Hungry Are The Damned! 10/15/07-10/25/07 - COMPLETED W/LOTS OF PICS!!!

[shovan]

Well, now that you've had the chance to see our pictures from Party for the Senseless, I thought I'd give you a list of the handful of food offerings that we managed to miss, and provide you with a listing of the participating booziers for the evening.

The reason I want to do this is to give everyone who hasn't had a chance to attend the best idea of the overall scope and offerings of PFTS. It is expensive, there is no denying that, but when you consider the variety and amount of food and drink available, I still think it's a pretty good deal. If you enjoy trying new things and you like to drink, especially wine, then you should really attend PFTS at least once, just to have the experience. It really was a wonderful evening - Jay and I both agree ... if we lived in Florida we would do our best to attend every Saturday if we could!

Taste Treats That We Missed Out On

Peach Cobbler w/Peach Leaf & Mint Custard
Braised Wild Boar w/Pomegranate Reduction & Blue Cheese Rosti Potato
Apple Braised Pork Belly w/Napa Cabbage Slaw & Calvados Cream
Kabayaki Unagi & Beef
Charred Sashimi of Tuna w/Grilled Baby Octopus Caponata
Onion, Mushroom, and Smoked Bacon Tart with Seared Scallop, Fresh Watercress, and Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette
A selection of really good chocolates that apparently were inhaled within 15 minutes of the doors opening (waaaaaaaaah!)

And much to my embarrassment ... an entire separate selection of cheeses that I never even spotted!

They included:
Beemster X.O. - Extra Double Aged Gouda
Boschetto al Tartufo Stagionato
Briscole al Barbera
Blue Wensleydale
Dorothea
Quicke's Traditional Mature Cheddar
Manchego Reserve
P'tit Basque


Alcohol Consumed

FroZin (Meeker Vineyards)
Proseco (Martini & Rossi)
Macallan 15 Fine Oak (Highland Distillers)
Highland Park 18 (Highland Distillers)
Reserva Sauvignon Blanc (Santa Rita)
Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Rita)
Remy Martin VSOP (Remy Martin)
Jack London Syrah (Kenwood Vineyards)
Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG (Rocca Delle Macie)
Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (Hall Winery)
Dry Riesling (Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estate)
Pisco Sour (Peru)
Utopias (Samuel Adams)
And Amazingly Enough, Alcohol We Didn't Consume

Ahsley's Vineyard Chardonnay (Fess Parker)
Epiphany Grenache Rose' (Fess Parker)
Rodney's Vineyard Syrah (Fess Parker)
Winemaker's Handprint Merlot (Meeker Vineyards)
Alexander Valley Cabernet Franc (Meeker Vineyards)
Cashmere (Cline Cellars)
Ancient Vines Zinfandel (Cline Cellars)
Cool Climate Syrah (Cline Cellars)
Macallan 12 (Highland Distillers)
Asti Spumante (Martini & Rossi)
Robert Weil Dry Reisling (Rudi Wiest)
Heger Pinot Noir Dry (Rudi Wiest)
Gunderloch Diva Riesling Spatlese (Rudi Wiest)
Triple C (Santa Rita)
Remy Martin Strawberry Kiwi (Remy Martin)
Piana Padula Chardonnay (Taste of Puglia)
Piana Padula Primitivo (Taste of Puglia)
Rosso Cocevola (Taste of Puglia)
Russian River Pinot Noir Rose' (Kenwood Vineyards)
Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon (Kenwood Vineyards)
Brut Cuvee' (Laetitia Vineyard & Winery)
Estate Chardonnay (Laetitia Vineyard & Winery)
Estate Pinot Noir (Laetitia Vineyard & Winery)
Etoile Blanc (Etoile)
Lake Country Sauvignon Blanc (39 Degrees)
Lake Country Petite Sirah (39 Degrees)
Lake Country Cabernet Sauvignon (39 Degrees)
Pinot Noir Rose' (Etude)
Pinot Noir (Etude)
Cabernet Sauvignon (Etude)
Occhio A Vento (Rocca Delle Macie)
Roccato (Rocca Delle Macie)
Show Reserve Chardonnay (Rosemount)
Balmoral Syrah (Rosemount)
Mudgee Cabernet Sauvignon (Rosemount)
Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Silver Oak Cellars)
Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Silver Oak Cellars)
Twomey Merlot (Silver Oak Cellars)
Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling (New York Wine & Grape Foundation)
Peconic Bay Steel Fermented Chardonnay (New York Wine & Grape)
Palmer Barrell Fermented Chardonnay (New York Wine & Grape)
Napa Valley Merlot (Hall Winery)
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Hall Winery)
Bianco Pinot Grigio (Francis Ford Coppola)
Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon (Francis Ford Coppola)
Director's Cut Zinfandel (Francis Ford Coppola)
Mitsuko's Vineyard Chardonnay (Clos Pegase)
Mitsuko's Vineyard Merlot (Clos Pegase)
Cabernet Sauvignon (Clos Pegase)
Riva Ranch Chardonnay (Wente Vineyards)
Crane Ridge Merlot (Wente Vineyards)
Charles Wetmore Cabernet Sauvignon (Wente Vineyards)
Orphelin (Chateau Ste. Michelle)
Ethos Merlot (Chateau Ste. Michelle)
Sam Adams: Light; Boston Lager; Ocotberfest; and Honey Porter.


