The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is upon us, running from April 1 to May 1. And while the entire Oh My Disney team will be bringing you coverage from the insanely delicious event in the weeks ahead, we also wanted to prep you on what to expect from the West Coast cousin of Epcot’s beloved, belly-pleasing Food & Wine Festival.
So feast on all the details–what the different booths are, where they are located, plus additional Food & Wine events, and an interview with the chef behind this year’s Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival.
Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival Marketplaces
This is the main event: a series of themed marketplaces that highlight the unique flavors of California. So from the trendy foodie flavors of Los Angeles to the homegrown tastes of the farmland, there’s something for everybody. Below is a map of where the marketplaces are located, as well as menus for each of the separate marketplaces. Eat up!
LAstyle
- Chilled Ahi Poke with avocado crème and Wakame salad, topped with sesame tuile
- Pork Belly Bao Taco with pickled vegetables
- Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart with almond brittle and sea salt
The Vineyard
- Cabernet Flight
- Chardonnay Flight
- Pinot Noir Flight
- Wine and Cuvée by the glass
Wine Country
- Zinfandel-Braised Wagyu Beef with creamy polenta and spring pea puree
- Roasted Yellow Beets and Purple Haze Goat cheese with baby greens, green ver jus, sultanas and cashews
- Blackberry Tart with rosemary vanilla bean crème fraîche and a Cabernet wine glaze
¡Viva Fresca!
- Fried Shrimp Soft Taco with pickled red onion-jalapeno, queso fresco and avocado-lime crèma
- Anaheim Chile and Roasted Cauliflower Burrito with Jack cheese and avocado-lime crèma
Gold Rush
- Triple Cheese Mac with Smoked Chicken featuring Fontina, Cheddar and Gouda cheeses
- Artichoke Chips with Spicy Aioli
- Apple Bacon Whoopie Pie with maple cream cheese icing and bacon brittle
The Brewhouse
- Southern California Beer Flight
- Northern California Beer Flight
- Craft beers by the glass
The Farm
- Grilled Beef Tenderloin Slider with chimichurri sauce
- Golden Thai Vegetable Curry with jasmine rice
- Meyer Lemon Macaron with blackberry marmalade, Meyer lemon cream and dried blueberry dust
By The Bay
- White Cheddar Ale and Bacon Soup, served in a Boudin sourdough mini-boule
- Chilled Shrimp and Snow Crab Cocktail
- Coconut Tapioca layered with fresh mango and lychee boba, topped with green tea micro sponge and mango-couli sesame tuile
Festival-Inspired Specialty Items at Disney California Adventure Restaurants
What makes food and wine really special is that all of the restaurants aroundDisney California Adventure are getting in on the Food & Wine act, offering exclusive offerings throughout the month. Below are the items that you can only get during Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. So save some space for these lovely items while you’re making your rounds!
- Specialty menu item and wine pairing every week
- Carthay Cobb Salad
- Caribbean Club Sandwich
- Dungeness Crab Corn Chowder served in a Boudin sourdough boule
Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill
- Shredded Pork Tostadas with grilled pineapple slaw and chipotle crèma
- Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings
- Fresh Strawberry and Pistachio Cream Tart, paired with a featured wine
Mendocino Terrace, Sonoma Terrace and Hollywood Backlot Studio Bars
- Sausage and Cheese Plate
- Fruit and Cheese Plate
Celebrity Kitchen Experience
Over on Stage 17, luminaries from the world of food will dazzle guests energetic 90-minute culinary demonstrations. They will share recipes, techniques, and share their stories from the world of food. These will be as technical as they are informal, full of spirited discussion and amazing food.
The chefs currently scheduled for Celebrity Kitchen include:
- April 2: Robert Irvine – Restaurant: Impossible
- April 9: Andrew Sutton – Executive Chef, Disneyland Resort Signature Dining (1 p.m. only)
- April 9: Guy Fieri – Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (5 p.m. only)
- April 16: Keegan Gerhard – Food Network Challenge and Hayden Wood – Flair Bartender (5 p.m. only)
- April 23: G. Garvin – Road Trip with G. Gavin
- April 30: Graham Elliot – MasterChef, MasterChef Junior
When: Saturdays, 1:00 PM & 5:00 PM (except as noted)
Where: Stage 17, Hollywood Land, Disney California Adventure Park
Price: $99 per person, plus tax and gratuity for servers
Also, on April 16, there will be A Conversation with Kurt Russell, who is both a Disney Legend and winemaker (1 p.m. only). The cost for this event is $199.
