Botanas Botanico -- 2015 Flower & Garden Festival Booth

*This review took place in March 2015. Please note that the Flower & Garden Festival booths have increased risks of cross contamination.New to this year's Epcot Flower & Garden Festival is the Botanas Botanico booth located in between the Morocco and France pavilions in the World Showcase. The flavors of the booth are inspired by South America and particularly highlight Venezuelan food.What I was most excited about for this booth was that all of the main food dishes were marked gluten free on the Marketplace Passports. The only exception to this was the dessert option at the booth. To me, this meant my cross contamination risks were greatly reduced given that almost all of the dishes did not contain gluten naturally. When I arrived at the booth, I asked a cast member if I could find out which of the dishes were dairy free, as well as gluten free. I knew the ceviche would be OK but wondered if the arepa featured on the menu was also dairy free. One of the chefs came out to talk to me, and he confirmed that the arepa was dairy free. He also noted that I could not have the Cachapa con Queso, even without the cheese, as the dough contained dairy. Here are the gluten free offerings at the booth (with notations of the dairy free ones):

• Seafood ceviche-shrimp, scallops, and grouper with mango and avocado – Gluten Free, Dairy Free (Confirmed by Sarah on March 7, 2015)
• Cachapa con queso – Gluten Free
• White corn arepa with braised beef and chayote slaw – Gluten Free, Dairy Free (Confirmed by Sarah on March 7, 2015)  

 This ceviche was probably my favorite of all the ceviches I've had at any of the Flower & Garden or Food & Wine Festivals at Epcot. Filled with bright flavors, the mango and avocado added a sweetness and richness to the dish. The seafood was all perfect -- there was no fishy taste whatsoever. The addition of a bright citrus flavor with jalapeño and onion rounded out the ceviche. In basic terms....this was yummy! I would definitely get this again.The arepa was also delicious, though I would have loved to see this filled with pork instead of beef. The arepa itself was tender and a little crispy on the outside. The slaw that accompanied it was good - though it isn't as delicious as the winter melon slaw that is served with the tilapia at the Urban Farm Eats booth. I would definitely get this dish again. Overall, I really enjoyed the Botanas Botanico booth. I loved the variety of dishes served and also how gluten free friendly everything was. I hope this becomes a repeat in festivals to come because this booth was a hit! For more Flower & Garden Festival info, check out my main festival page, as well as the reviews found on Gluten Free in Orlando’s website. Alexis visits the festivals regularly and offers terrific updates.