That's a huge list of potential drinkage for anyone attending PFTS. My only complaint is that so many of the wines were the same ... I would have liked to have seen wider variety. White burgundy ... Beaujolais ... Port ... Grappa ... etc.

The issue is that the featured wineries at PFTS mirror those that are listed in the F&W Festival program guide - more likely than not, whoever has been hosting seminars all week is who you will see featured at PFTS. It's a sponsorship thing, I realize that, but you can only drink so many sauvignon blancs and cabernets before they all start tasting the same (at least to me).

I think a booth that featured dessert wines would have been a great idea, and I also think they should have had an espresso / coffee bar. But it would have to be something not sponsored by Nescafe.

So there you have it ... 8 thumbs up for PFTS and high hopes for a relatively affordable repeat in 2009! Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Awww man! I crying about missing that too!!!

Now that's an extremely short list! We did much better than you did on the tasty beverage offerings! Was I anywhere near coherent by the end of the evening?

 

[my3disneygirls]

Taste Treats That We Missed Out On

And much to my embarrassment ... an entire separate selection of cheeses that I never even spotted!

For shame! I am so disapointed in you missing out on an entire cheese section.

Plankton had his own party during the holidays when he made up for missing out on PFTS.


God Blesh Ush, Every One ... hiccough

Plankton looks even more maniacal when holding an empty beer bottle.

 

[Tink rules]

Hey Michelle! I've said it before and I'll say it again ... if there is a single positive to having Crohns disease it is that you don't always uh ... how shall I say this delicately ... process everything you eat.

DIS-meet on the Disney Magic 10/24/09 ...

I'm workin on it!!! I've got to get through this cruise first!!!


I like the soup shooter - I think it's cool! Don't you remember my Chef's Table review where we were served soup in a little cream pitcher and Chef Hunnel told us to drink the soup right from the pitcher? It's a playful presentation ... and in this case I like that we can see all the color. Maybe I've been watching too much Iron Chef?

I was thinkin that they made you slurp it out of the glass and you'd have whipped cream or something on the tip of your nose...


Erica! You said it so perfectly that all I can do is say: thank you for verbalizing ... uh, postalizing ... that perfect summation of the comedy of misfortunes that prevented our meeting and drinking together. We will set things right the next time!

Oh... I feel a guilt forgiving happy hour coming on!!!

