DCA's Food and Wine Festival 2010 - Taste of California Marketplace

"The Marketplace returns to Disney's California Food & Wine Festival! Enjoy unique festival food created especially for the Festival. Delicious tapas-size tastings are available in the Festival Showplace, located in Stage 12 in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Expertly paired wines and beer are also available for purchase."

Well, after a description like that, who could resist trying some delectable little tapas in Stage 12? Not me! So we headed over to the Backlot area and checked out the menu.


Being the picky eaters that we are, there were obviously some items on the menu we would not be tasting, and those would include the Santa Rosa Pear Salad and the Island Ahi. Yuck. Seeing as each one was between $4 and $5, Mr. Diva and I decided to try several and split them all between us.


You know I can never resist a cute photo op!


As you enter Stage 12, there is an area set up for the cooking classes. These classes, called Sweet Sundays, cost $70.


In the right corner is a beer and wine tasting.


In the back center is the area to order the tapas.


We ordered several things off the menu.

Festival Flight: a selection of artisan cheddars with sundried raisins 7 sliced baguette drizzled with Apulia Extra virgin Olive Oil. $5 plus tax

RIP OFF! Don't order this. They have better cheddars for free at Whole Foods.

Artisanal Cheeses: A selection of artisan cheese with sundried raisins 7 sliced baguette drizzled with Apulia Extra virgin Olive Oil. $5 plus tax

Another RIP OFF! Don't order this either. Again, way better cheese at Whole Foods. And I ask you, does this cheese look appetizing? No! It looks old, dry, and oily. And it was. This gets a big Booooooooooo from me!


Then we moved on to some of the main courses.

Karl Strauss Pale Ale & Canadian White Cheddar Soup with Smoked Bacon. Served in a famous mini Boudin Bakery sourdough boule. $4.25 plus tax.

This one got a BIG thumbs up from me. WOW! Delicious! It was so good I didn't want to give Mr. Diva his half. If we go back before the end of the month, I'm going to go back and order two of these!!


Sorry for the poor quality of the close-ups. They looked fine on my camera and I didn't realize how blurry they were until I got home. Guess I'll just have to go back and try it again.

Marketplace Slider - slow braised beef with spicy mayo in a sweet brioche roll. $4.50 plus tax

Okay, anyone who knows me knows I have a strong aversion to all condiments, salad dressings, and anything pickled. So, the spicy mayo was an immediate turn off. Thankfully, it was only on one side, so guess which side Mr. Diva got?

My condiment free side was fabulous! the meat was perfectly seasoned. If we go back, I would order this with no mayo and eat the whole thing!!


Not a big fish fan either, but I can almost always do fish and chips.

Beer Battered Halibut - Crispy Karl Strauss Woodie Gold beer battered halibut with traditional malt vinegar. $5 plus tax.

I thought this fish was cooked perfectly! It wasn't oily and was so nice, light and the batter was really tasty. Another winner!! Mr. Diva tried dipping in the malt vinegar and hated it, but we both loved the plain beer battered halibut.


We wanted to end our meal on a sweet note and decided to go with chocolate instead of berries.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Profiterole - A cream puff filled with vanilla pastry-cream topped with chocolate ganache. $3.75 plus tax

This was a very tasty dessert! I would definitely get another one of these too!


As you exit the Marketplace, there is a store area where you can purchase bottles of wine, t-shirts, totes, and wine accoutrement.


I found the tapas tasting to be a lot of fun. The food was surprisingly good for the most part and I would definitely go back and get some of the items again. In fact, Mr. Diva and I would like to get back before the end of the month and if we do, I'mdefinitely getting some more of that soup, a slider, halibut and another profiterole. Mmmmmmm mmmmm good!