Monday October 21, 2013
DW was up early to make her 8:00am massage. Its a 15 minute walk from the room to the Spa at the Dolphin resort and they asked that you arrive 15 minutes early. Mandara Spa has a DVC discount offer on Monday Thursday. They do NOT allow you to charge to your Magic Bands or use your non-Swan/Dolphin resort card either at the Spa or at the hotel. If you gave them a credit card to make your reservation, they will charge that card. Im no expert on massages but DW has them often for her back. She said it was very good and worth the time & expense. It was not as good as the one she had at Aulani but still very good. There are no pictures of the spa as she was on a mission for her massage!
Before she returned to the room, I made a trip to the Beach Club Marketplace and returned to the room with a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit and an egg platter. Both were very good for a reasonable Disney price.
Rating B.
We had our first F&W seminar at noon. We signed up for the Italian Regional Luncheon. This is now held in the new Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar in the Italy pavilion. It is a two hour seminar that matches wines with a 5 course meal.
Here is a copy of the menu:
We were seated with 6 other persons. There was a couple from Iowa, another couple from Colorado and two ladies from Massachusetts. For those that are a bit uncomfortable eating with strangers, relax. The wine will soon take care of it for you but I couldnt wait for that. In my younger years, I would have sat there and only spoken when someone asked a question. In my advanced years I have decided
what the hell
go for it. After about 10 minutes of hushed conversations with the person you arrived with, I announced, Okay, since we are going to be with each other for the next 2 hours, I will break the ice and get this party started. My name is Bill, this is my wife Grace and we are from Mississippi and staying at the Beach Club. Thats all it took. We went around the table introducing ourselves. Shortly the first wine arrived and we were off! The two ladies were nurses at Boston Mass. One of the couples lived near the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the other couple was from near Des Moines - she was an IT nurse and he was a salesman. Four were staying at DVC resorts. We were the only first time F&Wers. We all LOVED WDW! The conversation was worth the price of admission but the luncheon was superb! Here is the table prior to the first course.
You think there are enough glasses? Oh yeah, there will be 5 glasses of wine!
Here are pics of some of the courses
.I tried to remember to take a pic BEFORE I started but I wasnt always successful and there are no pics of the paired wine because
.well
.a glass of wine looks like
.a glass of wine!
1st course - Warm Cotechino (boiled meat similar to salami) with Lentil Vinagrette (self explanatory) and Fruit Mostarda (candied fruit but notice almost all the fruit is missing
I couldnt wait!)
2nd course - Pumpkin Ravioli with butter, sage and an Amaretti cookie. Obviously the amaretti cookie was good because its not in the picture!!
3rd course - Braised short ribs with polenta and fontina cheese. This dish was not new to us. DW happens to make something similar to this at home but it was every bit as good as hers!
4th course - As is customary in Italian meals, a cheese course is in between the main course and the dessert. This was a Gorgonzola Dolce.
5th course - And for the dessert course we had a chocolate custard with amarena (dark Italian) cherries
Dont ask me to explain the subtle nuances of each course and how this and that of the food was enhanced by the bouquet, aging or whatever type of barrel the adult beverage was aged. The host explained all of that before each course. All I know is if I like it or not and I LIKED IT! I am a typical male in that I love my steak, hamburger and hot dogs. However, I grew up with my mother trying different dishes and all she asked was for us to try one bite. If we didnt like it, we did not have to eat it but at least we tried something new. To this day, Ill try anything once and have been richly awarded with an abundance of new foods I love. It helps that DW loves to cook and can pretty much eat a meal at a restaurant and go home and replicate her version of that meal which quite often is better too!
Each course was excellent. The general consensus around the table was that the wines were ALL great and if one had to choose the least popular course, it would have been the gorgonzola cheese. It was a bit strong but I like strong cheese and a Gorgonzola Dolce is milder than other gorgonzolas. The wine paired with it cut the sharpness of the cheese enough for all to enjoy. As far as the best part, there were 8 at our table and each had their own favorite combo. IMO, the best food part was the pumpkin ravioli (never thought I would say that!) and the best wine was the Verduzzo. To me, this wine, paired with the dessert, was actually better than the dessert! I could sip a jug of this stuff for a while, well, a bottle then
.I kind of doubt they sell it by the jug
but if they did!!!!
The host made his way around the room throughout the meal speaking to each table. Afterwards, you could fill out a survey card and they will send you info on how to get the wine of your choice sent to you via UPS. This is not exactly legal in Mississippi because the State wants their alcohol tax so that might be the reason we never received anything. Over all, the seminar was well worth the time and expense. The only downfall was we were located near the entrance and there was noise spill over from the waiting area for Tutto Italia restaurant. Not all tables were that close and it didnt deter from our table conversation but it did hinder us hearing the host explain each course occasionally.
Rating a solid, solid A.
The only reason it was not an A+ was the noise from Tutto Italia. If we had been at another table further away from the entrance, it would have been an A+ without a doubt!