My Sister and I at the F & W Festival
This was my first time at the Food and Wine Festival, so I knew what to expect from reading previous trip reports and blogs. I also knew that I was going to be using up most of my snack credits (from the
free dining plan) for International Marketplace food items, so it would be a chance to try things that I might not have wanted to pay OOP for. BTW, the free dining plan is such an amazing deal and we tried 2 signature restaurants – Citricos and Jikos. Of the two, my sister and I both felt that Jiko’s was by far the superior restaurant. Citricos was good, but it didn't wow us the way Jiko did. From the decor to the food and service, Jiko’s just feels like it's a cut above most of the other signature restaurants I've tried.
Warm Chocolate Banana Tart – Citricos.
We waited until a weekday to visit the Food and Wine Festival and I'm glad we did, because the International Marketplace felt empty compared to what we saw on the Saturday, when we went to Party of the Senses. On Day 1 we did the right hand side, starting with lunch at Chefs de France. I had the Angus hamburger, while my sister tried the Crepe Basquaise (large crepe filled with smoked chicken strips, peppers and onions). I usually don't order a hamburger, but it was good to be reminded that, done properly, this can be a very good dish. I picked the Crème Brulée for dessert, and loved every creamy mouthful of it. Ironically, I had the same dessert at Citricos that night, except it was Tropical Fruit Crème Brulée and the added mango flavor made it even more delicious.
After lunch we ambled by the Hope and Barely booth and used one snack credit for the New England Lobster Roll. It's big enough to share and there was a good amount of lobster in the roll. It wasn't tough & chewy either, like the one I recently had on a cruise ship. We both agreed that it was definitely worth using a SC for, but not paying OOP for - a refrain which will become familiar over the next two days.
We weren’t tempted to try anything from Morocco (Beef and Falafel Pita are a dime a dozen at snack stands around here), Italy (same goes for pizza and meatballs), and sushi because in Vancouver (where we’re from) we have so many excellent and reasonably priced sushi places that it never makes sense for us to pay the inflated prices we see in other places – like Disney World. We did stop to watch Miyuki make her candy and both had to smile at the suggestive way she shaped the candy while crooning pull…pull…
We stopped to watch the Orecchiette making demo at Taste of Puglia and I know that I'll never be taking the time to shape hundreds of little pieces of dough into Orecchiette. I might, however, try the sauce that’s in the recipe handout.
We finished off the day with the Cheese selection and Bunratty Meade Honey Wine from Cork, Ireland which I enjoyed while listening to The British Invasion. The cheeses and bread were good but my favorite part was the Apple Chutney. Don't forget to take cutlery from the booth or else you'll end up having to dip the cheese into the chutney the way I did. My favorite wines are sweet so I enjoyed the intense honey flavor of the wine. I can see how it might not be to everyone's taste though. Before leaving the park we also caught Off Kilter which is just as good as all the reviews say. I enjoyed them a lot more than Voodoo Daddy and just wish the set was longer.
Day 2: Our first stop was at the Welcome Center where we attended the 1 PM Culinary Demonstrations. There must be a way to find out what the demonstrations are ahead of time, but we didn't figure it out. Of the three that day, this one sounded the best to me and we figured we could always come back for the 4:30 demonstration if we liked it enough. We had James Kleinschmidt of the Contemporary Resort demonstrating how to make Grilled Pineapple Vanilla Gazpacho. This was paired with Purple Haze beer which we had already tried at the PFTS. Neither of us are beer fans, but the serving was so tiny, it didn't really matter either way. The demo was quite simple - basically consisting of the pineapple being grilled, followed by all the ingredients being put into a blender. The whole thing was over in 30” (because the beer movie didn’t work) and the beer was never refilled – even for those whose glasses were empty by the time the food samples were handed out. Those samples were minuscule as well and we decided it wasn’t really worth the $8.00 for something you can see all day for free on the Food Network.
Grilled Pineapple Vanilla Gazpacho
I had been looking forward to the Flavorhood, but unless I missed something - it mainly consisted of a booth selling small containers of Edy’s ice cream. But we still had to use 8 snack credits, so it was time to get busy with the sampling.
From New Zealand we tried the Seared Sea Scallop and the Lamb Slider. The Lamb Slider is basically a tiny lamb burger and nothing special. The single scallop was delicious, but the side of Vegetables Slaw had a coarse texture and didn't fit at all with the delicate scallop. I didn't finish it and I'm glad I didn't pay OOP for it.
Canada: I've made the cheese soup and salmon so don't need to buy it. I did pay way too much for 2 tiny pieces of maple sugar candy and can attest that they taste exactly like what you buy in the stores here.
Santiago Chile: we tried the Rock Shrimp Ceviche; Cheese Arepa and Dulce de Leche cookie. We both like the Ceviche, but I found the popcorn topping an odd touch. I've had ceviche several times in South America and have NEVER seen it topped like that. The Arepa is a little like a Tamale and wasn't anything to rave about. Not worth $3.00 if you have to pay OOP. This is even more so for the cookie priced at $2.25. At a normal bakery I wouldn't dream of paying this for a single, small cookie. This one has a thin layer of Dulce de Leche sandwiched between two basic cookie halves and you're better off buying the souvenir cookbook and making it from scratch (recipe on page 20). The cookie does nothing other than sugar, butter and flour.
Brazil: we used a snack credit for the Shrimp Stew with Coconut and Lime and I paid OOP for the Passion Fruit Mousse and the Frozen Caipirinha. The shrimp stew was OK, but it could've used more lime flavor. The Mousse was tasty but it also could have used a more intense Passion Fruit flavor. At $7.25, you get a very small serving of the Caipirinha and there wasn't a lot of alcohol in it. I've had the real deal in South America, and believe me, after one of them you can feel it!
We both felt that Mexico City, Mexico (a booth nobody seemed to stop at) was a much better value. As a matter of fact, it gave the biggest portions of the day and the Corn Tortilla filled with Chicken chased down by a Frozen Margarita from the same named booth was one of the tastiest things we had all day. The Pina Colada Mousse was pretty good but you can give it a miss if you've had the Passion Fruit Mousse from Brazil.
We both agreed that the Kringla Bakery offered a better selection of sweets at a much better value than anything the food booths had to offer. We shared a Schoolbread ($1.99) and a Sweet Pretzel (Snack Credit), and loved them both.
After that, the sun was really starting to beat down, and knowing that we were eating at Jiko for dinner, we weren't really tempted by anything else on the left side. If I had gone a third day, I might have tried the South Africa, Australia, and Austria foods, but I bought the cookbook and I can try them out at home. Being out of snack credits, I'm also not sure I'd have been willing to pay OOP for many more of the items.
All in all, we had a good time, but we both agreed that if one were to pay for all of the food samples OOP, the price really doesn't justify what you get in quantity and quality. For anyone living in a large, cosmopolitan area - you'll have access to all this kind of food and you won't pay as much. I haven't attended any other Food and Wine Festivals but I know there's lots of them out there, and I suspect one may get more value for the money. I love Disney and thought the PFTS was one of the best things I've ever experienced, but the Culinary Demonstration wasn't anything extraordinary and I think the Food Booths need to do better in what they're offering the sophisticated food consumer.
Your pictures are terrific and I agree with Redzinner ... always stand in line for Cupcake or Caymus wineries!!! 
I'm just glad it was something on my last visa bill instead of this new one- which includes F&W, Yachtsman, V&A's & Citricos- not to mention Shutters and Sonya's at Vero. Damn, this foodie thing adds up!!
. Could you give me some info, we will be there there on the 24th and our mouths are watering.Sitting on our deck now with a glass of Caymus Cab reserve.
