures you see here I went around to all the other tables and took all the pictures that I posted previously!

As I mentioned in the first Taste post, I had been hesitant to sign up for this event due to the limited seating. We created our own tables right on the front of our scooters.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1079-1.jpg

I can’t tell you what any of these desserts were, but they were all really good, here are some close ups.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1080.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1081.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1082-1.jpg

This is us in our scooters with our tray tables attached. You’ll see us again in 2010 with the same set up, but I’ll take more pictures!
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1086-1.jpg

[aspen37]

This is my final installment of Taste for this year, so I’ll wrap it up with Dessert! By this time I was so overstuffed that I wasn’t thinking very well about the pictures. In fact it wasn’t until after dessert that I realized I should have been taking pictures all along! After taking the pictures you see here I went around to all the other tables and took all the pictures that I posted previously!

As I mentioned in the first Taste post, I had been hesitant to sign up for this event due to the limited seating. We created our own tables right on the front of our scooters.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1079-1.jpg

I can’t tell you what any of these desserts were, but they were all really good, here are some close ups.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1080.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1081.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1082-1.jpg

This is us in our scooters with our tray tables attached. You’ll see us again in 2010 with the same set up, but I’ll take more pictures!
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1086-1.jpg

I hope I see you two in a couple of weeks! :goodvibes

Those desserts look yummy! You guys did a great job adding the trays on the scooters! :thumbsup2

[franandaj]

I hope I see you two in a couple of weeks! :goodvibes

Those desserts look yummy! You guys did a great job adding the trays on the scooters! :thumbsup2

I'm sure we'll run into each other...It's a small hotel after all...

Couldn't resist a silly pun!

[franandaj]

Our last official event of the F&W Festival 2009 was Sweet Sundays with Keghan Gerhard. We started off the morning at 10AM with a lovely buffet style breakfast with sausage, potatoes, muffins, croissants, fruit and I’m sure there was other stuff like juice, coffee, and more importantly sparkling alcoholic beverages of a tasty sweet nature!

Once we were finished with the savory portion of our breakfast Keeghan Gerhard came out to demonstrate some yummy pastries that we got to eat for dessert. You can see his darling wife in the background performing as sous chef of this occasion.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1091.jpg

This first item was a chocolate crepe filled with passion fruit puree (I think) and topped with whipped cream and some kind of chocolate sauce.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1093.jpg

The next one was a waffle with fruit topping and ice cream, I know they made these waffles the night before because when I met up with Keeghan (next post) the night before he mentioned (to another chef) that he had “just finished making X (X = a lot) of mini waffles for the presentation tomorrow”

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1096.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1090.jpg

By the time I got to this last dessert, I was sooooooo full, I don’t even remember what it was. It was good and I was going to try and force it down, but I wised up and decided better not to completely stuff myself so that I could enjoy the rest of my day.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1097.jpg

So that’s it for my Food pictures from the 2009 Food & Wine Festival. Next up Celebrity Chefs, and in just about a week 2010 pictures!

[kaoden39]

Oh my gosh. I think I gained 10 pounds looking at those sweets. I can hardly wait to see this years pictures.:thumbsup2

[franandaj]

So they finally posted the schedule for the demos and tastings! There are a lot of Food Network Personalities, plus a few that they are really scraping the barrel but whatever, check it out! I'm going to see how many I can get out and see without too many trips outside of what I already have planned. A lot depends on DP, she's not nearly as into this as I am so we'll see what happens.

[onelilspark]

I've been reading each installment, but for some reason I keep neglecting to comment :sad2: Sorry! But I'm here, and reading!!

[franandaj]

I've been reading each installment, but for some reason I keep neglecting to comment :sad2: Sorry! But I'm here, and reading!!

Cool, I'm glad we're reading into each other's posts, I need to subscribe to your WDW F&W thing, but haven't done it yet.

I have a neat surprise that until it's for sure, I don't wan't to announce it, but come Monday I might have an other addition to my F&W adventures!

[tinkermell]

I just read your whole report, and it was just wonderful. Thanks!

I was there last year during the festival. So much fun stuff, but didn't get to do much except try some extra goodies.

I'm with you on the posting of the schedules and visiting chefs. I have been looking and looking, and finally found the something of a schedule yesterday. I was so discouraged, cuz the one chef both my DH I wanted to see is Guy Fieri. He is already scheduled for this weekend, and we can't make it work. How is one supposed to plan? And I only found the schedule for this weekend. Nothing else is listed yet. :headache:

You are lucky that you live close by.:thumbsup2 For us, it needs to be a little more planned.

Hope you have a wonderful time this year. Looking forward to your report. :goodvibes

[franandaj]

Here is a link where you can download the full schedule: Schedule (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/calendar/specialEvents/detail?name=FoodWineDailySchedulePage)

I agree, it really should have been posted sooner. I've only looked at this weekend in detail. Mostly I want to know when the celebrity chefs are there. I'll see if we can see Guy Fieri this weekend. I'd also like to see Sunny Anderson and Anne Burrell, but we'll see if I can get out there that often. I do have three weekends planned to stay over, but can't remember if any of the chefs I want to see are there those weekends.

[franandaj]

One of my favorite things about the F&W Festival is all the Food Network Chefs that we can meet up with over the course of the Festival. Over the past years I’ve had the good fortune to meet up with some great chefs at the Food and Wine Festival. Here are some people I’ve met up with over the past couple years.

This was in 2008 when Guy Fieri did a dinner at the Napa Rose restaurant

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/PicwithGuy.jpg

This is Chef Marcel St. Pierre the executive Chef at Club 33

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1087.jpg

This is Chef Andrew Sutton from Napa Rose

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/cia.jpg

This is Keeghan Gerhard from Food Network Challenge

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_1088.jpg

And here’s me with Iron Chef Cat Cora

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/dzf.jpg

And Hunky Chef Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/cma.jpg

[kaoden39]

Very cool. I wish I could go this year. Argh. I am going next year, I just need to figure out when the chefs I want to see are going to be there.

[rentayenta]

Found ya. Now I have some catching up to do. :surfweb:

[franandaj]

So I just found out yesterday that I’m going to a Wine Maker Dinner at Club 33 this Sunday evening and John Lasseter will be there because it’s his winery!

The same friend who got me in for lunch at the Club the day after my Birthday was able to get me into this dinner! Evidently Club 33 has these “Member events” and the member can bring a certain number of guests. Well this event has a party maximum size of four, me and DP get to attend with our friends! When I found out about the possibility of going to the dinner I called DVC MS and waitlisted for that Sunday night, and amazingly enough the waitlist came through. Since we were already staying Friday and Saturday nights, adding a Sunday for an evening this special just seemed like a no brainer! However I didn't want to post anything about it until I was sure I was going, didn't want to jinx anything!

According to the Food & Wine schedule, John Lasseter’s Winery is presenting tastings at the Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday and his Wine Maker is doing bottle signings, so I guess after all that he gets to come to Club 33 and have dinner.

What a magical way to close out the weekend!

[rentayenta]

So I just found out yesterday that I’m going to a Wine Maker Dinner at Club 33 this Sunday evening and John Lasseter will be there because it’s his winery!

The same friend who got me in for lunch at the Club the day after my Birthday was able to get me into this dinner! Evidently Club 33 has these “Member events” and the member can bring a certain number of guests. Well this event has a party maximum size of four, me and DP get to attend with our friends! When I found out about the possibility of going to the dinner I called DVC MS and waitlisted for that Sunday night, and amazingly enough the waitlist came through. Since we were already staying Friday and Saturday nights, adding a Sunday for an evening this special just seemed like a no brainer! However I didn't want to post anything about it until I was sure I was going, didn't want to jinx anything!

According to the Food & Wine schedule, John Lasseter’s Winery is presenting tastings at the Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday and his Wine Maker is doing bottle signings, so I guess after all that he gets to come to Club 33 and have dinner.

What a magical way to close out the weekend!


Amazing! Waaahooooo!!!! :woohoo: :banana:

[onelilspark]

So I just found out yesterday that I’m going to a Wine Maker Dinner at Club 33 this Sunday evening and John Lasseter will be there because it’s his winery!

The same friend who got me in for lunch at the Club the day after my Birthday was able to get me into this dinner! Evidently Club 33 has these “Member events” and the member can bring a certain number of guests. Well this event has a party maximum size of four, me and DP get to attend with our friends! When I found out about the possibility of going to the dinner I called DVC MS and waitlisted for that Sunday night, and amazingly enough the waitlist came through. Since we were already staying Friday and Saturday nights, adding a Sunday for an evening this special just seemed like a no brainer! However I didn't want to post anything about it until I was sure I was going, didn't want to jinx anything!

According to the Food & Wine schedule, John Lasseter’s Winery is presenting tastings at the Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday and his Wine Maker is doing bottle signings, so I guess after all that he gets to come to Club 33 and have dinner.

What a magical way to close out the weekend!


:dance3: :cheer2: :woohoo: :yay: :banana: :cool1: How exciting!

Also: is it just me or is Guy Fieri really tan?!

[kaoden39]

:dance3: :cheer2: :woohoo: :yay: :banana: :cool1: How exciting!

Also: is it just me or is Guy Fieri really tan?!

I love Guy but, a person that is as busy as he is has to be using fake tan. How else would he have a tan? When does he find time to spend in the sun?:rotfl:

[franandaj]

I love Guy but, a person that is as busy as he is has to be using fake tan. How else would he have a tan? When does he find time to spend in the sun?:rotfl:

It does look like a fake tan, sort of orangeish...

[kaoden39]

It does look like a fake tan, sort of orangeish...

Too funny that was my thought.

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I always thought his tan was from all the time spent in his convertable driving the country:rotfl: I think he has white lines on his face from his sunglasses!

You are so lucky to be going to Club 33, I want to go one of these days!

[kaoden39]

I always thought his tan was from all the time spent in his convertable driving the country:rotfl: I think he has white lines on his face from his sunglasses!

You are so lucky to be going to Club 33, I want to go one of these days!

:rotfl:Yeah, yeah that's it sun in the convertible.

[sleekmr2]

OMG!! I'm so hungry now. Love the pics.

[Angel16]

So I just found out yesterday that I’m going to a Wine Maker Dinner at Club 33 this Sunday evening and John Lasseter will be there because it’s his winery!

