Terra — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 25, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
A few years ago, Disney announced the addition of Terra at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, which is an entirely vegan booth. You can imagine how excited I was when I first learned about it. An all vegan booth? That's a huge step for Disney and also huge for those of us who can't consume dairy. I had hoped that there would gluten free options here as well; however, as I learned a few years ago when it launched, that is not the case.Terra is great if you are only dairy free, but if you're gluten free, this is not a booth for you. Terra highlights Gardein products (plant based protein), and the varieties currently utilized by the culinary team at this booth all contain gluten.
This year's Terra booth at the Food & Wine Festival was no exception. There are no gluten free options short of beverages (including Redbridge gluten free beer). I did stop by and try one of the vegan wines available. I tried the vegan vine chardonnay, and I have to say that I wasn't too impressed. I found the wine to taste like the stuff you get out of a box and definitely not worth the $3.25 for the pour.
I do hope that someday the Terra booth includes gluten free food options, in addition to their drink options (it does seem a bit odd that they carry gluten free beer but don't have gluten free safe food). But, if you're looking for a dairy free, plant based option, this is definitely the place to go! You can also check out Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando's review. She always heads to the Terra booth for their watermelon juice. Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
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.
Puerto Rico — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 26, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
This year's Food & Wine Festival is all about Puerto Rico! With lot of culinary demonstrations, mixology sessions and a huge Food & Wine Festival booth area, Puerto Rico has a huge presence this year the festival.In looking at marketplace passports, two of the four dishes served at this festival booth are listed as gluten free - the Ensalada de Carrucho (conch salad) and Carne Guisada con Arroz Blanco (slow-braised beef with Puerto Rican-grown rice).I stopped by the booth with Gluten Free in Orlando, and we each ordered one of the gluten free dishes. I first inquired with cast members at the cash register if the conch salad was gluten free and dairy free (I suspected it was, but it's always important to double-check). At this booth, they radioed a chef and they also showed me the allergy binder with the ingredients. I wasn't able to take a photo, but it was indeed gluten free and dairy free.
The conch salad was quite good. If you've never had conch (essentially a sea snail), essentially it takes a bit like calamari or clams -- a little chewy but not really fishy in any way. This dish was a nice way to highlight the conch; it was very flavorful and light. It had lots of nice flavors with onion, tomato and cilantro too. I expected this to just be seafood and was pleasantly surprised to find rice at the bottom of the salad.
Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando tried the slow-braised beef, and you can catch her full reviews over at Gluten Free in Orlando.I wouldn't say the conch salad was my hands down favorite dish of the festival but it was really very good. It will be perfect on a hot day at Food and Wine Festival and delicious as a lighter meal option. I would definitely order it again.Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
Brazil — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 26, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
Last year the Brazil booth had one of the more popular gluten free dishes, the crispy pork belly, and this year it was back. New to this year's menu was the Moqueca de Pescado which was a tilapia with coconut lime sauce and steamed rice. Ever the optimist, I was hopeful that the tilapia was also dairy free, as the dish sounded awesome!
One of the things I loved about this year's Brazil booth is that it was huge. Great places to sit and relax and enjoy the sites and sounds of Food & Wine Festival. Disney has done a great job this year with all the theming!Upon arrival at the booth, I checked in with the cast members at the cash register about the gluten free and dairy free offerings. They were able to radio a chef and find out rather quickly for me. Both the crispy pork belly and the tilapia were gluten free and dairy free. I was with Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando, and we also asked about the Brazilian cheese bread to confirm it was gluten free, and they told us via radio that it was (we've heard mixed reports from guests that say Disney has stated this is not gluten free). The coconut candy is not gluten free at all.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this dish. I do love coconut milk, and I found the sauce to be rich and creamy. The fish was well cooked and the sauce that accompanied it was both sweet from the coconut milk and spicy from the peppers. Yum! This would definitely be a dish I'd get again.On this particular visit, I didn't get the crispy pork belly, but I did last year and enjoyed it.For Gluten Free in Orlando's review, you can head to her site for the latest updates for gluten free only options.Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
Farm Fresh — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 25, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
When I heard that both of the food items served at the Farm Fresh booth were gluten free, I nearly jumped for glee. I love it when booths have only gluten free items because it means that the risk of cross-contamination is lessened. Both of the dishes also sounded fantastic and I was hoping that I could get the bacon hash minus the hollandaise dairy free.When I arrived at the booth, I checked with the cast members working at the cash register and asked inquired about the dairy in the hash (minus the hollandaise) and the chicken. As with the Australia and Patagonia booths, the cast members radioed for a chef to find out about the ingredients. I was told that the hollandaise in the bacon hash was the only offending dairy item and that I could order it without it (music to my ears). So, I saddled in for two hearty dishes, ordering both the bacon hash and the griddled "yard bird."
