Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Kouzzina by Cat Cora at Disney's BoardWalk

Kouzzina by Cat Cora will be closing on September 30, 2014.  Trattoria al Forno, an Italian restaurant, will be taking the place of Kouzzina, and is scheduled to be open by December 2014.   From October 1 through December 8, you can enjoy breakfast at the Flying Fish Cafe on Disney's BoardWalk.  You can view their breakfast menu here.  

This morning, I visited my favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World to have breakfast at, Kouzzina by Cat Cora at Disney's BoardWalk. 


I usually order the spinach, tomato, and feta scrambled eggs, which are served with toast, breakfast potatoes, and bacon.  My daughters happen to like them too, so we usually share this dish and a children's order of gluten free Mickey waffles.  


Today, I decided to try something new after reading great reviews about the Turkey-Sweet Potato Hash on my friend Sarah's blog, Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW.  


Kouzzina uses Udi's Sandwich Loaf, which tasted better and looked different than the Udi's White Sandwich Bread I used to buy at Whole Foods.  My toast was so good this morning, I called the Chef Paul back to my table to reassure me that I was actually eating gluten free bread.  Sarah told me that Udi's makes special loafs of bread for restaurant/commercial use.  A huge loaf of their Whole Grain Bread can be purchased at Jason's Deli.  


Here's a better shot of my hash after I ate some of the arugula and one of my poached eggs off the top.  


I had a hard time finishing my last little bit of turkey-sweet potato hash.  I can't believe that I thought my bowl of food looked small when I first got it.  My eyes are always bigger than my stomach!  This was a very filling dish.  Overall, I was very pleased with my breakfast and thought everything was delicious.  Next time, I am going to try the Stacked Kouzzina Breakfast, which contains 2 poached eggs, toast, artichoke spread (definitely on the side for me), sweet potato hash, and bacon.  


After breakfast, I had hoped to take a walk around the BoardWalk, but the weather was not cooperating.  Kouzzina is a short walk from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios.  Because of the rain, I headed to Downtown Disney to check out the new Vera Bradley Collection at the World of Disney Store.  They were already sold out of the pieces I was interested in, but they will be receiving more merchandise in the next couple of weeks.  

If you haven't seen it, you can check out my other post about Kouzzina here.  

October 9, 2013 Update 

This morning, I stopped in to have breakfast at Kouzzina and try the Stacked Kouzzina Breakfast, which includes two poached eggs, toast, artichoke spread, sweet potato hash, and a choice of bacon or chicken sausage. 


I chose the bacon and decided to skip the artichoke spread.  Everything was delicious! 


I was also in the mood for some gluten free Mickey waffles this morning.  I really wish I had a Mickey waffle maker at home.  They always put a smile on my face.  


I left with an OMG.....It's Gluten Free Fudge Brownie.  I'm a huge fan of these deliciously fudgy brownies!

Many thanks to Chef Brad for making this an amazing breakfast!    

November 3, 2013 Update

Last Wednesday, my parents arrived in Orlando.  We decided to have dinner at Kouzzina because we heard Cat Cora was in town. 


Olives and two different olive oils come with your bread. 


Whatever kind of gluten free rolls Kouzzina is serving, they are not worth eating! 


I ordered the same dish I had the last time I ate dinner at Kouzzina -- braised short ribs with roasted potatoes and broccolini.  The short ribs are amazing!  I really need to remember to ask for the recipe.  Other dinner options are the wood-grilled steak and the traditional whole fish.  The cinnamon-stewed chicken and the Briami can be modified to be gluten free if the orzo pasta is left out.  My father loved the fisherman's stew he ordered, which is easily made gluten free by swapping out the grilled bread for gluten free pita. 



I was pretty full after dinner, so I decided to have a cup of pistachio ice cream that came with one of my daughter's kids meal.  She wanted to have dessert at Epcot.  The chef told me that the Greek Cheesecake is also gluten free.  You can check out Kouzzina's dinner menu here.

November 6, 2013 Update

This morning, I went to Kouzzina to try the Breakfast Skillet with eggs, pequillo peppers, Nueske's bacon, onion, potatoes, Greek cheese, and arugula.  The presentation was beautiful and the favors of the dish were great, but you better bring a big appetite.  I like to eat, and I can eat a lot of food, but I only ate about 2/3 of this dish, and I was stuffed when I stopped eating.  It was served with two pieces of gluten free toast. 



Kouzzina continues to impress me and remains my favorite table service restaurant for breakfast at Disney World.  As far as counter service goes, Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory at Port Orleans French Quarter is the hands down winner because of their amazing gluten free beignets.  My gluten eating husband, daughters, parents, and brother all tried them this past weekend and were really impressed.  Some even liked them better than the regular beignets.

June 20, 2014 Update



Today, my daughters and I had breakfast at Kouzzina with my GFF Shelley and her daughter, who also has to eat gluten free.  


This was definitely the best breakfast I ever had at Kouzzina, and it's always amazing.  Chef Brad really outdid himself this time.  My daughters and I order the scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes, and feta, but my girls wanted chocolate muffins instead of toast, so Chef Brad brought us Udi's Double Chocolate Muffins.  My daughters adore these muffins!  I try to keep a package in my freezer for days when we need a quick and easy breakfast.  


Shelley shared the gluten free Mickey waffles she got as a side.  Their little ears are my favorite part!  Today, I asked for sweet potato hash instead of breakfast potatoes with my scrambled eggs.  I really need to ask for the sweet potato hash recipe.  It's amazing!

September 8, 2014 Update

This morning, I had breakfast at Kouzzina with Jennifer, a fellow celiac.  I was tempted to try the gluten free Mickey waffles with whipped mascarpone cheese, honey, and chopped pecans.  Jennifer ordered the waffles, and said they were fluffy and moist, full of flavor, and not too sweet.  For a side, she chose the chicken sausage.  


Since this was probably my last visit to Kouzzina, I had to order my favorite breakfast - spinach, tomato & feta scrambled eggs with Udi's toast, bacon, and a side of sweet potato hash.  


I have advance dining reservations for the Flying Fish Cafe in October, where the Kouzzina chefs will be working until Trattoria al Forno opens in December.  I am looking forward to trying their gluten free Mickey waffles with whipped tiramisu mascarpone and cocoa powder.  Instead of spinach, tomato & feta scrambled eggs, they will be serving a more Italian version with tomato, basil & mozzarella.  Both of these dishes will be available at Trattoria al Forno when it opens.  

I am sad that Kouzzina is closing permanently on September 30, 2014.  It really is the best table service restaurant at Disney World for breakfast.  I am hoping that Trattoria al Forno will be a worthy replacement, and I am looking forward to dining there in December.




1 comments:

  1. LOL I love that you had to ask the Chef to reassure you the bread was gfree!! I have done that myself at Kona Cafe, their rolls are soooo delicious with the honey macadamia nut butter!. Disney's gfree selection is just so incredible that it's hard to believe there is really no gluten :) love it!!!

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