California Food and Wine Weekends Return

[Mufasa's Pride]

From MagicalMountain.net:

Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends Return for Year of A Million Dreams


"ANAHEIM, Calif.---Dreams of ambrosial feasting and exquisite spirits will be fulfilled during the Year of a Million Dreams at Disneyland Resort when Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends 2007 return, April 27 through May 20.​

The four extended weekends (Thursdays-Sundays) will present an abundant bill of fare for everyone from fine wine connoisseurs and skilled epicures to lovers of good food and neophytes wanting to experience and learn more about world-renowned flavors of California cuisine.

The second annual Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends at Disneyland Resort will feature culinary demonstrations, cooking and wine-tasting seminars and a "Taste of California" Marketplace in Disney's California Adventure park. Each weekend will begin with a Thursday night "kickoff event," a lineup of exclusive Celebrity Chef Dinners showcasing the likes of Donna Scala of Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa Valley (April 26), Robert Curry of Auberge du Soliel in Napa Valley (May 3), Chef Jamie Gwen of KABC radio and KTTV Ch 11 (May 10), and Guy Fieri of Food Network (May 17). Advance reservations are required, and the dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Napa Rose at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.



In recent years, with such fresh and audacious restaurants as Napa Rose, Yamabuki, Steakhouse 55, Catal and the Vineyard Room at the Golden Vine Winery, Disneyland Resort has been building its own reputation for fine dining in the parks, the Downtown Disney district, and the hotels. At the celebrated Napa Rose in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, the staff has been training in the sommelier's art as a complement to Executive Chef Andrew Sutton's succulent creations. Under the leadership of Napa Rose Manager and Sommelier Michael Jordan, some 250 members of the Disneyland Resort Food & Beverage team have been certified as Level One sommeliers, including 42 at the Napa Rose alone, the largest number at any restaurant in the world.

In fact, the Friday night Winemaker Dinners - featuring a multi-course meal with knowledgeable and creative wine pairings - will be among the highlights of Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends. Each dinner will be hosted by a renowned winemaker including Jonathan Emmerich (Silverado Vineyards, April 27), Jeffrey Stambor (Beaulieu Vineyard, May 4), Alison Doran (Levendi Estates, May 11), and Dave Miner (Miner Family Vineyards, May 18). The location for the 6:00 p.m. reservation-only dinners will be Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel.

Each weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), a variety of complementary demonstrations and seminars will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis inside Disney's California Adventure park. They will include:
• Culinary Demonstrations – Complimentary 30-minute cooking demonstrations on topics such as classic dishes or specific spices will be presented by Disneyland Resort chefs each day at the Upper Terrace of the Golden Vine Winery.
• Wine, Beer and Spirits Seminars - Noted winemakers, brew masters and Disneyland Resort sommeliers will offer educational tasting seminars on the Lower Terrace of the Golden Vine Winery or at the Pacific Wharf Stage.
• "Taste of California" Marketplace at the Lucky Fortune Cookery in the Pacific Wharf district will offer a delectable array of tapas-sized gourmet food for purchase.

A highlight of each Saturday, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., is the reservation-only Napa Rose Cooking School featuring Executive Chef Andrew Sutton of Disney's award-winning Napa Rose restaurant. Sutton will lead a hands-on cooking and learning experience for a small group of participants who will create a themed meal with expertly paired wines. The class is held in the show kitchen of the elegant Napa Rose at Disney's Grand California Hotel and Spa.

More information about the Disney's California Food and Wine Weekends 2007 (Dates and times of specific events, prices, etc.) can be found at www.DisneysCaliforniaFoodAndWineWeekends.com. "



I know Epcot's Festival is on a whole different scale, but is Disneyland's worth making a special trip for?

 

[kabuki]

My DH and I and a couple friends went to the 1st Sunday of Disneyland's Food and Wine weekends. We will be trying to go at least one day each weekend. We also are going to Taste! Can't wait. This is the 2nd year they have done this officially at California Adventure. It doesn't compare with WDW Food and Wine Festival at all, but it is a lot of fun and getting bigger each year. Here are some things we did and some pictures.

1st stop of the day was Sweet Sundays at the Upper Terrace of the Golden
Vine Winery. This was a demo of Chocolate Ice Cream with Carmel Swirl and candy pecans with salt. It was amazing but my DH got so excited he ate the sample before he took the shot. They limit the number of people to 45 or so in the classes and you could see and hear very well. The chef was nervous but did well showing how to make ice cream to a crowd.

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Through out the day we attended three of the 5 wine tasting. Brassfield, Silverado and Scherrer. All three speakers were very informative but we liked the Wine maker from Scherrer the best. You received three tastes from each winery. The only down side to the wine talks are they are held on the lower winery patio and every time the High School Musical announcement is made or the parade goes by you miss most of what is said. They only have a 1/2 hour per class so it can be very annoying when a lot of the time is taken up by this.

This is what the set up looked like for all the tasting!
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We also did a food demo at the demonstration pavilion next to the lucky fortune cookery. We chose the Oh, so Risotto class. This was horrible. The area is so loud you cannot hear a thing. They had mariachis playing right behind you almost the whole time. You would think someone helping to think this thing up would say, OK NO MUSIC behind the food classes. What we tasted and could hear was good but I don't know I'd wait to do anything at this sight again.

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The last this is the Market Place "Taste of California" menu and food. This is what they have set up instead of Food Booths like WDW. They Food tastes are just as small but more expensive. Most was not worth the price.

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This was the Pork Couscous $5 and Bland!

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Lobster and Shrimp Quesadilla.
This was $5 and OK! Tasted fine but not $5.

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Beef $5 I did not try but my friends said it wasn't great

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Beer Cheese Soup $5
Made from Karl Strauss beer and served in a bread bowl.
I have to say it was better to me then the one in WDW from Canada but again about twice the price.

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