

Wine, dine with the Mouse


Walt Disney World kicks off the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival today, a six-week-long event showcasing goodies and grapes from around the globe.

The 12th annual fest will feature seminars, tastings, culinary demonstrations and food samples from such countries as China, Chile, Turkey and Peru. And this year, for the first time, the organizers have chosen one of these United States to feature.

No, it isn't California, although that state is well known for its contributions of food and wine. Nope, not New York, either, also known for its wine-producing region. Nor Oregon. And it isn't Washington State or even Virginia.

It's Oklahoma, OK? That's right, O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a. Why focus on a state more renowned for its land rush than its grape crush? Because this is the Sooner state's centennial, that's why. And what can we expect? Well, according to festival coordinator Stacia Wake, there will be a chuck wagon and Native American cooking demonstrations. There will also be a display featuring Route 66, which is all most people from other parts of the country usually see of Oklahoma as they go from one end to the other, and three 16-foot-high exhibits called Walls of Wonder that showcase trailblazing Okies.

The state will also sponsor a dinner with several well-known Oklahoma chefs, although Wake was quick to explain the chefs may be well-known only in Oklahoma.

The theme for this year's festival is "Tastefully Inspired," which is not self-explanatory. Apparently it's meant to convey a relationship between works of art on a canvas and those on a table, preferably a plate and not the tablecloth. In announcing the theme, Disney quotes festival manager Nora Carey as saying, "We're showcasing great artwork from around the world that celebrates food and wine in many scenes." Carey says it will get guests to "think about food in a new way."

I was just fine with the old way, but I'll keep an open mind.

Some tasty 'freebies'

It's pretty safe to say there is no other event dedicated to great wine and food anywhere else in the world with the immense scope and scale of Epcot's, although I've never been to a wine tasting in Tulsa. In fact, there's so much going on over the next month and a half that I couldn't begin to list it all here. For a complete list, go to disneyworld .com/food, but here are some of the things to expect.

As in years past, the festival will occupy several areas of Epcot. All around the World Showcase walkway will be special "marketplace" booths featuring signature nibbles and regional wines from more than 25 countries. These are appetizer-sized portions, most priced from $2 to $4, that allow you to nibble your way around the lagoon. The best advice I can give you is to take a lap around the Showcase and take a look at the foods being offered (there's always been a sample on display in years past), then go back and try the ones that intrigue you the most. Otherwise you're going to pig out and be full before you hit Canada and not even make it to France or South Africa.

Not everything costs extra. Each day a number of wine tastings are offered on a first-come, first-in-line basis. These are generally sponsored by a particular winery and sometimes conducted by the winemaker, who offers a taste of four or five of the winery's best (or good enough) with insight into how the juice got into the bottle.

The wine seminars are in the Festival Welcome Center, which this year moves to the Wonders of Life pavilion in Future Word East. There you'll also find a champagne and wine bar where you can buy sips. There will also be a wine shop plus a festival gift shop with cookbooks and festival keepsakes.

There are also free cooking demonstrations throughout the day, every day, by chefs from Disney and the real world. These often include sample plates of the dish being demo'd, and they're conducted in the air-conditioned splendor of Odyssey -- The Chef's Showplace.

Todd English and Cat Cora

That is some of the free stuff available (well, free after you pay for parking and Epcot admission), but if you're hankering to spend a lot of money, there are some good opportunities for that. Odyssey Kitchen Conversations ($75) are cooking demonstrations, tastings and souvenir cookbooks from celebrity cooks such as Todd English and Cat Cora. The Cook, the Book and the Bottle ($150) are three-course luncheons from the likes of Mireille Guilano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure and Suvir Suran, American Masala.

The sensational nighttime Party for the Senses ($135) is held every Saturday during the fest, each week featuring a variety of visiting chefs as well as some of Disney's best. The cavernous World Showplace is filled with food- and wine-tasting stations for you to wander about while cast members of Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba perform.

By the way, all the above events require admission to the park.

Many of the events have been sold out for weeks. Most still have some availability, but move quickly to reserve.

A couple of new events are still available: Discovering Wine: A Sensory Adventure ($150) on Nov. 3 and 4 will feature a seminar and lunch with Robert Mondavi Winery (and it's at Citricos in the Grand Floridian Spa and Resort, so you don't have to pay to get into Epcot); and A South African Wine Adventure ($75) on Oct. 12, a wine-tasting event featuring more than 40 vineyards at Epcot's World Showplace, admission required again.

There's plenty to do, plenty to taste and only six short weeks to take it all in, so get going. I'll report on what I've found at the festival in a couple of weeks in Chow Hound, and look for periodic updates in the Theme Park Rangers blog.

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