Review: Epcot Food and Wine Festival Xante Mixology Seminar

Eric Hay Teaching About Agave Syrup

The 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival is offering new Mixology Seminars taught by beverage experts!

When: Daily at 6pm
Where: Festival Center
Pricing: $12 ($10 for TiW members, AP holders, DVC members M-Th)

We attended one of the very first seminars of the festival, featuring Xante pear liqueur, which is the star of this year’s Scandinavia Booth!

The event was held in the beverage seminar area of the Festival Center (the old Wonders of Life pavilion) in Future World. We arrived, collected our tickets, and filed into the seating area with the rest of the attendees.

The room was set up with long tables, which featured individual place settings including a placemat for drinks, a list of the recipes we’d be hearing about, and a [Read more…]

Review: Les Chefs de France Restaurant in Epcot

By AJ 37 Comments

Learn About:Chefs de France

Epcot Restaurants
Disney World Restaurants

I can remember, years and years ago, while visiting Epcot with my parents on one of my family’s “Easter vacations,” we approached the Worldkey kiosk to book a reservation in France for that evening’s meal. All I knew — around age 7 — is that I probably hated French food, and I was 100% ready to dislike this restaurant.

Well, things have apparently changed in my old age. I’ve enjoyed all of the food I’ve ever had in the “real” country of France, and the same goes for anything I’ve had in the Epcot version of the place as well. Especially at Chefs de France.

Atmosphere

Les Chefs de France

sits in a quaint corner of Epcot’s World Showcase, just across the bridge from the UK pavilion and the International Gateway.

Les Chefs de France

The restaurant is, aesthetically, one of my very favorites in Walt Disney World. With walls of windows framing a classic French bistro dining room, it’s one of the only restaurants that truly makes me feel as though I’m dining in a foreign location. (I can recall dining in a restaurant in Paris that looked a heck of a lot like this one, in fact!)

Front of Les Chefs de France at Night

Once inside the restaurant, everything is done in dark woods, beige, and [Read more…]

Touch-Screen Ordering at Food and Wine Festival Booth…Trial Run for Next Year?

By AJ 15 Comments

I’ve heard from several sources (thanks Epcyclopedia!) that a touch-screen ordering kiosk has been added to this year’s Cheese Booth at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival!

Cheese Booth Touch-Screen Ordering Kiosk

Methinks this is a harbinger for things to come. Will all of the booths have touch-screen ordering next year? Is this part of Disney’s technology push?

Main Screen at Ordering Kiosk

Based on the screen below, guests are able to choose how many of the menu items they’d like, then [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: October 16, 2011

By AJ Leave a Comment

Tuna Poke with Seaweed Salad at Hawaii Booth

There’s lots happening in the Disney Food world this week — new menus, new dining locations, new dining policies, and more! And don’t forget…that Epcot Food & Wine Festival is still going strong!

Disney Food News

Here’s the latest in the Disney Food World this week…

A new cancellation policy for signature and character dining locations in Disney World will begin October 26th. See details and other Disney Dining Reservations news here.
Epcot Food and Wine Festival Merchandise is on sale at DisneyStore.com!
Check out this year’s Disney World Resort Gingerbread House pins
There’s a new frozen drinks stand in Animal Kingdom, and these aren’t your standard frozen drinks…
We’ve got a review of the brand new Epcot Food & Wine Festival Pizza and Beer Tasting in Italy for you!

Of course, we’ve got TONS of Epcot Food & Wine Festival coverage happening over on our Epcot Food & Wine Festival Pages — click on breaking news to see the latest!

The DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book Review

Thanks to AllEars.net for another great review of our Food and Wine Festival Mini-Guide! We hope this book is helping lots of folks who are visiting the festival this weekend! Pick up your copy of the DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival e-Book today!

Here’s an excerpt from the AllEars.net review:
You’ll not only want to buy this guide to help you plan for your visit to the Festival beforehand, but also to have it in your pocket during your visit. I plan to take it with me on my iPhone next month when I visit the Food and Wine Festival with my family.

Read the full review here!

You can download your copy of the DFB Mini-Guide to the 2011 Epcot Food & Wine Festival e-Book today; and don’t forget to use code ALLEARS for a discount!

On to the Round-Up!

WDW for Grown-Ups

recommends the Top 7 Epcot Food & Wine Festival booths.

Hello My Sweet has some awesome Star Wars party eats to try!

Yesterland has a rainy review of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. I was there on this day, and it was crazy!

DisneyShawn takes a look at the details of Toad Hall Restaurant in Disneyland Paris — “No Consumus Froglagus!”

AllEars.Net has a review of the first Discovery of Chocolate seminar at the Food and Wine Festival!

Main St. Gazette has another great recipe for us! From the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival Spain booth — Spanish Almond Cake!

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: Singapore and Belgium Booths

By AJ 3 Comments

It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Let’s head over to two very different booths: Singapore and Belgium!

As always, if you want to see full coverage of each booth, check out our Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth Pages! Click on any booth or country name for detailed information, menus, photos, and prices.

Belgium Booth

The Belgium Booth was just introduced in 2010, but there were a few changes and updates to this year’s version!

Back again were the delicious (and incredibly yummy smelling) steamed mussles with roasted garlic cream and baguette. These are gorgeous!

Steamed Mussels with Roasted Garlic Cream & Baguette -– $3.75

And the waffles with berry compote returned again this year. This is beginning to become a Food and Wine Festival classic!