But 2009 ... PFTS is actually on my birthday and we're going to be there! Can't think of a better way to celebrate the big 4-0 than by eating and drinking myself silly!

& We'll start collecting money to pay for it!!!

I'd love to collaborate with a lot of people on the DIS. I think Erica and Lionel need to come along on that cruise next October ... we could write a novel covering just 7 days on a ship.

Boy, could we......

Between eating and drinking??? I'd love to read THAT one!!! (and a signed copy from the authors to their favorite editor (me...) is a very nice idea...)

Come on ... take the cruise! You both need the guavaberry experience ... trust me.

Guavaberry??? YUM... YUMMO... YUMALICIOUS!!!




October 17th, 2009!!! It's a Saturday and it's the first day we'll be on property - I'll turn forty (how did that happen???) and I already told Jay that's what I want for my birthday. Well, that and a weeklong stay at WDW followed by a 7-night Disney cruise!

Better get your ressies in now for the resort of your choice... (Planky can come and stay with me - give you lovebirds some time alone... )

OMG I would have skipped the food, drank myself into a stupor and had to be wheeled out of there. I don't know how you survived it! You're my hero!

Picture Brenda going in for the food and saying "Look there's Wine..." It'd be all over...

"WHAT?!?! They went to a party and left me stuffed in a suitcase? I'm glad I took the time to "wash their clothes" while I was in there!"
​

PLANKY DOES WASH????? Oh cool!!! He better bring back my undies in good shape...

Plankton had his own party during the holidays when he made up for missing out on PFTS.


God Blesh Ush, Every One ... hiccough

I always heard people talking about this phrase "food porn", and I was mystified as to its true meaning. Is food porn a cheesburger with a sly onion smile? An ice cream sundae with a strategically placed banana? A salad that is having a bit too much fun with the croutons? After reading this report, I think I understand...thank you, oybolshoi, for introducing me to this wondrous world. Whenever I need a fix, I'll be checking in...

Brenda... the original inventor of Food Porn... (even if she's not...I'm promoting her on her book tour that way...)

Plankton looks even more maniacal when holding an empty beer bottle.

& Santa looks absolutely slushed!!!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Wow, that's a lot of food and drink you didn't even get to! You should have taken your big purse, like my MIL has done, to stash some more samplings for the next day.. (I swear she put a piece of fried fish from Shoney's seafood bar in her purse "in case she got hungry later", when we were on our way to a family wedding in Virginia.....I had to ride in the back seat with said fish in said purse for several hours.....and this was before I even married DH....and I married him anyway....)

 

[oybolshoi]

Brenda - WOW. I don't think I would ever attend but I can live through you and Jay. My taste buds are not willing to try some of those dishes. The presentation was beautiful though.

Laura

Hi Laura! Never say never ... some day you might surprise yourself. I know I did!

Brenda .. no problem about the cheese info.. I am a Cheese girl myself and I hate when I don't write names down. It's always when I have wine in my hand too! If it had lavender .. try Purple Haze by Cypress Grove. It's actually one of my favorite cheeses and they have had it each year at the PSTS! They sell it at Whole Foods if you have one near you.

Purple Haze ... noted. We have a great place here in town that sells Cypress Grove cheeses and we've been able to find Humbolt Fog, Midnight Moon, and Lamb Chopper all of which we just adore!

Brenda,

I just discovered you today. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your reviews and about your escapades. Just wanted to let ya know. I am now convinced that I must go to WDW during the F&W fest, and when I do, I have to do PFTS. I never heard of it before, and now I will never forget. Thank you.

Hi there Jen! Thanks so much for reading - I'm glad to know you've enjoyed the reviews so far. Oh yes ... you must go to WDW during F&W - it's the best time of year as far as we're concerned. And PFTS is da bomb!! I hope you get to attend one soon!

Fantastic review Brenda! We don't usually get to Disney in October anymore but I think we might have to do it sometime just to go to the POTS!

