The Alps Review – 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

    Welcome to a 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival review! Epcot’s biggest festival of the year is upon us and that means that it’s time to eat and drink our way around World Showcase. The 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from August 29 – November 23, 2019 and doesn’t cost extra to attend (food and drink are an additional cost). Scattered throughout Epcot are “Global Marketplaces”, which showcase culinary delights according to a specific theme. Global Marketplaces open at 11am unless otherwise noted. Please enjoy our The Alps review from the 2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival!

    Here’s how Disney describes The Alps Global Marketplace:

    Explore the delicious tastes of these Swiss-inspired dishes!

    The Alps Menu

    Food:

    • Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese with Baby Potatoes, Cornichons and Baguette (V) (KA)
    • Venison Stew with Crushed Potatoes
    • Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart with Crème Fraîche Cream and Blue Diamond® Almonds (V) (KA)

    Beverages:

    • Domaine CARREL et Fils Eugène Jongieux Blanc
    • Cave De La Côte Rosé Gamay, Romand
    • René Favre Dôle, Chamoson
    • Frozen Rosé
    • Wine Flight also available

    Select dishes featuring Melissa’s Produce.

    Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese – $5.00

    Served with Baby Potatoes, Cornichons and Baguette

    One of the things that makes Epcot special and some of the Global Marketplaces stand out is the extra effort they go to to create an authentic dish and experience. This raclette isn’t just a cheese fondue of sorts poured over some pairings, it’s freshly shaved cheese.

    The Cast Members at The Alps are using a raclette machine to warm the half-cheese wheel and “pour” the cheese over the dishes right in front of you. Of course, a single photo probably doesn’t do it justice, but it’s cool to see the Cast Members work on creating an authentic dish and using a specialized tool to do so is the type of extra effort that we like to see at Epcot festivals.

    That said, how was the Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese? It was probably just okay. The good thing is that it is “only” $5. It’s a fair price for the festival, but we would have loved to have seen more cheese on the dish. The cheese is served warm, but cools and hardens within minutes. If you’re trying to find a colorful leaf to try and frame your photo with, you might find that the cheese is too hard to spread around and you’re stuck with the presentation originally offered. Overall, if you walk by and see some generous helpings of cheese being spread over the accompaniments, you can certainly do worse at the festival.

    Venison Stew – $6.00

    Served with Crushed Potatoes

    Crushed potatoes, mashed potatoes, it’s all the same right? In this case, yes, it’s a bed of mashed potatoes. The venison stew has some carrots in it, and while I might do the dish a bit of an injustice by the following comparison, it has a flavor profile similar to Dinty Moore beef stew. It’s a good stew and we enjoyed the venison. If you’re comfortable with “Food and Wine Portions®” and Dinty Moore, this isn’t a bad option.

    Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart – $4.50

    Served with Crème Fraîche Cream and Blue Diamond® Almonds

    This was a standout dessert for us. It was incredibly light and the blueberries themselves came through as noticeably fresh. If you’re searching for what Crème Fraîche is, it’s described as a version of sour cream, but thicker and richer. We found that this cream was more like a whipped cream than anything that resembled what we’re use to calling a sour cream. It was nice and light, and didn’t have any of the tanginess that you’d associate with a sour cream. This is a solid dessert that we’d definitely have again.

    The Alps makes a solid debut at this year’s Food and Wine Festival, and is worth a cursory glance if you’re even remotely interested in what is on offer.

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