2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts – January 18 – February 25
The 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts expanded the Disney on Broadway Concert Series to 7 days a week, stepping up this festival now in its third year. Also expanded were the amazing food and art offerings throughout the park.
For those who do not know, the International Festival of the Arts celebrates performance, visual, and culinary arts. Foods, which are always tasty at Epcot festivals, take on astonishing visual presentations. Performers from all over, along with incredible artists are on hand to entertain and educate. You can take seminars, workshops, and even learn how to draw your favorite Disney characters.
For me, the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts was made even more exciting by the nightly entertainment by stars from Disney’s multitude of Broadway shows. On my recent visit, I spent three nights at Epcot – each time seeing a different set of performers. Some of the shows featured in the songs included Mary Poppins, Newsies, Frozen, Aladdin, High School Musical, Aida, Freaky Friday, and more.
My favorite drink of the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts was the Amaretto Bellini from Italy. The drink contains Amaretto, White Peach Puree, and Prosecco, and is a refreshing beverage to take with you to the Broadway Concert.
2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts Foods
As always, eating your way around the world is a highlight of any Epcot Festival, and the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts did not disappoint. It is difficult to find many paleo or keto friendly items at the festival, but gluten-friendly selections were evident. As always, it is important to warn about the risk of cross-contamination at food booths, so those who have an allergy must use due care when selecting foods from these booths. Epcot chefs are available to guide you in your selections. However, outside suppliers do change, and the information provided may not be up-to-date. In addition to gluten-friendly offerings, there are also some vegetarian options listed in the Festival Passport. One word of warning – Epcot has pretty much done away with the canola/extra virgin olive oil blend for the festivals. Instead, they are using pure canola oil – a huge step backward in my opinion.
At the Deconstructed Dish, both the Reuben and BLT can be gluten-friendly by omitting certain aspects of the dishes. The photo below shows the Deconstructed BLT without the crumbs. If you are gluten-free, you may find this dish to your liking. It is a guest favorite every year.
The Deconstructed Reuben is gluten-friendly if you omit the rye curl and rye crumbs. This is another favorite and gives a large portion of corned beef that you can share with a friend.
You can also omit the cookies and curl on the Deconstructed Strawberry Cheesecake for a gluten-friendly dessert option.
At Pop Eats in Showcase Plaza, you can find two gluten-friendly dishes and two vegetarian treats. The only thing we did not try was the Pop’t Art filled sugar cookie (V). However, we did splurge for the Almond Frangipane Cake (V). Because it is made with almonds, it is not for people with tree nut allergies. Unfortunately, they also use wheat, making it a no-go for those with gluten allergies. I did tell the chef they should try to make it gluten-free next year. It was one of the best dessert options – as long as you do not have a problem with all those food colorings.
The two gluten-friendly options are on the savory rather than sweet side. The first is the Shrimp Ceviche with Lime-Mint Foam. The shrimp, which the chef assured me are from the US and not overseas had a very metallic taste. This dish, which does contain sugar, wound up in the garbage, sorry to say.
The sous-Vide Poulet Rouge Chicken Roulade with apples and sage was an interesting dish. It was served with warm brie fondue, blueberry, and beet gel, and garnished with apple and been chips. Not my favorite at the festival, but definitely worthy of a try. This dish contains dairy.
Cuisine Classique is the booth in Germany, and worthy of a visit for the Seared Corvina – a gluten-friendly dish. I think this was my favorite food at 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts. It was served with braised ratatouille and lemon-thyme
One worthy splurge at this booth was the Saint-Honoré Tart. This caramel cream tart had a caramel glaze and was topped with two little cream puffs. My dining companion thought it too sweet, but I loved it.
Although we have no idea what it is made from or filled with, the Crystal Mooncake with fruit filling from the Painted Panda in China was a unique treat. We ate it while waiting for the Broadway Concert show to start and kept trying to guess the ingredients. Pineapple in the middle? Maybe.
The beautiful-to-look-at Sushi Donut from Takumi Table in Japan is not gluten-friendly simply due to the seaweed they put on one small section. I watched them prepare the “donuts” on site and asked if they could omit the seaweed from mine and was told no. I took a photo but did not order one for that reason.
At the Masterpiece Kitchen in Canada, they offer a Wild Mushroom Risotto that is vegetarian-friendly, but not gluten-free, although the chef I spoke with could find no reason for it not to be considered GF. I still decided to skip it this visit. The Vanilla, Rose Water, and Pistachio Panna Cotta is not gluten-friendly due to the pistachio crumbs, which I skipped. However, cutting into it I found a layer of cake on the bottom. I will say, that the panna cotta was one of the best I have ever tasted. I mentioned to the chef that when preparing a dish such as panna cotta, it would be best if they would leave it gluten-friendly so that people would have that as an option. Hopefully, it will be next year.
One gluten-friendly dish I skipped was the Pan Seared Scallops at the Artist’s Table. It contained corn, canola oil, and sugar – all things I try to avoid as much as possible.
Two dishes that I wish were gluten-friendly that I did not try were the Smoked Salmon and Cream Gateau and the White Chocolate and Purple Sweet Potato Mousse. I still wish they would go back to the purple sweet potato mousse dish they served the first year of the festival – it was my favorite. The smoked salmon dish is easily made at home, and I will be sharing my version of it soon.
All in all, the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts did not disappoint. I cannot wait until 2020!