Now I've got to get back to reading your blog.

Hi Deb - thanks for reading! Come to WDW in October 2009 and we can all go to PFTS together!!!

PS. Thanks for blogging with us ... hopefully it's worthwhile.

Awww man! I crying about missing that too!!!

Now that's an extremely short list! We did much better than you did on the tasty beverage offerings! Was I anywhere near coherent by the end of the evening?

Hi Sheryl! You seemed pretty coherent to me at the end of the evening! Jay and I definitely need to work on the alcohol intake next time we make it to PFTS ...

Thanks again for posting that picture - yours turned out so much better than ours did.

For shame! I am so disapointed in you missing out on an entire cheese section.

I know, I know. I debated whether I should even tell you guys about my shortcomings in this area, but I felt like I had to be honest with everyone. I promise to do better next time.

Plankton looks even more maniacal when holding an empty beer bottle.

He does, doesn't he? It looks like he drank Santa under the table!

Between eating and drinking??? I'd love to read THAT one!!! (and a signed copy from the authors to their favorite editor (me...) is a very nice idea...)

Behind every great author is a great editor ... I don't know about Erica but I don't have an editor (I edit as I go ... ). So I think if she and I collaborate and have you and BriarRosie acting as co-editors we'll have a best-seller in no time at all!

Better get your ressies in now for the resort of your choice... (Planky can come and stay with me - give you lovebirds some time alone... )

All you DVC members ... you can make your Ocotber 2009 ressies at the 11-month mark which is November 2008! We know where we're staying!!

Picture Brenda going in for the food and saying "Look there's Wine..." It'd be all over...

Brenda... the original inventor of Food Porn... (even if she's not...I'm promoting her on her book tour that way...)

I'm definitely not the inventor of food porn, although I think the idea is hysterical. If you want to promote me that way, I won't complain ... I'll just make sure that I thank everyone along the way who made it possible.

& Santa looks absolutely slushed!!!

It's the nature of how he was made ... his arms and legs are barely stuffed with anything so he looks ... de-boned. It totally looks like he's been on a weeklong drinking binge!

Wow, that's a lot of food and drink you didn't even get to! You should have taken your big purse, like my MIL has done, to stash some more samplings for the next day.. (I swear she put a piece of fried fish from Shoney's seafood bar in her purse "in case she got hungry later", when we were on our way to a family wedding in Virginia.....I had to ride in the back seat with said fish in said purse for several hours.....and this was before I even married DH....and I married him anyway....)

You should have seen me at the end of the night ... if they'd offered a doggy bag for all the food I still wanted to eat we would have been loaded down!

That story about your MIL had me spewing coffee at my cat ... poor kitty.

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

That food looks AMAZING!!

I need to be at WDW for the Food and Wine Festival I think the food looks certainly worth the entry fee (said quietly in case the WDW money gods are listening)

Seriously good

The DIS should have a Foodies Trip one of these years

 

[oybolshoi]

That food looks AMAZING!!

I need to be at WDW for the Food and Wine Festival I think the food looks certainly worth the entry fee (said quietly in case the WDW money gods are listening)

Seriously good

The DIS should have a Foodies Trip one of these years

The whole experience was fantastic - I really think anyone who loves food and wine should attend at least once. And I'm with you Hayley ... I'm hoping the price gouging gods fall asleep on this event for a few years.

You'd love PFTS, I'm sure of it! Your next trip needs to be during F&W!

 

[shovan]

Brenda, We've booked our trip for the F&W Fest this year. But unfortunately we will skip the PFTS this year. Decided to conserve DVC points & avoid the weekend crowds, so we'll do Sun-Thurs. That's as of now, last year I convinced DH to pay cash rates & add on several nights!

We haven't tried a Signature dinner nor an EE yet, so one of those will be our big event. Hopefully I'll have more luck in booking the f&w pairings than I did this past year.

