Tag Archives: #Disney

My Trip to Cooper’s Hawk’s Winery and Restaurant in Orlando Florida

 

Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant has multiple locations in the Eastern Half of the continental United States.  Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant is part Wine Bar, part gift shop, part candy shop and also a restaurant.

A benefit of dining here is that they took all the guessing out of wine pairing. Everyone who dines here can be a sommelier. Each item on the menu has the suggested wine bin number so you can pair wine like a pro. Many varieties of wine are offered and many wines are award wining. Carafes of wine come in a decanter and bottles are decanted very elaborately with a contraption I’ve never seen before.

The dining room is sort of traditional in style with dark wood traditional tables and chairs.

The menu is mostly American but is laced with global inspirations. For the mains they offer a variety of proteins. They offer several steak dishes, some fish dishes, pasta dishes and more.

We started with Brussel Sprouts with Cashews, Mint, Sweet Chili, Sesame and Sriracha.

This dish had good flavors going on.  I liked the play of spicy sweet and bright mint. But this dish was on the oily side and the Brussel Sprout were raw inside.

For my main I had the Soy Ginger Salmon with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes and Slaw.

My fish was slightly over done and the soy ginger sauce was cloyingly sweet. The potatoes hardly had any wasabi taste that I was looking forward too.

On the Bright Side!

My husband enjoyed his Shrimp and Grits!

My sister’s fiancé enjoyed the Rib Eye Special!

I did indeed enjoy the wine I tried! I thought it was a great value for restaurant priced wine.

That was my trip to Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Orlando Florida.

wwwCHwinery.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

 

My Trip to the Disney Epcot 2018 Food and Wine Festival in Orlando Florida

 

From August 30th till November 12th 2018 Epcot at Disney turns Global Foodie. Just walk your feet off all around Epcot and sample different tastes from around the world…..Don’t worry about over doing it because you know it’s a Small World After all.

You need at least two days to do the Food and Wine Festival. Most of the booths offer three choices of food, a beverages or two and maybe a dessert that cost $5-$10.00 on the average. The festival foods run not all but mostly beef and pork……We skipped all the beverages (except for water), wines and most desserts for more stomach room. We cherry picked the foods we picked and it took two days for us and that is with us skipping some booths (some skipping was accidental).  If you are more serious about trying all the food and drink you need to split the food with a group of people and you might need at least three days in Epcot. Two Days of all this food for two people only cost us $138.00….(plus park admission).

Our first stop was Thailand and we shared a Red Hot Spicy Thai Curry Beef with steamed rice.

New Zealand was Seared Venison Sausage with Kumara Puree and Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce.

At Canada we found Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet with Truffle Butter Sauce.

We stopped at Ireland two days. One day was Roasted Irish Sausage with Colcannon Potatoes and Onion Gravy. The Other we tried Warm Irish Cheddar Cheese Stout Dip with Irish Brown Bread. (we were given two slices but noticed the next day they were giving out four slices….

Brazil had Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans and Onions.

Didn’t eat in Morocco but it was pretty here.

Japan offered of the very few chicken and fish offerings. We tried Teriyaki Chicken Bun and a Spicy Rice Roll of Tuna and Salmon that was topped with Volcano Sauce.

At Italy we tried one of the other chicken offerings – Pollo All Cacciatora – Braised Chicken Thigh with mushrooms, tomatoes and Parmesan Polenta.

At a booth called From The Fire was some of the most delicious food from the festival. Here we tried Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potato Chips, Pickled Onions, Pale Ale Fondue, Romano and Grana Cheeses. Then we tried Charred Chimichurri Skirt Steak on a Smoked Corn Cake with Pickled Slaw and Cilantro Aioli. We skipped not all but many of the sweets but luckily tried the Chocolate Picante. It was a delicious plate of Dark Chocolate Mousse with Cayenne Pepper, Chocolate Candy Balls and Mango.

