Winter Garden Magazine August 2018 | Page 24

ATTRACTIONS UPDATE 23rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Celebrates Global Flavors 75-day event serves up culinary extravaganza, Aug. 30-Nov. 12, 2018 The aromas and flavors of more than 30 global food and beverage marketplaces, plus a full menu of new offerings such as “Sunday Brunch with the Chef ” series, will welcome guests to Epcot during the 23rd Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, Aug. 30-Nov. 12, 2018. Throughout the 75-day event, guests will have a chance to meet their favorite celebrity chefs, try a new Food & Beverage Pairing in the Festival Cenåter each Friday through Sunday, and get their gourmet groove on at nightly Eat to the Beat Concert Series shows. One of America’s top food festivals since 1996, the Epcot dine-around extravaganza will surprise guests with new and inspiring sips and bites throughout World Showcase and on into several Future World venues. Here’s the latest festival buzz: The new Taste Track global marketplace featuring specialty croissant doughnuts (add gelato for an extra-sweet treat) joins dozens of popular returning marketplaces. For a fourth year, global marketplaces will extend into Future World to offer brand-new taste sensations. Disney chefs are in the kitchen whipping up delicious new bites like Butternut Squash Ravioli with brown butter vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese and pumpkin seeds at The Wine & Dine Studio; Charred Chimichurri Skirt Steak with smoked corn cake, pickled vegetable slaw and cilantro aïoli at Flavors from Fire; and New Brunswick Slider, slow-braised beef brisket “pot roast-style” on a potato roll with horseradish cream, crispy fried onions and pickled vegetables on the side at the Hops & Barley. The new “Sunday Brunch with the Chef” series in World ShowPlace will kick off Sept. 2 with Top Chef All-Star Richard Blais and continue on select Sundays through Nov. 11 with a lineup that includes Jamie Deen, Tiffani Thiessen, Masaharu Morimoto, Buddy Valastro, Art Smith, Geoffrey Zakarian, Carla Hall and Alex Guarnaschelli. Eat to the Beat concerts – 225 shows in all – will rev up the America Gardens Theatre stage three times each night with new musical acts including Vertical Horizon, Sheila E, 98 Degrees, 24  | WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2018