The same friend who got me in for lunch at the Club the day after my Birthday was able to get me into this dinner! Evidently Club 33 has these “Member events” and the member can bring a certain number of guests. Well this event has a party maximum size of four, me and DP get to attend with our friends! When I found out about the possibility of going to the dinner I called DVC MS and waitlisted for that Sunday night, and amazingly enough the waitlist came through. Since we were already staying Friday and Saturday nights, adding a Sunday for an evening this special just seemed like a no brainer! However I didn't want to post anything about it until I was sure I was going, didn't want to jinx anything!

According to the Food & Wine schedule, LassJohneter’s Winery is presenting tastings at the Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday and his Wine Maker is doing bottle signings, so I guess after all that he gets to come to Club 33 and have dinner.

What a magical way to close out the weekend!

Alison, That is super! :cool1: I really want to hear all about it. Of course your going to post your experience.

We will be arriving at DL Sunday around noon. We are staying at the GC for four nights. Guess we will have to check our CA and look for John Lasseters Winery. Thanks for all the information. :goodvibes



Angel16

[franandaj]

So nothing went as planned today, we wanted to see the Guy Fieri Demo, but just didn't make it in time. And just to let you all know, don't think I eat like this all the time! But I do choose wisely, to quote Indiana Jones (the 3rd movie). Before we checked into the VGC we stopped at In-N-Out so we got our fast food burger fix before our gourmet plunge, plus all week I cooked "packaged food" like Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken and Zatarains Jambalaya. Don't think I didn't mix it up with extra veggies and stuff, but we're down home people normally, we just live it up on vacation or during F&W!

We did have a very nice dinner at Steakhouse 55 and I will quick post some pics because I need to go to bed so that I can get up for the Napa Rose Cooking School tomorrow. If I can muster up the gusto I'll even get up for magic mornings at the MK and ride SM, but that's pretty doubtful, I'm lucky to get up for the Cooking School as it is! :rotfl2:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2849.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2848.jpg

Ok so here's the bread, boy this was pretty darned yummy!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2825.jpg

The Menu

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2848.jpg

We split everything on the meal, our first course was the rock shrimp, these were yummy tasty morsels delicately fried, but not at all tough, we scarfed them down.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2826.jpg

Here's the glass of Chalone Chardonnay I had with the first two courses

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2829.jpg

The spinach and applewood bacon salad

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2830.jpg

The 7 onion soup, first the poured in parmesan crisps and chives,

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2831.jpg

Then the soup broth with the onions. I'll tell you this was AMAZING! The broth itself was to DIE for, and the onions were so sweet, it was just too good!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2832.jpg

This was my half of the Rib Eye
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2834.jpg

The other half

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2835.jpg

Our Sides:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2836.jpg

My plate, although this was a little bit overcooked, it was still quite good.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2840.jpg

We got the first one on the list

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2843.jpg

Along with a glass of late harvest riesling

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2845.jpg

Next up the Cooking School at the Food & Wine Festival, it officially begins!

[onelilspark]

:laughing: I like my steaks RED in the middle, it made me smile that you said yours were a little over done :thumbsup2

I'm excited to read all about your F&W experience! Have a great time at the Cooking School tomorrow!!!

[toocherie]

Alison!

I can't believe I was at the Keegan Gerhard Sweet Sunday last year and didn't know you! Aaarrrrggghhhhhh!

However, I am going to Taste this year with some friends. I will also be a scooter girl--how/where did you get your tray? How did you attach it to the scooter?

I was also wistful because my friends Dawn and Bob were at the Napa Rose cooking school last year in 2009 and enjoyed that menu very much. Unfortunately Dawn got the swine flu and passed away in November so it brought back memories because I saw a lot of them that weekend and reminded me that she would probably have been out here again.

Anyway--we will have to meet up at Taste!

[rentayenta]

:thumbsup2 Great pics!!!! Love that you said your ribeye was a little overdone. We like ours rare too! Food looks delicious. Our first stop when we hit So Cal will be In n Out.

[franandaj]

Alison!

I can't believe I was at the Keegan Gerhard Sweet Sunday last year and didn't know you! Aaarrrrggghhhhhh!

However, I am going to Taste this year with some friends. I will also be a scooter girl--how/where did you get your tray? How did you attach it to the scooter?

I was also wistful because my friends Dawn and Bob were at the Napa Rose cooking school last year in 2009 and enjoyed that menu very much. Unfortunately Dawn got the swine flu and passed away in November so it brought back memories because I saw a lot of them that weekend and reminded me that she would probably have been out here again.

Anyway--we will have to meet up at Taste!

That's too funny that you were there too! We sat right up front on the buffet side of the table facing the demo. It was right after that event that I made my DP go tour the DVC models and buy points here so that I could stay the first and last weekends of F&W!

We made the tray tables ourselves. We just bought a piece of wood at Home Depot, cut it to about 20x18 inches. We bought floor moulding and cut that to make the "lips" of the tray table so our goodies would not slide off the side. The bases are plant hangers that one would mount on the wall and insert a pot into. We attached those with cable tie downs. Then we just used a lot of zip ties to hold them on the scooter. Once I get home, I'll post a picture of the underside for you to see. They worked great the only difficulty is U turns where the angle slants a little bit. Otherwise we had our tables with us at all times and didn't need to wait in line four hours before the event to get a table!

I read about Dawn and Bob, that was very sad. She was probably a really neat lady. We'll be easy to spot at Taste! Don't worry if you're staying, you can have your room at the VGC, we're in a 1 BR that night, we have an accessible unit, so we'll probably be on the ground floor. That's OK, I've had this view (and will for the next two nights) so someone else can enjoy it.

Looking forward to meeting you! In the meantime, I'm going to continue to enjoy the festival! More pics coming!

[kaoden39]

I like my steak bloody too. I hope cooking class is fun.:goodvibes

[PrincessInOz]

Alison....I'm hungry! Off to lunch for this Aussie! Your extravaganza looks scrumptious :thumbsup2

What camera are you using for the food porn shots and what settings are you using? I'm hoping to take a lot of food shots myself...

[franandaj]

:laughing: I like my steaks RED in the middle, it made me smile that you said yours were a little over done :thumbsup2

I'm excited to read all about your F&W experience! Have a great time at the Cooking School tomorrow!!!

:thumbsup2 Great pics!!!! Love that you said your ribeye was a little overdone. We like ours rare too! Food looks delicious. Our first stop when we hit So Cal will be In n Out.

I like my steak bloody too. I hope cooking class is fun.:goodvibes

Yeah for all of us who like our meat still kicking!

Alison....I'm hungry! Off to lunch for this Aussie! Your extravaganza looks scrumptious :thumbsup2

What camera are you using for the food porn shots and what settings are you using? I'm hoping to take a lot of food shots myself...

For these pics, I'm just using a Canon Power Shot SD890 IS. It's small and I keep it in my purse for easy use. It's great for food shots, but not so hot for things like the testing of WoC that I was trying to take pictures of last night!

[franandaj]

This is such an amazing event. People don't understand why we pay so much money to make our own food, but the people who do understand really get it and it is so much fun, I can't imagine not doing this class every year. In fact it is one of those highlights that I look forward to. Even now I can't wait for next year and what we will do!

This morning Jim Ames the Festival Coordinator was at the Napa Rose and I talked to him and thanked him for the Festival and told him to let his upper management know that after last year, I bought DVC points so I could stay during F&W! We also talked about how he still thinks that we are all crazy to pay over $400 to make our own food, but is glad that the event sells out before any others.

So that said, this year's cooking school started out like the rest, lovely pastries and cofffe to start and then Andrew Sutton gives us a briefing of what we are in store for.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2933.jpg

This man is just brilliant in his recipies, teaching and how he puts this class together. Our menu was quite simple, but delicious,

1st course - home made pasta with shrimp & vegetables in a flavorful healthy sauce

2nd course - stuffed zucchini blossoms served over a bed of greens and bacon

3rd course - Roasted Chicken with a dehydrated strawberry, smoked paprika & herb rub

4th course - Scharfenberger Chocolate Souffle with Cherry Ice cream

He planned it perfectly so that we did all the "heavy lifting" in the beginning of the class and by the end we were just eating the food we made and drinking wine!

First off we washed our hands and then immediately got around to our whole chickens. We stuffed them with half a lemon, lots of salt and a rub that we made from dehydrated strawberries, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and a couple other things, they had all the herbs set out for us, we just mixed them up and then coated them on the bird. Chef Sutton demonstrated them first and then we got down to business.

This is his bird.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2941.jpg

I'm working on mine!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2949.jpg

Next up he demonstrated how to send pasta through a press and make Papparadelle. By this pic, he's already put the pasta through like 20-30 times.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2962.jpg

Here he shows us how you can put chervil in your pasta to make it more artistic.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2986.jpg

Then he goes backwards and shows us how to make pasta dough.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2970.jpg

Looks pretty easy huh? We'll see if I try this!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2973.jpg

He cuts the already prepared dough into thin slices for the Paparadelle.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2976.jpg

Next he demonstrates how to remove the stemen from the zucchini blossoms

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2980.jpg

They have this whole amazing tray set up for us to stuff our zucchini blossoms, and then make our pasta. Notice the piping bag with the blossoms, this is our next task.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2988-1.jpg

Once we piped the goat cheese filling into the zucchini, we dipped them in flour, egg wash and pankow bread crumbs.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2993.jpg

Chef Sutton began our demo of the pasta dish, the butter you see in his hand is the most amazing tasting butter.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_2997.jpg

He says cook the garlic to California Tan

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3003.jpg

OK going to post this and continue in another thread so I don't have too many pics!

[PrincessInOz]

If the recipe you're referring to in my PTR is the paprika chicken here, yes please. I'd like it!!

It looks YUM! Did the chef talk about substituting paprika with curry or chilli powder?

[franandaj]

OK, so where did we leave off, we still haven't actually cooked or eaten anything! :rotfl2:

So we have just stuffed & breaded our zucchini blossoms. Now at this point just about everything we need to do is basically set. Next Chef Sutton demonstrates how to make our shrimp paparadelle pasta. They have already cooked the pasta enough so we have everything on our stations that just need to be assembled in our pans. Can I have someone come to my house and do this for me for all my dinners so that all i need to do is put it in a pan?

So we saute the garlic, cook it to California tan, add shallots & red pepper flakes, put in some wine, completely reduce it, add chicken stock and all the veggies, which I think are tomatoes, basil, fennel, spinach, and whatever else was on the plate (we did get a cookbook). shrimp and cook it down till the shrimp are cooked and let it reduce, add a little lemon zest. Then we add the pasta, heat it through and voila! A few tosses of the pan....

