Ellen & Pods alone at last at F&W-with a twist of Vero!9/25-10/1/09 Update12/14 p.15

[alan_renfroe]

AWESOME update, Ellen! Loved the golf pictures. If I ever need someone to take photos for a brochure or something, I'm calling you first!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[podsnel]

We made it to the park JUST in time- literally, we sat down in Tokyo Dining right as the pairing began, in the last 2 seats- right up in front! We had the pleasure of dining with a pair of sisters from California, both on their first trip to WDW. And they were really enjoying themselves, it was great to sit with them. Anyway, when I booked this in August, all it said was that it was one of the Food & Wine pairings offered at the festival, and because it was at Tokyo Dining, I assumed that meant sake- and I assumed correctly! There were 3 sakes served, each with 2 different foods accompanying them. The food and the sake were fantastic, we tried sakes I have never had before, and we really enjoyed (all of us at the table) the food- especially the sushi, which was perfectly bite-sized. Pods & I love sushi, but there nearly always seems to be an issue of it being too big to fit in your mouth in one bite- which is how all sushi is supposed to be eaten. Tokyo Dining's sushi is perfect! Anyway.... here's some food porn from the day, along with some other shots in the restaurant-

The sake-

Menu-

The first pair-Mu Dai-Ginjo (ultra-premium grade)- served chilled (the bottle on the right in the above photo)- this sake was so light and refreshing, unlike any I have ever tried. The food- Oyako Gunkan (sushi grade raw salmon and salmon roe wrapped with seaweed and thinly sliced cucumber and daikon radish. Served with ponzu) AND Hotate Nigiri with Zakuro Sushi rice (sushi grade raw scallop served on top of Pomegranate sushi rice as nigiri sushi (hand formed sushi). Served with soy sauce and yuzu-kosho(citron pepper taste).

This was truly lovely. Very gentle, subtle flavors. The only misstep was the ponzu sauce was poured on after the food was presented, and we didn't know until it was too late- so I was ponzu-less. That's ok, I loved it anyway!

Pairing 2 sake was Yaegaki Junmai-Kurobin (premium grade), served chilled AND Goma-Maguro Age (sushi grade tuna tartar with sesame oil, green onions, and dashi soy sauce coated with sesame seeds and deep fried. Served with a creamy avocado sauce). AND Gyu no Negi-maki (Thinly sliced sirloin wrapped around green onions and grilled. Served with Hickory smoked Sea salt.).

OMG! Our table could not get over how they managed to deep-fry a ball of sesame seed coated rice without cooking the tuna tartar inside! And that Smoked sea salt... WOW. They told us it was sold (not at the store below ) at Whole Foods. I am SO getting some this weekend!

Pairing 3 sake was Kagatobi Chokarakuchi Junmai (premium grade)- served warm-

This was the boldest of the three. The chef told us that this was usually the men's favorite, while the women usually like #1 best. I must be ambiguosly sexed, because I gladly drank it all! It was served with Buta no Kakuni (Kurobuta pork belly that has been slowly simmered with ginger, sake and soy sauce. Served with spicy yellow mustard)-

Wow again. Can you say I love me some pigs from Japan? And the mustard was soooo hot- I LOVE that! Next to that melt in your mouth yumminess was Ankimo (steamed monkfish liver thinly sliced and topped with green onions and momiji-oroshi (grated daikon with red chili pepper). Served with ponzu sauce- even for me this time!)

I love this- and i haven't had it in years, so it was nice to be reminded of it's sturdy, full, fatty flavor. It is the japanese equivalent of foie gras. The woman next to me felt it was too fishy tasting for her, though.

The happy chefs!!

Finally, and this was not on the menu, so forgive my less than perfect description, a green tea broth (I think) was poured into a bowl filled with rice, scallions, and pressed fish roe. They said this was a very traditional Japanese dish.

We were instructed to break up the fish roe and mix it into the bowl. Then put the bowls up to our mouths and SLURP!!!! Slurp, Pods, SLURP!

