The Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival is making a return this year for an extended time period and with a new menu.
Busch Gardens guests can find culinary creations from around the globe at kiosks around the park from 11 a.m. until closing every Friday, Saturday and Sunday now through June 29. Some of last year’s countries made a return this year, but Busch Gardens turned to Facebook fans for input on a new addition. Caribbean cuisine won the Facebook contest, but American southwest took second, so menus for both were created this year.
“I’ll have to admit, I didn’t expect Caribbean to be up there, and it was number one,” Park President Carl Lum said.
Fourteen food kiosks, four wine-tasting booths and three The Art of Food tables are set up around the park. Diners can find traditional foods with Resident Chef Justin Watson’s spin from Germany, the Caribbean, the American Southwest, Canada, Belgium, France, Ireland, Scandinavia, Scotland, Greece, Italy and Spain. Separate booths are set up for German beer and coffee and crepes.
Watson said the festival aims to bring together popular food trends, including street food, smaller portions and tastings. The park steps out of Europe to “open up the rest of the world [of] endless possibilities,” he said.
Watson overhauled last year’s menu after deleting the Austria booth and two unpopular chilled soups: chilled pea soup and vichyssoise. Replacing those this year is gazpacho topped with shrimp ceviche.
From the American Southwest booth, park guests can try an ancho chile-spiced molten lava cake, which is served in a cupcake-type wrapper and has a crisp crust surrounding the fudge-like center. In Canada, macaroni and cheese is served with chunks of Canadian bacon and a cornmeal crust. Griddled salty Greek cheese drizzled with honey and chopped pistachios is served alongside a buttered bread round in Greece.
The Caribbean menu features jerk chicken, tres leche cake and shrimp fritters. Each booth offers beer, wine or liquor. Food samples are priced in the $3 to $7 range.
Diners can pay for individual tastings at each booth, or they can pick up a festival wristband, which can be tied to a credit card or paid for with cash. Guests can set a limit on the wristband, which has a barcode each kiosk scans. Park pass holders receive a 10 percent discount on food items.
For more information about the Food & Wine Festival, visit Busch Gardens’ website.
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