Photos and Mini Reviews:
Craft beers:
We spent the most time here because it was HOT hot hot while we were at food and wine. This pavilion provides air conditioning, a few seats, many tables, and easy access to the booths outside like Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. On Saturday of our trip the line for the food and beverages was out the door of the building on both sides. On Sunday and during the weekdays it looked more like this:
Pimento Cheese with Pretzel "Crisps" - $3.50. This was good but nothing fancy. The pimento cheese was good and little spicy, the pretzel crisps were like croutons made from day old pretzel rolls. I wish this was served with carrots or something as well. We had this multiple times as it was a large portion size and an excellent pair for the beer here.
Here it is as served, with a lid on. Makes for easier carrying. The beer you see partially pictured is the Florida Beer Company Passport (Belgian Tripel), my favorite of the offerings here.
Poor quality shot of the very excellent Piggy Wings - $4.25 and extremely good. Fall off the bone tender ribs with a yummy Asian-style sauce. We had this multiple times as well.
France:
My favorite use of the Sampler entitlements - the Passion Slush. Normally $10.75, used several of my sampler coupon tabs for this.
I did not have anything else from this booth as it was just too dang hot for French comfort food while we were there.
New Zealand:
Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney $5.25. This was okay. I did not need another one but I liked this one just fine.
Steamed mussels with breadcrumbs and butter $4.00. These were not good at all. This was the only thing that did not get finished because we didn't like it (the only other things we tossed before finishing were due to portion size, not flavor). These have been good in previous years (I think it must be if you luck out and get a fresh batch). Sadly that was not the case this year as I think they had been sitting a while and were rubbery.
The Chew Collective:
Peanut butter and white chocolate mousse with caramel drizzle $3.25. Tiny portion but extremely delicious. This was one of my top picks from the food and wine TIW preview event (which was held indoors) but this doesn't fare well in Florida heat. It became peanut butter soup so I only had this once but it would be great in November!
Ricotta and zucchini ravioli with rustic tomato sauce $4.75. This was way better than I expected - very fresh and light tasting despite the heat. This was also a bigger portion than it looks but not a great value by any stretch.
I also had the beef skewer but didn't photograph it. It was absolutely delicious and one of my favorite things at the festival and one of the better values in my opinion since you get the beef and a little salad for $5.00.
Greenhouse Guru:
Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Lump Crab Meat – $4.50. This was much better than I expected and had a very round flavor with lots of crab throughout. It was very refreshing in the heat.
We also had the duck with polenta here and it was a real standout. I somehow didn't get a photo of it either but we really enjoyed the rich duck alongside a hearty polenta with good seasoning on both.
Patagonia:
Beef empanada $4.75. I had this because I loved it in the past but it was just okay this time. It was more bland than I remembered from prior years but this is a pretty good portion for the price.
China:
Beijing roasted duck in a steamed bun with Hoisin sauce $6.50. This was good but not exceptional. The flavor was a little one note and needed something to balance the sweet Hoisin sauce.
More to come in separate posts!
CAN'T WAIT!
