DCA Food and Wine Review

On Sunday, April 3rd we stopped by the opening weekend of Food and Wine at DCA. It had started as west coast food and wine in 2005 and was suspended in 2010 as construction wrapped on Buena Vista st and Carsland. I have written enough about my love for Food and Wine so I was pumped to see this version. 

There are 7 booths (FESTIVAL MARKETPLACES) with food and matched wine pairings. The booths were on the walkway from Carthay circle down towards Little Mermaid. We were able to do them all in one day. 

Here is what I tried at each booth:
LA Style: pork belly taco, syrah
Vineyard: chardonnay flight
Wine Country: waygu beef
Viva Fresca: nothing-we actually skipped this one because they were out of everything
Gold Rush: whoopie pie, viognier
Brewhouse: skipped this one as I dont drink beer
The Farm: a bit of the beer tenderloin, thai veggie curry, lemon macaron, gewurztraminer
By the Bay: White Cheddar Ale soup, coconut tapioca, Veitliner

A few thoughts: 

• I did not like was that the allergies were not on the menu so I had to try and figure out what I could have. 
• Aall of the food is brought in (unlike in Florida where it is cooked there) so every booth was constantly running out of items and sauces as they waited for refills. I also think this makes it difficult for modifications as all of it is pre-made. 
• The CMs were still training as they often did not know what they had at the booth (asking if the wine was white or red, etc). 
• The portions were small for the price-overall I didn't think it was as good of a value of as the Epcot food 
• The wine was pretty expensive. They advertised 6-9 dollar pours so I was shocked when I got up there they asked if I wanted 3oz  or 5oz and the advertised price was the 3oz. The 5 oz pour was double the price. 
• People in DCA don't know how lines work-there is tape all over the ground and people were not following it and the lines were a mess 
• The food and wine system-order at the kiosk, take your receipt to the wine side and then food. People were super confused! 
• AP lanyard-they offered a lanyard with 6 food items for 45 bucks which was an awful deal as most things were 6-8. They however have since lowered the price to 39 bucks (and if you bought it, you can get a refund!) 

Positives:

• I love trying different things!
• It brings a high energy to the park
• The AP center is definitely nice to have especially the charging stations 

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Favorite things: 

• FOOD: the Waygu beef and Meyer lemon macaron
• WINE: they were all just okay for me. I enjoyed them but nothing I am dying to have again (unlike the Tempranillo I had in Carlsbad that I bought a bottle of immediately)

Final thoughts:
I'm glad to see food and wine back and hope it continues to grow and adapt to feedback. I don't plan on heading back this month-I feel I did everything. I think what it is missing is a feel signature dishes that has people wanting to come back like Food and Wine: Epcot has. 


Anyone else do Food and Wine: DCA?