Festival of the Arts

Oh the Festival of the Arts...

There is nothing I look forward to more than a good EPCOT Festival.  It was a genius marketing strategy to bring a food and wine aspect into all their festivals.  It draws the foodies and I am definitely that.  

As a child, I would not ever try new foods but as an adult, my husband always had a rule that I had to try things even if I didn't think I would like them. That opened the door to so many amazing foods for me.

The EPCOT festivals are the perfect way to experience new foods if you aren't so daring.  They are smaller portions so it's not like you have to commit to an entire meal and you can literally try a WORLD full of foods in one place.

I want to review every single food I try and that is a LOT so here goes with a few of the tasty goodies I have tried so far...

Deconstructed Apple Pie a la mode

Deconstructed BLT

Deconstructed French Onion Soup

Deconstructed Key Lime Pie

The Deconstructed Dish

We tried all of these and they did not disappoint.  The beauty of these dishes is what the festival is all about.  It is art on a plate.  You want to just immerse your senses in these dishes. There is color and vibrant transition, texture and beauty.  

Deconstructed Apple Pie A La Mode: This is non-alcoholic but it was my first taste of the festival (and also my breakfast. LOL).  Apple-cinnamon gelato, cinnamon apple cider (gives this a carbonated kick I was not expecting), apple pie filling and streusel on top.  It was served in a fun plastic cup you can take home if you are so ambitious.  It was fun to eat/drink and looked pretty.  It had a nice flavor and I loved the apple chunks in it.  

Deconstructed BLT: This is a pork belly with soft poached egg, brioche, watercress espuma and tomato jam.  The look of this was just thoughtful and fun and a world of flavors.  

Deconstructed French Onion Soup:  I am not a fan of french onion soup so this was all my husband but it was well put together with beef broth ravioli, gruyere espuma and onion bread pudding

Deconstructed Key Lime Pie:  What a beauty.  The art on this one held the line up a bit but the chef was putting all his care into making it fabulous. Worth the wait.  That yellow stripe is key lime curd, the green lime looking piece is a "key lime" mousse, graham cracker cake and 2 white meringues.  2 little raspberries on there too.  I don't even like Key Lime pie but this was a win for me as well with taste and beauty. It makes you want to eat every piece of it. 

Deco Delights

Tried all 3 of these tasty beauties too.  How could we not??  The colors were so vibrant and just drew me in.  

Decadent Valrhona Chocolate

Dulce Chocolate Mousse

Orange Mousse

So many desserts. Bravo on all of them.  

Decadent Valrhona Chocolate: dark chocolate mousse, chocolate brownie and cassis mousse.  This dessert was interesting.  The brownie was the purple part but only half is the brownie.  The other part is the cassis mousse I believe which has a fruity flavor.  The chocolate mouse is actually an ice cream with crispy crunchy topping.  Very good. 

Dulce Chocolate Mousse with chocolate cremeux and dark chocolate truffle.  This was interesting and not what I expected.  I am not sure what the cake was but it was very tender and everything went well together.  

Orange Mousse with lemon cake and raspberry meringues.  Light and fruity and fun.  And this was so nice to look at.  

I give all of these desserts a thumbs up and would gladly eat all of them again. 

Now I can't keep up the "try everything" pace at all the carts.  Although I would love to have the stomach of an elephant I do not.  So here are a few more of the tastes we tested around the world. (I will be adding more on subsequent trips so stay tuned!)

A "taste" of the other tastes...

Gourmet Landscapes

This area is near Canada. Bringing back its wild mushroom risotto with aged parmesan, truffle shavings and zinfandel reduction.  Always a hit.  My husband commented, "the more you eat the better it is." 

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Stay tuned for reviews on the Roasted Bone Marrow and Blood orange Beet Carpaccio

L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise

Obviously in France this cart boasts one of the longest lines as usual but for good reason. On this trip I tried the Creme de Brie en Petit Pain which is a warm bread bowl with brie cheese and it was to die for.  They are small so I am glad I didn't share this one.  Could've eaten 2.  SO warm and ooey gooey.  And it helped to sop up the alcohol in the also delicious Frozen French Martini (grey goose vodka, chambord, pineapple, orange and grape juice.  This also claimed to have a lemon-lime foam but I didn't see it.  Maybe it was mixed it.  Would have been nice to see it on top though) 

Creme de Brie en Petit Pain & French Martini

Enchanto Cocina
A cart full of the wonderful flavors of Colombia. Located between France and Morocco

House-made Chorizo and Potato Empanada

the inside of the mousse (dragonfruit jam)

Passion fruit Mousse and Passion Fruit Daiquiri

Again a win.  I would eat/drink these again.  Perfection. I know it is seeming like I am easy to please and honestly I rarely put something in my mouth that I hate at any of the festivals.  It has happened, but rarely.  But I have to say that despite it being INSANELY full yesterday (it was opening day so my own fault) the food was all very much on point albeit often slow to come.  But always hot and fresh and with attention to detail as always. 

Tangerine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina

This is inside what used to be a restaurant in the Morocco pavilion and is now being used for the festivals.  I was pleasantly surprised to see they had kept the Harissa chicken (and lamb) kebabs around because the chicken are to die for.  This was a holdover from the holidays and I am so glad they kept it because they are amazing.  I wish I had this recipe.  Even cold they are perfection.  

For an addition to the arts festival they added the Crispy almond phyllo pockets with white chocolate pomegranate, milk chocolate orange and dark chocolate cardamom.  Really good.  I also heard the Carrots 3 ways is excellent here but I have not tried that yet.  

Harissa Chicken kebab

Crispy almond Phyllo Pockets

We did stop by the Artists Table in "America" but the line was over an hour wait and although the tasty offerings seemed to have the potential to be delicious I was not waiting in that line.  Maybe next time because the Beef wellington and the Pan Seared scallops need to go into my mouth. 

L'Arte Di Mangiare

Italy.  How can you go wrong?  At first, I was skeptical since the offerings seemed similar to those of previous festivals but I was pleasantly surprised.  I would say damn near shocked.  

We had the Arancini (fried risotto balls stuffed with braised beef, served with a pomodoro sauce) and the Ravioli alla Boscaiola. OMG.  I was not expecting how good it all was.  The Ravioli comes with HUGE mushrooms which were downright dreamy and it was actually a decent-sized plate of food.  Italy tends to be pricey with their cart food and these 2 dishes were $27 total but worth it.  

Arancini

Ravioli alla Boscaiola

Pastoral Palate

Located in Germany this cart does not disappoint. We had the Wild Boar Cassoulet because how could I not try that?? I felt like this dish was a warm homey welcome.  Not exactly what I was expecting but it was a pretty and tasty dish.  I also tried the short rib with parsnip puree and baby tomatoes which was also good.  (Sorry no photo on that one)

Wild Boar Cassoulet

 

Now you can't try everything on one trip.  Or on 10.  So pace yourself.  I highly recommend viewing the menu online on the Disney Parks blog and you can decide ahead of time which you want to try the most.  I will be back again this week to try even more fun and tasty offerings so stay tuned...