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3008.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3014.jpg

The first one was Chef Sutton's, this one is mine:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3021.jpg

Here's the finished product, pretty darned good if I don't say so myself!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3024.jpg

After we ate our pasta, Chef showed us how to cut up a chicken. Here's some of the chickens we made.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3027.jpg

We were all in awe of how he carved this bird with such ease

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3029.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3031.jpg

The sous chefs gave us each plate of greens and bacon. Our stuffed blossoms were labeled with our names, we fried them in olive oil and plated them with our salads.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3035.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3036.jpg

BTW what they did with this bacon was obscene, they coated it in maple syrup at least three times while they roasted it in the oven. OMG! It was the best bacon EVER!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3038.jpg

Once we finished our squash blossom bacon salad, they brought us each a plate of chicken. Throughout the whole meal my DP and my friend Suzie's husband had been lurking around the table each of us shared our first two courses with them, but for the chicken, the staff brought them each a plate of the chicken. That was very nice, they didn't have to do that, but for the price we all paid to register and the fact that each student did make a whole chicken, well, it was just nice of them to bring them an entree too.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3039.jpg

This is just a shot of the flatbread they serve, it is my favorite and I eat all of them in the breadbasket that they bring!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3040.jpg

These are all the wines that they have been serving us with our courses so far.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3041.jpg

I'm going to save dessert for tomorrow! It's already very late and I need to go to bed since I was up so late last night and on my feet almost all day today.

Still to come, dessert at the Napa Rose Cooking School and some of the Tapas plates from the Taste of California Marketplace!

[thmar]

I love this!! Thanks for sharing!!!

[franandaj]

After we finished our main course, we were again invited back into the kitchen. Chef Sutton does not make the desserts, they are handled by the Disney Bakery so Jorge Sotelo and his assistant Mario showed us how they made our dessert.

They started off by melting butter and scharfenberger chocolate over a double boiler.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3043.jpg

They whipped some egg whites, combined the egg yolks and flour with the chocolate mixture, and folded it all together. Then they showed us the little molds that they cook the souffle's. Next they demonstrated the plating.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3048.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3053.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3057.jpg

We also got to see them demonstrate how they made the little sugar flower you see on the plate.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3058.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3060.jpg

They shaped each individual petal and then finally made this larger version of the rose we received on the plate. He said that they make about 40 of these every night.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3070.jpg

Next we got to make a simple spiral in the kitchen. However at this point, my camera battery was dropping dead so I plugged it in to charge. My friend John took a picture of my spiral and when he gets me the copy, I'll substitute it in here.

My battery charged up enough to take these final pics for the day.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3072.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3074.jpg

That's it for the cooking school. Next update, dinner at the Taste of California Marketplace.

[franandaj]

So for those of you who are familiar with the Epcot F&W Festival, the biggest draw is strolling around the countries and sampling the small plates. Well the California Food Police will not let that happen here, evidently the only thing you can serve out of stands are things like churros, popcorn, ice cream bars. Generally the stuff you see for sale throughout Disneyland and DCA. I guess if you have to actually cook it, the item needs to be prepared in a licensed kitchen. I'm only speculating as I have no idea!

The tapas plates served in DCA are just that, they are prepared in a regular kitchen. They are all served in one location. You place your order at a central register, turn in your ticket at the kitchen and they prepare your plates for you.

We needed a nap after the cooking school so we didn't get down there until 7:45PM, they told us they were closing at 8:00, so we ordered everything all at once (at least everything we planned on eating today). Here are the items that are offered:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3082.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3083.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3084.jpg

We went with one each of the first four items, the berry cobbler, I got a glass of Chalone Chardonnay and DP got a glass of the Festive Ale.

The Halibut was YUM! We'll be back for another one of these (each).

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3075.jpg

The Quesadilla....meh, not so much....

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3076.jpg

The slider, it wasn't bad, but could have used something else. Maybe some cheese.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3077.jpg

The Cheddar Soup in a Bread Bowl. Not very "sharing friendly". We are each getting our own when we come back!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3078.jpg

The Berry Cobbler was tasty but should have been served in a Creme Brulee style dish so that there was a better topping to fruit ratio.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3079.jpg

The Festive Ale

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3080.jpg

And Wine...it's a glass of wine....

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/IMG_3081.jpg

Later today we'll be back for seconds on the two we liked, and we'll try all the other options as well. I'll also take some shots of the Marketplace itself. We were there so late and it was so dark last night we were just interested in the food. Today will be a much more leisurely day!

Thanks for reading!

[RweTHEREyet]

Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and pictures. I have enjoyed your report and this certainly gives me a better idea of what to expect on the tapas, etc. It sure is a shame that it can't be set up like EPCOT so you can stroll and eat and stroll and drink and then do it all some more, but then again in DL, you only have to wait in one line to order all your food and not a line each time. So, there are some benefits to each.

[Disneyland_Mama]

Love your reviews! And I totally agree with you, the slider need something... cheese or carmelized onions... something!

Sadly my DH ate all the Cheese soup, so I just got a little taste from what was left clinging to the bread bowl. :lmao:

The halibut was my most favorite dish. :)

[kaoden39]

That cheese soup looks amazing to me. Oh my.

[tinkermell]

Wonderful update!

Thanks for sharing. :goodvibes

[franandaj]

I just got back to my room after tootling all around the park, I'll post some more updates, I had to get the Halibut again it was so good!

Thanks for reading along everyone, I need to hit the pool, it's pretty hot right now!

[lulubelle]

I love it all, Alison, thanks for taking so much time to share everything with us.:)

I, too, was friends with Dawn and was supposed to do the NR cooking school with her this year. She talked Toocherie and myself right into it after her experience. We miss her dearly. I can see that they have won you over as well since this is your third year.:thumbsup2 Maybe I'll finally go next year....

I can't wait to read more - and your pics are awesome.

And I will look for you for sure at Taste.:)

[onelilspark]

Love it! ...I'm hungry now though...hmmmm....

[dizneedoll]

Fabulous F&W update! We were there last year and weren't impressed but this set up with the Marketplace sounds so much better and the offerings look delish. We'll be there next month! Can't wait!

[PrincessInOz]

I learnt my lesson from last time. This time, I checked out your updates and pics AFTER dinner :rotfl2:

Great update Alison. You look like you're having a BALL!! I think I'm heading to your place instead of Walt's Wharf ;)

[IleneF]

Amazing coverage of the DL F&W Fest. Thanks so much Alison for the gorgeous photos that have me drooling and wishing to return to DL ;)

[Mary Jo]

I'm loving your report and all of the details! I was there at the Sweet Sunday with toocherie when we saw Keegan Gerhard. This year I don't think I'm doing any signature events, but did go to the Jonathan Rollo culinary demonstration and have tried some of the tapas and the chile relleno. We also saw part of the wine demo with John & Nancy Lasseter, did the CA wine walk, and some other stuff.

You have done and are doing so much! Thank you for the reports and all of the pictures. I'll be interested in hearing how you like all the food. My daughter liked the ahi tapa, and everyone at the table liked the halibut. I don't think they were impressed with the quesadilla. :)

[franandaj]

Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and pictures. I have enjoyed your report and this certainly gives me a better idea of what to expect on the tapas, etc. It sure is a shame that it can't be set up like EPCOT so you can stroll and eat and stroll and drink and then do it all some more, but then again in DL, you only have to wait in one line to order all your food and not a line each time. So, there are some benefits to each.

There is a small amount of strolling you can do. If you have someone to split things with you the CS restaurants have signature items too. I've found them all but one and will post on them later tonight.

Love your reviews! And I totally agree with you, the slider need something... cheese or carmelized onions... something!

Sadly my DH ate all the Cheese soup, so I just got a little taste from what was left clinging to the bread bowl. :lmao:

The halibut was my most favorite dish. :)

So far I've had two Halibut and two Cheese soup. Not so sure, I'm going to order the cheese plates, maybe if I saw one it would entice me.

That cheese soup looks amazing to me. Oh my.

See above, it was :)

Wonderful update!

Thanks for sharing. :goodvibes

Thanks!

I love it all, Alison, thanks for taking so much time to share everything with us.:)

I, too, was friends with Dawn and was supposed to do the NR cooking school with her this year. She talked Toocherie and myself right into it after her experience. We miss her dearly. I can see that they have won you over as well since this is your third year.:thumbsup2 Maybe I'll finally go next year....

I can't wait to read more - and your pics are awesome.

And I will look for you for sure at Taste.:)

The cooking school is a really great experience. My friend Suzie had her first time and she was raving about it last night.

You might not recognize me by Taste, I'll be three sizes larger! :lmao:

Love it! ...I'm hungry now though...hmmmm....

Don't you hate that?

Fabulous F&W update! We were there last year and weren't impressed but this set up with the Marketplace sounds so much better and the offerings look delish. We'll be there next month! Can't wait!

There's a few other moresels around the park as well...

I learnt my lesson from last time. This time, I checked out your updates and pics AFTER dinner :rotfl2:

Great update Alison. You look like you're having a BALL!! I think I'm heading to your place instead of Walt's Wharf ;)

Unfortunately we don't eat like that around here! Well sometiemes, maybe. You'd like Walt's better, it's a lot cleaner! :rolleyes1

Amazing coverage of the DL F&W Fest. Thanks so much Alison for the gorgeous photos that have me drooling and wishing to return to DL ;)

You're Welcome, I enjoyed reading about your trip too!

I'm loving your report and all of the details! I was there at the Sweet Sunday with toocherie when we saw Keegan Gerhard. This year I don't think I'm doing any signature events, but did go to the Jonathan Rollo culinary demonstration and have tried some of the tapas and the chile relleno. We also saw part of the wine demo with John & Nancy Lasseter, did the CA wine walk, and some other stuff.

You have done and are doing so much! Thank you for the reports and all of the pictures. I'll be interested in hearing how you like all the food. My daughter liked the ahi tapa, and everyone at the table liked the halibut. I don't think they were impressed with the quesadilla. :)

Thanks! I'm going to try and get in as much as I can. Staying more than one night really helps too. You need to rest up after all this eating and drinking!

[franandaj]

So on Sunday, the 2nd morning of our trip I woke at 7AM and thought about MM, I pulled the covers back over my head and thought, ”there’s Fast Passes or something else, I’m not getting up right now.“ I got a little more sleep finally got up and dressed while DP slept some and about 10:15 took off for DL, it was PACKED at least at the entrance. I headed off to Space Mountain.

