A guide to California Adventure’s Food and Wine Festival | Lifestyle Leave a comment

Disney California Adventure’s Food and Wine Festival finally returned this past weekend after its 2020 pandemic closure.

Running until April 26, the festival offers food, drinks, arts and entertainment for all ages. This year, patrons can watch Disney’s chefs perform culinary demonstrations in Hollywood Land in addition to family programming activities. Kids get the opportunity to decorate with guest chefs, like Goofy the Chef, and dance around to live music in the activity zones around the park.  

The Festival Marketplace has twelve food and beverage booths that feature different flavors from California-grown ingredients. Each booth has a specialty and offers guests a unique food experience that’s brought by the chefs of Disney.

The prices of food and drink vary, but customers have the option of purchasing the Food and Wine Festival Sip and Savor Pass that allows for eight food vouchers for different festival food times throughout the park. It excludes alcoholic beverages, so if trying the drinks are a must, be sure to set aside extra money. Each pass costs $57, but for Magic Key holders, it’s $52. 

Here’s a short guide to a handful of the foods that are available to guests right now. 

Black and tan beef potato puffs – 7 out of 10 stars

First off, a must-try from the Delish marketplace booth is the black and tan beef potato puffs that come with Karl Strauss Wreck Alley stout gravy and lager micro sponge. The gravy has a nice balance in flavor contrasting from the saltiness of the tater tots. The meat brings the whole dish together. 

These potato puffs cost $8.50, and can be redeemed with one of the pass tabs. 

Peanut butter and jelly mac  – 8 out of 10 stars

A new dish debuting at the festival is the peanut butter and jelly mac with brown sugar streusel and strawberry crackle. The dish was pretty greasy, but the flavors surprisingly work well together. One flavor wasn’t overpowering the other, but the strawberry crackle on top did get annoying when chewing. 

This dish costs $8.25, and can also be redeemed with the pass. 

Chile relleno empanada – 6 out of 10 stars

For those who are looking for a little spice, the Peppers Cali-Ente booth provides just that. The new chile relleno empanada with arbol pepper salsa and Oaxaca and Cotija cheeses provides a cheesy and creamy experience. The empanada was good, but the flavors fell a little short, and were a bit salty. 

This dish costs $8.50, and the pass can be used to redeem this item. 

Grilled top sirloin – 9 out of 10 stars

One of the best things at the festival is at the Garlic Kissed booth. The new grilled top sirloin with roasted garlic-Gruyère smashed potatoes and black garlic chimichurri is delicious. The flavors in this dish are all well-defined, great on their own, and amazingly blend together. Each ingredient shines through and highlights the flavor of the meat. Out of all the items featured in this list, this is the best one. 

This dish costs $8.25, and can be redeemed with a pass tab. 

Frozen guacamole – 5 out of 10 stars 

One of the most interesting dishes at this year’s festival is the frozen guacamole: Avocado paleta with lime crema, pico de gallo and chile-lime seasoning. While it doesn’t offer what someone would want in a dessert, the ice cream was the best part, but a bit bland.

It’s topped with sour cream, pico de gallo and a tortilla crunch, which threw the whole thing off. The flavors didn’t come together, but the concept definitely fit into the avocado and California theme of the booth. This dish costs $5.50, and can be redeemed with the pass. 

Overall, the comeback of Disney California Adventure’s Food and Wine Festival is a hit. The food, experiences and atmosphere shine through at this year’s festival.