Ryan and I unplugged yesterday and drove to Orlando in the early afternoon for a day at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival!
Temperatures peaked right around 80 degrees, so the weather was absolutely perfect for a day at Disney!
We were invited to the park to attend an evening event sponsored by Driscoll’s, the family-owned berry company based in California, but arrived several hours early so we could have a little day date at Epcot!
(Was anyone else a fan of Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers as a child? I saw this hat and immediately started singing, “Ch-Ch-Ch-Chip and Dale! Rescue Rangers!”)
Ryan and I have been to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot one time before (when I had my major freak-out on Mission Space and discovered I’m claustrophobic), so we were ready to dive into the festival again and try food and drinks from various countries.
Before making our way around the park, we made a beeline for Soarin’, the IMAX projection ride that simulates hang gliding over California. During the ride, as we soared over Yosemite and Napa Valley, the smell of pine trees and orange groves hit our noses. I swear, Disney thinks of everything!
We did a couple other smaller rides in the same area before exploring the countries in Epcot. For those of you who have never been to Epcot before, it is home to the World Showcase, a collection of international pavilions that feature shops, attractions and restaurants that represent the culture and cuisine of 11 different countries.
Say hello to the United Kingdom!
To my wonderful United Kingdom readers, does this look like home!? 
We spent time in all of the countries, including China and Italy featured below.
We bought food and drinks from the little booths set up around the park and our favorite dishes of the day came from South Korea and France.
The lettuce wraps we purchased from South Korea were topped with roast pork and kimchi slaw and tasted incredible.
In France, we bought the Coq au Vin sur Gratin de Macaroni.
It doesn’t look like much on the plate, but the macaroni gratin underneath the braised chicken was very rich and cheesy. My favorite dish of the day!
Ryan liked it, too!
At around 4:45 p.m., we met up with a bunch of other Orlando-area bloggers and writers at the Festival Center for the Driscoll’s event.
To kick off the event, everyone was served a glass of FroZin, a dessert wine from Meeker Vineyards, featuring fresh Zinfandel aromas and flavors.
As someone who generally loves sweet dessert wines, I liked it immediately!
The wine was paired with three different dishes created by celebrity chef Jon Ashton who was absolutely bursting with personality.
The first dish we sampled was a brie and blackberry wonton that featured roasted Driscoll’s blackberries.
I’ve never roasted berries before and I couldn’t believe how much the flavor of the blackberries developed in the oven. They were warm and sweet and paired perfectly with the salty, creamy brie.
Up next was the strawberry bruschetta that took the cake for me! The combination of sweet strawberries, balsamic and ricotta had quite a few of us promising to make this recipe as soon as possible!
The third recipe from Chef Jon was a turkey meatball served with a savory blueberry jam that I may have to make again for dinner this evening! I have permission to share these recipes with you guys, so if any of them interest you, please let me know and I’ll be sure to type them up for you.
During the tasting, after Chef Jon explained each of the dishes, Dr. Wendy Bazilian chimed in to explain the health benefits of the berries featured in each recipe. She highlighted the fiber and vitamin C content of the berries, as well as the antioxidant benefits and more. I ended up talking with Dr. Wendy in depth at dinner and she is a wealth of knowledge concerning food and nutrition.
Following the presentation at Epcot, our group met up at Wolfgang Puck’s in Downtown Disney for dinner.
Our meal began with spring rolls!
We each had one and the spring rolls set the tone for the delicious meal ahead.
The salad course featured a mixed green salad with a goat cheese crostini and I cleared my plate with no trouble. Despite snacking away in the park all day, I was hungry!
For my entrée, I selected the salmon that came in a lobster butter sauce.
The sauce made the dish! It was so indulgent!
Dessert included chocolate cheesecake served with fresh Driscoll’s berries.
I was pretty full by this point and ended up eating my berries and about 2/3 of my cheesecake before throwing in the towel.
Dinner was a lot of fun and I loved meeting some of the Driscoll’s team and chatting with Dr. Wendy and my friend and fellow blogger, Ricky.
Ryan and I didn’t arrive back in Ocala until close to midnight, so I’m moving a little slow this morning.
Time to play catch up today!
November Book Club Winner
With 64.5 percent of the vote, the winning book for the November PBF Book Club is The Happiness Project!
We’ll discuss this book on the blog on December 4!
