Okay...so back to the trip report. I feel much better now that I have ranted. I promise to keep everyone updated as to where the bouts end up.
Tasting in Epcot Central Kitchen
We wrapped up our session with Kathy a little bit before 2, which gave us just enough time to grab a drink of water, hit the restrooms and for Kathy to get us a company car for our trip. She played up the "today is the bride's birthday" angle and got us one of the Cadillacs. She was really excited about this.
As we drove over, she told us more about her time at Disney and that she is married to the Head Driver at Richard Petty, both at Disney and Orlando. She really is fabulous! We feel so comfortable with her.
We got to Epcot and Kathy suggested that if we didn't want to spoil the magic since we were backstage that we should close our eyes. She also suggested that we tell the FGs to that when the bus goes throught, the morning of.
We parked across from the loading dock and were escorted inside. The building seemed to hum with controlled chaos. I didn't snap enough pics inside and I am very sorry about that, since I will probably never get there again.
Even though we were in the center of an extremely busy working kitchen, they had a special space all set up for us. We also had a server to get us drinks and clear plates and anything that we wanted. We were really impressed. I was also impressed that the Carlos, our chef, took photos of everything so that it would look the same for our event that it did during our tasting.
We sat down and got ready to get started.
The first item we had was Chilled Strawberry Soup. We have had this many times before at 1900 Park Fare and on
DCL in Palo, but we wanted to see how Epcot did it, since we wanted it for our cocktail hour. It was delicious and we decided to serve it as shooters (thanks, Michelle for the suggestion!). They add a dollop of creme fraisch which was a nice touch.
We practically licked the plate and then it was time to try our next item, which was Parmesan Crusted Chicken with a Creamy Tomato Sauce. This item was listed on our menu as being served with a mushroom sauce. Paul won't even look at a mushroom, so I asked for them to create a sauce I knew he would eat. Chicken Parm is Paul's favorite food, so this was a good choice for him.
It was absolutely AMAZING!!!

I cannot say enough about this dish. We both loved it. Kathy, who doesn't try everything every tasting, tried this since it was new. We all we scraping the plate. Kathy consulted her binder and reminded me that we actually didn't have this dish on our reception menu. I pointed out that we did have it for the welcome dinner and even though I knew Boardwalk's might be slightly different, we wanted to try it. Paul then looked at me and asked "Can we have it at both?" So, we are! Our guests can have it for dinner Friday night and again for brunch on Saturday. I know most of them will not object.

BTW, the basil leaf was deep fried and delicious!
Up next was the Sea Salt and Black Pepper Flank Steak with 4 sauces (Bearnaise, Smoked Paprika Aoili, Horseradish Cream and Brandy Pepper corn). It was paired with Penne alla Vodka. It was all delicious! The flank steak was moist and delicious. Loved all the sauces as well. Paul is not a huge sauce fan, but he really liked the Brandy Peppercorn sauce. The penne had huge chunks of pancetta, which was really tasty. Both of these will be offered at the reception.
Hard to see, but this is the smoked paprika aioli and the bearnaise sauce.
This is the horseradish and brandy sauces.
Next up was dessert items. We are not offering desserts at the reception, but we figured that since we were in Epcot, we were able to request items that we were thinking about serving at our DP.
First up was the Flambeed Donut with Vanilla Ice Cream. It is typically served with coffee gelato, but Paul won't do anything coffee, so we went with his favorite. I missed getting the shot the first time they flambeed the donut, but since I asked they did it again.
Here's the finished product. It was so delicious! We decided after one bite that this was the leading item for our DP. Since there is only a $6 per person difference between the donut and the funnel cake bread pudding on our menus, it was an easy choice.
Next up was Cream Chesse Crepes with a berry and Grand Marnier sauce. This is an item that is on our reception menu, but they served it as a dessert item. It will be on our reception however. It was amazingly good. Even Paul loved it, which I was surprised by, so it must be good for all!
At this point, they annoyed me a tad. We had also requested to taste Roasted potatoes with shallot butter and funnel cake bread pudding. Our chef, Carlos, described the potatoes and we went with it. We were also told by Matt, the pastry chef, that they can't do the bread pudding for tastings because of the size. I am fine with the fact that we didn't get to taste them (especially the bread pudding), but I would have liked to have chosen 2 other dishes in their place.
Since we were done, they brought out a white chocolate Minnie and Mickey. It was beautiful. They also gave us a cute little whisk.
Carlos and Matt then surprised me with this for my birthday! I loved it!!!
Sadly, it was now time to go. We said goodbye to the chefs and our server and headed back to the car. Talked more with Kathy and she dropped us off right at the Poly. She said she would be in touch soon and that our BEO should be ready in 4-6 weeks.
We were tired, but since it was my birthday and we had 5 hours till dinner, it was time to head to the MK....
Eek!!! Six months from today is our VR! Where has the time gone???
Next up quick trip to MK and California Grill