The 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival is happening now through November 12 celebrating food and wine (and more) from around the world.

And, there’s another foodie celebration hosted by the Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Bonnet Creek that is meant to complement and enhance your Epcot Food and Wine Festival experience — the Food & Wine Weekends at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando.

The Food & Wine Weekends at the Waldorf Astoria features a selection of tasting events highlighting dishes from the hotel’s signature restaurants along with their master mixology team and pastry team. Let’s check out some of the goodies.

We tasted and sipped our way around several tasting stations featuring dishes from The Taste of Bull and Bear, The Taste of La Luce, The Taste of Zeta Asia, Cocktail Creations, Bar Du Chocolate, and Pop Culture.

Eats at Food & Wine Weekends

The Taste of Bull and Bear menu featured a Roasted Sunchoke Cappuccino — essentially, soup served in a cappuccino cup.

The soup had a strong truffle flavor and a silky, velvety texture. If you enjoy truffles this is your kind of soup.

The other item from the Taste of Bull and Bear was a Petite Filet of Beef and Stuffed Lobster Tail.

The Stuffed Lobster Tail was the standout element in this dish. It was — surprisingly — stuffed with lobster roe and a specialized ham, giving it a unique and unexpected flavor.

We also sampled dishes from the Taste of Zeta Asia, including the Kanji Signature Roll made with Spicy Salmon, Cucumber, Avocado, Tobiko, Sriracha, and Micro Cilantor; and the Mount Fuji Signature Roll made with Crab Salad, Cucumber, Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon, Wasabi Mayo, Tobiko, and Micro Cilantro.

The rolls were full of fresh flavors and also were also quite beautiful.

The Short Rib Bibimbap features Short Rib, Fried Egg, Blanched Spinach, Namul, Japanese Rice, and Gochujang Sauce, and was a dish of complex and unique flavors.

We also stopped by the Taste of La Luce station, and enjoyed two wonderful Italian dishes. First up was the Lasagna Napolinata featuring Mozzarella di Bufala, Tomato, and Basil.

We also enjoyed the Risotto Duo Di Mare featuring Shrimp, Scallops, English Peas, Oven Roasted Tomato, and Reggiano Gremolata.

The Cocktail Creations station was one of our favorite spots to visit during the event. Justin, one of the mixology experts, was very animated and interactive as he created our drink!

The drink creation was The Manifesto, which is a mixture of Rye Whiskey, Gin, Pineapple Juice, and Chili Bitters poured over a coffee ice cube and topped with edible flowers. Before pouring the drink, the glass was sprayed with fresh rose water.

The Manifesto was a very complex drink that is sweet and spiced without being too spicy. There was amazing detail put into the presentation of the drink, including a printed out and rolled up manifesto served on each cocktail.

Two of the Food & Wine Weekends experiences are La Patisserie: A Master Pastry Class and Bar Du Chocolate and Champagne Tasting. At this event they were highlighted at the same table with a huge array of sweets.

We asked one of the pastry chefs what she would recommend and she gave us three options.

First, a Giant Ferrero Rocher, in gold wrapping.

Here it is unwrapped.

Next, the Chocolate Cream Puff.

And finally, our favorite dessert of the evening, the Tangerine Dessert.

The Tangerine Dessert tasted like a silky tangerine creamsicle. All three desserts were incredible, but the Tangerine Dessert was our favorite, hands down.

Another fun sweets station was the Pop Culture station, which invited guests to try homemade fresh fruit popsicles, creamy organic ice pops, and adult poptails!

The station featured oversized martini glasses filled with gourmet toppings including hand-dipped chocolates, coconut, caramelized almonds, and more.

The popsicles and ice pops were dipped into the toppings of your choice. A fun and sweet way to end the evening!

The 8th Annual Food & Wine Weekends at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando are an elegant and delicious component to add to your Epcot Food and Wine Festival experience. The event happens every weekend through November 11. More information on the weekends and reservations for the different events can be found at the Waldorf Astoria website.

See our full coverage of the 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Will you be making plans to attend the Food & Wine Weekends at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando? Let us know in the comments. Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited to attend the media preview for the Waldorf Astoria’s Food & Wine Weekends. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