Guest Review: Epcot Food & Wine Festival French Regional Lunch

Thanks to Brenda Meng, who writes a hilarious blog about food at her own Gastropod Travels, for putting together this detailed review of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival “Frunch” (French Regional Lunch) at Bistro de Paris on October 10, 2010!

Table Setting

I love the French… their fearless use of heavy cream, their puzzling adoration of Jerry Lewis, their glorious national obsession with cheese. Any country that manages to produce nearly 400 distinct cheese varieties gets a gold star in my belly’s book of delights –- in fact, it almost makes up for [Read more…]

2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Pins

By AJ 6 Comments

Just wanted to share these adorable 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival pins with you guys! First off, Chip and Dale are pretty exhausted after dousing Spaceship Earth in chocolate!

Chip and Dale Conquer a Chocolate Spaceship Earth

Mickey’s dish seems a little [Read more…]

DIY Disney: 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Polpetini, Italy Pavilion

By AJ 25 Comments

About twice a month, our resident Chef BigFatPanda puts together his amazing step-by-step, photo-filled posts where he and Chef Mickey show you their adventures in the kitchen cooking up Disney goodies! Today, Chef Big Fat Panda’s DIY Disney Recipes column brings us a savory, original recipe from this year’s Epcot Food and Wine Festival! Take it away, Chef!

Hey everyone! I’ve got something very good in store for you this time.

In my home — in my neighborhood — my family is semi-famous when it comes to Meatballs. In fact, a popular restaurant located in The Villages, FL, recently adopted our meatball recipe and now serves “Mama Maria’s Meatballs”. Maria is my cousin and took full credit, but that’s a whole other story 🙂

Polpetini Ingredients

So, as this is The Disney Food Blog, I am not able to just say: here is my family’s recipe. We gotta stick to the whole Disney recipe thing. But guess what? The recipe used for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival Italy booth‘s Polpetini (meatballs) this year is almost identical to [Read more…]

Disney Food Pics of the Week: Sweet Surprises

By AJ 2 Comments

Thanks to all who have contributed their photos to the Disney Food Blog Photo Extravaganza! Keep sending them along! This week, the Disney Food Pics of the Week are three sweet surprises!

“This is for you, sweetie!” Sigh…I think the first cinnamon roll is the best cinnamon roll… Photographer: Michelle Brownell (sent via email)

This for you, sweetie

An incredible surprise from the Disney Florist! (I want one! Now…how to get it [Read more…]

Dining in Disneyland: Steakhouse 55 Brunch

By AJ 5 Comments

I promised a second new columnist this week, and here she is! Heather Sievers (you can read her bio here!) — a Disney expert, business owner, wife, and mom of two boys who calls Disneyland her second home — will be popping in from time to time to share some great stories about Dining in Disneyland!

The boys in my household LOVE a good steak, so a few years ago we opted for Steakhouse 55 instead of Goofy’s Kitchen which are side by side in the Disneyland Hotel. Don’t get me wrong, Goofy’s Kitchen is a blast, but if you are looking for something more peaceful, elegant, and rich in décor, you must check out Steakhouse 55. And while most people think of Steakhouse 55 as a dinner spot, one of Disneyland’s best kept secrets is the brunch served there!

Atmosphere

From the minute you walk through the lobby, you are taken back in time. The décor features lush purple velvet chairs, beautiful lighting and walls covered in large black and white photos of old Hollywood stars. It is a completely [Read more…]

Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival Canceled in 2011 and 2012

By AJ 13 Comments

According to the Disney Parks Blog, Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival will not be held in 2011 and 2012. This decision is due to the significant construction happening in Disney California Adventure over the next two years and the difficulty it presents for an event like the Food & Wine Festival.

This festival, which just celebrated its 5th year in 2010, was much loved by Disneyland devotees and Disney food fans the world over. And after five years of climbing the ranks of American food festivals, bringing some incredible celebrity names to the table, and delivering what I felt was a very special event that only a place like Disneyland could produce (i.e. it was hip), I’m sad to hear that it will be postponed (just postponed, right, Disneyland? I know you didn’t say for sure it was coming back, but it is, right? It is???).

2010 Food and Wine Festival Welcome Center

My feeling when I visited the festival in 2010 was that Disneyland had gained a lot of ground over the past five years and was poised to grow the Food and Wine Festival into an even bigger success. I’m very sorry to hear that the potential is now there to lose ground on the progress and traditions that they’ve made, but I also know that Disneyland clientele will welcome the festival back with open arms if and when it re-appears.

I know I’ll be there.

In the meantime, you can check out our coverage from Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival 2010 here.

Review: Il Mulino New York Trattoria

By AJ 21 Comments

For years, I’ve been hearing from various sources that the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin’s Il Mulino New York Trattoria is the best Italian food on Disney World property, hands down, and I finally got the chance to try the restaurant on my recent trip to Orlando!