They say everything is better with bacon, and I have to say, this was bacon at its best. Man, if this was served for breakfast at a Disney restaurant, I'd be all over it. It would be perfect with eggs (poached or over-easy). The jalapeno peppers & pickled onions added a nice spicy zip (note: you can order it without the peppers). The potatoes were well cooked, and the bacon was outrageous. Seriously, every bite was filled with tons of pepper bacon. This was definitely a winner for me.
The grilled "yard bird" didn't look like anything special to me, but this dish was also fantastic. The skin on the chicken was super flavorful and crispy (and salty in a good way). It was also well cooked and not rubbery or dry. The greens were fantastic (I never met one I didn't like) and had a nice kick of vinegar and hot sauce -- exactly how Southern green should be.For options, this booth so far wins it for me. I was so glad I was able to get both gluten free and dairy free -- and that they were delicious!Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando also tried these dishes (and the hollandaise), and you can catch her full reviews over at Gluten Free in Orlando.Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
Australia — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 25, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
This year's Australia booth had 2 of the 3 food dishes listed as gluten free. I had been dying to see if the garlic shrimp with roasted tomatoes, lemon myrtle, and garlic rapini (which is gluten free) was dairy free. The booth offerings are the same as last year, and I knew that Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando had raved about this shrimp dish!
Like the Patagonia booth, I asked the cast members at the cash register about the items being gluten free and dairy free, and they radioed a chef to find out about ingredients. I was told that the lamb was not dairy free but that the shrimp was. Hip hip hooray for shrimp!
For me, I found this dish (on this particular day) extremely salty. I really enjoyed the shrimp, which was flavorful and well cooked. The tomatoes were lovely, as was the rapini. While, I liked the flavors, I personally wouldn't get again unless the salt level has lessened (which is always possible given this is a catered dish essentially).For more reviews of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, you can check out my site, as well as Gluten Free in Orlando.Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
Patagonia — International Marketplace — 2014 Food and Wine Festival
*This information on this booth was obtained by me on September 25, 2014 by visiting the booth first-hand. This is not “official” information from Disney. Please always check with the cast members at each booth to confirm ingredients and safety based on your specific dietary need. For additional booth information visit the 2014 Food & Wine Festival Gluten Free Offerings Page.
The Patagonia Booth replaces the Argentina booth this year at the 2014 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. The Marketplace Passports listed 2 of the 3 food dishes to be gluten free, which was exciting! Having seen the recipe for the Roasted Verlasso Salmon, it looked to be dairy free as well.Ever the vigilant special diets diner, I checked with the cast members at the cash register before I ordered to see if both the grilled beef skewer and the roasted verlasso salmon were gluten free and dairy free. The line was slow (it was early afternoon on a Thursday), and the cast member radioed a chef to find out the ingredients. This was a very short process, thankfully, and I learned quickly that the salmon was gluten free and dairy free, but the grilled beef skewer accompaniments were not.Both the boniato puree and the chimichurri sauce contained dairy, so I while I could order the beef plain, there would be no sauce that would be safe to consume with it. Pro tip: You could order the beef skewer plain or ask to have the sauce that accompanies the salmon. It would be delicious with the beef!
