Linda Mac's Orlando Adventures

The Tutto Italia Restaurant , (the former L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante), in Epcot's Italy reopened on Monday (9/17/07) after a few weeks of sprucing up. Disney Dining will begin accepting reservations on Sunday, September 23, the original date they were scheduled to open.

TIP: For folks trying to find a table service meal in the near future, the reservations will be wide open for booking on Sunday. Many restaurants are completely booked because of the Free Dining Plan promotion that is taking place this month. During this "soft opening," you can enjoy lunch and dinner at “Tutto Italia” on a first-come, first-served basis.

Today's weather was so wonderful (mid-80s) that I decided to head over to Epcot to check out Tutto Italia, as well as the progress on the work for the upcoming Food and Wine Festival. After waiting for the rope to drop at the International Gateway with about 15 other people, I slowly headed over to Italy, stopping to take a few photos along the way. I live for times that I am almost totally alone in any area of any theme park.

It is always exciting to me when I can arrive first at anything new or updated in Disney so I can get photos from many different angles and hopefully come up with a few good ones. It was about 11:15 a.m. by the time I made my way back to Italy. The only exterior change I noticed was the name painted over the entrance to the restaurant. Even the sign that hangs over the doorway is the same but with the new name and logo inserted into it. A gentleman at the reception desk was very accommodating when I asked if I could take a few pictures of the dining room before the official 11:30 opening. Today however, the opening was closer to 11:45 a.m. and that is to be expected during any soft opening.

This was the first time I can remember being in this building when the room was not full of guests. Initially, I didn’t notice the changes that had been made over the past few weeks. It just looked cleaner and more open to me. The cast member from the front desk, whose name I truly wish I could remember because of his great guest service, pointed out some of the changes, which included: removing tables in the main dining area so it would not be so crowded, new carpeting, the colors in the wall artwork have been touched up, handsome partitions have been added to areas where servers enter the kitchen, and removal of the wall between the first group of tables you see when entering the dining room and the small room that looks out on the patio area. The removal of this wall was my favorite change because on a past visit, when the establishment was managed by Alfredo's, I was seated at the first table facing the wall and server's station. It was a real turn off for several reasons and I will leave it at that.

Another interesting change is where the pasta making room was just off the lobby. While it is still open for guests to enjoy watching chefs at work, now it is used for making appetizers and desserts instead of pasta. I was told, though, that the pasta is still homemade. There are bottles of wine and shelves with platters of towering lemons across the window, which makes viewing a little more difficult.

As I waited to be seated for lunch, I was taking pictures of the new menus while in the lobby. A woman approached me and somewhat shyly asked if all the pictures of the menus were for scrapbooking. In my travels, I do get a lot of odd looks for some of the photos I take, especially menus. As we chatted about Disney and cameras, I quietly explained that I was taking the pictures for an AllEars® update. It turned out Danielle and her husband Scott who were traveling with their two young children, are avid AllEars® readers. I believe I speak for every AllEars® Team Member in saying that we always enjoy meeting AllEars® readers. You may remember the review I did last year at my first food and wine pairing, which coincidentally was in Alfredo's, and it was AllEars® readers whom I had never met before who helped me get through it and then some. You guys are the best!

Time for lunch! I was seated at a table for two in the main dining room and next to a window so that I could just about wave at Danielle and Scott. Actually, I was peeking at choices they made for lunch since they were on the Dining Plan and their daughter was ordering from the child's menu. Luckily for them there was a window between us or I may have asked to take a photo of some of their food.

As soon as I was seated, my server Marco, who hails from Roma, Italy, was immediately at my table for my drink order. He was just wonderful throughout my time at Tutto Italia. The service I received was friendly, very attentive and professional. Kudos to Marco!

Lunch review and more to follow in Part 2.......

