EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts is back, and with it comes my favorite reason to visit EPCOT — the food! This festival celebrates the arts in all its glory, and it also gives guests a chance to try art-inspired food and drinks.
This was my first time at this festival, and my boyfriend and I did manage to enjoy some unique snacks I would normally not get at EPCOT. Let’s see what we had!
EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts kicked off the festival year with art-inspired foods and drinks!
To start my day I tried the Croissant à la Truffe Noire d’Hiver at L’Art de la Cuisine Francaise, a black winter truffle croissant, which was a surprise treat. We visited EPCOT when it was cold (cold enough to keep my winter gear on), and this croissant is served warm. The black winter truffle had a creamy, earthy taste, and the warm flakey croissant was the perfect accomplice on this cold day. For $8 you may want to avoid this if you don’t like truffle, but if you’re a fan, this is a must.
We paired the croissant with the Frozen French Martini ($8), a sweet frozen treat made with vodka, black raspberry liqueur, pineapple, orange, and grape juice, topped with lemon-lime foam. Despite the weather being cold, this martini was the perfect drink to sip while waiting to get on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Next, we tried the pan-seared scallops with vanilla-butternut squash purée, brown butter cauliflower purée, and lime foam from The Artists Table. The scallops were perfectly seared, resulting in stunning sear marks on the delicate pale flesh, and you did not need a fork and knife to eat this. A spoon will cut these scallops with little effort. These tender bites were complimented by the puree, but the real winner was the cauliflower puree, which reminded us of ranch dressing. Believe me, it was worth the $7.
Since we are big seafood eaters in my house, we made our way to The Craftsman’s Courtyard for the Cast Iron-roasted P.E.I. Mussels with sautéed tomatoes, garlic, and fresh herbs. These perfect muscles were fresh, melted in your mouth, and the tomato sauce added a delicately sweet flavor to the muscles. The garlic was a little strong, but we love garlic in our house. We paired the muscles with the Juggernaut Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon, a velvety rich red with fruity notes. The muscles are $7.50, while the wine is $6. You get a lot of bang for your buck with the muscles, so don’t skip them!
At the end of the day, we checked out the Donut Box, which was a little tucked away from the rest of the food stalls. We got the Vanilla Donut with strawberry sugar, strawberry ice cream, fresh strawberries, and strawberry gele, and paired it with the Quady Wines Electra Moscato Rosé. This dish, though beautiful to look at, didn’t wow us. The donut was unfortunately stale, which is a crime. The strawberry ice cream and strawberries, on the other hand, were fresh and flavorful. The strawberries were ripe with color, and the ice cream was absolutely perfect. The Electra Moscato Rosé was bubbly, fruity, and a nice way to end the day. The Vanilla Donut will run you $5.50, while the Electra Moscato Rosé will be $5.
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Have you been to the Festival of the Arts at EPCOT? Tell us about it in the comments below!