When I got there, the display of wait time and fast pass was completely blank, but within about 10 seconds, it showed at 20 minute stand by and FP return times in about an hour. I got a FP and then got in the standby line, and was on the ride within about 15 minutes. This is a kickass ride! It is way better than the MK version! My FP was not good for another 15-20 minutes so I got on the train and rode for a trip around the Land. My favorite is the Primeval world and I haven’t seen it for years, so that was HUGE treat! By the time I got back to Tomorrowland and my FP for SM was up so I rode that pretty quickly. I was hungry, so I headed back to the room to get DP to go eat some more F&W treats with me. However, she was still dead to the world and I wanted her to have all the energy she could for the John Lasseter Dinner tonight, so I let her sleep more while I hit DCA.

On my way to the Marketplace the Jammin Chef’s were on their way out, but I was too hungry to watch the show.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3173.jpg

I headed over to the Festival Marketplace and decided on another Halibut chunk, the Ahi Tuna and a Ghiradelli Chocolate Profiterole.

Here is the Ahi, it was really good, the tuna was seared just perfect, the underlying slaw was just perfectly paired with the tuna. The little chips that went along with it were great.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3176.jpg

Then I ate the Chocolate Profiterole, this was incredible, but I wonder what makes it a profiterole and not a round chocolate éclair?

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3177.jpg

So I went around the Marketplace after eating the food plates. Here are some shots of the seating area and the shopping area.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3178.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3180.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3181.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3182.jpg

Here is the Wine, beer & spirits tasting area

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3183.jpg

The Food counter

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3184.jpg

The Lounge

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3185.jpg

I’ll post this for now and some other pics later in the week.

[kaoden39]

All of your pictures and trip report have made me more determined to go next year.

[aspen37]

So on Sunday, the 2nd morning of our trip I woke at 7AM and thought about MM, I pulled the covers back over my head and thought, ”there’s Fast Passes or something else, I’m not getting up right now.“ I got a little more sleep finally got up and dressed while DP slept some and about 10:15 took off for DL, it was PACKED at least at the entrance. I headed off to Space Mountain.

When I got there, the display of wait time and fast pass was completely blank, but within about 10 seconds, it showed at 20 minute stand by and FP return times in about an hour. I got a FP and then got in the standby line, and was on the ride within about 15 minutes. This is a kickass ride! It is way better than the MK version! My FP was not good for another 15-20 minutes so I got on the train and rode for a trip around the Land. My favorite is the Primeval world and I haven’t seen it for years, so that was HUGE treat! By the time I got back to Tomorrowland and my FP for SM was up so I rode that pretty quickly. I was hungry, so I headed back to the room to get DP to go eat some more F&W treats with me. However, she was still dead to the world and I wanted her to have all the energy she could for the John Lasseter Dinner tonight, so I let her sleep more while I hit DCA.

On my way to the Marketplace the Jammin Chef’s were on their way out, but I was too hungry to watch the show.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3173.jpg

I headed over to the Festival Marketplace and decided on another Halibut chunk, the Ahi Tuna and a Ghiradelli Chocolate Profiterole.

Here is the Ahi, it was really good, the tuna was seared just perfect, the underlying slaw was just perfectly paired with the tuna. The little chips that went along with it were great.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3176.jpg

Then I ate the Chocolate Profiterole, this was incredible, but I wonder what makes it a profiterole and not a round chocolate éclair?

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3177.jpg

So I went around the Marketplace after eating the food plates. Here are some shots of the seating area and the shopping area.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3178.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3180.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3181.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3182.jpg

Here is the Wine, beer & spirits tasting area

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3183.jpg

The Food counter

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3184.jpg

The Lounge

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3185.jpg

I’ll post this for now and some other pics later in the week.

It was so nice to see you and your partner for the few minutes that I did. I'm so glad you are doing this report because I NEVER saw any of F&W!!!!!!!!!!!!! :scared1: :scared1: :scared1:
I guess I will have to plan on going another year. :sad1:

[franandaj]

All of your pictures and trip report have made me more determined to go next year.

You definitely need to! There are lots of things to do that take you away from the rides and stuff!

It was so nice to see you and your partner for the few minutes that I did. I'm so glad you are doing this report because I NEVER saw any of F&W!!!!!!!!!!!!! :scared1: :scared1: :scared1:
I guess I will have to plan on going another year. :sad1:

That's too bad, I was hoping you got to see Guy, we wanted to, but didn't get out of town soon enough. That's OK, I'd seen him before.

The one I want to see next is Sunny Anderson, I'd planned to see her May 1 on my B'day, but a friend of mine passed away last weekend and his service is in the morning on my B'day, so now we're going to try and see her session on Friday the day before. That would be really tacky to be seeing a F&W thing during his memorial! Besides, I wouldn't miss that, we moved our dinner ressies to 8:30 from 5:30 just to make sure we would have time to attend all the parts of the funeral. Very sad.:sad2: He was an awesome guy. But I won't dwell on that here. Tomorrow or later this week, you'll see more updates here from me.

[franandaj]

So after lunch I looked around the Marketplace, and had a glass of Magicale from the Lounge while I looked through the gift shop.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3179.jpg

I had them put it in a togo cup and I went over the Chef’s Demonstration Stage to see if I could get into the Dole Presentation, but unfortunately it was full. I got there just as they were saying, “2 individual seats left!” but the people who had been there first grabbed them.

So I just motored around the park a little, here are some shots of the Wine Walks and Beer Walk

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3188.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3189.jpg

I also checked out all the QS restaurants to find out what their special F&W items were. Award Wieners has a meatball sub (must try that),

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3200.jpg

Bountiful Farms has a Chicken Wrap (sounds too healthy), but I didn't get a picture of that sign.

Pacific Wharf Bakery has a Chicken Salad (also sounds healthy),

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3192.jpg

I’ve heard that Pizza Om Mow Mow has an antipasto salad, Lucky Fortune Chinese Company has a Thai Rice Roll, even though it’s healthy too, it sounds good, and at $3.99, I’ll try it.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3191.jpg

The Cucomonga Cucina has an Anaheim Chile Relleno

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3193.jpg

Taste Pilot’s Grill has a Pulled Pork Sandwich

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3199.jpg

After I checked out the items, I headed to the new Wine Country Wine Bar and picked up a glass of Soave and motored around the park before heading back to the hotel. By the time I got back to the room, DP has got up, but not dressed.

Continued in the next report...

[franandaj]

After some prodding DP got up and dressed and we headed over to DL, We used our annual passes to get in and headed over towards Club 33.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3205.jpg

We met up with the rest of our party and they let us all in. We waited in the lobby a bit until they were ready for us upstairs.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3233.jpg

The servers were bringing Lamb Lollipops

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3208.jpg

Scallops on Skewers

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3211.jpg

And Potato Perogies.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3212.jpg

I ate way too many of the appetizers as I came to realize. John Lasseter arrived once we were already seated at our table. We were at the first table on the way into the dining room, and he stopped at our table upon arrival. He was just the same guy as you see on any TV program or onstage, very casual and personable. Someone you would like to have as a friend. He explained all the wines and the inspiration behind them. Basically he and his wife like certain kinds of wines, so they bought a winery hired a wine maker to make what they like.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3214.jpg

And some shots of Club 33

The Bar

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3217.jpg

The Harpsichord

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3218.jpg

The Hallway
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3224.jpg

Our table

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3234.jpg

The Dining Room

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3235.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3236.jpg

And of course the women’s restroom, brings a whole new meaning to “sitting on the throne!”

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3226.jpg

We had an excellent dinner of five course. The first was North Pacific Lobster, Roast Strawberry Ravioli which was paired with a Lasseter Rose, Sonoma Valley, 2009. This was so good, the lobster was just melt in your mouth. I ate all the Strawberry Ravioli which were excellent, but I could already tell I was filling up fast, so I gave the rest of my lobster to my friend John who happily polished it off for me!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3247.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3249.jpg

In between courses, John Lasseter, Nancy Lasseter or their Winemaker spoke about the wines we were about to drink.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3250.jpg

Our next course was California Silver Mountain Manchego, Dandelion Green Salad, paired with a Lasseter Rhone style blend, Sonoma Valley 2008. The Cheese was really good, but I don’t care for the bitter taste of Dandelion Greens, so I just left those on the plate.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3260.jpg

The Third Course was Aromatic Mushroom Tart, Free Stone Peach, Hazelnut Sabayon paired with a Lasseter, St. Emilion, Sonoma County 2006. Chef St. Pierre must really like these puff pastry things, he made one for Taste last year, I remember because I had to google “Vol-u-vent” to find out what it was.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3262.jpg

Next was a Prime New York Steak, Oyster Rockefeller Beurre Blanc with a Lasseter, St. Emilion, Sonoma County 2005. This was a little weird, I definitely prefer my Oysters raw. I ate one, but it just had a funny taste to it, so I put the other two off to the side. I was getting so full at this point that I had to take half my steak home in a doggie bag, because I definitely wanted to eat dessert!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3265.jpg

Dessert was a Manjari Chocolate Mousse, Grape Sorbet, Malted Crème Anglaise paired with a Schweiger Vineyards, Port VIII, Spring Mountain District

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3268.jpg

After dinner he signed wine bottles that we all purchased, we also brought a picture from Cars that he was happy to autograph as well.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3270.jpg

By the time we left, when we were on Main street I heard those awful words, “Disneyland is now closed, but Main Street will remain open for an additional hour for your shopping pleasure.” Not what you want to hear at midnight, you want to be in your room at midnight!

Thank god our waitlist came through for the Sunday night so we could just go back to the room and go to sleep. I was so tired I barely made it back to the room and got into bed. BTW they were testing WoC when we got back and at 6AM when I woke up again.

Next up is a short update, but tonight (Friday April 23), we’re back to the DLH and Steakhouse 55 for a Wine Maker Dinner with Buena Vista Winery!

[PrincessInOz]

Aww Alison...it's nice to hear the John Lasseter is as personable as he seems. And this is probably going to be the closest I get to Cub 33. Thanks for the photos and your thoughts!

[TokyoDina]

Wow Alison that is sooooo cool! I hope I am able to do this some day! I'm a wanna be chef! Haha I plan to attend Culinary School very soon. As a matter of fact I'm apply next week but I won't be able to start classes till later in the year. But wow! I at least need to go during DL's Food and Wine Fest! Just wow!

