pepperandchips
[melinda]
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
Hey dining friends! 
Taking a quick moment to post pictures and thoughts of my experience at Epcot Festival of the Arts while my thoughts are still fresh and I might be early enough to help anyone else out. If you are considering a long weekend or a short trip to experience this event, I would say go for it! We went down specifically to check this festival out in its inaugural year (and inaugural weekend!) and we were not disappointed. That said, there are only 7 (I think) booths, and they are not evenly spread out around World Showcase like Food & Wine Festival or even as plentiful as Flower & Garden. That said, I think the food quality was better than Food & Wine and on par with Flower & Garden, which is my favorite of the festivals.
We did experience some waits after ordering our food items as the plating is done with care (and panache, dare I say) so the lines did build on Saturday (1/14) though on Sunday night when we visited the lines were much shorter. I never waited more than, say, 10 minutes. I did my best with lighting on these photos, though as per Epcot's norm, we did eat on top of some trash cans and planters as Epcot somehow never provides enough high top tables
Moving on to the food, then I'll wrap up with some final thoughts on our experience.
The Painter's Palate is located in the festival center (this time, the Odyssey Building) and is easy to visit if you are also visiting the Herb Ryman and Mary Blair galleries or any of the art seminars. We started here.
$5.25 : Margherita Flatbread with Basil Pesto and Balsamic Drizzle. This was a disappointment because we hit the booth right at 11:00 am and this tasted like it had been prepared at 9:00 am. It was dry and cold, but had the promise of good flavor had the crust been fresh. Okay value for the portion size.
$9.50 : Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts:
Whipped Herb Cream Cheese with Sea Salt
Chicken Mousse with Fresh Herbs and Everything Bagel Seasoning
Spicy Tuna with Sriracha Mayonnaise and Sesame Seeds
These were really really tasty and a great value for the portion size. We got SO MUCH FRESH TUNA! I made my traveling companion finish it. My favorite item was the Whipped Herb Cream Cheese one, but all three had great flavor and were very distinct tastes from each other. The tuna was full of brown umami flavors (sesame oil?) and the chicken mousse had a nice bright citrus taste. These were a big hit with us.
This is all three beers in the individual portion sizes, not the flight. Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, 3 Daughters Queens Court Strawberry Blonde Nitro Beer. We were so excited to see more adventurous beer selections available at this festival, and all three of these were really tasty. I loved seeing Disney food and beverage go with something more nuanced like Nitro draft beers. This booth was a big hit for us.
Here is one of the paid art experiences - not going to lie, I would have been disappointed if I'd paid for this. The presenter was walking the participants through quick sketches of a model doing different poses. You can watch these for free from any of the tables in the Odyssey pavilion (sort of like you can listen to the Food and Wine seminars from outside the seminar area).
Our favorite of the Herb Ryman exhibit - concept art for the Land Pavilion. These exhibits were a little disappointing in size and scope considering that all of Innoventions, the former Wonders of Life Pavilion, and the whole World Showplace Pavilion are sitting there empty and could house much more art in a number of additional galleries. Come on Disney, give us more ART at the ART FESTIVAL!
El Artista Hambriento was my favorite booth. I loved both dishes there:
$6.95 : Choriqueso Taco served with Chihuahua Cheese, Red and Green Peppers over a Corn Tortilla and garnished with Poblano Peppers and Micro Cilantro. As you can see, these are two tiny tacos akin to a quesadilla made on a corn tortilla, topped with a salsa type substance and no micro cilantro. These were super greasy, yummy, and satisfying. There was plenty of yummy chorizo and cheese inside but I did not much care for the topping which had too much sweetness for me. These were one of the few dishes we really wanted to get seconds of. Probably not a great value for your money but there were two tiny tacos so it was easy for sharing.
Similarly delicious was the $8.50 : Flank Steak Huarache served with Black Beans, Salsa de Chile de Arbol, Frisee Lettuce, Queso Fresco, Red Cabbage, Shredded Carrots and Chipotle Mayo. This was soooo good. I thought these flavors worked great together and everything tasted very fresh, except the actual masa thing upon which the rest of the ingredients were sitting, which was pretty tough like it had been made too long ago and it was hard to cut (so hard to share). Otherwise great. Poor value for $8.50, but this is an Epcot festival so whatever.
So much yum. And an actual table! Win.
Cuisine Classique is over near Germany.
