We’re excited to be one of the first to announce that Busch Gardens’ Food & Wine Festival 2016 menus have been released! Hawaii and local Virginia are the two newest booths to come to the Food & Wine Festival’s 14-booth lineup, replacing Scotland and Scandinavia respectively. But months after the park’s original announcement about these two new booths, we’re finally able to see what foods they have to offer! In addition to covering these two brand-new menus, we’ll also go through and highlight other minor changes to existing booths’ menus. Let’s kick it off with 2016’s two new booths, Hawaii and Virginia!
Hawaii
A new, exotic cuisine from the American Pacific Islands joins the Food & Wine Festival’s lineup this year. This booth will be located in Killarney adjacent to Castle O’Sullivan at the former location of the Scandinavia booth. We’ve heard the new booth may even include a tiki bar!
The Hawaii booth will have a total of five food/dessert options such as vegetable chips and dip, pineapple and BBQ chicken, tuna, and a coconut and coffee tart. Of course, the famous meat dish of Hawaii is not excluded, which is none other than Spam!
In addition to the food and dessert menu, the Hawaii booth will also serve a different selection of beers, cocktails and specialty drinks. Here’s the full menu with names and descriptions of all the dishes:
Root Vegetable Chips with Maui Onion Dip
Fried sweet potatoes, taro root & beet chips with caramelized sweet onion dipSpam Slider
Fried spam with sriracha mayonnaise & grilled pineapple served with pineapple-coconut coleslawHuli Huli Chicken
Sweet pineapple & soy BBQ chicken served with orange & purple sweet potato saladTuna Poke
Soy & sesame sushi tuna in a wonton flower with wasabi aioli, served with wakame seaweed saladHaupia Tart
Sweet coconut mousse with Kona coffee ganache in a crispy tart shell
Virginia
The other new booth this year showcases local Virginian cuisine. This booth will be located in Heatherdowns at the former location of the Scotland booth. The menu offers a wide variety of meals including she-crab soup, pork rinds and dip, Smithfield ham tasting, bacon and cheddar hushpuppies, and for your sweet-and-salty fix, a pecan-bacon-chocolate bar for dessert.
On top of all of that, the park will have a number of local wines, beers and even moonshine being served at this booth. Here’s the full Virginia booth menu with dish names and descriptions:
Pork Rinds with Virginia Dips
Deviled Ham Pate, Pimento cheese spread, Smoked bacon & onion jamShe-Crab Soup
Crab bisque finished with sherry, Old Bay crostini & Chesapeake Blue Crab saladSmithfield® Ham Tasting
Red Eye Country Ham, Hickory Smoked Pitt Ham & Applewood Carved Ham served with honey biscuit, apple butter, raspberry jam & whole grain mustardBacon & Cheddar Hushpuppies
[description redacted due to BGW posting an inaccurate description]Pecan, Bacon & Chocolate Bars
Sweet pecan caramel bars topped with smoked bacon & chocolate drizzle
In addition to these two brand new menus, other existing menus around the park received minor tweaks and additions.
Spain:
The dessert option at the Spain booth has been removed, which was a variety of chocolate cake last year, and has yet to be replaced.
Italy Desserts:
The name of the Italy booth has been changed to Italy Desserts reflecting its resized menu which now only serves desserts. The new dessert being served, in addition to previous years’ Panna Cotta and Tiramisu, is a mini cannoli trio, which looks to be a cannoli sampler featuring three different filling types.
Germany:
The Germany booth will be taking on a new dessert option, replacing its former pie/tart, the Linzer Torte. This new dessert option will be the famous German chocolate cake with coconut icing.
French Quarter:
In addition to the entire menu returning from last year, the French Quarter booth will be getting a fourth menu item, beignets, a common dessert found in New Orleans. Beignets were previously served at the Royal Palace snack stand during ‘Twas That Night this past Christmas Town.
France:
The tomates farcies a la ratatouille, a dish formerly served at the France booth takes on a new form as the Ratatouille Parfait, which is described as layered roasted vegetables in a cup with a parmesan garlic twist.
Crepes and Coffee:
A new Crepe will join the lineup of dishes at this French booth. Appealing to the sweet and tart side, the Cherries Jubilee Crepe is a new dessert crepe option this year.
Besides these changes, the Greece, Caribbean, Canada, Asia and American Southwest booths will have the same menu as last year. You can view all of these menus and more at the park’s Food and Wine Festival site, here.
Overall, I’m very excited for another delicious Food & Wine Festival this year at Busch Gardens. As the Food & Wine Festival begins to take shape in the coming weeks, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the latest construct and details regarding the event this year. So be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram if you haven’t already. Tell us what you think of these changes by leaving a comment or joining in on the discussion on the Parkfans Forum.
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