To me, the fish roe had a very dense, very salty and very strong flavor- but it balanced out when mixed in with the broth and rice. I thought it was much fishier than the monkfish liver- but the woman at my table who didn't like that DID enjoy this. I guess it just shows, taste is so subjective! The chef who spoke about the food was so cute and funny-

The gentleman next to her discussed the sake-

I really enjoyed this. The only downside was that it was VERY noisy in the restaurant surrounding this area, as that was filled with loads of people dining or waiting. Well, and that I think they could have come around with some refills on the sake, especially since it was meant to go with 2 different small plates. But I look pretty satisfied by the end, i think-

Outside in Japan, DH had a few work calls to answer, while I wanted to peruse the shops- actually, I wanted to see about purchasing the snacks Lou Mongello had tried on his podcast- because while he said they were pretty delicious, i just was having a hard time believing that mini-dried crabs and shrimp chips tasted better than GACK!

Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

The sake bar- I will need to visit this in May with the DISmoms!

I took pics of this so I would remember to buy one for DH's Aunt we'd visit on our November trip-

My man and his phone-

Our plan today was to just eat & drink our way around WS, we had no reservations. I was planning to do a LOT of damage, especially because tonight there were EMHs. Would that matter for us? You'll see.....

Ridiculous amounts of F&W food porn in the next installment!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Updat as usual Ellen !!!!I wish I was as adventurous with food as you!!!!!

 

[podsnel]

Ellen Me a trouble maker !!!!!

You BETCHA!

AWESOME update, Ellen! Loved the golf pictures. If I ever need someone to take photos for a brochure or something, I'm calling you first!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Haha- very funny. Sure, i'll take your pictures!! It'll give me an excuse to fly down to Alabama and eat all those hot dogs I'm dying to try! Are you doing a special Thanksgiving Weenie? With stuffing, cranberries and gravy?

 

[luv2travel29]

omg i love your trip reports... last nite i was reading your TR at Hilton Head with the family... you are a hoot!! did i read that you were planning a trip to pigeon forge in TN?? my family went last easter and rented a huge cabin @ Gatlinburg Falls Resort... it was a blast... it had a pool table, air hockey, hot tub, etc etc... it was great!! and we hit dollywood... keep your reports coming, i love them!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

What? No props for the one who introduced you to Lou Mongello?! How were the dried crab and shrimp chips? I won't eat those things WET, let alone dry!

I am SOOO excited for "food and wine" food porn! My favorite thing to do is snack around WS, during F&W or not! This is why DH and I can never get the dining plan...we like to snack too much! We'd rather spend a few days having a bunch of snacks instead one big sit-down meal.

15 mins until my first conference!! When do you have you sons' conferences?

 

[podsnel]

omg i love your trip reports... last nite i was reading your TR at Hilton Head with the family... you are a hoot!! did i read that you were planning a trip to pigeon forge in TN?? my family went last easter and rented a huge cabin @ Gatlinburg Falls Resort... it was a blast... it had a pool table, air hockey, hot tub, etc etc... it was great!! and we hit dollywood... keep your reports coming, i love them!!!

Thank-you SO MUCH for making my day!!! I'm really glad you like my TRs- I've got a lot of them to read from the past 2 years since I began my DIS obsession!! If you think HHI was funny, you should read the DISmoms TR- my friends are waaaaayyyy funnier than me, and that trip was EXCELLENT!!!

I am soooooooooooooooooooo glad you liked Gatlinburg!! Yes, we are going next summer, staying in Pigeon Forge in this cabin-
http://www.edencrest.net/8-bedroom-cabin/mountain-jubilee.asp
It's in Smoky Cove. I think it looks like a log cabin on the front of a lincoln logs box, and it reminds me of the WL, so of course I already like it!! It also has a horseshoe pit on the property for the guys to play horseshoes (which is a MUST DO) and actually has a yard for the kids to play sports, and the pool is right next to the property so we can walk. I've heard the area is beautiful from several people, and we plan to go to Dollywood, too! Do you have any other advice for me about it? I'm all ears!

What? No props for the one who introduced you to Lou Mongello?! How were the dried crab and shrimp chips? I won't eat those things WET, let alone dry!

I am SOOO excited for "food and wine" food porn! My favorite thing to do is snack around WS, during F&W or not! This is why DH and I can never get the dining plan...we like to snack too much! We'd rather spend a few days having a bunch of snacks instead one big sit-down meal.

15 mins until my first conference!! When do you have you sons' conferences?

