Back to Basics Lecture Series -- 2014 Food & Wine Festival
New to the 2014 Food & Wine Festival is a new culinary lecture series called, Back to Basics. Billed as, turning "ho-hum into 'yum yum!'" this is a complimentary experience for guests attending Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. From culinary tips and tricks, you'll learn from the pros...the Disney chefs!
The festival features these sessions at the Festival Welcome Center (aka the Wonders of Life Pavilion) on the Spotlight Stage which is across from the Intermission Cafe/food court area. It's a small little theatre but great for a lecture series. The sessions are held on Fridays through Sundays throughout Food & Wine Festival and are scheduled for 12:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. with a variety of different topics (each one throughout the day is different, though if you go multiple times in a weekend you might notice the same sessions held on different days).For one of the first weekends, I joined Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando in attending two Back to Basics sessions led by Chef Tony Marotta from Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter. You'll recognize Chef Tony from my reviews of the famous gluten free and allergy friendly beignets and Boatwright's Dining Hall.He had two sessions on the day we attended that included two talks titled, "Kitchen Shortcuts, Tips, Tricks and Hacks" and "Taking the Dinner Party to the Next Level; Professional Tips for Impressing your Guests." As a guest, we learned first hand some great tips and tricks from Chef Tony. The sessions lasted about an hour and included a Q&A. If you ever wanted to ask a culinary expert about tips and tricks, these sessions are your chance!
I had a great time attending these free sessions (I especially love the free aspect), and they are a great way to get tips and a unique Food & Wine Festival experience. Since there is no food sampled, it's also a great way for those of us with special diets to participate in special events without the worry of getting sick or not having anything to eat. (Of course, the sessions made me hungry but that's a different kind of problem!)I can highly recommend these sessions and hope that Disney keeps these next year as a part of the Food & Wine Festival. They were great additions!Here's a brief video I took of Chef Tony being introduced at one of his Back to Basics Sessions![embedplusvideo height="500" width="700" editlink="http://bit.ly/1vBXork" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/mzkFW4--_JY?fs=1" vars="ytid=mzkFW4--_JY&width=700&height=500&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep8041" /]As with any Food & Wine Festival events, admission to Epcot is required and not included in event price. Events are subject to change or cancellation without notice.