First Day Food and Wine

[ChesireCat]

I was fortunate to stop by Epcot for the food and wine festival today, as usual there is small samplings from various countries for about $3.00 to $4.50, I am not a wine drinker so I can't comment on that aspect of the production, but it appearred basically the same as previous years. Totally it up I visited about 5 booths at a price of about $20, sans wine, and later bought myself a soda at the Electric Umbrella, one problem I seemed to notice was there there wasn't alot of shades while waiting in line and it was pretty hot today around noon, I hope that in the future it is moved to the former pavilion of life. Now at several places you pay and get a little card to show that you made a purchase and which you present to get your snack. It seems a little overpriced for the amount of food, although it is fun going country to country sampling various traditional dishes. I think the best of what I tried was the lamb at the Australia booth that comes with a special sauce and interestingly there is an "Oklahoma" booth that is selling buffalo meat!

 

[Ted and Holly]

We're just back. The Festival Center is way over in the Wonders of Life pavilion. The good news is that you wait in line for free wine seminars in the AC. The bad news is it is pretty far out of the way from the rest of the main F&W event. And I thought the Odyssey was far.

 

[Donald is #1]

ChesireCat & Ted and Holly,
So how was the food in general? Were you there last year? If so, how did it compare?

I was there last year and loved it. So I am heading back in 2 weeks.

 

[ChesireCat]

ChesireCat & Ted and Holly,
So how was the food in general? Were you there last year? If so, how did it compare?

I was there last year and loved it. So I am heading back in 2 weeks.

I was there a couple years ago when it seemed like every other booth was salmon with some sort of sauce. It seemed like there is less fish this year. I think that it is still fun, although less so for me as it is less new, but I would suggest going in the evening, still it felt weird waiting for 15 minutes at the argentina booth for a very small overpriced piece of beef in the hot sun, yikes! Though I bet the lines are pretty long in the evening. Still the food at 5 or 6 booths won't fill you up, so I would recommend eating a large meal for lunch before hand. The portions seem smaller compared to two years ago . . .

 

[Ted and Holly]

I was there a couple years ago when it seemed like every other booth was salmon with some sort of sauce. It seemed like there is less fish this year. I think that it is still fun, although less so for me as it is less new, but I would suggest going in the evening, still it felt weird waiting for 15 minutes at the argentina booth for a very small overpriced piece of beef in the hot sun, yikes! Though I bet the lines are pretty long in the evening. Still the food at 5 or 6 booths won't fill you up, so I would recommend eating a large meal for lunch before hand. The portions seem smaller compared to two years ago . . .

I found the portions similar to last year and although my memory might be a bit cloudy... It seemed that the prices were maybe a little less than last year. I don't have any specific examples.

I thought the food was pretty decent. About as good as you are going to get from an outside food booth selling food cooked elsewhere. I found that the people at the registers were definitely a little rusty and they hadn't quite gotten everything figured out. For instance, the Germany booth ran out of ones and quarters while I was waiting in line. Also, the Three Sisters place ran out of wild onion stuff that goes with the buffalo.

Surprising highlight, the Sausage on the pretzel roll at Germany. Disappointment, the lasagna in Italy.

 

[Tamar]

Is there any place to see the schedule of chef demos and free wine seminars? Does someone usually scan and post them somewhere on DIS? I would LOVE to be able to plan my first few days before arriving (10/21).

 

[cherylp3]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2007-09/32816881.pdf