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!!!! FYI, NIKKILOVESWDW is the one who clued me in to Lou Mongello!!!!!

Yes, it's true, she is the girl responsible for me eating SUPER-BEYOND-GACK crabs as recommended by Lou.

My DS10 tries his first Gack-crab-

Hey Mikey...he likes it!!! Good Lord only knows why, because I HATED it, and I like nearly everything! We still haven't brought ourselves to try the chips- maybe tonight will be the night!

This was the palate cleanser after the Gack-Fishie course-

I thought they were gummies....turns out they were hard candies. And thankfully, no fishies were harmed in the making of these candies.

Only DS10 has a conference this year in town- tomorrow, looking forward to it because I love seeing his teachers, they're so sweet. He got the same one TY had 2 years ago. Ty is in 7th, no more conferences after 5th grade. But I saw a bunch of them yesterday morning- I'm on Hospitality and saw them when we fed them all breakfast. Sean's conference is done over the phone- and I actually for get when it is! Better email his teacher, huh?

Hope all yours are filled with happy parents full of praise!

 

[knewton64]

on yer trip report.

Tho I do say that when I play golf, I have a bad habit of seeing that my divots go farther than my golf ball

Still fun tho playing as I play a fairly decent game of 9 hole.

CYA!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Ellen, you should be a food critic! I love reading your flavorful descriptions! "real sushi" is not my thing. I love the california rolls and maybe some shrimp rolls. I did have some sashimi once in Japan, because I went to a buffet, and the hostess was insisting - I didn't want to be rude, and you cannot waste food, so I ate it with some wasabi - not too bad. All the fishy-ness I can leave.

There are some foods we miss from Japan (actually Okinawa), but the gack crab crackers and the shrimp fries are not among them!

 

[S. C.]

WOW..that cabin is something else. can't wait for that TR.

 

[CRdisMom]

those sushi candie's were Beth's favorite snack on the trip. She still talks about them when we have regular sushi. Katie eats the real stuff. I know we are extra crazy for having sushi in Minneapolis but thank goodness for airlines and flying fresh fish in. I can't imagine making sushi out of the fish we catch in our lakes.

i have seen those super beyond gack crackers before. I thought they were like little lobsters but I wasn't sure what to do with them. They look yucky

 

[podsnel]

So we were ready after our little bit of downtime in Japan to start the food & drink frenzy back up in full force. We went to Morocco, actually hearing and seeing the last 2 notes of the last song performed by Mo Rockin-

We never see these guys!! We tried the Beef Kefta Pita pocket-

which was boring and not so hot, think I'll stick to the schwarma platter from now on. See the skywriter? I think it ended up saying Jesus loves you or Jesus saves-

We backtracked to Tokyo, because I was in the mood for more sake and wanted to try the tuna sensation-

It hit the spot, but in all honesty, I make a similar thing a LOT and....mine is better. Pods got sidetracked taking a pic of me-

No! That's not me!(I guess that one's for Kara ) YO! I'm over HERE! Cheers!

Then over to New Orleans for some Crayfish Etouffe and an Albita Purple Haze- YUMMMMM on both!

Richard Marx was playing, so we stopped for a bit to listen. Pods & I went to college and then were married in the 80's, so you would THINK we would know this music, being that RM had a TON of hits in the 80's. Well, one of us (umm, that would be ME) knew all the songs, but Pods was in some sort of Marshall Tucker/Charlie Daniels/Clash/Frankie-Goes-To-Hollywood haze in the 80's while he was living under a ROCK, so all these tunes were NEW to him.

Every song, i'd be like, "so you'll definitely know THIS one" and everytime he said, "nope, never heard it before- but it sounds nice!" Too funny. We decided to go into the American Adventure, since we had not been in there in years, and with all that's going on in the world, we thought it might be nice to see. It really and truly WAS- makes you proud to be an American.

Next, we went to Italy. Now, i know this looks like run of the mill, really ordinary Italian food, but it was very, very good red sauce, and we really enjoyed every bite! The chianti was yummy, too-

I'm happy- I'm feelin' glad...I got sunshine...on a trash can..."

Meatballs-

Canneloni (made with crepes, not pasta tubes- YUM!)-

Then we had the pleasure of devouring a grilled lamb chop with red wine sauce and murray river sea salt, and a shiraz/cabernet in Australia. Delish!