 

[oybolshoi]

Brenda, We've booked our trip for the F&W Fest this year. But unfortunately we will skip the PFTS this year. Decided to conserve DVC points & avoid the weekend crowds, so we'll do Sun-Thurs. That's as of now, last year I convinced DH to pay cash rates & add on several nights!

We haven't tried a Signature dinner nor an EE yet, so one of those will be our big event. Hopefully I'll have more luck in booking the f&w pairings than I did this past year.

You'll still have a great trip! I'd love to try a signature dinner or EE - they just didn't offer any during our visit last year that sounded appealing. And those were so expensive that even Jay said we'd be better off at V&A.

I'm sending you early good luck wishes for your F&W bookings - be sure to let us know what you manage to snag! By August I'm going to be suffering through food porn withdrawal for sure.

 

[Ms. Heimlich]

Hey Brenda -

I finally read your "party" review (as well as a couple others that I was behind on.... )

You make me want to cash in my 401K, book a couple of weeks at WDW, and eat myself SToooooPID.

I hope someday Thomas and I can afford a party for the senseless, but for now, I shall live vicariously thru you and others who post here.

Keep up the good work!

Ms. H (Janis)

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey Brenda -

I finally read your "party" review (as well as a couple others that I was behind on.... )

You make me want to cash in my 401K, book a couple of weeks at WDW, and eat myself SToooooPID.

I hope someday Thomas and I can afford a party for the senseless, but for now, I shall live vicariously thru you and others who post here.

Keep up the good work!

Ms. H (Janis)

Hi Janis! It's great to see you posting again!

Jay and I were just talking today that we want to win the lottery so that we can just book a suite at the Beach Club for the entire length of the F&W Festival ... we'd eat the place clean!

And just for reference ... you'd pay a little less (at least right now) than you would for a dinner at V&A ... so maybe when you have another milestone anniversary you can celebrate at PFTS.

Thanks for reading!

 

[PinkPrincessZ]

Hi Brenda!

Thank you so much for your input on V&A's CT!

You pretty much confirmed my own reservations (hehe, no pun intended) with having a romantic, googly-eyed dinner in the middle of a working kitchen. I did find out that you can order the tasting menu for the main dining room, so maybe we'll try that.

The food at Senseless....I'm speechless! I know there's been a lot of grousing about the price - but it looks to me to be worth every penny. Especially after reading what you didn't try - that's a lot of food and wine!

As always, great update! I wish you could come review the restaurants in my city so I would know where to go, what to expect, and of course, you could include tons of food porn in your write-up...hmmm, maybe a career change is in order for you!

Kris

 

[oybolshoi]

Hi Brenda!

Thank you so much for your input on V&A's CT!

You pretty much confirmed my own reservations (hehe, no pun intended) with having a romantic, googly-eyed dinner in the middle of a working kitchen. I did find out that you can order the tasting menu for the main dining room, so maybe we'll try that.

Hi Kris! I hope you found it helpful - it's hard to make a decision based on someone else's opinion but we felt really strongly that the dining room is the romantic place to be. I hope you can order the tasting menu in the dining room - then you'd have the best of both worlds!

The food at Senseless....I'm speechless! I know there's been a lot of grousing about the price - but it looks to me to be worth every penny. Especially after reading what you didn't try - that's a lot of food and wine!

As always, great update! I wish you could come review the restaurants in my city so I would know where to go, what to expect, and of course, you could include tons of food porn in your write-up...hmmm, maybe a career change is in order for you!

Kris

I think the grousing about PFTS has been the rapid price increase, rather than the price itself. Although ... it was still a little painful to fork out more than $275 for one evening of appetizer dining for two people. Having said that, I agree with you that right now it's still a great price for the amount and variety of both food and beverage. We're still planning on hitting another one in 2009.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the kind words - if you know of anyone who is willing to hire an inexperienced reviewer with no industry knowledge or culinary skills, please let me know!