[franandaj]

Wow Alison that is sooooo cool! I hope I am able to do this some day! I'm a wanna be chef! Haha I plan to attend Culinary School very soon. As a matter of fact I'm apply next week but I won't be able to start classes till later in the year. But wow! I at least need to go during DL's Food and Wine Fest! Just wow!

I think anyone into food should go there! I love the winemaker dinners the most, (well besides the cooking school) we just got back home from one and it was amazing! I'll post the pictures in the next day or so, but we got to eat Wagyu Kobe Beef and it was cooked to PERFECTION!

Our next official event is a Brewmaster Dinner in 2 weeks, but we're back next weekend for some unofficial events, it should be great.

[kikiq]

Love your report!!! I was so inspired by your report that we left early to spend some time in DCA before going to the swing band at DLR. Had the halibut and the soup, both were wonderful! AND NOW, we just have to go back and do some wine tasting and spend more time at the F/W. Oh darn ;)
Looking forward to seeing more pictures!

[The Red Head]

Alison, everything looked amazing. I will have to join you for the cooking school next year. I just decided against it this year because I wanted to spend money on our vacation instead. We ate at some really good restaurants in Maui. We got home yesterday.

[franandaj]

Love your report!!! I was so inspired by your report that we left early to spend some time in DCA before going to the swing band at DLR. Had the halibut and the soup, both were wonderful! AND NOW, we just have to go back and do some wine tasting and spend more time at the F/W. Oh darn ;)
Looking forward to seeing more pictures!

:goodvibes

Alison, everything looked amazing. I will have to join you for the cooking school next year. I just decided against it this year because I wanted to spend money on our vacation instead. We ate at some really good restaurants in Maui. We got home yesterday.

It was really fun, as always! I'm thinking of trying the Paparadelle Pasta at home in the next couple weeks. Glad you had a nice trip in Maui...I hope to get DP there when the DVC opens up, but I love the Big Island, so we'll have to go there too!

[franandaj]

So today was checkout day, but I wanted to extend our little trip a bit more. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do this on any other days because DP would complain about spending too much time out here. That’s already started and we haven’t even come back for our second trip!

So we barely got out of our room, it was 15 minutes after checkout that we finally left. We hit Soarin’ for FPs since this would have the longest line of the rides I wanted to hit, and then headed directly over to California Screamin’. I only needed one ride, probably since I hit Space Mountain twice the day before. By this point I was hungry and the Thai Rice Spring Roll, I’d seen at Lucky Fortune Company sounded like a good little snack to try. And then I’d still have a little room to go back to the Marketplace and get another one of those bread bowls with cheddar cheese soup.

Here is the spring roll as it is served

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3284.jpg

And posed for the picture

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3285.jpg

For as vegetarian and healthy this is, it was really tasty. I think it was the vinegar sauce that gave it the really good flavor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like vegetables, but I really like things with mooing beef and bacon. You could probably wrap anything in bacon and I would attempt to eat it! :lmao:

For the first time since DCA opened (10 years ago!) we did the mission tortilla tour and got a free freshly made tortilla! I might have to add this to my obligatory free snack tour! If there is no line, what the heck!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3289.jpg

After this we went to the Blue Sky Cellar to see about the WoC preview, but DP’s Scooter started to really act up, so we left pretty quickly. We discussed leaving her scooter near the hotel and me walking, but it seemed OK for the trip back by the hotel so we headed to Soarin for me to use my FP. Then we went to the Marketplace for our snacks, without incident with the scooter. Since we both ate things that I had already posted pictures of, I didn’t bother to take pictures this time.

We headed to Marceline’s for more sweet treats and then headed back to get out bags, retrieve our car and head home.

I promised toocherie some pictures of our tray tables from the Taste event last year. So here they are and how we built them.

Here is a view of the underside of the table:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/Misc/IMG_3377.jpg

The iron thing you see attached here is a plant holder. If one were to use it for it’s intended purpose, the part that is not attached to the tray would be nailed to the side of a fence or building and the pot would be suspended in the ring. This photo might make it a little more clear.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/Misc/IMG_3380.jpg

To attach the rings to the table we used cable ties, the kind that you would use if you were trying to attach your cables to your walls.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/Misc/IMG_3379.jpg

We purchased a fairly long board, and cut it into three pieces (one was not usable), but the usable pieces were about 20 inches wide. That was how wide we determined that our tables needed to be. We then purchased moulding and cut it to the lengths of the sides of the tray and nailed them on as lips to hold plates and glasses on in case they slide off.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/Misc/IMG_3376.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/Misc/IMG_3381.jpg

I hope this helps you out!

[PrincessInOz]

Alison, that Rice Paper Roll is what I have for lunch once a week. YUM! We get it here in a pack of 4 for about $6. We have choices of vegetarian, prawn and pork. We also have a choice of dipping sauce - fish sauce (with some chilli thrown in) or peanut sauce. :goodvibes

They are also really very simple to make....

[Leshaface]

Whew, made it through the whole thing!!! :banana:

You're not joking when you say you go to the F&W Festival!!! You literally do almost every single thing there! That's so awesome!!!

Plllleeaaase help me convince my DH to take me to one of the F&W festival weekends before our AP's expire June 4!!!!! :worship:

I think that is too cool, that you got to eat at Club 33 AND meet Mr. Lasseter himself! Rock on! :thumbsup2

[franandaj]

Whew, made it through the whole thing!!! :banana:

Congratulations, it's starting to get pretty long now!

You're not joking when you say you go to the F&W Festival!!! You literally do almost every single thing there! That's so awesome!!!


I HAVE to do the Cooking School ever since that first year, it was a totally life changing experience! As I said i sstarted growing herbs and tomatoes, today I found my first tomatoes for this year on the vines. :banana:


Plllleeaaase help me convince my DH to take me to one of the F&W festival weekends before our AP's expire June 4!!!!! :worship:


If nothing else you can do the beer walks, but just to try all the other food stuff, you'd love the seared tuna, and if you guys like any Food Network personalities...just tell him you need one more trip...he loves you and you're not that far...

Where are you Tulare? Visalia? We have a real good friend in Tulare that we need to visit when everything else is our real lives blow over.

I hope you can get down here!



I think that is too cool, that you got to eat at Club 33 AND meet Mr. Lasseter himself! Rock on! :thumbsup2

Having a friend who is a member of Club 33 is pretty cool because I can ask for a reservation as long as it is far enough in advance, but to do a dinner like this was awesome! It's only so often when they let the members bring additional guests, it's pretty pricey so only a few people are interested in such an event. But WOW John Lasseter was so nice and down to earth, just like I would have thought, but it was great to meet him!

[aspen37]

All of your pictures are great! The food at The Napa Rose Cooking School looked so good! Your meal and experience with John Lasseter at CLUB 33 seemed AWESOME!

[lulubelle]

Can't wait for the next installment, Alison.
Your reports are wonderful. :goodvibes

[franandaj]

My first experience with the F&W Festival was several years back when it was F&W Weekends. There was a Winemaker Dinner at Steakhouse 55 on my Birthday and it was one of my favorite wineries, Beaulieu. Since then my favorite parts of the F&W Festival have been the Winemaker Dinners at Steakhouse 55.

Friday April 23, we attended the Buena Vista Winemaker Dinner and it was FABULOUS! Chef Jason outdid himself yet again!

Doesn’t it make you feel special when you walk up to a restaurant with a sign reading “Private Party” and you’re part of it?

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3315.jpg

The Menu

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3316.jpg

We were seated at the same table as last week!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3317.jpg

We were served an Amuse Bouche that was a Salmon Beggar’s Purse filled with goat cheese, tied with a chive atop an English cucumber with capers, caviar and a little edible orchid. This was served with a Carneros Chardonnay, not sure of the vintage.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3332.jpg

The Winemaker Jeff Stewart was entertaining and explained all the wines and the winery’s philosophy thoroughly.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3333.jpg

Our first course was a “Paella” Saffron Rice with English Peas, Cantimpalitos, “Oyster”, Shrimp, Clams and Lobster Butter. Chef Jason explained that Disney will not let him serve Oysters unless they are thoroughly cooked, so instead we were served the “oyster” of the chicken. Those of you who roast your own birds know about this tasty treat that never makes it out of the kitchen because the cook usually eats it before the bird is offered to anyone else! The Cantimpalitos is a tasty little pork sausage which you also see here. This was served with a 2006 Chardonnay from the Ramal Vineyards. I preferred the first Chardonnay which was a little bit fruitier, but they were both good.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3339.jpg

Our next course was a Lamb Porterhouse, Pistachio crusted, puy lentils, and Eggplant Parmesan. This was absolutely WONDERFUL! It was cooked to perfection. The Eggplant Parmesan was actually pureed and stuffed inside the zucchini blossom that you see here. The wine was a 2005 Merlot from the Carneros region.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3345.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3349.jpg

Chef Jason explained every course as it was brought out from the kitchen. He is always entertaining and his love of food comes through clearly as he describes the courses.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3346.jpg

Between courses the chef and staff come around to the tables to chat. Here is me with Chef Jason

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3350.jpg

And Eric the Sommelier

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3351.jpg

This is Jim Ames, the man in charge of the whole Food & Wine Festival, Thanks Jim!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3352.jpg

The third course was an American Wagyu Flat Iron Steak with roasted root Vegetables, Shimeji mushrooms, Cippolini Onions with a Pinot Noir Reduction. The wine was a 2006 Pinot Noir from the Ramal Vineyards.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3353.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3356.jpg

We could have purchased some of the bottles of wine if we so desired.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3358.jpg

The last course was a Devil’s Mousse cake with Corillera Dark Chocolate, raspberry sauce, and Mascarpone Brown Sugar ice Cream. This was served with a 2006 Syrah from the Ramal Vineyard.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3361.jpg

I finished up the evening with a cup of herbal tea.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3370.jpg

Thanks for reading…next up my birthday trip to Napa Rose!

[aspen37]

My first experience with the F&W Festival was several years back when it was F&W Weekends. There was a Winemaker Dinner at Steakhouse 55 on my Birthday and it was one of my favorite wineries, Beaulieu. Since then my favorite parts of the F&W Festival have been the Winemaker Dinners at Steakhouse 55.

Friday April 23, we attended the Buena Vista Winemaker Dinner and it was FABULOUS! Chef Jason outdid himself yet again!

Doesn’t it make you feel special when you walk up to a restaurant with a sign reading “Private Party” and you’re part of it?