The only problem with that one was when you were finished, you wanted about 10 more! I'll continue later- need to run-

Ellen

 

[praisehisname]

WOW, that Japan pairing was amazing! DH totally would have loved that! We definitely have to schedule a F&W trip!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Haha- very funny. Sure, i'll take your pictures!! It'll give me an excuse to fly down to Alabama and eat all those hot dogs I'm dying to try! Are you doing a special Thanksgiving Weenie? With stuffing, cranberries and gravy?

All attempts at a Thanksgiving dog have been.....uh.....not great. (Actually, we are going to close the restaurant for three days and take a needed BREAK!) We are off to Dothan, Alabama this weekend - Wil made the all-stars in soccer and his team will be competing for a state championship this weekend!

 

[podsnel]

on yer trip report.

Tho I do say that when I play golf, I have a bad habit of seeing that my divots go farther than my golf ball

Still fun tho playing as I play a fairly decent game of 9 hole.

CYA!

Sometimes I have divots that fly far..... and the ball is still sittin on the ground where it started! THAT is actually NOT that much fun! But the rest of it is!

Ellen, you should be a food critic! I love reading your flavorful descriptions! "real sushi" is not my thing. I love the california rolls and maybe some shrimp rolls. I did have some sashimi once in Japan, because I went to a buffet, and the hostess was insisting - I didn't want to be rude, and you cannot waste food, so I ate it with some wasabi - not too bad. All the fishy-ness I can leave.

There are some foods we miss from Japan (actually Okinawa), but the gack crab crackers and the shrimp fries are not among them!

I would not have been able to insulting or wasteful either, but I'm sure I would have loved every morsel!! Good for ou for giving it a shot! So have you tried gack crabs & stinky shrimp fries? Or did you skip them? I still can't bring myself to open the SSFs....

WOW..that cabin is something else. can't wait for that TR.

Yea, I think it's sooooo cool- I hope I have a happy vacation to write about, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about it...

those sushi candie's were Beth's favorite snack on the trip. She still talks about them when we have regular sushi. Katie eats the real stuff. I know we are extra crazy for having sushi in Minneapolis but thank goodness for airlines and flying fresh fish in. I can't imagine making sushi out of the fish we catch in our lakes.

i have seen those super beyond gack crackers before. I thought they were like little lobsters but I wasn't sure what to do with them. They look yucky

So cool about Katie eating sushi! I saw on Alan's thread you are debating CG for your next trip- I say GO FOR IT!! There are tons of kids in there, it's not stuffy at CG at all, and their sushi is amazing!!!

WOW, that Japan pairing was amazing! DH totally would have loved that! We definitely have to schedule a F&W trip!

I would have loved to do more of those pairings, but that was the only one while we were there. And yes, if you've never been to F&W, you really need to go. It transforms WS into what the Foodie in me wishes was always WS.

All attempts at a Thanksgiving dog have been.....uh.....not great. (Actually, we are going to close the restaurant for three days and take a needed BREAK!) We are off to Dothan, Alabama this weekend - Wil made the all-stars in soccer and his team will be competing for a state championship this weekend!

SO HAPPY you guys are taking a break!! Have a great weekend in Dothan, and GO WIL! Tell him congrats on making the ALL-STARS!

 

[podsnel]

We continued on...

We stopped again in Bangkok, Thailand, to sample the Green papaya salad with Shrimp and the Chicken & Coconut soup with mushrooms, lemongrass & ginger. And a Singha beer. The best part of the whole thing was the beer- and we LOVE thai food, we eat it fairly often at home. This food was just kind of blah, and BLAH is the LAST word i would use to describe good Thai food, which is really more hyper-flavorful. The papaya salad was refreshing, though, and the shrimp was well cooked.

Our next stop was Cape town, South Africa, to try the Beef tenderloin with sweet potatoes and mango bbq sauce and a pinotage-

Now, I know everyone loved this one, but I think we just got a bad piece. It was teeny-tiny (especially compared to all the ones we saw after we had finished ours) AND it was super, super chewy and tough. I think we got the end tip of the tenderloin. Oh well... Believe it or not, we were actually FULL at this point!! So we walked on to China where we went in to visit all those cool soldier boys...

