Gluttoberfest: Food and Wine 2009 - Updated 12/24 (Review is complete!)

[kabuki]

WOW LORI! That looks amazing! I wish we had some of those fried oysters as we speak!

 

[Sandy321]

Thanks for sharing the "party in the mouth"

The appetizers do look scrumptious!!

Thanks for sharing the details!!

 

[jeminni]

Lori,
That whole dinner looked amazing. Thanks for sharing your review with us.

 

[ImprovGal]

Psssst.... I just returned from the Flying Fish luncheon. It was just as amazing as that dinner was. I'm going to have to start booking trips around their events.

 

[redzinner]

Psssst.... I just returned from the Flying Fish luncheon. It was just as amazing as that dinner was. I'm going to have to start booking trips around their events.

Amy, how were the Adelsheim wines? Several of us were supposed to attend but canceled earlier this month. Did Keith have a full house? Chef Tim really does a nice meal for his special luncheons/dinners.

 

[dizneykid]

Amy, how were the Adelsheim wines? Several of us were supposed to attend but canceled earlier this month. Did Keith have a full house? Chef Tim really does a nice meal for his special luncheons/dinners.

DITTO - Amy please!

Did you take any photos?

 

[TigerKat]

Lori - That dinner looked simply stunning! I would have loved to have enjoyed that with some of my fave foodies!

 

[BriarRosie]

How can I put this eloquently??????

Oh my freakin' crap that looks good.

Let me tell you, it was oh my freakin' crap good!

Good!! I'm doing mine [the F&W survey] this weekend, when I can dedicate some time to it!!

I did my survey today. Told them I wanted more than a thimbleful of wine at the culinary demo if I'm paying for it now!

Lori,

OMG, Flying Fish Sig Dinner looks devine! That was one that Marcel and I wanted to do but we didn't know if we would be there that night. Wound up we got in that afternoon so we could have made it.

Flying Fish never dissapoints!!

According to my shoddy memory, I believe they said they had 32 guests for this. I don't know how fast it sold out.

YOU are a lucky, lucky girl to have gone to that FF dinner. I am positively pea green with envy! What a fabulous review- THANK-YOU!!!!!!!

And now I want to go to more of these wine dinners. I still need to contact them to get on the mailing list.

BACON ICE CREAM?

my oh my....

Jaime

Freakin' unbelievable bacon ice cream. And bacon in the pastry. Made by their Pastry Goddess.

WOW LORI! That looks amazing! I wish we had some of those fried oysters as we speak!

There are many things I would have wanted again. Those oysters were mighty tasty!

Thanks for sharing the "party in the mouth"

The appetizers do look scrumptious!!

Thanks for sharing the details!!

Since I'm a bit of a procrastinator, this was done fairly quickly.

Lori,
That whole dinner looked amazing. Thanks for sharing your review with us.

Any time, Bridget!

Psssst.... I just returned from the Flying Fish luncheon. It was just as amazing as that dinner was. I'm going to have to start booking trips around their events.

Oh man, I'll want to be right there with you if they're consistently good. I can't wait to see pics of the luncheon. Chef Tim is a rock star.

Lori - That dinner looked simply stunning! I would have loved to have enjoyed that with some of my fave foodies!

That would be a fun place for all the foodies to gather, but as I said, we'd have to limit it to 30 or so people.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

That dinner looks awesome! I really am going to have to try a signature dinner one of these years.

 

[BriarRosie]

That dinner looks awesome! I really am going to have to try a signature dinner one of these years.

I would suggest any of them unless Chef Todd English is presenting it. Yep, that's foreshadowing...

 

[oybolshoi]

I would suggest any of them unless Chef Todd English is presenting it. Yep, that's foreshadowing...

Cue ominous music .... NOW!

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey ... I meant to tell you that I started reading The Eyre Affair on Friday night (after the BZ dinner) and finished it on the plane ride home on the 24th. It seemed a little slow to start but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Very clever and very funny. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Lori,
That dinner at FF looked amazing.
We really enjoyed our 1st wine tasting seminar...so I am thinking next time we go back to Food & Wine we will have to do a signature event too!!!!

 

[BriarRosie]

Cue ominous music .... NOW!

I need to find a wav file of some Trumpets of Doom.

Hey ... I meant to tell you that I started reading The Eyre Affair on Friday night (after the BZ dinner) and finished it on the plane ride home on the 24th. It seemed a little slow to start but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. Very clever and very funny. Thanks for the recommendation.

I have quite a few books to finish before I can start the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book. I don't think I mentioned that I bought it on a whim at Costco. I thought there were parts of The Eyre Affair that I thought you'd appreciate.

Lori,
That dinner at FF looked amazing.
We really enjoyed our 1st wine tasting seminar...so I am thinking next time we go back to Food & Wine we will have to do a signature event too!!!!

Melanie, just stay away from Todd English's dinner and you should be fine.

 

[ChelleinNC]

I can't wait to hear about the Todd English diner!

 

[BriarRosie]

Friday, October 16, 2009:

I've been at WDW for a few days, and had yet to hit a park that wasn't Epcot. So what did I do? I wanted a ride on the Haunted Mansion and hopefully TTA before heading back for some food and wine mojo. Catherine came along, as we had nothing much better to do until the culinary demo at 1pm with Todd English. It's a shame that they were not letting people up the ramp to the TTA when we got there. Oh well. At least we got a ride on the Mansion. That's my favorite attraction, and I have been known to enter the Magic Kingdom, ride it and leave. So that's what I did.