Tutto Italia's lunch menu offers 5 appetizers with prices starting at $8 for Pasta E Fagioli Soup to $24 for Antipasto Misto. The antipasto is large enough to share with your family. The salad choices are limited to the traditional Caesar Salad for $16 (you can add chicken or jumbo shrimp for an additional $3/$9) and Sicilian Tuna Confit Salad for $20. Only one sandwich is offered for lunch, the PLT Panino with Prosciutto ham, mozzarella, lettuce and tomato for $15.

I passed on the starters and went right for the main course, Lasagne "al forno", baked pasta with meat ragu, bechamel and parmesan $19. Entree prices begin at $19 with the most expensive, Tagliata di Manzo , a beef dish with fennel and arugula salad at $28. Side dishes are $8 and change daily; sauteed zucchini was offered during my visit. I did have to ask about the side dish/dishes of the day and was hoping for more of a selection.

The bread basket was served with several olives in a small dish topped with olive oil. Along side was an additional dish of olive oil. The three types of bread were: flatbread, sun-dried Italian bread and house bread. According to Davide, one the managers who stopped by my table several times, the house bread is flown in from a "famous bakery" in NY. It was the best of the 3. If you prefer butter instead of olive oil, just ask your server. Another nice touch - my water glass was filled with chilled water and no ice, a personal preference.

My lasagne (their spelling not mine) was tasty and full of meat in several layers. The portion was so large that I did not finish it. However, I was expecting the lasagne to be richer than it was since it included bechamel (a white sauce made with milk, flour and butter) in the menu description. The marinara sauce was light and tasty. I did request additional sauce which to me really improved the dish. The lasagne seemed to a popular choice with other dinners as well. Since many of us, myself included, are not experts in Italian cuisine I would like to see clearer descriptions of the menu items. For instance, I didn't realize Tagliata di Manzo was a beef dish until after I ordered the lasagne.

I purposely saved room for dessert but it was very hard to pick just one. At Davide's suggestion, I ordered the house specialty, Bugie/Chiacchere which is described as "Our signature Anis and Sambucca-flavored Crisp Pastry with Chocolate or Apricot Sauces" $10. To be honest, I wasn't sure what exactly I had ordered. Let me tell you, I thought it was mistake when the plate arrived since it was huge - enough for a small group! The selection was a perfect choice to enjoy with coffee or espresso especially if you don't want something so rich that you feel like you need a nap after lunch. The taste of the rich dark chocolate sauce on the sugar covered pastry took me back to my younger days when I frequented New York City's, Little Italy.

The most enjoyable parts of my dining experience included the attentive service and relaxing atmosphere. Sometimes small touches can make a meal special. For example, Marco served me a second soda with my Lasagne before I was finished with the first one and without waiting for me to request a refill. Very nice.

I like to take my time especially over dessert and coffee. This was not a problem at Tutto Italia. It is unbelievable how many times servers at other restaurants will plop down the check at the same time your dessert is served. Hopefully this great service will not change when word gets out that Tutto Italia is open and begins to book up. As a final touch, after Marco had picked up my signed credit card slip and thanked me, he returned a second time, a few minutes later, to say thank you again. That rarely, if ever happens.

After lunch, I stopped by to talk to AllEars® readers, Danielle and Scott. They were allowed to order the Antipasto (cost $24) as a single appetizer on the dining plan. Perhaps that will change but for now that is what I call really getting the most bang for your buck. The Antipasto was so large that I had noticed it from across the room on server’s tray! In addition to the Antipasto, they had the Pasta E Fagioli Soup ($8), Lasagne "al Forno" ($19) and Penne Caprese ($18). From the children’s menu their daughter had Mozzarella Sticks - fresh circular slices of Mozzarella that was lightly breaded and fried ($6) and Spaghetti ($9) as her entree. Everything on the children's menu is ala carte including the beverage. They gave a big thumbs up for the entire meal.