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3315.jpg

The Menu

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3316.jpg

We were seated at the same table as last week!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3317.jpg

We were served an Amuse Bouche that was a Salmon Beggar’s Purse filled with goat cheese, tied with a chive atop an English cucumber with capers, caviar and a little edible orchid. This was served with a Carneros Chardonnay, not sure of the vintage.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3332.jpg

The Winemaker Jeff Stewart was entertaining and explained all the wines and the winery’s philosophy thoroughly.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3333.jpg

Our first course was a “Paella” Saffron Rice with English Peas, Cantimpalitos, “Oyster”, Shrimp, Clams and Lobster Butter. Chef Jason explained that Disney will not let him serve Oysters unless they are thoroughly cooked, so instead we were served the “oyster” of the chicken. Those of you who roast your own birds know about this tasty treat that never makes it out of the kitchen because the cook usually eats it before the bird is offered to anyone else! The Cantimpalitos is a tasty little pork sausage which you also see here. This was served with a 2006 Chardonnay from the Ramal Vineyards. I preferred the first Chardonnay which was a little bit fruitier, but they were both good.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3339.jpg

Our next course was a Lamb Porterhouse, Pistachio crusted, puy lentils, and Eggplant Parmesan. This was absolutely WONDERFUL! It was cooked to perfection. The Eggplant Parmesan was actually pureed and stuffed inside the zucchini blossom that you see here. The wine was a 2005 Merlot from the Carneros region.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3345.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3349.jpg

Chef Jason explained every course as it was brought out from the kitchen. He is always entertaining and his love of food comes through clearly as he describes the courses.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3346.jpg

Between courses the chef and staff come around to the tables to chat. Here is me with Chef Jason

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3350.jpg

And Eric the Sommelier

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3351.jpg

This is Jim Ames, the man in charge of the whole Food & Wine Festival, Thanks Jim!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3352.jpg

The third course was an American Wagyu Flat Iron Steak with roasted root Vegetables, Shimeji mushrooms, Cippolini Onions with a Pinot Noir Reduction. The wine was a 2006 Pinot Noir from the Ramal Vineyards.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3353.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3356.jpg

We could have purchased some of the bottles of wine if we so desired.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3358.jpg

The last course was a Devil’s Mousse cake with Corillera Dark Chocolate, raspberry sauce, and Mascarpone Brown Sugar ice Cream. This was served with a 2006 Syrah from the Ramal Vineyard.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3361.jpg

I finished up the evening with a cup of herbal tea.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3370.jpg

Thanks for reading…next up my birthday trip to Napa Rose!

Seeing that sign is a great feeling! ;)

Wow everything looks soooo good! I have not eaten dinner tonight and now I'm starving! What great picture of the food!

[franandaj]

Seeing that sign is a great feeling! ;)

Wow everything looks soooo good! I have not eaten dinner tonight and now I'm starving! What great picture of the food!

I know, isn't it cool to see a sign like that? For the past few hours we've both been here posting our TRs and reading each other's TR's. I did take some time to reheat some leftovers that I brought with us to the villas. Le Cellier Cheese Soup that I made a couple nights ago, YUM!

I'll even post that in my TR when I get there. I'm just looking out my balcony hoping that they do some WoC testing!

[kaoden39]

It all has looked so wonderful. And it seems to really be enjoyable.

[onelilspark]

:rotfl: I was thinking to myself, "that's a lot of red meat." Then I realized it was held at a Steakhouse :rotfl: duh.

[kaoden39]

:rotfl: I was thinking to myself, "that's a lot of red meat." Then I realized it was held at a Steakhouse :rotfl: duh.

:rotfl2:

[franandaj]

:rotfl: I was thinking to myself, "that's a lot of red meat." Then I realized it was held at a Steakhouse :rotfl: duh.

Actually it wasn't all that much red meat, the Lamb Porterhouse was about the size of your palm (or at least mine) and there were lots of bones so there wasn't a lot of meat. The Wagyu was 4 oz or less, in fact I ate all my meat which was quite amazing! I normally take home half of every entree that comes from a restaurant. Granted I didn't polish off the root vegetables, or the zucchini blossom, but I did eat all the meat!

Chef Jason does an excellent job on portions so that even eaters like myself who can't put away very much can eat most all their plates. Perhaps the bigger eaters leave hungry, but not me!

This Friday is the Brewmaster Dinner, I'm looking forward to what he does with that, he said, "lots of pork!"

[kaoden39]

Zucchini blossoms sounds pretty wonderful to me. I love zucchini.:goodvibes

[franandaj]

So I had plans for the next installment of my F&W trip, but as they say, the best laid plans….

The idea was to go early Saturday to the park and get in line for Sunny Anderson’s demo. But due to the untimely death of a friend I was attending his funeral that morning. So instead I decided to go out to the park on my own Friday and see her demo. I got out there two hours early rode up to the demonstration area to find this:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3391.jpg

Whoa! Major Bummer!

This was my whole reason for coming today! Well since I was already out there I decided to make the best of it. I went to Award Weiners and got myself a meatball sandwich. This was their special offering for the F&W Festival. It wasn’t bad, but nothing to write home about. The sauce was good, but the meatballs tasted like the kind you get from the frozen section. Or what I imagine they would taste like as I have actually never purchased those meatballs from the frozen section.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3389.jpg

I toodled around the park trying to figure out what I wanted to do. TSMM was down and after debating about going on Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Death I chose CA Screamin. After that I decided to see if I could get into the 3:30 demo which was the guy from Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. It was an interesting demo, more to hear about his stories than the actual demo.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3418.jpg

For those who haven’t been to a demo, this is the set up that you get at each one.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3420.jpg

They showed all the ingredients on the TV Screen so you could follow along while they made the rub for the fish

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3422.jpg

The tent is quite large and holds a fair number of people for each demo.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3423.jpg

Once the demo was underway we learned all sorts of things about how Wahoo’s tacos got it’s start. The guy was very interesting and had some funny stories. He was born into the restaurant industry and though he's Asian was born in Brazil (I think), he went to College in So Cal and was a surfer. The whole reason he started this type of restaurant was that he wanted to be able to wear Hawaiian shirts to work and not a tuxedo or a suit. He also mentioned that they don't batter and fry the fish because they use a better quality fish and as we are all getting older, we need to watch our waistlines! :lmao:

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3421.jpg

Here is a picture of the taco that we got as our complimentary bite to eat at the demo. It was much tastier than the one other time that I ate at their restaurant, but the blackening spice was pretty spicy and my mouth was on fire for a little while after eating it! No offense, but I like my cheap fish battered and fried tacos!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3424.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3425.jpg

[kaoden39]

Here, here for the cheap battered fish!! I once went to a cooking demo at an Oprah conference and it was her favorite chef. He was so funny I enjoyed his talking that he did more than his cooking demo. I think the chemistry of the person demoing is so important.

[onelilspark]

Is Sunny Anderson the one who does the "Cooking for Real" show?

[franandaj]

Is Sunny Anderson the one who does the "Cooking for Real" show?

Yes, that's the show. I like that one...

[onelilspark]

Yes, that's the show. I like that one...

We do too, but we find the name hilarious. She's cooking for realz yo. Not fake. :rotfl:

[franandaj]

OK, so these next updates are not “technically” Food & Wine Festival events, but I’m there during Food & Wine, so I’ll tell you about them anyways. Saturday May 1 was my birthday, and after debating where to have dinner I ended up settling on the Napa Rose Restaurant. I made the reservation for the Chef’s Counter 60 days out at 5:30PM. Luckily I was able to change that to an 8:30PM Reservation when I found out that I had to go to the funeral. We would be up in LA until who knows when, and then have to drive down to Anaheim before checking into the Villas.

We arrived at the hotel about 5:30PM and I had picked up my “Happy Birthday” Button the day before so I was wearing it when we got out of the car. Immediately the Valets started to wish me a Happy Birthday and upon check in the CM was nice enough to give me some balloons!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/VGC%20Trip%20Report/IMG_3464.jpg

We got settled in the studio, I unpacked while DP took a nap as we waited for our 8:30 dinner reservation. We made our way down to the Napa Rose and they were waiting for two spots to open up so I had a glass of wine in the lounge.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3428.jpg

We were eventually seated at the same spot where sat when we dined her e for Christmastime. Chef Sutton said, “Hello”

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3444.jpg

He told us that the Rabbit Meatloaf was “off the charts”. For the first time in like, ever, I wasn’t totally blown away by the Chef’s Tasting Menu so finally we were able to order off the regular menu and try a few things we’ve never had before. We could customize our meal and order anything we wanted, so we took his suggestion and started off with the Rabbit Meatloaf, with the suggested wine pairing.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3435.jpg

Grilled Wine Country Rabbit Meatloaf with a Poached Quail Egg, Sonoma Mushrooms, English Pea Salad and Red Bell Pepper Ketchup

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3433.jpg

Next up the Signature Pizetta of “La Quercia” Smoked American Prosciutto, Red Flame Grapes, Caramelized Onions and Cambizola Cheese. This was soooo good, we only ate half of it to save room for the rest of the food, but I ate it for breakfast and a midnight snack while we were in the hotel room.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3436.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3440.jpg

Then we shared a pair of soups. We got the Portabello Mushroom “Cappucino” with Brandied Thyme “Froth” and the Tomato Soup with Rosemary Chicken which was the Market Inspired Seasonal Soup.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3437.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3448.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3449.jpg

We moved on to the main course which was Roasted Colorado Rack of Lamb with Fingerling Potatoes, Fiddlehead Fern and Poached Green Garlic Coulis

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3438.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3457.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3459.jpg

Our Dessert was a molten Chocolate Cake with some kind of yummy ice cream. This was essentially the same dessert that I had two weeks before when I did the cooking school

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3461.jpg

Yay! Happy Birthday!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3450.jpg

[franandaj]

Our dinner ran pretty late Saturday night, we didn’t get back to our room until around midnight, so we slept in for a bit before getting up and dressed. We headed over to Disneyland, New Orleans Square and Club 33. Our friends were waiting outside and we were about 15 minutes early so we caught up since it had been a while since we had seen each other. At the time of our reservation we rang the bell they let us in and I let them know that DP was in a scooter and wouldn’t be able to transfer. Since they don’t have an ADA accessible entrance, they had to take her around to the freight elevator. It took a long time because someone had parked the elevator on the basement floor so her “handler” had to walk downstairs release the elevator and come back up to get her. She met us at the table and since it was a Sunday everyone got a complimentary glass of champagne or sparkling cider. We all chose champagne!

