It’s January at Walt Disney World which means it’s time for a fantastic, and unfortunately very short, festival! The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts celebrates art in all forms; from musical, visual, culinary, and more! This festival runs until February 24th, so I hope you have a visit planned to see this one!
While this festival is very short and offers tons to do, there really aren’t too many vegan options. Fortunately the few options we do have are pretty tasty, so let’s dive in!
Gourmet Landscapes (near Canada)
New this year, which is actually a reimagined option from a few years ago, is the Citrus-braised Beet Tartare. This option features what the title states, a golden beet “egg yolk”, mustard vinaigrette, pickled mustard seeds, pickled mushrooms, spiced pistachios, and vegan feta. It also comes with a crostini to enjoy it with.
I liked this one more than I did it’s previous version, but it still wasn’t a huge hit for me. It looked beautiful and was plated well, but flavor-wise all I could taste was beets and then the mustard. It did have a nice texture though with the pistachios. My crostini was nice and wasn’t stale like my friends had been. For me this option will be a one and done, but it was a unique dish and I think the right person will love this.
The dish I really loved at this booth was the Wild Mushroom Risotto. The risotto comes with vegan parmesan, truffle shavings, and a zinfandel reduction. It was cooked perfectly and just had a warm coziness to it. I don’t know how else to describe it other than cozy.
The flavors were definitely heavy with the mushroom and then had a slight acidity with the reduction. I would order this as a whole bowl and eat it up at any restaurant on property.
Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina
We have a new dessert for the festival this year and it’s the Avocado-Coconut Custard Tart. This tart features a pomegranate cream and a henna-inspired gelee veil. This dessert was one that I couldn’t even describe when I ate it.
The flavors were pretty muted and it wasn’t very sweet, which I did like that part. The gelee was very gummy-like which I wasn’t expecting at all. I liked the pomegranate cream and the inside of the tart with the smear of pomegranate, but overall I don’t think I loved it. I didn’t taste coconut at all and honestly forgot it had coconut in it until seeing the name again. I did enjoy it though, but it was one of those desserts that just makes you think while you’re eating it.
Returning for it’s who-knows-how-many festival is the Stone-baked Moroccan Bread with assorted dips. I didn’t eat this on opening day since I’ve had it before, but if you’ve still not tried it I recommend it. I really like the green and green/orange dips the most. You definitely don’t get enough bread for the amount of dips, but it’s still a nice option.
Swirled Showcase
We found a modifiable option here since they serve DOLE Whip. We opted to do the Candy Trio Flight, sans candy, so we could get all three flavors. They do also have the option of getting one flavor in a cone, which you would need to get in a cup. They have Lime, Lemon, and Strawberry available. The lime came with tajin on it for the trio flight. These were delicious of course.
So while we don’t have a lot of options this year, I did enjoy everything I ate. I didn’t LOVE everything but that is okay too. I hope you can come visit during this time of year because this festival is a really fun one!
Our vlog will be up on YouTube on January 21st.
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