Pie That Brownie, Fruitcake! Updated Post #1832 - The End

[cntkg1]

Plate of chicken goop and two big, rubbery, pork lips

Or the lips on the Real Housewives.

 

[oybolshoi]

Sometimes I wish the social contract were an actual printed document that I could hand to people.

That's the most brilliant thing I've read all week!

Well, now that I've seen Disney at Christmas all decked out in lights, the Food and Wine Festival is next up! Your TRs make me want to go more and more each time! I really like that picture of the two of you at the end of the update.

You're back! Hope your trip was fantastic! F&W is a wonderful time - you should definitely plan to try it sometime, and if my TRs help a little bit then even better!

Thanks - I like the way that picture turned out, too. We look really relaxed and happy ... 'cuz we were.

 

[whogirl'smom]

Way to enjoy your birthday, Brenda; you are doing well on the drink count.

Maybe the parks could install a deodorant mister at the entrance gates. Just tell people it's pixie dust.

 

[oybolshoi]

Way to enjoy your birthday, Brenda; you are doing well on the drink count.

Hi Jamie! Thanks for stopping by to take a read when you're still feeling icky. The drink count only goes up from here!

Maybe the parks could install a deodorant mister at the entrance gates. Just tell people it's pixie dust.

That's brilliant!

 

[BriarRosie]

I'm going to call potstickers "pork lips" from now on!

 

[angelmav]

Just went start to finish reading and finally am up to speed! I really need to join the cool kids club early on!

I dont know, when I sniff my monitor you and Jason are putting off a slight coffee and Dorito odor? Hmmm seems like all your pictures smell that way?

 

[BriarRosie]

Just went start to finish reading and finally am up to speed! I really need to join the cool kids club early on!

I dont know, when I sniff my monitor you and Jason are putting off a slight coffee and Dorito odor? Hmmm seems like all your pictures smell that way?

I get the single malt scotch and chocolate odor from them.

 

[WDW Fan]

Hi Brenda, I finally got back to reading your dining reviews and was, of course, quite entertained by your fabulous writing! Sorry to read that the F&W Festival signature dinner experience was exactly up to par this year. I have to admit that the pictures of the food weren't exactly all that appetizing looking. For the price of the dinner, I think they could have done some better presentations. Your birthday sure has started off on the right foot though. Nice breakfast in the room and the pics of your tastings at the F&W Festival look delicious! Jay did look a little off his game in the morning but it sounds like he was back on board by the end of the afternoon and enjoying all the samplings! Can't wait to hear about your dinner at Flying Fish!

 

[oybolshoi]

I'm going to call potstickers "pork lips" from now on!

If the name fits ...

Just went start to finish reading and finally am up to speed! I really need to join the cool kids club early on!

Thanks for taking the time to read everything so far - I hope it was worth the time! And I don't know about cool, but we sure try to have fun, so jump on in and join us!

I dont know, when I sniff my monitor you and Jason are putting off a slight coffee and Dorito odor? Hmmm seems like all your pictures smell that way?

Coffee for sure ... doritos maybe not ... at least not from our end.

I get the single malt scotch and chocolate odor from them.

DING DING DING!!! You win the 64-dollar prize! How ever did you know we were indulging in scotch and chocolate last night?

Hi Brenda, I finally got back to reading your dining reviews and was, of course, quite entertained by your fabulous writing! Sorry to read that the F&W Festival signature dinner experience was exactly up to par this year. I have to admit that the pictures of the food weren't exactly all that appetizing looking. For the price of the dinner, I think they could have done some better presentations. Your birthday sure has started off on the right foot though. Nice breakfast in the room and the pics of your tastings at the F&W Festival look delicious! Jay did look a little off his game in the morning but it sounds like he was back on board by the end of the afternoon and enjoying all the samplings! Can't wait to hear about your dinner at Flying Fish!

Hey there stranger! Nice to see you again - glad you enjoyed everything so far. My birthday was a great day, especially once Jay shook off the effects of the previous night's wine-fest. Flying Fish was wonderful ... but ... and I'll leave it there until I post the review.

Thanks for reading!

 

[BriarRosie]

DING DING DING!!! You win the 64-dollar prize! How ever did you know we were indulging in scotch and chocolate last night?

