Earlier this month, the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival 2017 kicked off at the Disneyland Resort, running daily until April 16th. Being Orlando based, all of my experience with such events has been at Epcot, so I was excited to see a festival in another Disney theme park for a change.

The number of booths at this event isn’t as staggering as Epcot, but on a weekend, it can be just as busy, if not worse than a Saturday and Sunday in October during the Florida Food and Wine event. If you can, I suggest you visit on a weekday for the DCA event, as we had a wonderful time doing this on Wednesday and Thursday, but it was kind of a disaster from Friday-Sunday.

Booths selling food and drink at this event are spread from Hollywood Land to Paradise Pier, with most of them along the Performance Corridor in the center of the park, with the exception of LA Style, the Festival Showplace, and the Brewhouse near Monsters Inc. – Mike and Sully to the Rescue.

Jason Diffendal joined me on the trip out to the Disneyland Resort last week for a number of reasons, and the Food & Wine Festival was one of those reasons, so some off the thoughts you read below will also be his or include his point of view.

OK, let’s review this thing…

Nuts About Cheese

We begin at the booth I was probably the least excited to try…

Here’s the full menu:

• Brie toast with fig and mint and roasted California almond crumble — $5.00
• Baked ham and Swiss cheese croque monsieur roll with smoked pistachios — $7.00
• Chèvre fromage blanc tartine infused with rosemary and honey, topped with toasted hazelnuts — $4.50
• Almond milk tea with pudding — $4.50

Baked ham and Swiss cheese croque monsieur roll with smoked pistachios — $7.00

This was one of our favorite dishes. The smoky flavor from the pistachios was amazing, and paired well with the ham and cheese.  This is a must-purchase item.

Chèvre fromage blanc tartine infused with rosemary and honey, topped with toasted hazelnuts — $4.50

This was nothing special, but I wouldn’t call it bad.  It seemed somewhat of a small portion size though, price considered. I know what you’re thinking about other festivals and how portions are never huge there, but there are some options at this event that can be quite filling.

Almond milk tea with pudding — $4.50

This was hands down the worst item at the festival. I imagine this is what expired chocolate milk tastes like, because that is the only flavor I could possibly attribute to it. The pudding was in “chunks” and settled to the bottom, so when you drank it through the straw it had the texture of drinking curdled milk.

Uncork California

There was no food at this booth, as you might have guessed from the name.  We didn’t try any of the wines; the single glasses are rather pricey considering that you can get most of these at your local wine shop (at least in California). Here’s the full menu:

• White wine flight — $16.00 – Duckhorn Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley; Mer Soleil Vineyard, Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands; Lasseter Family Winery, Enjoué Rosé, Sonoma Valley Estate Grown
• Red wine flight — $20.00 – Flora Springs Napa Valley Family Estate, Merlot, Napa Valley; Flowers Vineyards and Winery, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast; Groth Vineyards and Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• Mimosa flight — $16.00 – Pear Mimosa, Apricot Mimosa, Mango Mimosa
• Chandon, Brut Classic, Sparkling Wine, California — $12.00
• Twomey Cellars, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa-Sonoma County — $16.00
• Patz and Hall, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast — 18.00
• Duckhorn Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley — $13.00
• Mer Soleil Vineyard, Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands — $13.00
• Lasseter Family Winery, Enjoué Rosé, Sonoma Valley Estate Grown — $17.00
• Flora Springs Napa Valley Family Estate, Merlot, Napa Valley — $14.50
• Groth Vineyards and Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley — $19.00
• Pear Mimosa — $14.00
• Apricot Mimosa — $14.00
• Mango Mimosa — $14.00

I ♥ Artichokes

I usually don’t “heart” artichokes, so the reactions I had to dishes here were pretty unexpected…

The full booth menu:

• Artichoke carbonara with garlic aioli and smoked bacon — $6.00
• Grilled and chilled artichoke hearts with Romesco sauce — $5.25
• Creamy artichoke and dark chocolate cake pop — $4.25
• Orange iced tea with orange pearls — $4.00
• Ace Premium Craft Cider: SPACE Bloody Orange Hard Cider, Sebastopol — $9.25

Artichoke carbonara with garlic aioli and smoked bacon — $6.00

The garlic and smoked bacon make these artichokes the best I’ve ever had. Enjoyable for sure, it is also a nice portion size.

Grilled and chilled artichoke hearts with Romesco sauce — $5.25

I’ve never really cared for artichoke hearts, but this was a great dish as well. If you enjoy such things, be sure to order this one.

Creamy artichoke and dark chocolate cake pop — $4.25

You read that right, it’s an artichoke and dark chocolate cake pop…

I would never think that these flavors would go together, so I was deeply intrigued to try it. Perhaps a bit scared as well…

Believe it or not, it was one of the highlights of the 2017 lineup. The filling was sweet and creamy and the dark chocolate coating was perfection. I know it might sound peculiar, but this is a must-buy if you are going to the event.

Ace Premium Craft Cider: SPACE Bloody Orange Hard Cider — $9.25

I am not a cider fan, but Jason was excited to try this, so these are his words: Ace is a fairly well-known cider both on the west coast and the east coast. Being an unfiltered cider, this was somewhat different in appearance but lack of filtration doesn’t really impact the taste.  What did impact the taste, though, was the blood orange juice, which made this a very pleasant drink. As with the wines, the cost was higher than I would have expected for the portion size seemed to be the same as a wine pour even though this is cider.

Garlic Kissed

Here’s the full menu:

• Grilled beef tenderloin slider with chimichurri sauce — $7.75
• Black garlic soy-braised pork belly bao with pickled vegetables — $7.00
• Garlic-rosemary and avocado oil ice cream pop — $4.50
• Murphy-Goode Winery, “Liar’s Dice”, Zinfandel, Sonoma County — $6.50
• Dr. Loosen, Dr. L, Mosel, Riesling, Germany — $6.50

Grilled beef tenderloin slider with chimichurri sauce — $7.75

As you can see, this was a fairly sizable piece of beef for the price, and it was definitely tasty.

Black garlic soy-braised pork belly bao with pickled vegetables — $7.00

If you are a pork belly fan, you’ll love this.  The meat was very good, and the bao was fantastic, which we didn’t expect coming from a booth in the middle of California Adventure.

Garlic-rosemary and avocado oil ice cream pop — $4.50

Alright, here comes another weird one…

This is a prime example of how the menus at this festival are a lot more adventurous than any festival at Epcot.  This ice cream pop was great, and was one of the better desserts at the festival. You might think how could this be good, but the milky flavor accented by rosemary and avocado flavors makes a lot more sense once you try it.

California Craft Brews

As with the wine booth, no food here, but a nice variety of California brews.  We opted for the beers at the Beer Garden instead. Here’s the full menu anyway:

• Southern California flight — $13.25 – Mother Earth Brew Co., Honcho, Hefeweizen; Black Market Brewing Co., Deception Coconut Lime, Blonde Ale; Left Coast Brewing Company, Una Mas, Amber Lager; Stone Brewing, Tangerine Express, IPA
• Northern California flight — $13.25