foodie friday : epcot flower & garden festival.

You might be confused about the title of this post. Do I mean the Food & Wine Festival instead? Not at all. The Flower & Garden Festival has stepped up its game and brought out a variety of outdoor kitchens to accompany their beautiful plants. As pescas, we couldn't sample every kitchen, but most of the ones we tried were amazing.


We started out our spin around the World Showcase with a stop at the Pineapple Promenade. This was my most-anticipated booth for only one thing: spiked dole whip. If you've never had a dole whip, you should remedy that as soon as possible. It's a delicious pineapple soft serve with pineapple juice. Simple, but crazy delicious. Epcot's special version includes either Myer's Dark Rum or Parrot Bay Coconut Rum. Paul chose dark, while I went with coconut. We were thrilled to notice that it was a heavy pour of each--no skimping here! As expected, it was a wonderful treat on a hot day.


Next: Buttercup Cottage near England. The food sounded delicious, but we chose some refreshing drinks to wash down the dole whip. I went with a chilled rose blush lemonade with raspberry, while Paul sipped on a Twinings cold brewed English classic with lemongrass syrup. Both were yummy--mine was sweet and tangy, while Paul's was more understated. A+.


Bonjour, you beauties. Fleur de Lys in France was our next foodie destination, and it did not disappoint. I tasted my very first macaron--an oversized orange blossom macaron with white chocolate ganache--and it was heavenly. Soft, chewy, and the flavor was just perfect. Paul selected the (ultra-girly) La Vie en Rose frozen slush, made up of vodka, grey goose orange, st. germain liquor, & white and red cranberry juice. He immediately poured it into my empty lemonade cup before we could continue our stroll.



Near Morocco's Taste of Marrakesh, we chose their signature drink--a Desert Rose. It was sparkling wine with pomegranate liqueur. Paul didn't love it, but I thought the flavor was good, and who doesn't like a little bubbly in the middle of the day?


One of our best decisions was going with the frushi at Japan's Hanami. Frushi turned out to be pineapple, strawberries, and melon rolled with coconut rice, served with raspberry sauce, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and served with whipped cream on the side. YUM. Not overly sweet, but just enough. The coconut rice was the star here. I wish we'd gone back for seconds!


At this point, we skipped over America's Smokehouse, where there was nothing we wanted to eat. We landed next at Italy's Primavera Kitchen. Paul ordered a three cheese manicotti for us to share. Unfortunately, we weren't blown away. The huge basil leaf was tasty and a nice touch, but everything else was passable. I blame my dad's Italian cooking for spoiling our tastes.


I'd been looking forward to the next stop--Florida Fresh. Paul had to get the Florida Avenue Blueberry from Cold Storage Brewery because, come on, blueberry. I sipped on the Hurricane Class 5 Florida White Sangria from Florida Orange Groves. Paul loved the beer, but the sangria? Eh. It was tasty, but the serving size was pitiful, and I expected some fruit in my sangria.


Lotus House in China was our next destination. We both ordered the vegetable spring rolls, which were quite tasty. Paul got his with some sriracha, of course!


We ate dessert before dinner at Jardin de Fiestas in Mexico. We shared the flan de chocolate abuelita. Yum! This might've been the best flan I've ever had. Normally the texture throws me off, but this one was just right.


We finished our trip around the world at Urban Farm Eats. This location might've been my very favorite, and I wish we'd tried everything there. Instead, we chose the picked beet salad with goat cheese cream, mizuna, and pistachios over arugula, along with some cucumber lemon water. Paul wouldn't touch the beets, but I loved them. Everything about this salad was perfection. I need to recreate it at home!

Did you go to the Flower & Garden Festival this year? What did you think?