Culinary Adventures at the Swan & Dolphin 5th Annual Food & Wine Classic

The Swan and Dolphin Resort at Walt Disney World hosted their 5th annual Food and Wine Classic on October 31 and November 1 this year. The weather was unusually brisk for Central Florida, but the warmth of the delicious food and decadent libations combined with convivial company and lively entertainment to make for an excellent evening.
The VIP Tent at the Swan & Dolphin 5th Annual Food & Wine Classic featured comfortable seating and full portions of food from the Resort’s finest restaurants. My favorite dish of the evening was the Truffle Panade Crusted Red Snapper, served over White Cheddar Grits with Chorizo and Tea Vin Blanc. Everything about this dish was perfect, from the crunchy truffle scented crust, to the tender fish, and complex, rich sauce.
All along the causeway connecting the Swan and the Dolphin Hotels, there was a selection of delectable cuisine and wines from all over the world. Exciting presentations made each dish a showpiece. One of the coolest was the Shrimp Cocktail Steamroller, presented by Todd English’s bluezoo. Slim beakers were embedded in a wall of ice, and the shrimp cocktail ingredients were layered inside, to be consumed as a shooter. Delicious and fun!
Another standout dish was the Southwest Rock Shrimp salad, with crispy rock shrimp served over a corn and bean salad, topped with a creamy, perfectly spicy chipotle dressing. I would definitely return to the Fresh Mediterranean Market to sample this dish again.
The Garden Grove’s version of Fish ‘N’ Chips was also very impressive. Sustainable bass in a crunchy beer batter was paired with thin, fresh-made potato chips, with a foam tartar sauce that tied it all together beautifully.
This year, the festival had a new addition, the fun Beer Garden. Located in the tree-shaded Crescent Terrace, the garden featured local and seasonal craft beer favorites. German food, including Weiner Schnitzel, potato salad, handcrafted sausages and the most delicious, soft and chewy pretzels that I’d ever tasted, paired perfectly with the beers.
The dessert section was presented by Laurent Branlard, the executive pastry chef for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. A native of France, Branlard is a highly accomplished pastry chef who holds the distinction as the only two-time winner of the World Pastry Team Championship. The Chocolate Dome Bavaoirse was divine, and I really enjoyed the Orange Peel and Grand Marnier Cream Puff, with a crunchy almond sable and chocolate coated almonds.
But the standout dessert of the evening, and one I want to make at home, was Chef Branlard’s twist on an ice cream sandwich. A sweet Hawaiian-style roll was split in half and spread with a crunchy hazelnut and chocolate spread (like Nutella but with crunchy bits and nuts). Then a scoop of housemade coffee gelato was placed on the roll, and the whole thing was pressed in a warm press until the outside was soft and crunchy. This is the ultimate hot/cold combo, with contrasting textures and flavors that worked together perfectly. I’m going to try to recreate this dessert at home!
One cool thing about the Food and Wine Classic is the educational seminars, which give guests the opportunity to learn some of the techniques practiced by the world’s greatest chefs. I enjoyed the Modern Mixology Seminar presented by Lindsay Skillman, a Certified Sommelier and General Manager of Kimonos. We learned some truly advanced tricks for making wow-worthy cocktails. Lindsay taught guests how to make infusions with fruit and alcohol to make standard mixed drinks more interesting. We learned how to use gels to make visually interesting, edible cocktails. One easy technique that home cooks can try is using a nitrous oxide cream whipper to make booze-infused whip creams to top cocktails. Each guest also got to try spherification, using chemicals to create caviar bubbles, like Boba bubbles, that add little explosions of flavor for drinks. So much knowledge was packed into the one-hour seminar, and I can’t wait to try these new tricks at home!
It was so much fun to sample the enticing dishes from the Il Mulino New York Trattoria, Shula’s Steak House and Todd English’s bluezoo all in one night. The Swan and Dolphin’s Food and Wine Festival is truly a delight for foodies, with creative and exciting presentations of amazing culinary delights.