Tutto Italia is only a temporary restaurant. From what I have been told, a yet un-named quick service restaurant will be built across the courtyard in Italy. When that is completed, Tutto Italia will close for an extensive rehab and reopen with an entire new name, look and menu. Work is expected to be completed sometime in late 2008.

Overall, the food was good but pricey for lunch. The dessert was outstanding and that could be attributed to the fact that the only member of the Aldredo's kitchen team to continue working in the new restaurant is the pastry chef. I do look forward to giving Tutto Italia another try.

Finally, to answer a question that I have received a ton of emails about -- Sorry, Fettuccine Alfredo was not offered as of the day I visited.

You can read part one of my report on Tutto Italia, including photos on my previous blog.

The T-Rex Cafe - A Prehistoric Family Restaurant is finally getting started at Downtown Disney. The Cafe was announced way back in February of 2006. To be honest, I had forgotten about it till I recently noticed a fence had been erected in the parking area near the Portobello Yacht Club and Fulton's Crab House. The T-Rex Cafe is owned and will be operated by Landry's Restaurants, Inc. Landry's also owns and runs the Rainforest Cafes at Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney's Marketplace. The new restaurant will be home to life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, a dig site and much more. The table service restaurant will feature waterfalls and geysers, and, as the name indicates, there will also be a retail shop.

The sidewalk along the parking lot between McDonald's and the Pleasure Island ticket booths is currently close. You can easily travel from the Marketplace by crossing the bridge near Fulton's and using the boardwalk along side of Cookes of Dublin and Raglan Road.

The last photos I posted of the T-Rex Cafe's construction site were basically fences and signs.

There is now a temporary walkway between Pleasure Island's Raglan Road and McDonald's on the parking lot side of the site.

Here are a few photos that will make you wonder if I was wearing a hard hat at the time I took them. (For the record, I was only in areas I was allowed to be in - cameras do magic these days, don't they?)

Jambo Everyone! I just returned from Donald's Safari Breakfast in Harambe, Africa. I am going to start with the menus and general pictures while I work on a review and more pictures from my morning adventure with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey.

The first change you will notice about Tusker House is that the entrance has been moved. The check-in podium is now next to the Dawa Bar and your host or hostess will escort you around the back of the building while explaining the story of the hotel and marketplace.

This is the Photo Op spot you pass while being escorted inside. The host or hostess gives the photographer your table number. Later, near the end of your meal, someone will come by with several photos in a lovely keepsake folder. I think there was one 5 x 7 and several smaller pictures as well as a 5 x 7 picture of Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy. Cost $29.95. I am guessing that this is only done during the character breakfast but I could be wrong.

The Marketplace at Tusker House is where the locals serve food and sell African items in an effort to help the poor people of Harambe Village. For the record, there is no merchandise actually for sale, it's just part of the story.

A big thank you goes out to Neil (and Goofy) for spending so much time with me. While the kitchen changed the buffet from breakfast to lunch, I was one of the only people inside. I love moments like that. Neil (and Goofy) took me through the different dinning rooms as Neil explained the exciting back story of the Tusker House. By the way, there are 4 named dining rooms School/Training Room, Marketplace, Blue Room and the Artifacts Room. These rooms will hold approximately 350 tourists who are getting ready to go on safari. There is some outdoor seating that will be used for lunch and dinner as needed.

The former entry way when Tusker House was a quick service spot.

Connie, the cast member in the center was my server. She was fantastic!! It is not always easy waiting on me as I am running around taking pictures and asking a ton of questions. Connie was right there everytime a character stopped at my table to take a photo with my camera. As a solo dinner that is such a great Disney touch when cast members make that extra effort.

This is a very special tribute to Joe Rohde, which has been here since the park opened. The masks and beads in "his" shop are items he personally brought back from Africa.

Joe Rohde is a Vice President with Walt Disney Imagineering and is in charge of design and development for Animal Kingdom. Joe has led conceptualization, design, and production for Animal Kingdom since its inception in 1990.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

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