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3469.jpg
Because I didn’t get a lot of Disney Birthday time the day before I wore my birthday button that day too. When the server wished me a Happy Birthday I told him it was my friend Mike’s B’day earlier in the week and that it was DP’s B’day next week, Mike’s wife Sharon mentioned that her birthday was in early April and he wished us all a Happy Birthday and called us the Birthday table.

Also since it was Sunday Mickey and Pluto were visiting the tables.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3467.jpg

Lunch at Club 33 is served buffet style for the appetizers and desserts and your main course is ordered from the menu. Then we went to the buffet tables for our appetizers. They had cold salads, Caesar, some mixed greens and something else that didn’t appeal to me, plus there were prawns, crab claws and lobster tails, fruit, cheese, caprese salad, lox & cream cheese, grilled veggies and cold rare beef.

Here is my plate

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3478.jpg

And DP’s

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3479.jpg

They also had Cream of Mushroom Soup

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3482.jpg

DP had a Margarita after the Champagne

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3484.jpg

I switched to an Alsacian Reisling

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3485.jpg

Our entrees were served. I had the Monkfish with a Rockshrimp Bisque, and everyone else had the Chateaubriand.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3486.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3490.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3491.jpg

One of the other entrees came with truffled macaroni & cheese, and I asked the server if there was any chance I could get a small side of it and he brought it for me! OMG! It was so freaking creamy and good! WOW

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3488.jpg

After lunch I moved on to a Chocolate Martini and dessert…

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3492.jpg

Then they brought everyone at the table one of these

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/franandaj/F%20and%20W%202010%20pictures/IMG_3493.jpg

We were all so stuffed after lunch. Around 3:00 we said our goodbyes. DP and I went to CA Adventure to check out some rides or the Aladdin show, but the place was mobbed! We gave up and went back to our room to relax and update TRs.

[franandaj]

So the night after our Club 33 dinner, we were so full it was like 10:00 before we even had any desire to eat anything more. I had suspected this might be the case which is why I didn’t plan on going out anywhere to eat or anything like that. We were pretty tired and were content to just stay in the room and see if they did any WoC testing.

Since we live so close, and I had made lots of dinners during the week before we checked in, I brought some of the leftovers just in case we wanted to have them for dinner. WDW vets will know this one, last year at Epcot’s F&W Festival I bought the cookbook and since then I have been making Le Cellier’s Beer Cheese Soup on a regular basis.

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DP ate some leftover Mexican Lasagne, (for those who are interested, you make the “sauce” with salsa, corn, onions and ground meat (I used turkey), use corn tortillas for the noodles and cottage cheese for the ricotta, just layer it and top with Cheddar Cheese), a dollop of sour cream and you have a yummy dinner.

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The next morning we checked out of the hotel and headed home…we would be back in 4 days for the Brewmaster Dinner at Steakhouse 55!

[onelilspark]

That Mac & Cheese looks so decadent *stupid diet* *stupid diet* *stupid diet* :laughing:

And I just love all the food from Napa Rose, their plating is out of this world. So beautiful!

[franandaj]

Since I’ve got my last Winemaker Dinner tomorrow night I thought I better get caught up, so the last dinner that we went to was the Karl Strauss Brewmaster dinner. This is the first time that Disney has done a Beer pairing dinner at F&W and it was the VERY first thing to sell out for the Signature events. It was great! Chef Jason really excelled here and everything worked perfectly.

We attended with a friend of ours, we had all booked separately but on our visit to Steakhouse 55 three weeks ago we asked if the three of us could be seated together, and they were able to accommodate us. We arrived early so David and I decided to start off in the bar with Martinis while we waited to be seated.

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The Menu looks fabulous!

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The Amuse Bouche was not listed on the menu and I can’t remember what the beer was that they served with it, but the whole thing worked perfectly together! The Amuse Bouche was a “Reuben” in a puff pastry, I mean beer, corned beef what a combination!

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The next course was a series of appetizers. Woodie Gold Tempura Lobster, Orange Ginger Soy Wingette, Sesame Crusted Ahi with Pintail Salt and this was served with a Pintail Ale. Now the Pintail salt was interesting. My memory is foggy, but evidently he dehydrated the ale with salt mixed with it (I will try to ask him about this tomorrow night to clarify) and used that salt that was flavored with the ale.

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The Brewmaster spoke about the various techniques that they used to brew the beers. He passed around Hops and Barley for us to taste.

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The next course was an Applewood Smoked Kurobota Pork Tenderloin, Fingerling Potatoes, Baby Savoy Spinach, Black Forest Bacon, Thyme Reduction and Red Trollley BBQ Sauce, served with a Red Trolley Ale.

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The Brewmaster visited all of the tables.

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The Chef made a granita of the various beers that we had enjoyed throughout the evening for a palate cleanser. He wasn’t sure how it would work out so he didn’t put it on the menu, but it came out just great.

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The Third Course was a NY Steak au Poivre with Mac N Cheese, and Brocollini. This was served with the 21st Anniversary Ale. To let you know, I almost always take something home from every dinner that I eat out, but this one, I ate every bit! I did not leave anything on any of the plates! This might have had to do with the fact that my doctor put me on a 1300-1500 calorie per day diet, but I can choose when to eat my grains, (well sort of) and proteins, so I “saved” all my grains and two of my proteins, plus my dairy and several of my fats for this meal.

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1
Dessert was Banana Cheesecake, Scharfenberger Chocolate Ice Cream with Bananas Foster Sauce. This was paired with the Windansea Wheat Hefeweiszen.

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Next up the last Winemaker dinner, and hopefully my visit with Chef Robert Irvine. If not we'll do a wine tasting with one of my favorite wineries.

[onelilspark]

I love the idea of a beer dinner. I can't drink beer though :( Makes me sick to my stomach. Oh well.

[Kitchensink]

Alison, I've enjoyed this report. We were at many of the 2009 events that you were at. I'm especially interested in a report of Taste 2010. We debated staying 2 1/2 weeks in Ca. to go to the Reidel glass seminar and to Taste, but reality struck and we only stayed for 12 days this year.
Karen

[franandaj]

OK, I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, but I am determined to finish this up! With so much going on in the last 2 weeks of F&W, I had to get back on track with life before I could finish updating the report!

So where were we? Oh yeah my last Wine Maker Dinner with Groth Winery. We decided that since we were already going to be at DLR for dinner, why not go early and try to get in the queue for Robert Irvine's 3:30 demo? Boy did we have a big surprise waiting for us. It was Friday, and last year the Saturday line for Cat Cora started at 11:00AM and you could still get in at 1:00 or 1:30. So we come waltzing into the park around noon to find that Robert Irvine is completely filled and the standby line looks pretty bleak as well. I was pissed off, disappointed, and who knows what else I was feeling, but not a happy camper!

After throwing a bit of a tantrum (not one that anyone else but DP could see) she convinced me that we could at least watch the show if I could "deal" with not getting a sample of the food. So I decided that was probably the way to go. We "parked" in a good spot for watching and got out our books and began "the wait". Kerry Simon went on at 2:00, later a lot of people told me they thought he was deadpan and lackluster, but actually seeing him live improved my opinion of him and the way he talked about his restaurant in LA, with all comfort food, might be a fun place to go sometime, if we actually get that kind of go out and eat leisure time!

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Anyways, we watched his demo and thought he was somewhat interesting, a lot more than as a commentator on Iron Chef and we didn’t catch his competition on the show but enjoyed his explanation of how the show worked, it explained a lot! Basically what he said is “if they give you ‘this’ as your featured ingredient what will you want in your pantry? It was funny because for each of the possible theme ingredients he said he had a pantry ingredient that he hoped would “clue him in” on what they had chosen as the theme ingredient, but he said they had the chefs so busy from the moment they arrived on set until the competition began there was no way to know which of the various ingredients they had chosen.

After Kerry Simon finished his demo which we didn’t get to sample the food, which was a tuna tartare of some sort, I forget the details…

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Inbetween the demos we had a churro, which was nummy.

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And I got my picture taken with Kerry Simon since no one was really lining up for him

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Shortly thereafter Robert Irvine came out and he seemed to know that us folks that were not getting into the demo would not get picture and autograph options with him like we did last year, so he really worked the crowd.

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He was so much fun on the stage!

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He also told us that he would be starring with Anne Burrell on the next season of Worst Cooks in America which became quite humorous with Anne the next weekend!

We found out from a friend of ours that was in the first five that she arrived at 8:30AM to get in line, and if that’s what had to be done then that is what I would do because I had not yet had a taste from a celebrity chef’s plate, so next Friday was Anne Burrell and I was motivated to get to at least one celebrity chef demo this F&W Festival!

[franandaj]

So after we finished watching Robert Irvine, we decided to head over to our final Wine Maker Dinner. This time it was with Groth Vineyards, all throughout the Festival people had been telling me that this was a GREAT winery and we would be impressed with the wine. The Menu looked great.

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The amuse bouche was a piece of toast/bread with smoked salmon and a caviar goat cheese.

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Our first course was chicken two ways. The breast was roasted and the wing was southern fried. Both were served over a Machego White Polenta and an English Pea Nage. I know Chef Jason had a very specific reason for choosing both these preparation methods, but now I don’t remember! They were both awesome! It was served with a 2007 Napa Valley Chardonnay.

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The second course was called Stroganoff, but it was more of a deconstructed stroganoff. Served with a Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville Napa Valley 2007.

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The meat was cooked perfectly!

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We were enjoying our dinner!

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The Third Course was a Marin Sun Farms Flat Iron Steak with Roasted Garlic and Old Amsterdam Potato Puree, Sauteed Summer Vegetables, Grilled Vidalia Onions. This was served with a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville Napa Valley 2006

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Again cooked perfectly

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The dessert was a Wine Country White Peach Croustade and Golden Raspberry Sorbet served with a Sweet Genevieve, Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley 2005

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We were given some lovely finishing truffles for the evening

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I was really sad that the last Wine Maker dinner of the season was over, these are so tasty and so much fun, but next weekend is Taste! That is one heck of an event!

[onelilspark]

The meat was cooked perfectly!

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Drool...:cloud9:

I must say, Robert Irvine really seems like a nice guy. Out of all the pictures at either F&W, he's the only one I've seen that really comes into the crowd and stops for pictures. Plus, he's done a number of shows with Disney that satisfy my obsession. Gotta give him props for that :laughing:

[podsnel]

Sooo...Robert Irvine....he does seem like a nice guy- I'm going to Disney's HHI Resort next month, and it looks like he occasionally teaches a cooking class at DHHIR! Every week, either he does it or another chef (he lives on the island). Hope I have the pleasure of his class in a month! :goodvibes

Thanks for the great updates- I want to go to Disneyland F&W sooooo badly!!!