Well, THIS doesn't look too comfy!

Aaahhhh...here they are! I LOVE these guys!!

Especially HIM- he looks like the troublemaker of the group!

Probably that's ME in a previous life... Back outside, we continued around ...

Hey! Cell phone guy! Get outta my way!

That's better. We stopped in Canada, because there was incredibly
no line AT ALL for soup! Pods & I have never eaten at Le Cellier together- well, not since it was a cafeteria (anyone remember THAT?) so I was really excited for him to try the cheddar soup, which I KNEW he would LOVE, and which he DID love. It was by FAR his favorite thing all day. I didn't take a pic of the soup,or the Moosehead we got to go with it, I was too busy taking pics of these guys who were VERY excited to see us!!!

EH!

OOps... I forgot to turn on my flash- could you be happy to see us again, please?

SOUP, EH!!! CANADA, EH!!! MOOSEHEAD, EH!!!

That cheddar cheese soup server was too funny!! There was still one more thing for us to try....in Ireland.....

Yummmm..chocolate lava cake with Bailey's ganache...which made us thirsty for just one more beverage, over there in France, the Parisien Cosmo Slushie-

We were ready for Illuminations and EMH....or were we??????? Cont'd next post...

 

[podsnel]

So we were slurping down our slushie in France and it was time for Illuminations to begin. I love Illuminations. But I have some sort of Disney freakin' CURSE because I am never in the right place at the right time for it or any other fireworks display WDW offers (well, except Fantasmic, if that qualifies as fireworks- more Pyro technics, that one). I am always watching Illuminations behind a tree, or behind the world's tallest man, or from the bathroom... well, anyway, here are a couple of pics-

So the big show is over, and I'm sooo excited because it is EMH and we don't have the kids with us. And DH says, "That's enough. I want to go back to the room and have a martini."



And I said, "But...it's EMH! TONIGHT. ONLY.

To which he replied with all his complaints and grievences DU JOUR-
"It's enough! We've been here for hours! You said this was going to be a relaxing vacation! We've walked 100 miles! You take too many pictures! It's ENOUGH!"



Ummm...yea...hello, my name is Ellen, we've been married for 23 years, this is how I am....I mean REALLY? He's too tired at 9pm to stay at Epcot for another hour or so?? REALLY??? ANd that's when I knew the sad, sad truth- my dear, wonderful DH had been BODYSNATCHED and replaced! He had horribly flown right by the ages of 50, 60, 70 & 80 and slammed head on into the ripe old crankiness of age 85!!! Although, he did still have all his own teeth, so kudos on that one. Oh, Crap. So we left the park, ya know- ALONE because there wasn't anyone else in Epcot dumb enough to leave, and headed for the beach club (where we had parked.) Some night time pics-

Movies on the beach- looks like no one's there, I wonder why? Oh, I know- they're all at EPCOT WHERE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!!

The place of our next DISmoms trip- I bet THEY'LL stay for EMH!!

We got our car from the free valet (no doubt minutes before DVC members had this perk revoked) who was speedy fast in his shiny white new Nikes! Back at OKW, it was STRAIGHT to the room, where DH proceeded to pour himself a stiff one and turn the TV on to something that was NOT STacey or Casey. Well, I have to draw the line somewhere! So we spent the rest of the evening learning all about the Must Dos and Magic DVC suitcases that WDW's finest programming had to offer.

In the morning....DH was thankfully back, a handsome and kind 48 year old once again, apologizing for acting like such an idiot the night before. It seems he was really, really affected by that bad golf game! Well, I think that was the icing on several bad games in a row, so he was feeling not so hot. Poor baby. But he promised to be a happy camper from now on...Thank GOD!!
Because today, we had some really wonderful and RELAXING plans- SSR spa, hangin' by the pool, and the best of all, V&A's!!!! See ya real soon!!

 

[TigerKat]

El, you just crack me up!

 

[CRdisMom]

oooh! I can't wait to hear about V&A's. I want to eat there but I'm not going to be able to for a few years. The girls really wouldn't do well there and I'm not too keen on leaving them in a daycare at the hotel. Oh well. Love the F&W pics. Could Pods and Tim be releated? That 9 pm thing is just too common.