Scandinavia and Scottland booths are being replaced with Hawaii and Virginia.
Food & Wine Festival
- Thread starter bgbackdoor
- Start date
So, to clarify, they are taking the Scottish booth out of Scotland; getting rid of the fantastic Scandanavian booth; and replacing them with food you can get down the street (American booth 2) and rum drinks (American booth 3)?
In my opinion the Hawaiian should be replaced with Thai food that is some good stuff let me tell ya.
*puts down glass of rum to type this post*
Oooo rum!
*picks glass back up and sips*
Oooo rum!
*picks glass back up and sips*
The Hessian said:
Yes! Although, maybe they can just expand their Thai offerings at the Asian kiosk. They should at least have Pad Thai or drunken noodles. Their other Thai dishes were more like American offerings with Thai flair (Thai custard and Thai iced tea). Both tasted great, but weren't truly Thai.
My biggest fear with Hawaiian is that the park will jumble it together with what is served at the Caribbean booth. Similarly, it was a waste for the park to have an Austrian kiosk. What they serve at the German kiosk was Bavarian, which can be cross compatible with Austrian, even Hungarian and more.
They need too avoid jumbling food categories together. That's the easiest way to ruin their efforts of displaying all these cultures.
It'd be awesome if BGW offered polish food during F&W at a booth but I'm not sure how much profit that would bring in and at the end of the day that's all that matters in the eye of the park.
Very interested to see how they fit these booths as Virginia could easily fit in Scotland but I'm not sure how Hawaii would fit into Ireland.
I'm still happy to see new booths come in as I was never really extremely interested by the Scandinavia or Scotland booth.
Very interested to see how they fit these booths as Virginia could easily fit in Scotland but I'm not sure how Hawaii would fit into Ireland.
I'm still happy to see new booths come in as I was never really extremely interested by the Scandinavia or Scotland booth.
I digress. The park is easily losing two of the top four or five strongest booths at the event. I understand the park needs to constantly change its offerings at the festival, but removing these two consistently wonderful booths was not the way to go.
I just don't think I can enjoy it at the same level without the Scotch eggs.
^ They have to find some way to serve that elsewhere. I'm not saying they will, but they really need to. Another thing was the toffee. While not my personal favorite, I was always outnumbered by my friends that liked it.
As for Scandinavia, that is also a shame. I loved the Lax Rarakor. Maybe the park decided it was too fancy or exotic for park-goers. I hope that's not the case, but they have been sending all sorts of mixed messages about their take on serving exotic foods recently.
As for Scandinavia, that is also a shame. I loved the Lax Rarakor. Maybe the park decided it was too fancy or exotic for park-goers. I hope that's not the case, but they have been sending all sorts of mixed messages about their take on serving exotic foods recently.
Hawaiian cuisine is very distinct from other tropical/Caribbean cuisines and I'm both interested in and trepidatious about what they'll do with it.
As someone who is ethnically Hawaiian and has spent a lot of time there in a "normal" setting (versus at resorts and tourist-y areas), I'm realizing I have no idea what the general public's perception of what Hawaiian food includes is. For example, I never would have associated rum with Hawaii.
I guess overall I think it's a really odd choice for a food booth if they're going to do it right because I don't think Hawaiian food is very accessible. I know Food and Wine Festival-goers are more adventurous eaters to begin with, but I don't see poke (raw fish salad), Spam musubi (grilled spam on rice wrapped in seaweed) or poi (ground taro root paste) being huge crowd-pleasers.
Maybe they'll just do lots of stuff with pineapples and coconuts or something, but if that's the case I just don't see the point.
As someone who is ethnically Hawaiian and has spent a lot of time there in a "normal" setting (versus at resorts and tourist-y areas), I'm realizing I have no idea what the general public's perception of what Hawaiian food includes is. For example, I never would have associated rum with Hawaii.
I guess overall I think it's a really odd choice for a food booth if they're going to do it right because I don't think Hawaiian food is very accessible. I know Food and Wine Festival-goers are more adventurous eaters to begin with, but I don't see poke (raw fish salad), Spam musubi (grilled spam on rice wrapped in seaweed) or poi (ground taro root paste) being huge crowd-pleasers.
Maybe they'll just do lots of stuff with pineapples and coconuts or something, but if that's the case I just don't see the point.
So, I just got back from a business trip to Hawaii. For a number of reasons, I was forced to stay in Waikiki (previously I have stayed elsewhere, away from that tourist trap). I completely agree with you about the accessibility of legitimate Hawaiian food.
Perhaps the park will serve the stuff I saw in Waikiki, which honestly was too heavy for me. I ate a lot of kalua pork, but it was incredibly salty. There was teriyaki everywhere, I guess because of the massive Japanese influence? Once again more salt. Tons of local beef and many, many fried things.
Mostly, my impression was that restaurants wanted you to focus on Mai Tais, Lava Flows, and random blue cocktails, rather than their food.
One huge bright spot for me was the farmers market I found. The fresh fruit and mochi were fantastic.
Perhaps the park will serve the stuff I saw in Waikiki, which honestly was too heavy for me. I ate a lot of kalua pork, but it was incredibly salty. There was teriyaki everywhere, I guess because of the massive Japanese influence? Once again more salt. Tons of local beef and many, many fried things.
Mostly, my impression was that restaurants wanted you to focus on Mai Tais, Lava Flows, and random blue cocktails, rather than their food.
One huge bright spot for me was the farmers market I found. The fresh fruit and mochi were fantastic.
I have been to Hawaii more than a dozen times over the years for work. Like Nicole I did not like the food in Waikiki. The few times I have the opportunity to stay where I wanted I stayed in the JW Marriott at Ko Olina. I was also fortunate to have a co-worker from Lānaʻi. He was able to take us places where we were able to eat local fare. Some of it was certainly still tourist trap, for example the original shrimp truck. But I did get some yummy pork that did not taste like a salt lick.
I have to agree that perhaps Poi is a bit much for BGW guests.
I have to agree that perhaps Poi is a bit much for BGW guests.
After living in Hawaii for 6 years (finally returning to VA/BGW indefinitely this summer!) I feel like it would be rather difficult to pull off with genuine "Hawaiian Cuisine". Poi/Taro would be much too far for VA residents, whereas a lighter version of Kalua Pork and Teriyaki Chicken/Beef would be a much better option and more widely accepted. Agreeing with TheMostHappy, Spam Musubi would be interesting to see guests try!
F&W is an event where I don't think I would be able to make rational decisions as an executive. I would be willing to try just about anything, but reality would surely hit me hard. That being said, I don't think taro is too far-fetched as a side item.
The park is going to remove a flower bed (or at least part of one) for two of the booths. No solid idea where, but I have a strong hunch that it'll be in Festa.