We almost didn't get the very scrumptious $7.50 : Braised Beef Short Rib with Parsnip Purée, Broccolini, Baby Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic, because the snapper dish being sold at the same booth infected the air with the most noxious, disgusting, rancid seafood smell I have ever experienced. To the point where passersby were loudly commenting and holding their noses. Get it together, Disney. Anyway, this dish was exceptionally tender and well prepared and I loved the included veggies. I love parsnips and thought the mash lent something to this dish. My traveling companion does not care for parsnips and could not scrape enough of the mash off of his beef to properly enjoy it, so I got most of this (muahaha) Pretty good value for the portion size since this was two decent sizes of short rib and very easy to share. We also had the Duck Rabbit Milk Stout but I somehow neglected to get a picture. It looks like very dark beer and tastes like deliciousness poured into a glass. I highly recommend it if you like darker beers.
Wilfredo Garcia, a Filipino-cum-Hawaiian artist showing his work at the festival near the American pavilion and a delightful human being. We liked the art booths scattered around but during the day on Saturday we couldn't see much of the art as they were so packed with people. It was easier to enjoy them on Sunday evening.
Decadent Delights has set up camp in what I refer to as the "Champagne and Desserts" semi-permanent booth in the area near the gift shops at the entry of World Showcase.
$6.50 : Dark Chocolate S’mores: Homemade Graham Cracker, Vanilla Kisses and White Chocolate “Fire”. The Vanilla kisses were the best part of this, in my opinion but it was pretty good. Very small for the price and I would not likely get this again. The dark chocolate billing is a misnomer: this was not chocolatey enough for my preferences.
$6.75 : Crisp Caramel Chocolate Mousse Bar, Flavored Merengue Kisses and Passion Fruit Mousse. This was also just kind of okay but the passion fruit sauce definitely helped this one have a bit more flavor than the Dark Chocolate S'mores. I really wouldn't recommend either as there are just better desserts to be had (perhaps at Sunshine Seasons). Again the meringue was the star here.
Pop Eats! had the dish I was most looking forward to trying:
$4.25 : Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Chocolate. This was good but I found myself wishing for a bit more almond flavor as I am a certified almond-aholic. My travel companion liked the chocolate layer around the outside. This was a good value for the price as it was a large piece of cake. I thought it was nice and moist but my boyfriend probably described it best: "It looks wet". Well, it did. But I still liked it.
$6.00 : Shrimp Ceviche with Lime Mint Foam was a big hit with my boyfriend. He liked this and I thought it was pretty good, but I am not a huge seafood fan so I was done after a couple of bites. It seemed like there was ample shrimp in this dish and the flavors were fresh, citrusy, bright, and complex. Shrimp is pretty expensive anywhere so this was a pretty good value.
$7.50 : Sous Vide Venison with Butternut Squash Purée, Pomegranate Reduction, Pickled Turnip and Juniper Berry Powder was another winner. The sous vide preparation really worked with this cut of meat, yielding a tender and flavorful dish. We could easily cut this with the plastic cutlery and really enjoyed the accompaniments as well. Decent value since this is generally Epcot's festival price for red meat dishes.
Masterpiece Kitchen was one we wanted to spend more time enjoying but we got too full to enjoy everything on offer there.
We did have the $14.00 : Charcuterie Palette with Artisan Cured Meats, Nueske’s Smoked Duck Breast and Cheese. This was worth the $14 as you got a good portion of cheese and several charcuterie selections as well. We loved the cheeses and meat selections but would have appreciated an explanation of what they were. The pate item and the duck breast were really delicious, smoky and rich. There was a bit too much balsamic on the board as I kept getting tastes of it on things that were not improved by balsamic vinegar. Nevertheless the quality was good and the portions were fair for a cheese/charcuterie board. I liked this a lot.
And that's all we had a chance to try! I hope my reviews help someone a bit with their planning. I'd love to go back and try the dishes at E=AT2 which were high on my list but I never made it around to while I was hungry enough to enjoy them. We also skipped the pork roulade at The Artist's Table, which I wanted to try. There is definitely an opportunity for Disney to add to this next year, and I hope to see an expanded festival center, which was just sad if anything this year. The merchandise was located in areas that were too close to the art galleries and oddly the special passholder shirt was not available in all sizes there but widely available in the outdoor shop on the Futureworld/World Showcase bridge that didn't actually have much festival merchandise at all
. In addition, the merchandise areas weren't staffed with CMs several of the times we visited, but the lower level where the tables were located was crawling with what appeared to be custodial CMs who mostly didn't have anything to do. It was a strange mix of offerings in a small space and I can see that area becoming claustrophobic if the food booth inside there becomes popular.
All that said, I think this first showing of the festival was a success and I hope to see it return bigger and better next year. I will be back this year if I can manage it!
Feel free to ask any questions if you think I can assist you in any way with your trip plans!
