The main highlight of the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is all of the food and drink options that showcase flavors from around the world. Each Frog Family member has their own favorite festival item that returns year after year. Leap can't go without getting the filet mignon from Canada, while Lily looooves the Brazilian cheese bread and Tad savors the German schinkennudeln. I'm partial to the Fry Flight, which makes its comeback for a third year. However, we always appreciate the new menu items, which help keep the festival fresh (pun intended). If you're also a repeat festivalgoer like us, you might want a quick rundown of what's new at EPCOT Food & Wine this year. Well, with some help from Disney Chef Kevin, we'll give you the inside scoop on how Disney comes up with inspiration for the festival and a look at some new offerings!
Food & Wine Inspiration from a Disney Chef
Recently, we got a special opportunity to talk with Disney Chef Kevin, and we wanted to pick his brain about the culinary team's creative process behind crafting the festival menus. Disney is famous for its storytelling, and it's no different when it comes to creating new Food & Wine marketplaces and menu items.
Chef Kevin said when they created The Fry Basket three years ago, Food & Wine kicked off earlier in the summer. For him, summer is synonymous with beach trips where you can't escape the fry place down the boardwalk. Because the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival started in late August this year, the EPCOT culinary team wanted to play around with fall flavors, and thus Harvest Hollow was born. While it may still not toadally feel like fall in Florida yet, Chef Kevin hopes that the menu items from Harvest Hollow get people in the fall spirit and that the newly decorated space brings a little something extra special to EPCOT, just like the fall decor over at Magic Kingdom.
While some ideas are more straightforward, such as building the menu for a specific country, the team can get inspired by trendy foods or a cool up-and-coming cooking technique. For example, Brew-Wing Lab is home to the infamous pickle milkshake, as well as fried pickle spears and a pickle hard seltzer. We frogs love pickles, so it's a hit for us!
Almost 30% of this year's festival menu offerings are new, according to Chef Kevin. Guest feedback greatly helps, as the team has to balance new and returning menu items. On one hand, they can narrow down which popular items resonate the most with guests, while on the other hand, they also know repeat visitors, especially locals, expect to see new things.
New Offerings at EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival
Harvest Hollow
As Chef Kevin mentioned, Harvest Hollow is located between World Showcase and Imagination! Pavilion, featuring three new marketplaces inspired by fall flavors. Last year, the area had been blocked off, so having this space back and coming up with the story they wanted to tell with fall flavors tied everything together organically. Bramblewood Bites highlights foods fresh off the grill, while Milled & Mulled is all about the fall desserts and Forest & Field focuses on fall fruits and spices.
Bramblewood Bites
- Grilled Cider-brined Pork Tenderloin with fennel apple slaw and apple cider gastrique
- Grilled Bison with butternut squash purée, roasted mushrooms and huckleberry gastrique
- Cast Iron-roasted Brussel Sprouts and Root Vegetables with dried cranberries, candied pecans and maple bourbon glaze
- GoGi Pinot Noir
- (New) Spiced Apple Old Fashioned-inspired cocktail with Boyd & Blair Rum
Milled & Mulled
- Freshly-baked Carrot Cake with walnuts and cream cheese icing
- (New) Boursin Fig & Balsamic Cheesecake with fig jam and pomegranate (Emile's Fromage Montage item)
- (New) Pear and Almond Frangipane Pâte Brisée
- (New) Blake’s Hard Cider Co. Cider Mill Donut Hard Cider
- (New) Coppertail Brewing Fallen Fruit Blueberry Pie Hard Cider
- (New) Chocolate Shop Chocolate Red Wine
Forest & Field
- (New) Autumn Chili with bison, lamb, pork belly, root vegetables, jalapeño cornbread, smoked cheddar and Crème Fraîche
- Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli with sage-brown butter, pecorino cheese and hazelnut praline
- Burrata with seasonal fall fruit, spiced pecans, apple purée and fig vinaigrette
- (New) Lievland Bushvine Pinotage
- (New) Piper-Sonoma Brut
- (New) Brewery Ommegang All Hallows Treat Chocolate Peanut Butter Imperial Stout
CommuniCore Hall
EPCOT Food & Wine is the first festival to utilize CommuniCore Hall and Plaza, the new indoor/outdoor space in World Celebration. Inside CommuniCore Hall, you'll find tables and chairs, festival merch and space for a marketplace — introducing the brand-new Macatizers. Outside on the plaza, Festival Favorites is a walk-up counter serving, well, festival favorites ;) The CommuniCore Plaza stage currently hosts the limited-time "Encanto"-themed show, which started in June and will continue through National Hispanic & Latin American Heritage Month. It's expected that both menu items and entertainment will change from festival to festival.
