The Artist’s Table Food and Drinks Review at Epcot Arts Festival 2017

The Artist’s Table…which is more of a kiosk than a table…takes over for Hops & Barley and whatever it was called during Holidays Around the World on the far right side of the United States Pavilion. You might remember me mentioning the wait for the food as we have about 16 people waiting after they’ve paid. But even so, it didn’t take more than ten minutes to wait in line, order, and receive our stuff. But do keep in mind that the ordering process may take longer than Food/Wine/Flower/Garden and those feeling antsy or otherwise short on time may want to key in on a couple of Marketplaces where three or four items sound good rather than getting in line for a single item here and a single item there.

I’m thinking most eyes go straight to “Belgian Sipping Chocolate Flight.”

Don’t worry. We’ll get there.

The $6.50 Roasted Pork Roulade with Marble Potatoes, Baby Carrots and Red Wine Sauce featuring Melissa’s Produce will hopefully continue a tradition of carefully plated food items.

There was a chef in front expediting and in turn checking to make sure everything came out as it should.

Here we have two relatively large, thick slices of pork propped up against an assortment of nicely prepared carrots, potatoes, onions, and mushrooms. The pork is stuffed with more pork and then a rich wine sauce is spooned over the top of everything. The vegetables retained a nice crunch and the pork was juicy and fork tender. I really appreciated just how much was going on with the dish and all of the various flavors and textures that the ingredients provided. It’s really stellar output and it’s clear that Disney culinary put a lot of time and effort into coming up with these recipes and presenations.

You might remember that this is the pork served at least year’s Food and Wine Festival. Five bucks then bought you three or four bites of pork versus the 10+ bites for the Arts Festival.

Scallops are a Festival mainstay and the entry for the Arts is $6.25 and Pan-Seared with Chorizo, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and a Parmesan Crisp.

Everything on the plate is so vivid and vibrant with the sizable scallop presented artfully in the center with the sauce surrounding it. Then it has the parmesan crisp for a hat and an edible flower placed on top of that. Really nice stuff going on.

Random people are giving me the thumbs up they’re so excited about the scallop.

Here for Food and Wine it’s brown on top of brown on top of brown and we have mushrooms for hats and parsley for decoration.

Flavor-wise, the spice-factor depends on how much of the red pepper coulis and chorizo you scoop up with each bite. The chorizo adds some meaty saltiness to the flavor profile while the coulis adds some peppery fire. I really liked how the soft delicateness of the scallop contrasted with some of the crunchier elements in the sauce. Overall, it’s one of the smaller portions, but scallops are typically expensive when they’re prepared well like this.

$8 buys you the three small sippy cups that make up the Callebaut Belgian Sipping Chocolate Flight: White, Milk, Dark towards the top of the frame.

In the booth, each is kept warm and constantly moving so you’re served something that’s liquid instead of three hunks of chocolate in separate cups. Once it settles in the cup, it becomes this incredibly thick, incredibly rich “drink” that is basically like drinking a bar of chocolate that you’ve melted in the microwave only somehow more syrupy. I’ve had more luck with the Ghirardelli version that they serve in the Festival Center during Food and Wine and over at Amorette’s with their Hot Chocolate Ganache. Considering you get three small cups, it might be worth checking out if you’re willing to share (and you will want to share) and love chocolate. But this is seriously rich, seriously thick stuff. They might find a way to thin it out in the future though.

For $9.75, you get what looks to be less of the Callebaut Dark Chocolate Belgian Sipping Chocolate with Chambord, which is a 16.5% ABV raspberry liqueur. This is what the previous flight needed – the liquor helps thin out the chocolate. But it’s a thimble of a serving size for nearly ten bucks. Really good and pretty unique. But it’s not going to take you very far.

I’ve had some trouble finding any relevant information about the Perla Santa Coffee Flavored Wine, which I think is their Nougat/Turron variety that’s 15% ABV and originates in Spain. It’s served over ice and tasted a lot like your typical iced coffee. It would be really mellow with brunch for those times that champagne sounds a little intense, but if you’re looking for an iced coffee cocktail, you can probably get more for your money at the various Joffrey’s stands.

This drink is the same price and includes shot of whiskey/RumChata or you can make it a double shot for two dollars more or $11.50.

Overall, the pork is more food for your money, but I am a big fan of the scallop as well. I’m not quite as gaga about them as the risotto and mousse from The Kitchen Masterpiece, but both would stand out at other Festivals. The sipping chocolates were a bit too much and the portion on the Chambord is chintzy at $9.75. but you may still want to sample one or both. Certainly the three cups for a snack credit are more of a value than eight bucks out of pocket. The wine is interesting, but my assumption is the two ounces you get cost more than the bottle at the store, but it is a unique offering.

We’ll move on to Cuisine Classique.