Melinda
Taking a quick moment to post pictures and thoughts of my experience at Epcot Festival of the Arts while my thoughts are still fresh and I might be early enough to help anyone else out. If you are considering a long weekend or a short trip to experience this event, I would say go for it! We went down specifically to check this festival out in its inaugural year (and inaugural weekend!) and we were not disappointed. That said, there are only 7 (I think) booths, and they are not evenly spread out around World Showcase like Food & Wine Festival or even as plentiful as Flower & Garden. That said, I think the food quality was better than Food & Wine and on par with Flower & Garden, which is my favorite of the festivals.We did experience some waits after ordering our food items as the plating is done with care (and panache, dare I say) so the lines did build on Saturday (1/14) though on Sunday night when we visited the lines were much shorter. I never waited more than, say, 10 minutes. I did my best with lighting on these photos, though as per Epcot's norm, we did eat on top of some trash cans and planters as Epcot somehow never provides enough high top tables
Moving on to the food, then I'll wrap up with some final thoughts on our experience.
The Painter's Palate is located in the festival center (this time, the Odyssey Building) and is easy to visit if you are also visiting the Herb Ryman and Mary Blair galleries or any of the art seminars. We started here.
$5.25 : Margherita Flatbread with Basil Pesto and Balsamic Drizzle. This was a disappointment because we hit the booth right at 11:00 am and this tasted like it had been prepared at 9:00 am. It was dry and cold, but had the promise of good flavor had the crust been fresh. Okay value for the portion size.
$9.50 : Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts:
Whipped Herb Cream Cheese with Sea Salt
Chicken Mousse with Fresh Herbs and Everything Bagel Seasoning
Spicy Tuna with Sriracha Mayonnaise and Sesame Seeds
These were really really tasty and a great value for the portion size. We got SO MUCH FRESH TUNA! I made my traveling companion finish it. My favorite item was the Whipped Herb Cream Cheese one, but all three had great flavor and were very distinct tastes from each other. The tuna was full of brown umami flavors (sesame oil?) and the chicken mousse had a nice bright citrus taste. These were a big hit with us.
This is all three beers in the individual portion sizes, not the flight. Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, 3 Daughters Queens Court Strawberry Blonde Nitro Beer. We were so excited to see more adventurous beer selections available at this festival, and all three of these were really tasty. I loved seeing Disney food and beverage go with something more nuanced like Nitro draft beers. This booth was a big hit for us.
Here is one of the paid art experiences - not going to lie, I would have been disappointed if I'd paid for this. The presenter was walking the participants through quick sketches of a model doing different poses. You can watch these for free from any of the tables in the Odyssey pavilion (sort of like you can listen to the Food and Wine seminars from outside the seminar area).
Our favorite of the Herb Ryman exhibit - concept art for the Land Pavilion. These exhibits were a little disappointing in size and scope considering that all of Innoventions, the former Wonders of Life Pavilion, and the whole World Showplace Pavilion are sitting there empty and could house much more art in a number of additional galleries. Come on Disney, give us more ART at the ART FESTIVAL!
El Artista Hambriento was my favorite booth. I loved both dishes there:
$6.95 : Choriqueso Taco served with Chihuahua Cheese, Red and Green Peppers over a Corn Tortilla and garnished with Poblano Peppers and Micro Cilantro. As you can see, these are two tiny tacos akin to a quesadilla made on a corn tortilla, topped with a salsa type substance and no micro cilantro. These were super greasy, yummy, and satisfying. There was plenty of yummy chorizo and cheese inside but I did not much care for the topping which had too much sweetness for me. These were one of the few dishes we really wanted to get seconds of. Probably not a great value for your money but there were two tiny tacos so it was easy for sharing.
Similarly delicious was the $8.50 : Flank Steak Huarache served with Black Beans, Salsa de Chile de Arbol, Frisee Lettuce, Queso Fresco, Red Cabbage, Shredded Carrots and Chipotle Mayo. This was soooo good. I thought these flavors worked great together and everything tasted very fresh, except the actual masa thing upon which the rest of the ingredients were sitting, which was pretty tough like it had been made too long ago and it was hard to cut (so hard to share). Otherwise great. Poor value for $8.50, but this is an Epcot festival so whatever.
So much yum. And an actual table! Win.
Cuisine Classique is over near Germany.