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I went to the wolfgangs down there in February – I’m not sure if they were overly busy that night but we had horrible service and food that was just meh. Glad you had a better experience – What a fun day date – especially for a Monday!
We have been through the Food and Wine Festival and just loved all of the extra countries that are represented. I remember that the stroganoff was very good.
The Kidless Kronicles
i didn’t even see the stroganoff! sounds delicious!
This is a test reply!! 😀
You just made me nostalgic for Disney. We went last November. We also ate at Wolfgang’s in downtown Disney for lunch one day and it was very good! We are considering a Mardi Gras trip (I’m in Baton Rouge, LA and the kids are out of school for the week – so there is typically a huge Louisiana population there at that time!) This made me want to go more! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Epcot and Soarin’! What a fantastic way to spend a Monday!
80 degrees, sunny, and chillin’ at Epcot. Pretty much can’t even describe how jealous I am! Looks like such a fun day. And yay! I’ve been wanting to read The Happiness Project forever, now this is the perfect excuse! I’m in!
Oh yeah – just finished The Happiness Project…you will not be disappointed!!! I need to go buy her her follow up – Happiness at Home. Just have not made it to the bookstore (still old fashioned and prefer a real book to reading on my iPad!)!
What a great recap! My boyfriend just gave me the Food & Wine Festival cookbook as a gift (he was in Disney recently, too) and I’m excited to page through it. 🙂 I’d definitely be interested in those recipes you mention, especially the turkey meatball and the strawberry bruschetta.
P.S. I was all about the Chip ‘n’ Dale–plus Duck Tales (woo woo)!
I have friends running the half marathon through disney this sat!! how fun you should do it!!
I did the Soarin ride at Universal in California and loved it! I thought it was so cool and loved you could smell the pine tress and fresh oranges! This even sounds like a blast and makes me want to go back to Epcot, I have been once and I was in 3rd grade!
Awesome, I started reading that book last year but never finished it (typical). This will be a good kick in the pants to get back into it! PS I love you hair in that little braid 🙂
I looooove Disney! It’s hard to imagine making the Disney experience better, but I think Food n’ Wine might be just the thing. 🙂
Julie, I might have missed your answer. If so, I apoligize. What type of syrup do you use on your pancakes?
You like myself seem to love syrup since you put a good amount on, but it’s so high calorie and full of sugar. I know they make “sugar free versions” but I’m not sure if those are bad for you to have the artificial products. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
hi rachel! i usually use regular maple syrup. (the syrup i’m currently using comes in a little jar/bottle shaped like a maple leaf and i got it in gettysburg from a local store.)
Aw, Epcot is so much fun! I haven’t been since junior high, and I loved exploring and walking around with my family … and trying the food, too. 😉
I love the Epcot Food & Wine Festival!! We go every year with my parents {unfortunately, we didn’t make it this year, but we’ll be in Disney in two weeks for Thanksgiving, so I’m pumped!} Whenever we’re at Disney, my husband and I take one day together to do “beers around the world” in Epcot, and it’s a blast! *Good thing Disney provides transportation 😉
Julie the big question of the day is…who you going to vote for? PBF reeaders want to know!
What a fun day! I love Disney, and the countries at Epcot are definitely my favorite.
All the food looks delicious! I LOVE Disney but since we live in Utah we tend to go to Disneyland since it’s closer. 🙂 I’m excited about The Happiness Project. It looks like a good book.
My family always laugh when we visit the UK in Epcot, it’s nothing like England – not a red phone box in sight! We love to visit the sweet shop to see how expensive our imported Candy is and The Rose and Crown to hear the Queen’s english! Can’t wait to visit next June!
Soarin’ is my all time favorite ride!!
Ummm that looks absolutely amazing and I’m now ready for lunch…although mine is not going to be nearly as good as what you got to taste yesterday 🙂 Can you send me the recipe for those turkey meatballs with savory blueberry jam when you have the chance? I’d love to try and make that!
Looks like so much fun!
I am so glad The Happiness Project was chosen! I read it last year, and I loved it. yay! 🙂
We just left Dsney last week! The Hawaiin booth had an amazing pork slider 🙂 we love Epcot but this was our first trip with our little girl who just turned 10 months old, she found it pretty boring and slept as we traveled around the world 😉
What a fun day! I love that golden top you are wearing! Such a great fall color.
Pleeeeeease remind me why I don’t live within daytrip distance to Disney?!
That looks like lots of fun, the food looks delicious!