Freshly Baked Waffles with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream -– $3.00

New this year is the addition of Guylian Belgian Chocolate Seashell Truffles. These have long been one of my favorite chocolate candies; so I was VERY excited to see them appear on the menu. With a slight hazelnut taste, these have [Read more…]

Epcot Food & Wine Festival Review: Chef Ming Tsai Cooking Demo

By AJ 6 Comments

Thanks to guest reporter Brooke Fehr of DisZine.com for covering an awesome event at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival on behalf of the Disney Food Blog! Cranberries, Chef Ming Tsai, and some great new recipes — sounds like fun to me! Take it away, Brooke!

Earlier this week, I headed over to Walt Disney World to see Chef Ming Tsai in a cooking demonstration at Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival.

If you aren’t familiar with Chef Ming, he is the James Beard award-winning chef-owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and has written several cookbooks. He’s also a veteran of cooking shows, having hosted the Emmy-award winning East Meets West on Food Network, and he is currently in his ninth season on PBS with his Emmy-nominated series, Simply Ming. We’ve been fans for a while of his fusion style, and we were really excited to get the chance to see him cook a dish live!

Chef Ming appeared at the event courtesy of Ocean Spray®, who is a sponsor of this year’s Food and Wine Festival. If you get the chance, check out the cranberry bog that Ocean Spray® has created in the middle of Epcot. It’s beautiful and fascinating, and has even been manned by real cranberry farmers who have chatted with guests, answering all kinds of questions.

CRANBERRY BOG!!

But here we go — on to the [Read more…]

Waldorf Astoria Orlando “Trick or Treating for Adults” Event

By AJ 6 Comments

Waldorf Astoria Orlando is celebrating the Epcot Food and Wine Festival with their own Food and Wine Weekends!

If candy isn’t your thing and you’re looking for something a little bit more adult, you’ll love the Trick or Treating for Adults Event on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. No costumes required!

Simply purchase a passport and you will enjoy a featured drink at each of the Waldorf Astoria’s six lounges: Bull & Bear Lounge (don’t forget to try the AMAZING new burger on the menu!!!), Aquamarine Pool Bar, Peacock Alley Lounge, Sir Harry’s Lounge, La Luce Lounge, and Sena Lounge.

Waldorf Sour at Sir Harry's Lounge

For JUST $25 PER PERSON, here are a few more of the treats you’ll [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: Storytellers Cafe and the Happiest Haunts Tour

By Heather 10 Comments

Dining in Disneyland columnist Heather Sievers reviews a fun Halloween-y evening: dinner at Storyteller’s Cafe followed by the Disneyland Happiest Haunts Tour!

Located inside The Grand Californian Hotel, Storyteller’s Café is usually one of our go-to breakfast/brunch stops. This trip, however, was for dinner. With tickets to the Happiest Haunts Tour in hand, we needed an early, low-key meal. We wanted to take care of business and get out of there so we could get over to California Adventure’s Tower of Terror to start our “haunting.”

Eats

Storyteller’s is known for its buffets. They have a breakfast/brunch buffet as well as a dinner buffet. But we opted for the menu/table service action this time around.

Dinner starts off with a bread basket overflowing with freshly baked cornbread muffins and loaves of white bread. And if you’re sitting at our table, there are usually mojitos involved. Our party included 3 adults and 2 children, so there were quite a variety of dishes to examine!

Mojito

The menu options are not aplenty, but as far as I can tell, there isn’t a bad one on the list. As a starter, I had the Charred Nebraska Corn Chowder. This soup is one of my favorites. It’s creamy, sweet and savory, full of chicken, and topped off with bacon. Yum!

Nebraska Corn Chowder

For my entrée, I chose the Margherita Flat Bread with grilled chicken. I do have to say that [Read more…]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: Ireland and France Booths

By AJ 14 Comments

It’s time for more 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! Today we’re headed to two more popular booths: France and Ireland!

Ireland
Ireland has long been one of the most beloved booths at the festival. This year, the Kerrygold Cheeses return, along with the famed Fisherman’s Pie and the Lava Cake!

Kerrygold® Cheese Selection (Aged-Irish Cheddar, Dubliner and Ivernia Cheese) with apple chutney and brown bread -– $3.50

Everytime I passed by this booth I could smell this buttery, delicious pie! Don’t forget — you can get it with a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan!

Lobster and Scallop Fisherman’s Pie–$5.75

This Lava Cake was a true winner again this year! It was my first “bite” after running the [Read more…]

New Boneless Chicken Wings at Mr. Kamal’s and Frozen Drinks at the Animal Kingdom

By AJ 11 Comments

As I was slogging through the rain at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World last Saturday, I was starving.

Let me say — I’m rarely starving in Disney World. I usually book two or three meals per day, so my stomach doesn’t get much of a break. But last Saturday I hadn’t eaten a thing, it was going on 2pm, and I was on a mission to get pics of a new cupcake (post coming soon!), so didn’t have time to stop into a counter-service joint and battle the lines.

Introducing…the Animal Kingdom “Boneless Chicken Wings!”

So just when I was resigned to having zero sustenance, I came upon Mr. Kamal’s:

Boneless Wings Ahoy!

If you voted in our Corn Dog Nuggets VS. Spring Rolls post last year, you know that this little shack on the route between Africa and Asia in Disney’s Animal Kingdom used to serve Corn Dog Nuggets.

These days, however, it’s purely a new menu of “boneless chicken wings,” which are pretty much chicken nuggets as far as I can tell!

Chicken Nuggets Take Over for Corn Dog Nuggets

I chose to sample the Teriyaki “wings” on this very rainy day, and let me tell you — they were [Read more…]

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Review: Epcot Food and Wine Festival Xante Mixology Seminar