[franandaj]

So last weekend I learned that if you want to get into a Celebrity Chef demo, you evidently have to be there at the park opening, get in line and just wait it out. I had four demos that I wanted to see this year. The first, Guy Fieri, we didn’t even leave Long Beach before his demo started, and arrived well after it was over. The second Sunny Anderson, she cancelled. The Third, Robert Irvine was closed at 11:00AM and we didn’t get there until 12:30, so with lessons learned from now on if I want to go to a Celebrity Chef Demo, get there at park opening and camp it out and wait.

This week the chef was Anne Burrell, and I was determined to be in her demo and taste her food since I had not been in any other demo this year. I arrived at the parks by just after 8AM, when I arrived at the Chef’s stage they line hadn’t started. I went and did a little shopping and by the time I got back at about 9:15 a line had started, so I figured it was time to get in line. The first ten of us in line were all ladies and as I chatted up the other ladies in the line I found that most of them had waited in other lines together throughout the Festival, they affectionately referred to each other as their “Food & Wine Family”. One group was a mother / daughter team who the mother was retired and the daughter was unfortunately unemployed, so while she was looking for a job, she took her days without interviews to use the AP they had purchased last year to come out and enjoy the F&W demos.

I met a couple of other ladies all of whom were Disney fanatics and foodies, who were all AP holders and just liked the idea that they could use their days off, or even take vacation days to do something that really didn’t cost “extra” as they already had the APs. I decided that next year, I was going to join this fun family of crazy foodies for those chefs that I really was interested in seeing.

While waiting in line, there was CM assigned to us to make sure that anyone in line stayed here (for the most part) and monitored us when we wanted to go out for lunch or bathroom breaks. I took the opportunity to go to the Farmer’s Market and try the Buffalo Chicken Wrap which was one of the special F&W offerings. It was Chicken Tenders with Blue Cheese, Buffalo Sauce, and Chopped Celery.

It wasn’t as good as it sounded, while everything sounded really good, I think the fact that it was cold and the chicken wasn’t hot and crispy made a big difference in the flavor. I think if they had been cooked to order with hot chicken it would have been more successful.

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It’s kind of funny in the picture in the container you can’t tell that it is in a spinach tortilla!

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So after waiting 4 or so hours we are let into the demo area. I was seventh in line and that put me right front and center. Notice all the utensils and things on the counter in front of the chef.

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Anne Burrell was hilarious! She had us all laughing and kept us completely entertained while offering a great presentation on how to cook some great food.

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Notice how by this point, she has cleaned off the counter so that we could see her better, it was quite humorous how she did this, but it was one of those, “you had to be there” sort of moments.

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She was animated and so entertaining we all had a great time at her demo.

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She made a rustic Monkfish stew with clams that was excellent and seemed pretty simple. I can’t wait to try it at home, it was delicious!

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During the demo she mentioned that black pepper had no place in her kitchen :scared1: Afterwards at the autograph session I told her that it was very possible that I could fall in love with her, but she didn’t like pepper and I carry a pepper grinder in my purse so it would never work between the two of us and she echoed that sentiment! :lmao:

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Next up, Taste and an extra special surprise!

[franandaj]

So I saw Anne Burrell on Friday afternoon, and Saturday evening we were booked for Taste. Unlike all the other Chef’s Anne was only doing a demo on Friday and Sunday which was odd because most other Chefs did all three days. We are DVC members and one of the reasons for buying into the VGC DVC was to stay for F&W, so we checked into our room right at 4PM. We got settled into the room and began to assemble our “Tastemobiles”.

For those who are not familiar with “Grand Tastings”, basically that means you walk around a room eating food, drinking wine and there is no place for you to sit. You are supposed to chat with people as you stroll around and meet new friends. This presents a problem if you have a disability that keeps you from being able to stand for long periods of time or if you walk with multiple canes so last year, Fran came up with the “Tastemobile”.

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Essentially we built the tray table shown below from basic materials you can find at Home Depot and then attached them to our scooters with zip ties.

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Last year we learned that if we each took a dish from each station that we wouldn’t get a taste of everything, so this year our plan of attack was that we would each take something from each station, split it, and once we had tried everything we would come back for what we wanted seconds of. So our first pass I’m not really commenting on, “ooooh this one was sooo good” because I’m not sure there was anything I ate that didn’t deserve that, everything was awesome and I just wish I had a bigger stomach, everything was awesome and all the wines were great. I didn’t record those, only that they were very tasty and went wonderfully with the food. I’m just glad that we can do this event every year and go back to our villa afterwards!

This is a grilled salmon cone from Andrew Sutton at the Napa Rose Restaurant, they also had a vegetarian version which I took because I don’t care for salmon. I didn’t get a pic of the veg version and I’m sorry this one is so blurry!

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This is a Piquillo Pepper with Goat Cheese from Nick Weber at the Catal Restaurant and Uva Bar. Fran went back for a few of these once we went through the whole circuit!

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This is Beef Bracole & Chicory Fava Bean Puree from Marth Sigala of Café Orleans.

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From Darren Finkel at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen this is a Cajun Boudin Stuffed Quail.

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This is a Gazpacho with Avocado and Spicy Rock Shrimp from Greg Stillman at Naples Ristorante.

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The surprise is that we realized why Anne Burrell was not doing a demo on Saturday, she had booth at Taste Saturday night, next update more Taste offerings and our meet with Anne! Good night for tonight!

[franandaj]

Drool...:cloud9:

I must say, Robert Irvine really seems like a nice guy. Out of all the pictures at either F&W, he's the only one I've seen that really comes into the crowd and stops for pictures. Plus, he's done a number of shows with Disney that satisfy my obsession. Gotta give him props for that :laughing:

He is such a sweet man! When the audience asked him which were his favorite episodes, he said that he liked all of them and it was fun to help people out, but the ones he liked best were the ones where he served our troops. Being a service man himself he really liked to give back to the young men and women who were risking their lives for our freedom. It brought a tear to my eyes and still does as I think about it. What a great guy!

Sooo...Robert Irvine....he does seem like a nice guy- I'm going to Disney's HHI Resort next month, and it looks like he occasionally teaches a cooking class at DHHIR! Every week, either he does it or another chef (he lives on the island). Hope I have the pleasure of his class in a month! :goodvibes

Thanks for the great updates- I want to go to Disneyland F&W sooooo badly!!!

That sounds really neat, who lives on HHI? Robert Irvine or the other chef who gives the classes? I've never heard of that before, now it makes me want to try out HHI even more!

[franandaj]

So moving along in this report…..

Next up is a Petite Lamb Chop compliments of the Chef at Big Thunder Ranch Barbeque, Sean Lane, this one was really good it was cooked properly, nice and rare and very tasty

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The next thing we tried was the Blue Foot Chicken Gousere & Purslane Sabayon from Chef Marcel St. Pierre of Club 33. This was quite tasty, sorry about the blurry picture.

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Next up was Anne Burrell’s Chicken Milanese and Escarole Salad, The chicken was perfectly tender and the salad had a perfect amount of dressing overall it was very good.

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We didn’t find Anne at her station, she was quite enjoying the evening, but we caught up with her later in the evening for some pics….

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Jason Martin – Buffalo Short Rib Cassoullet

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Moises Carranz, Blue Bayou – Cast Iron Prawns

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Wendie Huffman, House of Blues – Smoked Cowboy Steak Sliders, this really wasn’t a slider by any means, but it was really darned good!

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Chef Jaime Gwen - Steak and Mushroom Rueben Sliders
This was like so totally to die for, it was yum from the git go!

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Then there were the desserts

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And the other views


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[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for the update Alison. I've been drooling at the steaks. I wished that in my May trip someone could cook me a steak to that colour and consistency.

I want one, if not two, of those tastemobiles for my upcoming October trip...
and the only thing that would be a perfect accessory for that tastemobile? You (and Fran) in it....at the WDW F&W festival at the end of October 2010.

princess::upsidedow

[fidoprincess]

So glad to see that you finally made it to the end! I so enjoyed every single thing about your whole report. I loved all the pictures of the food and the pictures of you both enjoying yourselves!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with all of us. It's so good that I will go back and reread it but it makes me hungry so I won't read until I make something else delicious from your inspirational pics-yummmy.

[Leshaface]

ALISON!

For some reason I thought I was subscribed to your thread but I wasn't! :sad2:

Anyways, thanks sooo much for those pics! I replied to you over on Bonnies thread..

I went back through my thread and did I not update on the F&W over at DCA???? Because of you, we did the beer walk and we ordered several small dishes over at the main 'tent'. .....And not sure if you know this either, but DH gets a week off in October from work...October = F&W @ Epcot!!!! :banana: I'm soooo hoping we'll be able to get over there next year...that would be soo much fun!

I MUST comment on your Club 33 review..everything looked absolutely divine, but the one thing that stuck out to me the most was...the CHOCOLATE MARTINI! Holy canoli.....that looks scrumptious! :lmao:

[franandaj]

ALISON!

For some reason I thought I was subscribed to your thread but I wasn't! :sad2:

Anyways, thanks sooo much for those pics! I replied to you over on Bonnies thread..

I went back through my thread and did I not update on the F&W over at DCA???? Because of you, we did the beer walk and we ordered several small dishes over at the main 'tent'. .....And not sure if you know this either, but DH gets a week off in October from work...October = F&W @ Epcot!!!! :banana: I'm soooo hoping we'll be able to get over there next year...that would be soo much fun!



I remember in your Dining Review you mentioned the beer walk and the small plates. :thumbsup2

I couldn't remember which job it was that you DH got the week off in October, I thought it was the one he didn't get, but that's great it's the one he has. We're going next year too! :banana: We just have to figure out when, we'll also throw in a side trip to Universal to see HP.



I MUST comment on your Club 33 review..everything looked absolutely divine, but the one thing that stuck out to me the most was...the CHOCOLATE MARTINI! Holy canoli.....that looks scrumptious! :lmao:

It is! I love the chocolate drizzled in the cup, I try to mix it in the drink as much as I can, it's a VERY tasty dessert!

Oh and on another note, they announced the dates of the 2011 CA F&W Festival, April 29 - June 12. I already have my DVC stays booked for the first and last weekends so I can do the cooking school and Taste. If things work out for me and I can get more DVC points, we might stay more nights, but until then I'll have to be happy with those two weekends!