I’m reading from London in the UK and it looks nothing like home. I haven’t seen a sky that blue for months! 🙂
How cool! Living in France I had never heard of such a park but it looks awesome! I love the idea of having a place for different countries and the fact that they serve their food too definitely has me sold 😀
Oh that sounds SO fun! I want to go back to Disney–went once when I was in the 7th grade, and I don’t remember much!
The absolute best part about epcot is the food — so jealous!
What a fun day! I’m jealous that you live so close to Disney World :)!
Dr Wendy was at FitBloggin as well! She gave an awesome presentation at McCormick for all of us hungry bloggers 😉 The blackberry & brie + strawberry bruschetta? gimme!
Your side braid is super cute, and the salmon sounds delicious! I’ve never been to Epcot but it sounds so cheesy and touristy, that it might actually be fun 🙂
Wow! The food looks amazing, especially that cheesecake!
And I’m glad The Happiness Project was selected 🙂 I think I’m going to join your book club this month!
I am glad you stopped by the South Korea vendor! I traveled there this summer and loved the food. Everything was so fresh and flavorful. You would love it! Kimchi is definitely an acquired taste that I do not have, but everything else was great!
What a fun event! And I’m so jealous you live so close to Disney World, I’ve only been twice in my life: once when I was about 5 and once for the Kappa Delta National Convention in 2009!
I am heading to Orlando on Thursday to go to the Food and Wine Festival and to run the Food and Wine half marathon! This just got more even more excited.. Its my 1st 1/2 so i am hoping the thought of good food at the end will be enough to keep me running!
Hi Julie! I would LOVE if you shared the recipe for the brie and blackberry wontons, they look amazing!
I would love to go back to Epcot. I’ve only been to Disney World once 11.5 years ago, and though I really enjoyed the World Showcase at the time, I think I’d appreciate it even more now that I’m twice as old as I was the first time I went 😉 Looks like you guys had a fabulous time!
Please do share the recipes. They look amazing!
Good luck reading the Happiness Project! I think Gretchen makes some good points on how we can all be a little more happy with our lives.
We can’t ask this! It’s private haha 🙂
What a great day of eating! I would like the blueberry meatball recipe, sounds interesting!
Hi Julie,
This looks so fun! I’m glad you got to go enjoy yourself with Ryan. Your outfit looks amazing and I would’ve never thought to put that color combination together. I’m also curious on the roasted berries and brie recipe please? We eat brie like there’s no tomorrow down here and love it so it would be fun to have another brie recipe to pull out next time we reach for the cheese.
Genelle
Oh wow that looks like such an amazing day! I’m from the UK, and yes, the pic looks vaguely like home, although everything looks a bit too ‘new’!The food looks amazing, lucky you!
I’m jealous! The Food & Wine Festival sound AMAZING. Two of my favorite things together, food and Disney World. It’s on my bucket list to do the half marathon one day!
Oh no Ryan isn’t doing that Movember mustache thing is he? Surely guys can come up with better ways to raise $$ than grow nasty facial hair!
I would love for you to share the recipe for the Strawberry bruschetta! It sounds delicious! Glad you had a fun day (and date) at Disney!
i want to make it for thanksgiving! i’ll be sure to share it soon!
I LOVE all things Disney, EPCOT included! My family and I make the thousand mile trip (we’re in south east Pennsylvania) and drive down every year. I’ve never been to the Food & Wine Festival, but I’ve read and heard great things about it! I’ve also seen a website that has a lot of the recipes from past festivals! Yummy 🙂
Looks like you had an amazing time! It’s awesome that Ryan got to share the experience with you. I would be very interested in the recipes you had a chance to try out at the Driscoll’s experience! They looked really good!
Gosh all those recipes sounds ah-mazing. . . I am especially interested in roasting blackberries – yum!
As a fellow Disney lover, I LOVE Epcot 🙂 I am always a fan of the Morrocan food…can’t get enough of that falafel! The blackberry wonton and the strawberry brushcetta sound like great Thanksgiving appetizers. I would love if you shared the recipes!
Can I please have the recipe for all three of the dishes you tried at the Driscll event? My mom lives in Fort Myers. I know she would love the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. Will definitely have to tell her about it! Thanks
yes! i’ll be sure to post all of them ASAP. i just posted the thai turkey meatball recipe and blueberry jam recipes today. 🙂 https://www.pbfingers.com/2012/11/07/thai-turkey-meatballs-with-savory-blueberry-jam/