Well, you do live in Stinktown...and the odor wafts northeast to me...

 

[oybolshoi]

Well, you do live in Stinktown...and the odor wafts northeast to me...

Thank goodness something that actually smells good wafted out of Stinktown for a change!!!

 

[KristinAnne]

That's the most brilliant thing I've read all week!



You're back! Hope your trip was fantastic! F&W is a wonderful time - you should definitely plan to try it sometime, and if my TRs help a little bit then even better!

Thanks - I like the way that picture turned out, too. We look really relaxed and happy ... 'cuz we were.

Really, what I need is to go back now! It's hard to believe a week ago we were in 85 degree weather and now we're buried under 15 inches of snow!

 

[praisehisname]

I am slowly, but surely, getting caught up!

Friday, October 16th - Food & Wine Festival Signature Dinner at Todd English's Bluezoo

Wow, for such an expensive event, I'm sorry it was so disappointing. At least the company was good!

 

[oybolshoi]

Saturday, October 17th - Food & Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia

For years Jay and I have debated the merits of dining at Tutto Italia, formerly known as Alfredo's. At the end of the day, it always came down to the ridiculous (even for Disney) menu prices and the fact that Stinktown actually has some fantastic third-and-fourth generation Italian places for us to dine at when we feel like driving 90-miles round trip. The Food & Wine Pairings offered by Epcot during the Festival seemed like the perfect way for us to see what Tutto had to offer without committing to a full meal.

We were running late, of course.

If you read my last update you may be wondering how it was possible for us to be late when we were already in Italy.

Someone decided that it was high time she had a tiara and the only place she knew to find one that was both affordable and not in another theme park, was Germany. So, with something like 15 minutes to spare we bobbed and weaved over to the crystal store in Germany that sells all that hand-cut Arribas Brothers stuff. A few years back I'd almost bought one and then changed my mind at the last minute ... and I've regretted it ever since. Every WDW trip since then, when we've returned to Epcot, I've gone looking for tiaras only to be told that Arribas Brothers was out of stock.

Not so this day!

I know it's silly but for some reason I've always wanted a tiara, even though I'm not really the kind of person who looks all that good wearing one. I mean, some people look like they were born to be a Grace Kelly or a Princess Diana ... I look more like I was born to be their personal secretary.

Anyway, because of my foolishness we were among the last people to get in line for the F&W check-in at Tutto Italia and we weren't able to share a table with our friends Jeanne and Marcel. But we did luck into two seats at a table directly behind them, so we were able to talk with them throughout the afternoon. We were also lucky to be seated at the table we were because there were three awesomely fun people already there. The young couple were both former CMs and one of them, I forget which, had brought mom along for the weekend. And this was a mom unlike the Grimace - she was having fun and enjoying her food and wine and it was really obvious that they all liked being together. What a refreshing change of pace from both of our families!

At the outset of the tasting the restaurant manager came out to speak with us about the event and then he introduced the winery representative. It was hard for me to hear much of what they were saying because I had a pretty good buzz going by the time we sat down. Before I forget, though, I'd like to give Tutto Italia two thumbs up for not only providing us a menu for the event, but with the appropriate amount of silverware as well. **Are you out there Restaurant Marrakesh? It's been three years and I haven't forgotten ... I'm going to keep mocking you until you change your ways!** They kept us well watered with an unlimited supply of Pellegrino and provided each table with a generous basket of sliced bread and breadsticks. Bravo!

Table setting

Menu

Jay and I noticed right away that there were four wine glasses at each place setting and four courses listed on the menu; we gave each other the raised-eyebrow-happy-drinker-wink-wink that means we believe we've hit F&W pay dirt. The reason this made us so happy is that most food and wine pairings only offer three courses and three wines, so anything more than that usually means you're in the hands of an over-achiever.

The first course of the afternoon was Insalata Zucchini, or Thin Sliced, Grilled Zucchini with Crispy Arugula and lots of freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. There was a lot of balsamic vinegar drizzled over the zucchini - I didn't like having to dig around so much in the salad just so that I could smear my cheese in the balsamic, but it sure tasted great once I found it and married the two. I love fresh parmigiano reggiano and balsamic vinegar ... yum! Although I have to be careful about my leafy green vegetable intake, I really enjoyed this first course and once I'd eaten a safe amount (for me) of vegetation I passed along the rest to the hubba who was more than happy to finish mine off as well. The wine we were served with this course was a Vernaccia Di San Gimignano - a nice crisp white from Tuscany.

