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

[oybolshoi]

For anyone interested ... I posted the first batch of San Diego food porn over on the Bendy Friendies thread!

 

[rodeo65]

I have just stumbled onto your hilarious dining review. Not quite sure how I have managed to miss you for the past year I've been perusing the boards. I'm only up to Bistro Paris and see I also have many more past reviews to enjoy but had to say

1. I'm completely loving your writing style and humor (and the food stuff too)

and

2. Any lover of Ren and Stimpy I shall follow and read with happy, happy, joy, joy!!!

So...subbing.

 

[praisehisname]

Sounds like a great meal and great drinks; sorry Chelsi and Jason couldn't make it. I always forget about trying the restaurants over at Swan/Dolphin; I'll have to keep them in mind!

 

[oybolshoi]

I have just stumbled onto your hilarious dining review. Not quite sure how I have managed to miss you for the past year I've been perusing the boards. I'm only up to Bistro Paris and see I also have many more past reviews to enjoy but had to say

1. I'm completely loving your writing style and humor (and the food stuff too)

and

2. Any lover of Ren and Stimpy I shall follow and read with happy, happy, joy, joy!!!

So...subbing.

Thanks for very much for joining in the fun - our reviews take a while to complete but I like to think they're worth the wait! And if you're having a laugh while reading then so much the better! If you have any questions along the way don't hesitate to ask - lots of smart DISers hang out on these boards (and some of then even read my reviews!). Thanks again!

Sounds like a great meal and great drinks; sorry Chelsi and Jason couldn't make it. I always forget about trying the restaurants over at Swan/Dolphin; I'll have to keep them in mind!

Definitely give the restaurants at the Swolphin a try when you have a chance - the ones we've tried so far (bluezoo, Il Mulino, and Kimonos) have all been very good. Thanks for reading!

 

[oybolshoi]

More San Diego Food Porn posted on the Bendy thread for anyone interested.

So far I've posted lunch from Hodads burgers and a chocolate-inspired three course tasting menu from The Shores.

 

[cntkg1]

You were right B, this update was just the medicine I needed!!

 

[oybolshoi]

You were right B, this update was just the medicine I needed!!

Glad I could help, Goosie. Love ya!

 

[oybolshoi]

FYI, for anyone interested: I just posted pictures from our Valentine's Day brunch at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego; the link to the bendy thread is in my signature and the links to pictures are in the first post. Hope you enjoy!

 

[TigerKat]

FYI, for anyone interested: I just posted pictures from our Valentine's Day brunch at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego; the link to the bendy thread is in my signature and the links to pictures are in the first post. Hope you enjoy!

Sure did enjoy it, amazing!

 

[AshClan]

PHEW! I am finally caught up. I think it took me two months!!

Your reviews are fab, Brenda, and I love how much fun and silliness you and Jay have on your trips!

I am seriously bummed about the Casey's developments. I love(d) it there! Pffft to the Disney Dining Nazis!

You have me adding all kinds of places to my "must do" list....V&A's is a place I've often wanted to investigate, but I was a little gun shy. You did a GREAT job with your review and I feel like I most definitely want to try it out now! I'm also excited to try Il Mulino. It looks wonderful!! Now the only thing left is to plan a trip....

Thanks for the entertainment!!

 

[A&A'sGrammy]

Your reviews sound amazing as usual!!

 

[mickeys#1fan]

I once saw this on someone's Facebook profile: If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

 

[Redwitch]

I once saw this on someone's Facebook profile: If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

A PETA member!

 

[oybolshoi]

Sure did enjoy it, amazing!

Thanks friendie!

PHEW! I am finally caught up. I think it took me two months!!

Your reviews are fab, Brenda, and I love how much fun and silliness you and Jay have on your trips!

I am seriously bummed about the Casey's developments. I love(d) it there! Pffft to the Disney Dining Nazis!

You have me adding all kinds of places to my "must do" list....V&A's is a place I've often wanted to investigate, but I was a little gun shy. You did a GREAT job with your review and I feel like I most definitely want to try it out now! I'm also excited to try Il Mulino. It looks wonderful!! Now the only thing left is to plan a trip....

Thanks for the entertainment!!

Hey there stranger - happy to see you're still with us! Thank you so much for the kind words - I always appreciate them but this morning they were a real pick-me-up. Definitely go for V&A ... I was a little nervous the first time we dined there a few years back but they are so accomodating and provide such lovely food and service that I think you will find the experience one you will never forget! And Il Mulino was pretty damn fine, too!

Your reviews sound amazing as usual!!

Thanks Grammy - good to see you posting now and then!

I once saw this on someone's Facebook profile: If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

I've seen that before too!

A PETA member!

People Eating Tasty Animals, right?

 

[oybolshoi]

FYI ... I'm going to try to start posting the next installment of the trip tonight. It just ended up being a day unlike anything we'd planned and I'm having a tough time trying to figure out how to post everything so that it makes sense.

 

[goldielocksraj]

People Eating Tasty Animals, right?

