|
Coral Reef Restaurant
The Seas
October 17, 2007
Review
by
Melissa
Wheeler
Back
in August, I reserved a seat at the October 17, 2007 Living Seas Salon
Food & Wine Pairing. In September, I received a call from Epcot Special
Events explaining that this event will be moved to the Coral Reef. I was
slightly disappointed to not be able to see inside the Living Seas Salon,
but was still excited for the event.
At
2:45 p.m., I checked in a side podium near the entrance of Coral Reef
and was led into the lounge to the side of the building. Here we were
greeted with a glass of sparkling cider and told to wait until the area
of the restaurant was ready for us.
At
3 p.m., Raul Bosch, the chef who designed this meal, greeted the guests
and explained his thought process behind the pairings. He was very friendly
and excited to be showing his creations to us. The winery being showcased
today was Coppola Wines from the North Coast of California. Francis Coppola
was there to talk to us about his joy with sharing this event with us
and told us we were in for a treat. He did a fantastic job of talking
about the history of his winery and recent addition of a new winery.
We
were led into the back corner of the restaurant and sat at predetermined
places. I heard this was an improvement than years past where people chose
where they sat. I was placed with this lovely couple and their sister.
Our
first course was Zucchini and Pear Soup topped with Crab meat paired with
Director's Cut Chardonnay.
The
zucchini and pear soup was a unique combination of flavors in itself.
I’ve never been a fan of crab but it worked very well with the soup.
The Chardonnay had aromas of tropical fruits that worked to make the pear
in the soup more present.
The
second course was Salmon Roll with Wild Mushroom Risotto paired with the
Diamond Pinot Noir.
The salmon was very fresh and the risotto was cooked to perfection. However,
in reflection this course was uninspiring. It was a standard, large salmon
roll wrapped in seaweed that had a wasabi sauce drizzled around. The mushroom
risotto seemed as an odd pairing with the salmon. The Pinot Noir had hints
of cranberry which worked well with the salmon.
The
third course was Pork Tenderloin with a Fresh Herb Potato Cake paired
with Diamond Merlot.
The pork was very tender and the potato pancake was excellent. The Merlot
seemed to be slightly over powering for this dish.
This
event was a good value for the $45 that it was. I enjoyed this event as
the wines worked with the foods presented. It's a good event for someone
who is starting to get involved with the paid events of the Food and Wine
Festival to explore before investing more money in some of the larger
ticket events.
|
Subscribe to AllEars®.Net's RSS feed
