Initially we were a little disappointed that the Epcot Food
and Wine Festival was not offering more premium dining experiences the week we
attended. Instead, we decided to try one of the lunch offering. Preferring a
good beer to wine; I immediately was attracted to the Italian beer lunch at
Epcot’s Via Napoli. My husband did not know what to expect be the only Italian beer we had tried was not good. Our adventure paid off and we were rewarded with
discovering a whole new beer destination.
The beer lunch takes place on select Tuesdays and features a
changing four course menu of fine Italian dishes and often rare beers. I had
read on other blogs that one of the negatives in the past was a lack of
explanation for the beers, unlike similar wine events. To my delight the lunch
was presented by someone with a vast knowledge of beer and especially Italian beers,
a certified beer sommelier. There are only a few beer sommeliers in the world
and one works directly with Via Napoli.
Upon check in were greeted with a refreshing citrus water
and seated at our tables in a private area off of the main dining room. One of
the managers, Antonio, greeted us and introduced Eric who explained how the
beer scene is emerging in Italy. Within the last few years Italy has grown to
have over 800 breweries. He explained that there is still a stigma to drinking
beer in a wine loving country like Italy so the bottles are often elaborately
decorated and made the same size as wine bottles so that others would not know
you were drinking beer.
The first course was Bocconcini di Bufala e Carciofi
Tartufati (Buffalo Mozzarella with Truffled Artichokes) paired with La Cinque
from Birrificio L’Olmaia. This was a light yellow beer had herbal and floral
notes with a slight taste of honey that complimented the richness of the oil.
Next was my favorite, Moretti’s La Rosa. This double malt has a rich caramel
color and the flavor and fragrance of figs and raisins. It was served with a
roman style pizza with Proscuitto (Pizza Romano al Proscuitto) the saltiness of
the prosciutto was a pleasant contrast to the sweet beer. Next the Colette di
Vitello con Cicoria e Olive (Veal Cutlet with Chickory and Olives) was paired
with my husband’s favorite Contessa from
Birra Amiata. This was a smooth IPA with a nice variety of hopps with herbal
floral and citrus notes including grapefruit and tangerine. The dessert course
was a cream and pistachio Cannolo (Cannolo Bicolore) the rich cream and
pistachio was and good contrast to the light, crisp wheat beer Bionda from
Amacord This floral and citrus beer is a collaboration with Brooklyn Beer
Company. It features Orange Blossom honey and types of hopps. The bottle was
designed by the same artist who created the “I love New York” logo.
The restaurant staff went all out to make us feel at home.
The often poured more of our favorites and one server even danced the
Tarantella in honor of the events 5th year at the festival. The manager
and sommelier made several visits to check on each table and were both friendly
and knowledgeable. The chef also came out to great us all and make sure we
liked the food. On the way out we all received bags of cantucci (a biscotti type
almond cookie) to take home.
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