I went ahead and ordered the salmon, which I was very excited to try.
I have to say, so far, this is my hands down favorite dish at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival! The salmon has been well cooked each time I've ordered it (yes, I've ordered it multiple times, it was that good). The quinoa salad was delicious and flavorful -- filled with red onions and tomatoes. The best part is the sauce which is so flavorful and delicious. You know I love my sauces, and this one certainly did not disappoint!I visited Patagonia the next day with Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando, and she also enjoyed this dish. You can read her full review of gluten free only Food & Wine Festival dishes on Gluten Free in Orlando!Have you been to this booth yet? What did you think of the gluten free & dairy free options here?
Grilled Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimichurri — Patagonia Booth — Food & Wine Festival — Epcot
[yumprint-recipe id='16'] This recipe comes from the Disney Insider website.
Gluten Free Options Noted for 2014 Food & Wine Festival and Other Festival News
*This information has been posted on various websites including the Disney Food Blog and is subject to change and/or modification.
Exciting news has been announced via several websites and through social media. The 2014 International Food & Wine Festival will have Marketplace Passports that note gluten free offerings. This is another great step from Disney in acknowledging gluten free visitors to the Food & Wine Festival.The Marketplace Passports will have a symbol that indicates which items are free of gluten containing ingredients; however, do note that there is always a risk of potential cross contamination due to the small kiosk/booths in which these foods are served and/or prepared.If you were a visitor to this year's Flower & Garden Festival, you'll recognize these gluten free notations, as the Flower & Garden Marketplace Passports also carried them. You can see photographs and examples of these in my post from this past spring.In addition to the gluten free notations on the Marketplace Passports, the festival will also have a few other special diets features, including the Terra Booth (vegan booth) back for its third year at the festival. While the booth does feature a lot of Gardein products (which are not currently gluten free), hopefully, there will be a few gluten free and vegan offerings this year. So far, the only menu items publicly listed contain Gardien. The booth does carry vegan wine.If you're vegetarian, you'll have plenty of options throughout the festival and some new items sound intriguing for vegetarian diners, including the Vegetarian Moussaka at the Greece Booth.Fans of the Dole Whip will be excited to hear that the pineapple Dole Whip is making a comeback too!If you're like me, you may also want to participate in some of the culinary demos and special events. These officially go on sale to the general public on July 31, 2014 at 7 a.m. EST. You can call 407-WDW-FEST to book. You can also book many of these online too! If you are a Tables in Wonderland, Annual Passholder, DVC Member, or Golden Oak resident, you can begin booking at 9 a.m. EST on July 25, 2014. Advance purchase for TIW, AP, DVC, and GO also comes with a $2 discount for those demos and sessions that take place Monday through Thursday.Whenever I book culinary demonstrations or special experiences, I also contact Special Diets to make the notation and arrive at the event early. You can read about a few of my demo experiences from last year, including Chef Kevin Dundon from Raglan Road and Erin McKenna from Babycakes NYC. You can also read Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando's review of last year's festival and demo experiences with Chef Tony Marotta from Port Orleans Resort.And of course, non food related, the Chase Lounge is making a comeback this year. This is a welcome retreat if have a Disney Visa. Sometimes you need a break from the festival action and a place to cool down, and this location does the trick! If you like Coca-Cola products, they usually have a Coke Freestyle machine set-up with complimentary cool drinks (including water).What do you think about the new gluten free notations on the Marketplace Passports this year? Are you as excited as I am for the upcoming Food & Wine Festival?