Macatizers
- Traditional Macaroni and Cheese with herbed panko*
- Cheesesteak Macaroni and Cheese with shaved beef, peppers, onions and breadcrumbs*
- Truffle Macaroni and Cheese*
- IMPOSSIBLE Chili Macaroni and Cheese with sour cream and cheddar (Plant-based)*
- Crooked Can Brewing Company Vinifera Velvet Lager
- Southern Tier Brewing Co Raspberry Shine Summer Wheat Ale
- Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company Kentucky Pumpkin Bourbon Barrel Ale
- Beer Flight
- Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Chardonnay
- Klinker Brick Bricks & Roses Rosé
- Beringer Bros Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon
- Wine Flight
- Knights Bridge Sauvignon Blanc
- St. Supéry Domaine de l’Ile Rosé
- Caymus 50th Anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon
*Emile's Fromage Montage item
Festival Favorites
- Kielbasa and Potato Pierogis with caramelized onions and sour cream
- BBQ Pork Rinds served with pimento cheese*
- Key Lime Tart
- Frozen S’mores: Chocolate Milkshake with marshmallow syrup topped with mini marshmallows and a graham cracker (Nonalcoholic)
- Irish Milk Shake: Guinness Stout, Baileys Original Irish Cream Liqueur and vanilla ice cream
- Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen
- Parish Brewing Co. SIPS Cab Franc Strawberry
- 3 Daughters Brewing Beach Blonde Ale
- Beer Flight
- Goldschmidt ‘Katherine’ Cabernet Sauvignon
- Martin Ray Chardonnay
*Emile's Fromage Montage item
The Frog Family's Top 5 Favorite New Items
With dozens of new menu items, it was hard to narrow down our favorites! Before we jump into our recommendations, we want to point out our separate blog post with all of the Food & Wine menus, both new and returning items. You can also download our menu infographic, which is organized in walking order and includes icons for new, plant-based, nonalcoholic, kid-friendly, Frog Family-favorite and Emile's Fromage Montage options. For a general overview with additional details about entertainment, kids' activities and more, hop over to our EPCOT Food & Wine Festival guide.
1. Pumpkin Marscapone Ravioli from Forest & Field
From one of the Harvest Hollow marketplaces, the Pumpkin Marscapone Ravioli was a frog favorite for its sweet and savory flavors. The combination of the creaminess of the cheesy pumpkin filling and the crunchiness of the hazelnut praline bits sprinkled on top is perfection. We think it's a dish that the entire family would enjoy!
2. Hot Dogs from Flavors of America
Hot dogs are one of the quintessential American foods, and Flavors of America knocks it out of the park with its lineup of hot dogs representing various regions of the country. You've got the classic New York-style dog with sauerkraut, onion-tomato sauce and spicy mustard. The Chicago-style dog is complete with the poppy seed bun, pickles, peppers and relish. The Carolina-style dog consists of chili and coleslaw, while the Southwest-style dog is wrapped in bacon and topped with pinto beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, avocado crema and queso fresco. Choose one, or try them all!
3. IMPOSSIBLE Montreal Style Burger Slider from Flavors from Fire
As one of the new plant-based offerings this year, we were pleasantly surprised by the IMPOSSIBLE Montreal Style Burger Slider. It comes with cheddar cheese and tomato jam on a sesame seed bun.
4. Sushi from Japan
We enjoyed both of the new sushi options from the Japan booth! The first option is the Wagyu Temaki Sushi, which has sweet and savory American Wagyu beef topped with Takana Japanese pickles and spicy mayo sauce. The second is the Eel Temaki Sushi with grilled eel, egg crumbles, cucumber and pickled daikon radish served with eel sauce.
5. Unnecessarily Spicy Yet Extremely Tasty Carolina Reaper Pepper Curry Wings from Brew-Wing Lab
With a name like that, you'd expect the wings to pack a punch, and they most certainly do! Four out of five frogs thought one bite was enough, but one frog handled the heat and actually enjoyed the flavors enough to go back in for more. These wings may not be for everyone, but if you're up for the challenge, be prepared with a carton of milk, or better yet, the pickle milkshake.
@undercovertourist Which frog would your reaction be the most like?! 🐸🔥 Today is the first day of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival and we decided to start off with some heat! These wings can be found at Brew-Wing Lab at the Odyssey, near Mexico. These wings truly have a lot of flavor, but definitely pack a punch (unless you’re Li 😂). Follow along in our stories today as we experience some of the fun of the first day of the festival! Head to the link in our bio for tips and check out our recent post for a festival infographic with all menus in walking order! 🧀🍷 #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #disneyparks #epcot #foodandwine #foodandwinefestival #epcotfoodandwinefestival #disney ♬ original sound - Undercover Tourist
That wraps up our new highlights for this year's EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! Which new (or returning) food and drink items are you looking forward to trying? Share in the comments below!
Related: Wining and Dining Through EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival
Related: The Full List of EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Menus
Hoppy planning!
