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Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends
Maturing Slowly Like a Fine Wine?

by
Laura Gilbreath
All Ears® Disneyland Correspondent

Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends returns for its second year. And while this festival certainly isn't "all grown up", it has matured a little bit from its inaugural event last year.

This year the event has received corporate sponsorship from several vendors (Vanity Fair napkins being the most prominent) and the new logos and signage display graphics to that effect. As with last year, most events take place in the Golden Vine Winery and Pacific Wharf areas - the Golden Vine Winery is especially nicely decorated with signs and banners and leafy greenery. The demonstration kitchens are decorated as well, with loaves of bread shaped like grape clusters or Mickey Mouse, bowls of fruit, and artistically arranged pans and utensils - several of the pans at both locations were placed in a familiar shape.

There's a very nice multi-page fold-out program this year, with a list of the various complimentary demonstrations and their topics, locations, and times, as well as a map of the venues. Much more convenient than last year, where schedules were not so readily available.

With the addition of several more venues this year, including another demonstration kitchen, a separate beer education area, and the Seasons of the Vine Theater, there are about twice as many demonstrations available. Everything is still first-come, first serve, with generally less than 50 spots available, so they've preserved the more intimate atmosphere they had last year. One change I thought was positive: the new demonstration kitchen in the Pacific Wharf area is in a more open location, so even if you're not able to get into the demo and sit at the tables and try the food, you can still stand around outside and watch and listen. It's also a much more visible location, and might help to draw in park guests that may not know about the Food and Wine Weekends.

I attended the first two days of this year's Food and Wine Weekends. My activities included several cooking demonstrations, a winetasting session, and a couple of trips to the Taste of California Festival Marketplace.

I believe the cooking demonstrations are one of the strengths of the Food and Wine Weekends. The demos feature chefs from different areas all around the Disneyland resort - both the hotel restaurants and the theme park restaurants. The dishes range all the way from appetizers through desserts, using an interesting variety of ingredients with a focus on fresh, in season, fruits and vegetables. I could tell that giving a cooking demonstration was a little outside of the comfort zone for some of the chefs, but there were others who obviously enjoyed being in front of an audience and were quite entertaining. One of them, when talking about cooking with wine, told us that's why they are the "happiest chefs on earth."

In the cooking demonstration areas there are tables for the guests, complete with a pad of paper and pencil for taking notes, and a small bottle of water. They've done a good job of providing cover with awnings, so most seats are out of the sun. After the chef demonstrates the preparation of the food item, from the back a group of servers brings out the already made and plated samples for the audience to try. These are fairly generous servings - and absolutely free. I enjoyed my Berry Crisp, Asparagus Bruschetta, Roasted Butternut Squash Curry Soup and Asian Barbecue with Asian Slaw. All were nicely plated and garnished - I hardly noticed I was eating off of plastic plates with plastic utensils. The chefs are quite willing to take questions during and after their presentations and they seem to enjoy themselves as much as the guests.

I also attended the MacMurray Ranch wine tasting seminar. This had a nice Disney tie-in - the ranch was owned by actor Fred MacMurray (The Absent-Minded Professor, The Shaggy Dog, etc.), and the seminar was conducted by his daughter Kate. Wine tasting seminars are held in the shaded area of the Golden Vine Winery's lower patio where tables and chairs are set up for guests. Each place setting has three glasses of wine and a bottle of water - on the tables are baskets of crackers for cleansing the palate. Some wineries provide additional small souvenirs like key chains or CDs. I really enjoyed Kate MacMurray's presentation - while knowledgeable, she spoke in descriptive terms that you didn't have to be a wine expert to understand. We sampled a Pinot Gris and two Pinot Noirs.

Unfortunately, most of the demonstrations were disrupted at some point by the High School Musical Pep Rally procession as it made its way from Sunshine Plaza to Paradise Pier - even though the presenters were miked, they weren't loud enough to be heard over the music as the Pep Rally float passed by and the presentations had to be stopped until they could be heard again.

So what about the Taste of California Marketplace? Well, this year only the Lucky Fortune Cookery is serving food - and there are correspondingly fewer selections. I was very disappointed in that, because the food selections were one area I really hoped they would expand this year. I just can't help comparing it to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival where you try one thing, and then wander around World Showcase a little further and try something else. You just can't do that with a single location and there's not enough variety in the food selections to keep me coming back more than a couple of times.

But back to the food...
About half of the food items are new this year. The portions are small and to really feel like you've had much of a meal I think most people would need 3-4 different selections. At $3.75-$5.00 each that starts to add up quickly. I do have to say that the California Skewers, $5.00 for one beef and one chicken skewer, was fairly generous. And the White Cheddar Soup in a mini sourdough boule is quite filling. Pictured here is my new favorite, the Chocolate Marquise (thick chocolate mousse over dark chocolate/hazelnut praline). Yum. My favorite from last year, the Seasonal Berries with Chardonnay Sabayon, is back this year. I also tried the Grilled Artichokes, Israeli Couscous with Roasted Pork, and Northern Halibut. They were all good, but I wouldn't rank any of them as a "do-over" except the Marquise. (And I do wonder whose idea it was to combine "Israeli" couscous with pork...)

I also attended two of the Signature events - the Winemaker's dinner featuring Silverado winery, and the Wine Reception - but there will be more detail on those in another report. I will also be attending the upcoming Taste event. I will say that I think the Signature events are one of the best parts of the Food and Wine Weekends - I just wish I had the time and money to go to all of them!

So, how did I feel about this year's Food and Wine Weekends? Well, I'm happy that the Disney company brought them back for another year. While I can understand that you don't become something like the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in just a couple of years, and that "baby steps" might be required, I must admit that I was hoping for a little more this year. Don't get me wrong, I think that everything that has been done has been done *well*, but there's just not enough there to warrant an entire day in the park. And maybe that's not the intent, and I'm trying to put too much Epcot into it again. I enjoyed the sessions that I attended, but after several sessions and a couple trips to the Marketplace I was looking for something else to do - but hey, there's a whole theme park out there, right?

Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from April 27-May 20. Admission is included with your park admission, but there are several special events that are an additional charge. Some of these are already sold out, but others have openings still remaining. For more information or to make reservations on-line, visit http://www.disneyscaliforniafoodandwineweekends.com

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