 

[oybolshoi]

Hello friends! I wanted to let you know that I updated the blog tonight with a review of a little cheese tasting we threw together last weekend.

Here's the link if you want to take a look:

GASTROPODTRAVELS

A helpful hint to any of you who, like me, aren't overly blog savvy: you can click on any of the links in the Blog Archive on the right-hand side of the page and it will take you directly to that post. Not only will you not have to scroll through everything, but when you go directly to the post you can see all the comments at the bottom.

Pretty cool - I just figured that out today!


Thanks as always for reading!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Hi Brenda,
I've been lurking here and enjoying your reviews so much. I spent last weekend reading your new blog. All I can say is YUMMY! I started my first PTR yesterday and wanted you to know that I mentioned this thread as my must read for the week.

 

[cc1075]

Hi Brenda,
I've been lurking here and enjoying your reviews so much. I spent last weekend reading your new blog. All I can say is YUMMY! I started my first PTR yesterday and wanted you to know that I mentioned this thread as my must read for the week.

Hi Mary Peepers!! Brenda is the best!! I used to live on graham crackers until I found Brenda. She tolls out great humor and courage to the picky eaters. Thanks again Brenda - I love the blog!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Hi Brenda,
I've been lurking here and enjoying your reviews so much. I spent last weekend reading your new blog. All I can say is YUMMY! I started my first PTR yesterday and wanted you to know that I mentioned this thread as my must read for the week.

Hi there and thanks for de-lurking! I'll have to check out your pre-trippie when I get a chance and thanks for the props!

And thanks for checking out the blog ... I still have a lot to do to get it up to speed. I can't wait until next month because I'll finally have some new stuff to post!!

Hi Mary Peepers!! Brenda is the best!! I used to live on graham crackers until I found Brenda. She tolls out great humor and courage to the picky eaters. Thanks again Brenda - I love the blog!!

Awww, thanks CC!

I am proof positive that a picky eater can evolve ... but it's taken me a long time. Some of it was fear that I'd eat something that would tick off my Crohn Goblin but the rest was just me being picky. Jay is so proud to have "ruined" me as he likes to call it!

Thanks again for reading!

 

[shovan]

You'll still have a great trip! I'd love to try a signature dinner or EE - they just didn't offer any during our visit last year that sounded appealing. And those were so expensive that even Jay said we'd be better off at V&A.

I'm sending you early good luck wishes for your F&W bookings - be sure to let us know what you manage to snag! By August I'm going to be suffering through food porn withdrawal for sure.

Thanks! I know I'll the the luck in getting the f&w events that we want! I have already convinced Bob to add another day to our trip. So now we're up to 6 nights at BCV!

Hello friends! I wanted to let you know that I updated the blog tonight with a review of a little cheese tasting we threw together last weekend.

Here's the link if you want to take a look:

GASTROPODTRAVELS

A helpful hint to any of you who, like me, aren't overly blog savvy: you can click on any of the links in the Blog Archive on the right-hand side of the page and it will take you directly to that post. Not only will you not have to scroll through everything, but when you go directly to the post you can see all the comments at the bottom.

Pretty cool - I just figured that out today!


Thanks as always for reading!

Brenday, I am now going to go jump into the unknown world of blogging! Since you be doing other tastytravels this year, I don't want to miss out. But I am so not blog-savvy! Savvy?

 

[whogirl'smom]

Loved the review on your blog! Just so you know, evidently Google has now remembered me, and even though I logged in as whogirlsmom, it posted me as Jamie. How odd, just wanted you to know who I was, since that's not the name I usually post under. Why are computers so confounding??

 

[littleeyz]

So, imagine my mortification after reading post 995 and realizing that my clothes matched the decor

I have really enjoyed all of your reviews--just never thought I'd be in them. I think I'm off to burn that outfit now--my bum looked way too big in it

Keep on writing!
Heather