Nine and a half years ago I packed up my car with my valuable possessions, said goodbye to my parents, and drove down to Florida. Both my head and my heart were full of a dream. I was going to work for the big man, Mickey Mouse.
It was one of the best experiences of my life and I made bonds that will last a lifetime. Because of this, I often get invited back to visit for special occasions. This past month was one of those times. My daughter and I went down to visit for one of my friend’s baby shower. Of course we had to stop by both Disney World and Universal Studios. And we lucked out because Epcot was having its Food and Wine Festival.
The Food and Wine Festival started back in 1996 for a thirty day event running from Sep. 28 through Oct. 27. This year, the Festival goes from July 27 through Nov. 18.
Epcot is my home park, my favorite, the place where I worked for my Disney Internship. It felt great to be back. But it also felt hot. I forgot how hot Florida could get. I have lived there three different times during my life, but somehow I manage to forget exactly how hot it is every time I return. On this trip it was around 100 degrees every day and humid. The air hung like a wet blanket. But we pushed through. Literally, I pushed my daughter in her stroller the entire trip. Up and down every hill. Around every corner. Through every store, which were welcome reliefs from the constant heat.
But my favorite part, aside from the rides, was the actual food. If you’ve never been to the Food and Wine Festival, you should know that all portions are small and perfect for sharing between two people. I’m lucky that my daughter will eat about anything so we tried to get one from each booth.
Some of my favorite items include the crispy duck bao bun from China and the roasted lamp chop from Australia. But my favorite was the boeuf bourguignon, pommes dauphine from the France booth. The short ribs literally fell apart when I touched them with my spoon. It was the most tender piece of meat I’ve ever eaten.
Now, everything we tried was not the best. We did have some food that was not that great. My least favorite thing was the fry flight which consisted of sea salt and malt vinegar, BBQ bacon fries, and sweet potato casserole. The sweet potato fries were my favorite of the three, but overall all of the fries were stale and lacked in freshness.
There were a few things that we didn’t get to try that I think I would have enjoyed. Some of those included the ramen from The Noodle Exchange, the charcuterie in a cup from Spain, the beef wa-gyu don from Japan, and the Belgian waffles from Belgium.
Overall, we left the festival hot, sweaty, and extremely full. I can’t wait for our next visit to do it all over again.
Jaime Herzog.
Associate Editor.