Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic

[cwnhokie]

Not sure where to put it, but I just wanted to say that my DH and I had an awesome time at the first Food and Wine Classic at the Swan and Dolphin. Now we are trying to figure out if we can fly down for a weekend every October.

 

[Tiffany]

Not sure where to put it, but I just wanted to say that my DH and I had an awesome time at the first Food and Wine Classic at the Swan and Dolphin. Now we are trying to figure out if we can fly down for a weekend every October.

I was also able to attend this on Saturday the 9th and had a great time. I liked the set up much better than Disney's as you paid $50 got a wristband, plate and wine glass and you could eat and drink as much as you wanted.

The "wine glass" made it home safely. I thought it was a great experiance. On Sunday the 10th I strolled the World Showcase in the afternoon and the whole paying at each country etc. just seemed to be too time consuming compared to the wristband method that the S&D used.

 

[TDC Nala]

I was not able to attend. But I have heard nothing but good about the Swolphin food and wine classic.

I do not see Disney moving to a pay one price - eat and drink all you want method for the World Showcase. For six full weeks with the scope of the festival, they would lose money spectacularly if they did this. That, or two things would happen in typical Disney fashion: the price would be too high, or the quality of the offerings would suffer.

 

[Tiffany]

I was not able to attend. But I have heard nothing but good about the Swolphin food and wine classic.

I just happened to be down there looking at vacation homes and was staying at the Swan and bought a bracelet for the 9th and it was a great experiance. I would do it again without thinkng twice. I thought it was better run then the World Showcase set up.

 

[oybolshoi]

for a first attempt it was a good effort - definite room for improvement and they needed more food options to balance out all the alcohol that was available. Still, for the price it was a great deal and nice to try something new for a change.

 

[cwnhokie]

I definitely needed more food options to balance out the alcohol. I forgot I even had a glass. I don't think mine made it home. I have no idea what happened to that. But I got lots of pictures to fill in the blanks.

 

[jnfr2424]

Had a great time was there for both days but only attended on Saturday night loved the Wine Blending Seminar learned alot and had a blast on the causeway...don't know about anyone else but I loved the dessert area and those lemon drops!!! Can't wait for next year as I already booked a room for the festivites!

 

[BriarRosie]

I went on the Saturday and enjoyed myself. I did feel I had enough food to balance the alcohol, but perhaps not in terms of a larger variety of offerings that Brenda would have preferred.

I knew that some of the food offerings changed between Friday and Saturday, so some of wonderful things I heard about from Friday weren't there when I went. The only constant was probably the steak station, which of course was the busiest. The line for that appeared long but moved quickly. Order something rarer than you'd like, because you were often going to get something more well done than what you ordered.

I really enjoyed the pasta dish that Il Mulino served on Saturday. I was surprised that a week later, when I went to Il Mulino for dinner, they had the same pasta dish as their pasta special for the day. I couldn't resist and ordered it. It was still very good.

The Mixology seminar was big on style, not so much on substance. A lot of the stuff they were telling us would not be of much use to the amateur. A lot of the stuff they were showing us required professional equipment. It was good for what it was, but not what I expected.

 

[madalex]

On Sunday the 10th I strolled the World Showcase in the afternoon and the whole paying at each country etc. just seemed to be too time consuming compared to the wristband method that the S&D used.

I did not attend to Swan/Dolphin Food and Wine Classic, but did wander through the area on Saturday night on my way to dinner at bluezoo. The lines at some of the food/drink stations were incredibly long! I don't know how quickly those lines moved, but that seemed no less time consuming than waiting in the individual lines at the food booths in Epcot.

 

[Robert P]

for a first attempt it was a good effort - definite room for improvement and they needed more food options to balance out all the alcohol that was available. Still, for the price it was a great deal and nice to try something new for a change.

I went on the Saturday and enjoyed myself. I did feel I had enough food to balance the alcohol, but perhaps not in terms of a larger variety of offerings that Brenda would have preferred.

I knew that some of the food offerings changed between Friday and Saturday, so some of wonderful things I heard about from Friday weren't there when I went. The only constant was probably the steak station, which of course was the busiest. The line for that appeared long but moved quickly. Order something rarer than you'd like, because you were often going to get something more well done than what you ordered.

I really enjoyed the pasta dish that Il Mulino served on Saturday. I was surprised that a week later, when I went to Il Mulino for dinner, they had the same pasta dish as their pasta special for the day. I couldn't resist and ordered it. It was still very good.

The Mixology seminar was big on style, not so much on substance. A lot of the stuff they were telling us would not be of much use to the amateur. A lot of the stuff they were showing us required professional equipment. It was good for what it was, but not what I expected.

Having attended both nights, I can safely say that IMHO, Friday food was better. The swap outs for Sat. just didn't seem to improve the mix.
I think overall it was a great idea, and a very good first attempt. The music both nights was excellent (though overlooked), and the Riesling seminar rocked (with cheese pairings).

Two things I learned:
1 - No matter how good the beef, it can still be ruined by poor cooking. My tag team partner and I accounted for (I'm sort of ashamed to say), a total of 16 filets over both nights. 9 were cooked incorrectly (8 over, 1 under), and only 7 were acceptable.
2 - Todd English is the Seth McFarlane of cooking. Either it's a home run (steamrollers - deconstructed shrimp cocktail in a tube - Friday) , or it's a dud and nobody gets it (buffalo chicken wombi dart tidbit with sauce shooter nozzle - Saturday).

Note: Seth McFarlane = Family Guy. Once a joke has to be explained, it's lost forever.....

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I'm sorry that we missed this. We were at BWI that weekend but by the time I learned about this event we already had so many dining plans in place that there was no time/stomach capacity to check this out .

Sounds like it was a good time.

 

[jnfr2424]

2 - Todd English is the Seth McFarlane of cooking. Either it's a home run (steamrollers - deconstructed shrimp cocktail in a tube - Friday) , or it's a dud and nobody gets it (buffalo chicken wombi dart tidbit with sauce shooter nozzle - Saturday).

Note: Seth McFarlane = Family Guy. Once a joke has to be explained, it's lost forever.....

I am so glad I am not the only one that did not enjoy that little piece of buffalo chicken with the blue cheese injector thingy. I thought the falafel (which IMO was overlooked) was incredibly good and I also agree that more food was needed to balance all of the alcohol offerings, but overall it was a great event!

 

[cwnhokie]

DH and I did the Reisling class Saturday night and enjoyed it. My filet was over-cooked and probably my least favorite of the evening. I loved the chocolate martini dippin dots. Yummy!

 

[RMAMom]

What are the dates for next year and can I make reservations this far in advance? Thanks

 

[oybolshoi]

Next year's dates are October 7th & 8th ... I would advise you to keep an eye on the Swan & Dolphin's website for periodic updates.

What are the dates for next year and can I make reservations this far in advance? Thanks

 

[Tiffany]

I definitely needed more food options to balance out the alcohol. I forgot I even had a glass. I don't think mine made it home. I have no idea what happened to that. But I got lots of pictures to fill in the blanks.

My "glass" made it home. I agree that some additional food items would have been nice but the drink options were outstanding.