Food & Wine Festival -- 2012 -- Epcot
- White Corn Arepa with Mangalitsa Pork Rillette and Zellwood Sweet Corn Salad – $4.00
- Florida Shrimp Ceviche with Fire Roasted Vegetables, Fried Plantains and Cilantro – $4.25
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Overall, both had decent size portions for the price and both were really good. I'll be heading back to this booth again! Here is a recipe for the Ceviche from the Florida Local booth found in the 2012 F&W Festival cookbook on sale at Epcot. You can also find it over at the recipes page in a typed format:
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Food and Wine Festival -- 2011 Culinary Demonstration
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| Food & Wine Festival Demonstration with celebrity chef Suvir Saran (as seen in Top Chef Masters) |
I admit it, I love food. I consider myself somewhat of a foodie, in that I like food and good food at that (well, who doesn't?!). Outside of WDW, food allergies have sometimes stifled my ability to eat luxurious meals out. This is why I love WDW so much. I get so spoiled there. However, the one elusive area to me has always been special events. I often find that I don't get very much information from CMs when I call, and I've never been able to get a chef or event planner to contact me about those events (the MK Dessert Party, etc.). So, I've always been a bit trepidatious about trying to participate in an event with the unknown prior to the event. I'd hate to pay $50-$100 for no food or little food. That would be really frustrating (I'm already bummed enough as it is about not getting any cookies at the Christmas Party, but more on that when that review comes out).So when I saw that the food demonstrations were running at a nominal fee ($8-$15), I decided to gamble. I was debating between Chef TJ (the famous Chef TJ--he is amazing!!) or between celebrity chef Suvir Saran who cooks predominately Indian cuisine and is vegan. I was hopeful that even if I couldn't get my food requests in, he might be able to prepare something. I felt better when I purchased tickets because the standard Disney reservation came up, complete with allergy notifications. Of course, I found out later this was for naught.My travel companion and I arrived about 1 hour early, mostly so we could try to find out if we were or were not going to be able to eat anything and also to get a seat. (yes, the line filled up fast for this one and we were lucky to be in the near front of the line). We asked CMs when picking up our tickets. They said to find one of the staff managers setting up, which is what we did. We told them about our allergies and mentioned that we noted it on the reservation (to which they replied that the reservations don't actually do anything with those notifications--I sure hope they change that). Essentially, they went back and got the chef. Of course, we're used to that at WDW, but not with a celebrity chef :) Chef Suvir came out and was very kind and pleasant about the whole thing. He said the dish had some butter in it and the breaf wasn't gluten free. The dish was a Indian inspired shrimp with some type of bread. I mentioned that I knew he was vegan, and that was a big reason I chose to visit his demo. He said he was actually bummed because he wished he had known about the allergies ahead of time because he would have done his whole demo allergy free and vegan. He said not to worry, that he'd whip up some variation. Again, he couldn't have been nicer about it, and was very accommodating (as one can be 1 hour before a demo).We were instructed to let the servers know about our allergies and because it was a smaller group, they were pretty aware. During the demo, they brought us a modification of the dish. The shrimp and sauce were really good. Spicy but also very fresh tasting. The only real "downside" was the stale broken taco shell half that were holding our shrimp. Stale is an understatement. Not very good. But, I can't really fault them, since we had such short notice.
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| Spicy shrimp on a broken taco shell--shrimp was good, taco shell...eh not so much |
Overall, it was a fun experience, but a little disappointing too. I know that it is very hard to accommodate everyone when it's a demonstration or catered event; however, I'd love to see some improvement in the future. Had the reservation with the allergy notation worked, they would have seen that there were food allergies in that party and could have modified the dishes (or at least had a few modifications for us). I made a smart move by choosing a chef that I knew had experience cooking (or preferences at the very least) gluten free/dairy free meals and by arriving early. Otherwise, not much you can do.I hesitate to do any bigger events for this reason, but I'm hopeful that in the future, WDW will be able to do a better job at these events or perhaps have an event solely geared towards food allergies (omg that would be awesome!) Or a GF booth. I'm hopeful. With the new vegan booth in 2012, it's very possible!!!I'd give this a 5 out of 10, but would try a demo in the future. It's lower cost, so the gamble doesn't sting so badly. Maybe I'll give it a try this year with Chef TJ!Do you have any experience with F&W Festival demos or special events? I'd love to hear them!