I LOVE THIS!!!! Even better than your usual humor (which is always fabulous)!!!!!

 

[TigerKat]

FYI ... I'm going to try to start posting the next installment of the trip tonight. It just ended up being a day unlike anything we'd planned and I'm having a tough time trying to figure out how to post everything so that it makes sense.

Sounds interesting, can't wait!

 

[oybolshoi]

I LOVE THIS!!!! Even better than your usual humor (which is always fabulous)!!!!!

I'm glad you got a laugh out of that but I have to be honest - I didn't come up with that on my own. I first heard that years ago ... and I think it's pretty funny so I like to share it.

Sounds interesting, can't wait!

I hope it's as interesting for the rest of you as it was for us!

 

[Redwitch]

People Eating Tasty Animals, right?

Right!

FYI ... I'm going to try to start posting the next installment of the trip tonight. It just ended up being a day unlike anything we'd planned and I'm having a tough time trying to figure out how to post everything so that it makes sense.

It doesn't have to make sense! Just do it! I was about to go to your community board thread and try to bribe you with Las Vegas food porn in order to get you back on track with this review.

BTW - Disney called today... Does V&A confirm two months out? I can't figure out why else they would call. (Unless I won a contest - now wouldn't that be awesome??? )

 

[oybolshoi]

Tuesday, October 20th - The Best Laid Plans of Jay and Bendy Oft Go Awry ...

The day started out like any other ... we woke up, made coffee, and opened the curtains to find a giant golfball beckoning to us.

Them's drinking clouds!

Jay and I did not despair upon seeing clouds - given our touring plan for the day a little less sun and a little more shade was a good thing. We decided to split our leftover pastries from the room service breakfast I'd ordered on Saturday, and combined with our coffee it was a wonderful, sugar-charged start to the day.

Breakfast

Once we were ready to leave we headed for Epcot, our first and only planned stop for the day. Jay and I had made it clear to X&Y that they were welcome to join us but our plan for the day was to drink around the World Showcase in a determined effort to succeed where we had failed in 2008. We haven't forgotten, China! You ruined everything, you ruiners, and no amount of Happy Lychee will make us forget the horror you visited on that Green Tea Plum Wine cooler last year! Not surprisingly, our family members wanted nothing to do with our alcoholic adventure and so we skipped off to the Welcome Center with light hearts. To aid us in our endeavors I had scheduled a Remy Martin Cognac seminar for noon - we had just enough time to pick up our tickets and then scope out a spot in Mexico while we waited for the countdown to 11AM when the food troughs and booze spickets were officially turned on.

Well rested and ready for the challenge...

Imagine our happy delight when we we spotted two familiar figures lining up at the Mexico food booth ... it was Chelsi & her Jason! They advised us that all the options here were tasty and so we opened the food touring with our friends, trying just about everything on the menu because extra food in the tummy helps to soak up booze!

Quesadilla con Chorizo and Corn Tortilla w/Shredded Pork & Purple Onions

Corn Tortilla w/Chipotle Chicken & Dos Equis Beer

Admittedly there were some items that I didn't eat much of due to onions and sour cream and spicy sauce, but the bits that I did taste were all quite yummy. And who the heck doesn't like imbibing the favorite beverage of the Most Interesting Man in the World at 11AM? The Most Interesting Man in the World, in case you don't know, is part of the current Dos Equis television ad campaign - Jay and I find those commercials an endless source of amusement. Allow me to share some fascinating factoids about, and a prescient bit of advice from, the man himself:

His charm is so contagious vaccines were created for it;
He taught a horse to read his email for him;
Alien abductors have asked him to probe them;
He lives vicariously through himself; and,
It is never too early to start beefing up your obituary.

After enjoying a good laugh we all decided to move on to Spain's booth - we'd heard good things about their offerings from more than one person during the past couple of days. At this stop Jay and I ordered the Taste of Spain (Serrano Ham, Chorizo, Manchego, Olives and Tomato Bread) and the Red Snapper Escabeche. I also ordered a glass of Poema Cava Brut which I first tried at the 2008 festival and which has since become one of my favorite sparkling wines.

Can you taste the Spain???

Aside from the horrible olives (too bad Lori wasn't there to eat 'em for me!) I really enjoyed this sampler and thought it was quite generously portioned. The snapper was also very good - nicely grilled with no excess oil or grease. The grilled vegetables were a nice surprise and still had some flavor and body to them. Everything paired nicely with the bubbly, too, which is a slightly dry, very clean brut that I think is fabulous. My only complaint, which I did vocalize at the booth, was that they served it in a squat little plastic cup instead of the plastic champagne flute that they should have used. According to the CM those are more expensive and so Disney has started limiting their use at F&W booths. Bendy's no dummy ... guests also get less booze in these squa-trocities than they do in the flutes ... BAH!

Snippity Snappity!

Bubbly and refreshing ... next time I'm just going to buy the bottle.