Beverage Seminars
Quench your thirst for knowledge of your favorite libations at these educational tasting seminars—with a twist! The Beverage Seminars offer fun, informative introductions to the art and science behind some of the world’s most popular adult beverages. The “spirited” 45-minute lesson led by an expert winemaker, sommelier, brewmaster or industry expert. The outdoor seminar takes place on the lovely Sonoma Terrace and includes up to 3 sample tastings!
When: Fridays: 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00 PM
Saturdays: 12:00, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00 PM
Sundays: 12:00, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00 PM
Where: Sonoma Terrace, located at Golden Vine
Winery, Disney California Adventure Park
Price: $15 per person, plus tax
Artist Showcase
But it’s not just food that is being highlighted during Food & Wine. In addition to all the amazing food-related activities, special artist showcases will be taking place each weekend at Off the Page in Hollywood Land from 2–5 p.m. with some wonderful, Disney-inspired artists.
April 2–3: Britni Brault, Daniel Killen and Jerrod Maruyama
April 9–10: Dave Avanzino
April 16–17: David Bird, Stephen Cargile, Mike and Patty Peraza and Kurt Steinruck
April 30 – May 1: Steve Adams, Jeremy Fulton, Brian Kesinger, Noah, Mark Page and Javier Soto
Interview with Chef John State
If you’re walking around Disney California Adventure, gobbling up the delicious grub, and wondering who was responsible for these amazing dishes, well, look no further than Chef John State. John is one of the head chefs behind the Food & Wine Festival, and I was lucky enough to get to chat with him about what it was like bringing this year’s festival to life.
What are some signature dishes that people attending Food & Wine have to try?
I love this question, but it’s also tough. One of my dishes that I would say, ‘Don’t miss,’ is the chilled snow crab and shrimp cocktail. Especially for outdoors, it’s going to be warm, it’s going to be refreshing, it’s filled with seafood. It’s in a small cup that has a crab claw sticking out of it. It’s drenched in this lively — I call it “chapino-essence” cocktail, and it’s filled with shrimp and cucumbers, and it has a little spice to it. Very refreshing.
Second item that I would highly recommend is our pork belly bao taco with pickled vegetables. For the vegetarian, I’m a carnivore, but my heart has been won over by the roasted golden beets with baby greens, purple haze, goat cheese, and then golden raisins. The great thing about that is, I’m going to be doing aa culinary demo featuring this same dish.
Now let’s talk about desserts that I would say you don’t want to miss. This is a really tough one — the blackberry tart with the caramelized rosemary and creme fresh is pretty spectacular, or for chocolate fanatics you have the milk chocolate caramel tart. If you really want to go all-in and don’t mind indulging, we have the apple bacon whoopie pie with cream cheese icing and brittle. Those are to-die-for.
What is so exciting about launching Food & Wine from your perspective?
It’s a great way to re-engage the guest, number one; number two, it really brings to light that our culinary team has a chance to showcase their talents—Hey guys, this is what you get to do for two weeks, you get to play with food. You get to come up with some creative, practical items that you believe will be memorable for the guest that will hopefully win them over to say, “Not only do we want Food & Wine to come back, but I want that dish to come back.”
The Food & Wine Festival is really going to transform the whole park. It seems like it’s really going back to a bit of the original mission statement of Disney California Adventure, which was to celebrate the state. Was part of the appeal of Food & Wine highlight uniqueness of the park?
Yeah and that’s exactly right. You know what happens is, you know, Disneyland is really the original. So Disney California Adventure gets to say, “We’re fun, we’re exciting, we’re hip. Come check us out.” And I think it’s contagious because I’ll be driving to the guard gate, and one of the guards will be like, “Hey, I heard Food & Wine is coming up, what’s going on?” I’ve got cast members stopping me, so I’ve — think about just the cast alone who wants to be here, who can’t wait, they’re like hungry for it. I’m glad we had a break. Then it comes across as more special. There’s some things that are going to be different. Eight kiosks, they’ve never seen it before. I love it.