Insalata Zucchini

The second course of the afternoon was Cavatelli Pasta, also known as Sweet Sausage Ragu and Pecorino Romano. It was paired with Bonizio Sangiovese, which was a light, fruitier red wine that I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed this pasta dish tremendously, even if the noodles did look like grub worms. It was a terrific mix of slightly sweet tomato sauce paired with mildly spicy sausage and just the right amount of cheese. The portion was generous and tasty and had us both looking forward to the next selection.

Grub Worm Pasta with Cheese Shavings

Our third course of the day was Bracciole di Vitello, more commonly referred to as Veal Rolls with Prosciutto, Basil, Herbs, and Pomodoro Sauce. This was paired with a Chianti Classico from Cecchi Winery which I think may be affiliated with Banfi. The menu neglected to mention that this dish was going to be served on a bed of mashed 'taters ... and oh, other than booze there's no more direct way to my heart than with tasty mashed 'taters, precious. This dish was OK - I thought the sauce and the 'taters were quite good, but the meat was chewy. I'm not a big fan of veal to begin with, and I can't help but wonder if the surfeit of sauce was a deliberate attempt to camouflage over-cooked meat.

Bracciole di Vitello

And then there was dessert! We were presented with Mocha Tiramisu, translated as Mascarpone Cream, Espresso Coffee, Savoiardi Biscuits, and Chocolate piared with everyone's Italian favorite - Rosa Regale!

If they made Tiramisu like this in Stinktown I'd order it for dessert every time we dined Italian, but no one here has ever presented me with something this good and so I've never been a big fan. This was amazingly tasty and just the right amount of subtly coffee-infused cream cheese over spongy, but not soggy, biscuits. And it was wonderful with the Rosa Regale, which I sometimes think is the primary reason that people book this food and wine pairing in the first place.

Mocha Tiramisu and Rosa Regale, too!

We'd received very attentive service throughout the afternoon and were very pleased with the event in general. And then a couple of somethings happened that pushed this event out of the realm of pretty darn good into damn fine. The winery representative had asked a question about her earlier comments and the guest who answered correctly won a full bottle of Rosa! I thought that was a really nice touch on her part. And then the restaurant manager came in and mentioned that there was a couple that had just gotten enaged and they were also given a bottle of Rosa and we all toasted them. If that wasn't enough, he then mentioned that there were two guests celebrating birthdays - they then brought the other guest and me a fabulous chocolate dessert with a birthday candle and we were serenaded with a birthday song. I was totally embarrassed but I was also really impressed by the level of service and thoughtfulness that the Tutto staff demonstrated that day. Certainly they didn't have to anything more than they'd already done, but on this day it seemed like everyone had snorted a dose of that old Disney magic and was intent on sharing it around.

The dessert count is starting to catch up with the drink count!

Our tablemates were nice enough to take a picture of Jay and me with Jeanne and Marcel. Are they the cutest couple ever, or what? She always looks fabulous ... some day I am going to ask her to share her secret with me!

That's a pretty attractive group of DIS-friends!

And then event was over - they didn't rush us out by any stretch of the imagination but it was also pretty obvious they were trying to get ready for the dinner crowd. Jay and I had dinner reservations at Flying Fish that we needed to think about cleaning up for anyway, so we bid our friends farewell for the time being and ventured back out into the sea of humanity that was Epcot. We didn't think it was possible for the place to get any more crowded than it had been when we sat down at Tutto around 2:30 that afternoon, but we were wrong.

Look at the photographic evidence; you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Morocco ... I can barely see the bathrooms!

America-town and Japan ... overcrowding at its worst!

We made it back to our villa, ready for a wine-induced nap and look what I found waiting for me:

Flowers? I never receive flowers!

For the barest second I thought they might be from Jason, but then I remembered to whom I am married. I'm not complaining - he's a wonderful, thoughtful husband, he just doesn't like giving flowers because they always end up dead.

Fair enough.