Cutie-patooties Chelsi & Jason

At this point we parted company ... us to learn about cognac and C&J to continue their food and wine grazing. Jay and I were supposed to have lunch at Chefs de France later in the afternoon but we told our friends we'd give them a call / text once we were finished. This boozie seminar was one that I was really looking forward to and it didn't disappoint - we were given a lot of great information and I took copious notes that make almost no sense five months post-festival. We tried three not-cheap Remy Martin Cognacs and a hip young metro named Steele Cooper, immediately dubbed Remington Steele Cooper by yours truly, delivered the afternoon's talk.

From left to right in the picture below: Remy VSOP, aged between 4-14 years in French oak barrels ($45 retail); Remy Martin 1738, aged 20 years in French oak barrels ($55-$60 retail); and Remy XO, aged between 10-37 years in French oak barrels ($145 retail). Why am I not surprised that even oak is better when it comes from France!!??

So seductive, shimmering in the artificial light...

The first thing Remington did after introducing himself was to ask us a question: What is cognac?

I had three answers, none of which were apparently what he was looking for.

1) A city or region in France;
2) A fancy-schmancy brandy spelled with a lower-case letter "c;"
3) Warm and toasty in mah belly!!!

**Don't ask me what the correct answer was; I don't know.**

This seminar was only about half-filled, which was a real shame. The even bigger shame, dare I say CRIME, was that all those pre-poured glasses of cognac that didn't have guests to drink them were dumped out by the staff during the presentation. What a terrible waste of fine, fine booze.

We thought all three of the samples tasted quite good and we learned that there is a gentle way to swirl cognac to release its aromas ... it's similar to swirling wine but it should never be done vigorously - the glass should be slowly tipped one way and then the other to allow the liquid to coat the glass. The Remy Martin 1738 was our favorite - it was smooth and crisp and had notes of caramel and baked fruit ... my scribbles indicate apricot. The VSOP was a little harsher, probably due to its lack of maturity compared to the 1738, but it was very clean and probably would taste much better and smoother on the rocks. The XO was very rich and mellow but had a lot of spiciness to it, which I didn't really enjoy.

We wants the extras ... gives them to us!!

Wanna make Jay & Bendy smile? Give 'em booze!

I took this picture because this man apparently wanted nothing to do with cognac, and chugged his beer during the entire event. Do you know how badly I wanted to ask him to let us have his good stuff while he pounded back the carbonated yeast? I just bet you do!

There is a time and place for beer; this isn't it.

Someone looks sleepy!

The slightly tipsy Bendy models the Remy Martin 1738 she just had to buy!

We were really pleased with this event, and for the $10 we paid to attend the price was excellent given the beverages we tried. Later the next day we ran into Remington as we were exiting the International Gateway while he was headed in and we waved to him and told him how much we'd enjoyed his presentation. He not only thanked us but said, "I remember seeing you two yesterday - you seemed to be among the few who were really enjoying the event."

Awwww, shucks! If he'd had a carrying case of cognac I would have bought it from him right then and there!! So suave ... so cosmopolitan ... so cute!

We happily wandered out of the welcome center over to Club Cool, which we have never, ever, been to before ... we don't usually drink soda and when we do it's Pepsi or Doctor Pepper ... Coca Cola products set my gag reflex going. But, our friendie Michelle's (TheDISneyfamily) daughter was working there that afternoon and we'd promised Jordan that we would stop by and say hello. We also took some really cute pictures that I still haven't managed to forward to Jordan and Michelle but I will ... I promise!!

We were only able to stay for a brief time because we had that Chef's ADR at 2PM; so after a hug and a thank you for joining us for our birthday get-together on Saturday, Jay and I left Jordan to the noisy, sticky horrors of Club Cool and made our way back to the World Showcase. We got distracted on the way to France by Brazil's food booth and stopped to order a plate of Shrimp Stew with Coconut and Lime and a Leblon Frozen Caipirinha

Shrimp stew - yum!

Frozen Pirhana

The stew was nice - a hearty dish with simple flavors and well cooked shrimpies. The star of the booth, however, was the frozen pirhana as I took to calling it. It was clean and refreshing and slightly tart - I hope these make a comeback because they were just wonderful!

It was about this time that Jay and I decided that we really didn't want pseudo-French food for lunch; we wanted to keep wandering the showcase and get our drink-around-the-world quest underway. So, we blew off an ADR ... ... I've never done such a thing before - I am scrupulous about making, keeping, or canceling all dining reservations, but the boozie joy of the day must have gone to my head. And so the brief conversation took place that would lay the foundation for an afternoon that we hazily remember as one of the best, most fun-filled, spontaneously alcoholic times we've had at WDW ... evah!

Jay: Where should we start?

Bendy: I think we should start at the Ditch - their real margaritas are so much better than those frozen sugar-bombs at the outdoor stand. We can get a couple of appetizers while we're there and then we can figure out what to drink in Norway.

Jay: Mmmmm, tequila.

Stay tuned for one crazy, booze-filled afternoon at the Ditch, where a brief pitstop turned into a five hour drunk-fest! And always, thanks for reading!!