Atmosphere

For those who haven’t been there, the Swan and Dolphin is located right between Disney’s Boardwalk Resort and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and is within walking distance of Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park. Open only for dinner, the higher-end restaurant’s prices range between [Read more…]

Corn Dog Nuggets VS. Egg Rolls: What’s Your Favorite Snack in Animal Kingdom?

By AJ 15 Comments

UPDATE:Bradley Falls Kiosk has updated its menu

While walking through the Animal Kingdom in October I came across a couple of new (to me!) snack spots on the path between Asia and Africa!

With one snack spot serving corn dog nuggets and chicken nuggets (well call this “The Nugget Shack”) and the other — directly across the way — countering with a menu of shrimp and pork egg rolls and vegetable egg rolls (I’ve deemed this “The Roll Shack,”) it’s almost like a Food Wars set-up! Corn Dog Nuggets are legendary in WDW; egg rolls are the snack of the future. Which menu will you pick…?

Vote in our nuggets vs. rolls poll below and check out the new menus at the end of the post!

The Nugget Shack

The Roll Shack

Nuggets VS. Rolls!

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Nugget Shack Menu

Roll Shack Menu

Disney Food for Families: Choosing the Right Character Meal for Your Family

By AJ 12 Comments

Goofy's about to hang ten at Cape May Cafe

I’m excited to announce that we have two new Disney Food Blog columnists coming on board this week, but they’re not actually new to you! You’ve seen them guest blogging for Disney Food Blog for quite some time… First up, Ms. Erin Foster will be writing the Disney Food for Families Column. She’ll be giving us a unique perspective on dining with kids on Disney vacations, starting today with some great tools that will help you choose the best character meal for your needs! Welcome, Erin!

I recently helped my neighbor Stephanie plan her restaurant selections for an upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. Among her many questions was one that I hear often, “Which character meal should we go to?”

What’s a Character Meal, and How Do I Decide On One?

Character Meals

are an iconic part of the Disney experience when traveling with children, or children at heart. There are ten different character meal venues at WDW proper, plus a few others in satellite locations.

For those of you new to Disney travel, character meals are dining experiences in which Disney characters are present in the restaurant. They generally travel from table to table, stopping to interact with each party for a hug, photo, autograph, or possibly a conversation. Your group gets guaranteed quality time with characters in [Read more…]

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food Pictures: China, Ireland, and New Zealand Booths

By AJ 8 Comments

It’s time for more 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival booth food pictures! 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.

China
A perpetual favorite of mine, the China booth always offers generous portions of both food and alcohol. This year, a visit to the booth will easily get you enough food for a full meal!

The pork pot stickers are a fantastic appetizer for the barbecue chicken stick, which actually has a lot of flavor (sometimes it seems like flavor is hard to come by when it comes to chicken). The black pepper shrimp and noodles is a massive portion, and could easily be a snack for two. And while we weren’t sold on the ginger ice cream (a last minute addition to the menu!) — the flavor was a bit too strong for our palates — the portion is certainly large enough to split among the whole family.

After absolutely loving the Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler last year, we decided to try the Happy Lychee this year…and boy was it happy. The amount of vodka in this thing was atrocious! If your goal at the festival is to get tipsy as quickly as possible — head to the China booth first.

As always, service here was impeccable.

You can see more pictures, the full menu, and prices on our China Booth Page!

Pot Stickers

Ginger Ice Cream

Xinjiang Barbecue Chicken Stick

Black Pepper Shrimp with Sichuan Noodles

happy lychee

Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler

Ireland
The Ireland booth is another one with looooooooong lines and happy customers! The Fisherman’s Pie is usually the reason behind both! While the booth is selling other items (including a Kerrygold selection of cheeses and a chocolate lava cake), it’s the Fisherman’s Pie that brought ’em in last year, and it’s the Fisherman’s Pie that’s bringing ’em in this year! Hit this booth either very early or very late. Scratch that. Forget about late. Hit it early!

You can find the full menu, prices, and more pictures on our Ireland Booth Page.

Ireland Kerrygold Cheese Selection

Lava Cake, Fisherman's Pie, and Meade

New Zealand
There are two reasons why the line at the New Zealand booth might be long this year: 1. It’s right at the entrance to the World Showcase, so it’s the first booth a lot of hungry folks will hit; and 2. The lamb slider and the scallop dishes are getting top marks from a lot of hungry folks. 😉 Check out more photos, the full menu, and pricing on our New Zealand Booth Page.

Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil

Lamb Slider

Let us know what YOU’RE loving at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival! Until then, feel free to check out more food pictures on our booth pages!

Fisherman’s Pie and Lava Cake photo, and Lamb Slider photo from Kelly Tressler via the Disney Food Blog Photo Extravaganza Group on flickr.

Scallop photo by Karen Westfall (who just had the most adorable little baby Westfall, ever).

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