I approached my first Epcot International Food & Wine Festival with a bit of trepidation. I’d heard great things about the festival, which has been a fall attraction at the Disney park since 1995 and runs this year through Nov. 10. But given Epcot’s unabashedly fake replicas of world tourist spots, I had to wonder: If the architecture is ersatz, could the food be the real thing?
Happily and tastily enough, the answer is yes.
It’s not cheap, but hey, this is a theme park. So first you pay admission to Epcot — $94 for ages 10 and up — and then you have to pay for the food. Most dishes are in the $3-$8 range, quite reasonable, but add in the cost of wines, beers and other beverages and you can build up a pretty hefty tab before you’ve made it to even half of the countries represented by the 36 “International Marketplaces” (aka booths) that ring the World Showcase Lagoon.
And that’s not counting the added temptations of seminars at the Festival Welcome Center, special events like Italian White Truffle Lunches, Late Night Live! on Thursdays, Culinary Boot Camp and the big gala tasting parties at the World ShowPlace Pavilion, all of which entail extra costs. And then there are the freebies, like the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, which don’t cost money but do eat into your tasting time.
So it’s a good idea to make a plan. (The Discovery Passport, a free pocket-sized booklet with checklists of everything being offered at the marketplaces, is a useful guide.) The plates are small, but in many instances quite hearty — and the execution by Disney chefs (a staff of 350 led by Epcot executive chef Jens Dahlmann) is so tight that everything is freshly prepared and efficiently served, though the lines can be long. But over-popularity can actually help your planning: Not willing to wait for Mexico’s tacos? Check out Australia’s lamb chops!
We didn’t get to all the pavilions — if we were to return, I’d want to try Brazil’s tilapia with coconut lime sauce, and oh, about 100 other items — and we only managed to watch from the sidelines at the sold-out Martin Miller’s Gin mixology seminar (make reservations next time!). Only a few of the dishes we tried were disappointing, like France’s escargot tartelette with garlic, spinach, bacon and parmesan, which was much less than the sum of its parts. And a few that were quite good — for instance, Africa’s beef tenderloin tips berbere-style — just didn’t stand out quite as much as the ones below, my favorite tastes from my virgin Epcot voyage.
Terra: CraB’less CraB Cake, pepper slaw and Cajun remoulade. This vegan crabcake was one of the biggest surprises of the festival for me, an entirely credible version of the real thing and delicious in its own right.
Patagonia: Roasted Verlasso salmon with quinoa salad and arugula chimichurri. The Patagonia region of southernmost South America, new to the festival this year, marries flavors of Chile and Argentina; this well-cooked and garnished salmon is a fine introduction.
New Zealand: Venison sausage with pickled mushrooms, baby arugula and black currant reduction. Odd-sounding combo, (pickled mushrooms?) but the flavors and textures sing. Also good: the steamed green lip mussels with garlic butter and toasted bread crumbs, and the Kim Crawford wines.
Australia: Grilled lamb chop with mint pesto and potato crunchies. Fantastically meaty and beautifully cooked, though I pretty much ignored the potato chip coating.
China: Beijing roasted duck in a steamed bun with hoisin sauce. China had good buzz, so I endured the line and very much enjoyed this crisp, tangy bit of Beijing duck.
Farm Fresh: Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon hash with sweet corn, potatoes, hollandaise and pickled jalapeños. What’s not to like?
Germany: Schinkennudeln (pasta gratin with ham and cheese). As much fun to eat as it is to say, this addictive mini-kugel was one of my faves. Also good: roast bratwurst in a pretzel roll.
Puerto Rico: Carne guisada con arroz blanco (slow-braised beef with Puerto Rican-grown rice). Puerto Rico is a sponsor of the fest this year, and hosted a splashy Experience Puerto Rico gala that showcased the island’s cuisine and music. Its booth is one of the fest’s must-stops, with terrific live performers and this hearty beef dish from chef Maira Isabel among the attractions.
Scotland: Seared sea scallop with spinach-cheddar gratin and crispy bacon. Scotland may not have won its fight for independence, but this simply delicious scallop won our vote.
Greece: Tzatziki martini featuring Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka and BOLS Natural Yoghurt Liqueur. The most unlikely beverage I tasted and one of the most delicious — light, not too sweet or cloying and entirely too much like a morning smoothie to be trusted.
Citricos: Not a booth, but a restaurant at the Grand Floridian Resort, where we stayed. Citricos is pricey (though not so steep as its GF neighbor, Victoria & Albert’s, which CL restaurant critic Jon Palmer Claridge declared the region’s best), but the food is splendid. I had a kind of deconstructed shrimp scampi with feta and tomatoes, the flavors amazingly precise; meltaway short ribs with perfectly cooked risotto; and a wonderful berry gratin. Add a view of the fireworks, which began just as I sat down after a long rainy Friday night drive to Orlando, and it was the perfect prelude to the international smorgasbord I’d be sampling the next day.
Luckily, the Grand Floridian has a gym.