But sometimes it's still nice to be on the receiving end of some pretty poseys. And my dear friends from work - Anila and Erica - remembered my birthday, and even more impressively the hotel we were staying at, and sent me this goregous giant floral margarita birthday bouquet. Yes, that's right - I have a reputation for drinking in the real world, too.

I admit it, I shed a tear or two of surprised happiness; this was one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me in a long time.

Bendy and her flowers...

Someone is obviously taking the birthday drink-a-thon a bit too seriously!

These flowers were beautiful, smelled divine, and lasted the entire week. They were still going strong when we checked out on the 24th, and if there had been any way that I could have brought them home for the cat to eat I surely would have.

Back to the F&W event ... I am going to award the Tutto Italia Food and Wine Pairing our highest rating - the Ren & Stimpy - for the quality of their service and the overall tastiness of their food coupled with the generosity and thoughtfulness of the entire staff.

Jay and I highly recommend this pairing and rank it second on our all-time list of F&W pairings, just behind the Scotch & Food pairing we attended at Rose and Crown a few years back

Birthday Drink Tally at 4:30PM:

1 Mimosa
6 small glasses of Moet & Chandon Champagne
1 shared small cup Spanish red wine
1 shared Happy Lye-chee
3 full glasses of Italian wine
1 glass of Rosa Regale
A whole lotta water!

 

[oybolshoi]

Really, what I need is to go back now! It's hard to believe a week ago we were in 85 degree weather and now we're buried under 15 inches of snow!

We didn't get the snow you guys did but we defintiely got the cold. I think we all need to go back to Florida!

I am slowly, but surely, getting caught up!

Wow, for such an expensive event, I'm sorry it was so disappointing. At least the company was good!

Plenty of time to catch up - no rush ... you know how I am, after all!

And the company was great that night at Bluezoo so we don't regret attending the dinner, but definitely won't do it again.

 

[praisehisname]

Saturday, October 17th - Bendy's 40th Birthday Starts with Room Service and a Mimosa ... I'll Drink To That!!

Yum! Sorry Jay didn't wake up feeling well.

Saturday, October 17th - Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams, Without the Caviar: Moet & Chandon Seminar

Sounds like this was definitely a winner!

Keeping score? My drink total for the day by 1PM was 1 mimosa and 6 small glasses of Moet & Chandon champagne. Bendy's 40 and she's feeling fine!!

As a matter of fact, I was counting. j/k...But you are making up for the low count of the previous day!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Great update!
It's been many years since I've dined in Epcot's Italy. My parents took us to Alfredo's a couple times in Epcot's earlier days and we loved it. However, DH and I have always passed it by, much for the same reasons as you and Jay: we can get fabulous Italian food nearby for much less. We tend to do what we can't at home; which with kids generally means dining with oversized woodland creatures, places with hula lessons or stick pony riding and trying food that's not as available here such as German food. But, every review I've read of Tutto has been good, so who knows, we may get there yet.

I am so happy you got flowers!

Well, off to bed. I'm feeling a little tipsy from reading your report.

 

[praisehisname]

Saturday, October 17th - Wading Through the Crowds for some Food & Wine Snacking before Lunch!

Soap. Water. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. And don't forget the deodorant.

Please.

I hear ya. I have a couple of stories about that in my trip.

Sacher Torte and Beef Stew

Looks good; too bad the dumpling was dry.

 

[praisehisname]

Saturday, October 17th - Food & Wine Pairing at Tutto Italia

You guys really hit the jackpot with this pairing! All the portion sizes were huge, too!

Grub Worm Pasta with Cheese Shavings

I had looked ahead to the picture before I read your description, and my first thought was that it looked like a plate of grubs!


Someone is obviously taking the birthday drink-a-thon a bit too seriously!

Aw, pretty flowers. And you look cute in your tiara!

 

[jedijill]

I decided to come out of lurkdome to agree with you on the Tutto pairing. I did it 2 years ago I think (first year they were open). It was fantastic. Both the food and the wine were generous. I thought it was money well spent. I went back and had lunch later in the trip. Fabulous food although it is pricey. The TWIT card does make it easier as does those very handsome Italian waiters.

BTW, just picked up a nice bottle of Rosa for NYE thanks to the lovely buy 12 get 3 bottles free at the corner liquor store.

Jill in CO