Earth Eats offered a Mushroom Blended  Beef Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, Truffle, Blue Cheese and a Potato Chip on Brioche. Also Offered was the Vegan Impossible Burger Slider with SPICY Asian Slaw and Wasabi Cream on Sesame Bun. The Impossible Burger was slightly over-cooked but both burgers was very flavorful and delicious.

At Active Eats was Loaded Mac “N” Cheese with Cheddar, Pepper Bacon, Peppers and Green Onions. They also offered Verlasso Salmon with Lentil Salad, Avocado and Sherry Vinegar.

At the Chocolate Studio we both LOVED the Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Whiskey Sauce. But our least favorite plate for BOTH OF US at the festival was the Sweet Chocolate Raspberry Torte…..Wow neither of could eat it…..

Our trip to the Cheese Studio was pretty darn yummy. We tried a Trio of a Profiterole with Boursin Garlic Herbs with Apricot jam, A Smoked Salmon Pinwheel made with Boursin Shallot Cream Cheese and Everything Seasoning and last was a Strawberry Macaron with Boursin Pepper Cheese.

Our last stop outside was the Wine and Dine Studio. We tried a Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Parmesan Cheese and Pumpkin Seeds and a Cheese Trio of Crescenza-Stracchino, Gorgonzola Dolce Vino Rosso.

Inside the World Showcase were special add on food special event options, Chocolate displays and bottles of wine and liquor for sale.

I was eyeing up a bottle of Lucas Winery Wine…You know the Star Wars Guy. It was $65.00 a bottle so we sampled a tasting with a cheese plate.

We spent $13.00 on the wine tasting to save $65.00. I forget what the cheese plate cost.

Then we finished off with a free British Revolution Concert.

That was my Trip to the 2018 Disney Epcot Food and Wine Festival in Orlando Florida.

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

 

My Trip to Terralina Crafted Italian Restaurant at Disney Springs near Orlando Florida

 

Terralina Crafted Italian is located in Disney Springs formally known as Downtown Disney near Orlando Florida. This is an American/Italian Restaurant with a waterfront. The Menu has been created by James Beard Award Winning Chef Tony Mantuano. This restaurant serves wood oven pizzas, calzones, some house made pastas, entrees and more. They also have a sommelier on site for wine advise.

The dining is sort of Mediterranean in style with lots of stone and iron work.

They also offer patio dining.

We were dining with my sister and her fiancé and shared a couple of appetizers.

They took about forty five minutes to arrive after we ordered. I tried the Fried Ricotta Stuffed Olives n the left first. They were a little different and tasty. On the right were stuffed rice balls. I was expecting them to be seasoned and flavorful but oddly who ever prepared them had an allergy to seasoning and made the rice balls unseasoned and next to flavorless….. but the rice balls were fried nicely and seemed free of oil. The tomato sauce also lacked flavors….

Then we found ourselves waiting for dinner.

Then we wait some more for dinner.

Our waiter stops by and apologies  for all the time we’ve been waiting and says that dinner is coming out soon.

Then maybe another half hour goes by and he apologies again and says dinner should be coming out soon.

The Wine Sommelier checks on us and apologies…….

We waited a really long time for dinner. (somewhere over an hour and a half from when we ordered)

Finally three of the four dinners arrive…….Everyone’s dinner but mine.

I told everyone to eat but they all insisted to wait till my dinner arrived.

So we wait another 15 minutes and my dinner arrives.

My dinner was good. It was hot and fresh and prepared reasonably well. But I was the only one at the table that got a fresh nice prepared meal……….    🙁

My sister got the same dinner I had but it was a version that sat out a little while.

My husband’s Seafood Cannelloni also hung out with my sisters plate but the Cannelloni weren’t flavored so well I was told.

But the worst one was my sister’s fiancé’s Swordfish.

It was cold with a RAW COLD center…….Cold and RAW!

Now the waiter apologies to us again.

The Wine Sommelier apologies to us again.

The Manager apologies, comps our bill and tells us to get dessert and or anything else we want.

The FORKING TRUTH is that I haven’t been served by a nicer or more apologetic staff of people that served such a disaster of a dinner.