We almost didn't get the very scrumptious $7.50 : Braised Beef Short Rib with Parsnip Purée, Broccolini, Baby Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic, because the snapper dish being sold at the same booth infected the air with the most noxious, disgusting, rancid seafood smell I have ever experienced. To the point where passersby were loudly commenting and holding their noses. Get it together, Disney. Anyway, this dish was exceptionally tender and well prepared and I loved the included veggies. I love parsnips and thought the mash lent something to this dish. My traveling companion does not care for parsnips and could not scrape enough of the mash off of his beef to properly enjoy it, so I got most of this (muahaha) Pretty good value for the portion size since this was two decent sizes of short rib and very easy to share. We also had the Duck Rabbit Milk Stout but I somehow neglected to get a picture. It looks like very dark beer and tastes like deliciousness poured into a glass. I highly recommend it if you like darker beers.
Wilfredo Garcia, a Filipino-cum-Hawaiian artist showing his work at the festival near the American pavilion and a delightful human being. We liked the art booths scattered around but during the day on Saturday we couldn't see much of the art as they were so packed with people. It was easier to enjoy them on Sunday evening.
Decadent Delights has set up camp in what I refer to as the "Champagne and Desserts" semi-permanent booth in the area near the gift shops at the entry of World Showcase.
$6.50 : Dark Chocolate S’mores: Homemade Graham Cracker, Vanilla Kisses and White Chocolate “Fire”. The Vanilla kisses were the best part of this, in my opinion but it was pretty good. Very small for the price and I would not likely get this again. The dark chocolate billing is a misnomer: this was not chocolatey enough for my preferences.
$6.75 : Crisp Caramel Chocolate Mousse Bar, Flavored Merengue Kisses and Passion Fruit Mousse. This was also just kind of okay but the passion fruit sauce definitely helped this one have a bit more flavor than the Dark Chocolate S'mores. I really wouldn't recommend either as there are just better desserts to be had (perhaps at Sunshine Seasons). Again the meringue was the star here.
Pop Eats! had the dish I was most looking forward to trying:
$4.25 : Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Chocolate. This was good but I found myself wishing for a bit more almond flavor as I am a certified almond-aholic. My travel companion liked the chocolate layer around the outside. This was a good value for the price as it was a large piece of cake. I thought it was nice and moist but my boyfriend probably described it best: "It looks wet". Well, it did. But I still liked it.
$6.00 : Shrimp Ceviche with Lime Mint Foam was a big hit with my boyfriend. He liked this and I thought it was pretty good, but I am not a huge seafood fan so I was done after a couple of bites. It seemed like there was ample shrimp in this dish and the flavors were fresh, citrusy, bright, and complex. Shrimp is pretty expensive anywhere so this was a pretty good value.
$7.50 : Sous Vide Venison with Butternut Squash Purée, Pomegranate Reduction, Pickled Turnip and Juniper Berry Powder was another winner. The sous vide preparation really worked with this cut of meat, yielding a tender and flavorful dish. We could easily cut this with the plastic cutlery and really enjoyed the accompaniments as well. Decent value since this is generally Epcot's festival price for red meat dishes.
Masterpiece Kitchen was one we wanted to spend more time enjoying but we got too full to enjoy everything on offer there.
We did have the $14.00 : Charcuterie Palette with Artisan Cured Meats, Nueske’s Smoked Duck Breast and Cheese. This was worth the $14 as you got a good portion of cheese and several charcuterie selections as well. We loved the cheeses and meat selections but would have appreciated an explanation of what they were. The pate item and the duck breast were really delicious, smoky and rich. There was a bit too much balsamic on the board as I kept getting tastes of it on things that were not improved by balsamic vinegar. Nevertheless the quality was good and the portions were fair for a cheese/charcuterie board. I liked this a lot.
And that's all we had a chance to try! I hope my reviews help someone a bit with their planning. I'd love to go back and try the dishes at E=AT2 which were high on my list but I never made it around to while I was hungry enough to enjoy them. We also skipped the pork roulade at The Artist's Table, which I wanted to try. There is definitely an opportunity for Disney to add to this next year, and I hope to see an expanded festival center, which was just sad if anything this year. The merchandise was located in areas that were too close to the art galleries and oddly the special passholder shirt was not available in all sizes there but widely available in the outdoor shop on the Futureworld/World Showcase bridge that didn't actually have much festival merchandise at all
. In addition, the merchandise areas weren't staffed with CMs several of the times we visited, but the lower level where the tables were located was crawling with what appeared to be custodial CMs who mostly didn't have anything to do. It was a strange mix of offerings in a small space and I can see that area becoming claustrophobic if the food booth inside there becomes popular.All that said, I think this first showing of the festival was a success and I hope to see it return bigger and better next year. I will be back this year if I can manage it!
Feel free to ask any questions if you think I can assist you in any way with your trip plans!
Melinda