We headed to Epcot on the monorail, ready to start noshing around the world.

What's up first? Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Would you like some chicken with your tzatziki sauce? Seriously, I think the chicken has sausage envy from that Germany kiosk. What I had rated a Good, but it was just like food I get at Hub's, a Greek place near me.

Speaking of sausage envy, let's see what Canada has to offer. And no, I didn't get the cheese soup or the salmon. I had the Spicy Chicken Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta.

Ok, I know that dark blob on the left looks nasty, but if you separated out the glop, you'd find some carmelized onions. Mmm. And spicy? It delivered on spicy. The sweet corn polenta tasted like a sweet corn on the cob, and it balanced out the spicy. And I enjoyed a glass of Riesling with it.

Alcohol count: 1

The verdict? Excellent!

New Zealand was next, and I ordered the Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil.

What can I say? This is a bipolar dish. The scallop was cooked well. It tasted good. The slaw? I think if there was such a thing as absence of flavor, this slaw would be it. I ate some of it and waited to taste it. Kept waiting as the flavor took a holiday. Because the scallop was good, I'll give this an ok.

Time for New Orleans, a place to pig out! I ended up getting the Crawfish Etoufée, Praline Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce, and to wash it down, Abita Purple Haze beer.

I bought this purely to reminisce about last year's festival. I already knew I liked all three items last year, and I'm happy to say they are just as good this year.

Alcohol count: 2

Excellent for everything!

So where do you stop before heading to the Festival Center for a culinary demo? Mexico, of course! We went to the Ditch for a margarita.

This is the Pepino, made with cucumber and carmelized pineapple juice. I call it tasty.

Alcohol count: 3

And yes, it was Excellent.

Catherine and I hung out for a while, and we ended up noticing the couple at the table next to us were savoring a tequila poured in a tasting glass, not a shot glass. Curiosity got the better of me, so I asked what they were sharing. They pointed out a bottle over the bar area, an aged specialty rare tequila that cost somewhere in the $40-50 price range. Yikes! That's a lot of money for a glass of tequila!

I was starting to feel the effects of the margarita, but I was not drunk. That would happen later that night. I was just feeling a little "happy".

We walked to the Festival Center to meet up with other friends going to the Todd English demo. One friend doesn't eat beef, which was being served that day, so she opted out for a refund. So that left Catherine and I to see Chelsi and Jason, as well as Tony. Catherine, Tony and I ended up at a table back to back with Chelsi and Jason, which allowed me to make wisecracks during the demo.

Much to Catherine's and Chelsi's annoyance and/or delight, depending on who you ask. I was pretty bad, fueled a bit by the alcohol I had earlier. It's almost a good thing they only serve a thimbleful of wine at these culinary demos. Right? {dramatic pause} Right?

The recipe was for:

Four Story Hill Farm Dry Aged Beef with Anson Mills Corn Polenta, Seasonal Mushroom Ragout and Swiss Chard

Paired with Figge Cellars "Sycamore Flat" Syrah

Anyway, here's Todd.

He's showing us his meat. (Yes, I believe I said that to Catherine, Chelsi and Jason.) It was a nice piece of ribeye. I think I said that Pam Smith, the MC, she wanted Todd's meat, too. I was evil, I tell you! I kept making snarky comments during Todd's presentation. I did not say anything during the Figge wine presenter's speech. He was cute. According to Brenda, Todd looks like a leather Muppet. So that got me to thinking, I want to call him Muppet Jerky. So henceforth, Todd English will be referred to as Muppet Jerky.

Oh, you want to see the demo food?

Sorry it's not the greatest photo, but I thought it tasted good. The thimbleful of wine was very good. It was a pity that Mr. Figge told us they only have a limited quantity of their wines. I would have wanted to buy a bottle. This gets a Good.

And because my mind was in the gutter, when Todd was showing the mushroom to the camera, the TV monitors for the close up looked a bit...naughty. Before I could make another comment, Catherine might have said, "Don't say it!" I giggled and did not comment on the mushrooms, no matter how much I wanted to. I behaved for the rest of the demo, but I know that they were amused.

Muppet Jerky did make a snarky comment about the wine pours lacking, so he got his dig in, too. He cooked a little, posed a lot, and allowed the masses to admire him.

Next: Signature Dinner at Muppet Jerky bluezoo™.

 

[kabuki]

That's NOT the mushroom you commented on!

I had a WONDERFUL time with you Lori! I don't know if the people next to us could say the same between the meat jokes and me snorting like the lady I am but It was FUN to us!

 

[BriarRosie]

That's NOT the mushroom you commented on!

I had a WONDERFUL time with you Lori! I don't know if the people next to us could say the same between the meat jokes and me snorting like the lady I am but It was FUN to us!

Ok, so that's not the mushroom. I was using the photo for artistic effect.

I was pretty obnoxious, but I had a heckuva time at the demo with you guys.

 

[TDC Nala]

It was the margarita...

 

[cdtommie]

Lori, wanted to say thanks for the reviews and it was great to meet you! Can't wait to get back to the ditch on thanksgiving weekend (this is my first post since we got back on Oct 26...work ugh!!!)