That was my trip to Terralina Crafted Italian at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista near Orlando.

www.TerralinaCraftedItalian.com

I NOTE THAT Every FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

 

 

My Trip to Tiffins Restaurant in Animal Kingdom at Disney World Orlando Florida

 

Tiffins is an upscale restaurant located in Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando Florida. The food they serve is Modern Global that usually features flavors that are  Africa, Latin and Asian.

The atmosphere is formal, a little dark without windows and is embellished with artwork with a jungle theme.

We went for the full experience. We got a three course meal that included a champagne toast, a glass of wine or beer, The Lion King Show with VIP seating and a Semi Private Safari Tour. (2018 pricing was about $100.00 a person)

Our waiter was very welcoming. He explained all the dishes to us and also made recommendations.

They started us off with focaccia with pomegranate molasses. (I forgot to photo…)

My husband and I shared an Artisanal Cheese Plate and a Chickpea Falafel with Mint Pistachio Pesto, Cumin Garlic Raita.

The Falafel was light and fluffy with a moist but flavorful center. Lots of good flavors going on there.

My main was Pan Seared Halibut with a Concentrated Tomato, Green Beans, Fingerling Potatoes, Saffron Aioli and Olive Marmalade.

The halibut came out with a nice sear, was tender, moist and seasoned just so. The Olive Marmalade and Saffron Aioli were unusually delicious with the Halibut.

My husband’s plate was more interesting…..

He had the Crispy Sadza (African Porridge) with Braised Berkshire Pork Belly, Crispy Corn Cake, Vegetables, Chakalaka (spicy south African vegetable/bean Relish) and Corn Emulsion.

Dessert was

Passion Fruit Tapioca Creme with Chocolate Crumble and Citrus for me.

The dessert tasted like a natural passionfruit. It’s strong but a delicious taste…..

My husband had the South African Chocolate Ganache with Caramelized Banana Cocoa Nib Tuile.

After That we saw the Lion King Show!

Then we finished with a semi private safari.

That was my trip to Tiffins Restaurant in Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando Florida.

www.TiffinsRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and YOUR experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Where The Fork I’ve Been and a Taste of what I Ate…..In Orlando Florida

 

For a few days I’m writing about the places I ate at while in Orlando Florida.

One place I ate at was Norman’s at The Ritz Carlton. This is a fine dining restaurant that serves Fusion of Latin, Caribbean and Asian but European Style. This is a James Beard Award Wining Restaurant and the Chef is Celebrity Chef Norman Van Aken who is a decorated cook book author.

We also tried Mrs Potato. This is a small casual Brazilian Potato Restaurant. I found this yummy stop from the Diners, Drive Ins and Dives from Food Network.

One of our favorite stops was Art Smith’s Home Coming in Disney Springs.

The Food is Southern Style American Comfort Food by an Award Wining James Beard Chef Art Smith. The Food was TOO GOOD HERE….It was too good….so good I had to eat too much. The Food was also generously sized……This is a Must do! This one is actually in Lake Buena Vista but that is just by Orlando.

 

Tiffins Restaurant is a slightly upscale Global Cuisine Dining Restaurant located in Discovery Island in Animal Kingdom at Disney. Flavors from Africa and that are, Asian and Latin are featured. This was among our favorite stops. We managed to get a package where you get a three course meal that includes wine or beer, a Lion King Show with VIP Seating and a semi private Safari Tour.

We tried Terralina Crafted Italian in Disney Springs.

Terralina Crafted Italian Menu was created by James Beard Award Winning Chef Tony Mantuano.

At this time (October 2018) this is a newly opened restaurant.

We also tried out Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant.

Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant is part Gift Shop, Winery, Candy Store and Restaurant. The Reserved Red Blend I tried is very good for it’s price point but if you get a bottle of wine they have a unique way they decant it at the table that looks very impressive.

We also went to the 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival and hit about a dozen of the booths over the two days.

This was where the Fork I was and a Taste of what I ate in Orlando Florida.

The Forking Truth