Sunday, September 28, 2014

Ravello - Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World

Friday night, I had dinner at Ravello with my friend Sarah from Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW.  


Ravello is located at the newly opened Four Seasons Resort at Walt Disney World, which is inside Golden Oak community.  


Ravello's specialty is modern Italian cuisine, which pairs well with the modern decor of the restaurant & the Four Seasons Resort.  


I was a little disappointed that a chef did not come out to speak to us, but our server checked with the chef when he was not able to answer our questions.  


For my antipasti course, I ordered the Pomodoro e Burrata, which is heirloom tomatoes and burrata with a balsamic drizzle.  Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream, and if you like Caprese, you will enjoy this salad.  The seasoning was spot on, and the ratio of tomato to burrata was perfect.  I loved this dish, but I thought it was a little pricey at $15.  


For a main course, I ordered the Herb Grilled Chicken, which was modified to make it gluten free.  This dish is usually served with semolina gnocchi and gorgonzola dolce sauce, but I was given roasted potatoes instead.  The potatoes were so flavorful and delicious, I could eat them every day!  I wonder if they are the new potatoes with garlic, butter, and rosemary that are listed as a side dish on the menu.  I also loved the seasonal vegetable, which was Romanesco, which is kind of like a cross between broccoli & cauliflower, but way more tasty in my opinion.  Like my potatoes, it was seasoned and cooked to perfection.  


I was also impressed by my chicken, which was moist inside, with a crispy skin on the outside, that was seasoned with a delightful mix of herbs .  I rarely order chicken when I dine out, but I would definitely order this dish again at Ravello.  For $28, I thought it was a nice size portion, with plenty of vegetables and meat.  I ended up not finishing my second piece of chicken, because I was becoming very full, and I wanted to save some room for dessert.   


I was a little disappointed when our server said they didn't have any gluten free desserts except sorbet, but when I asked about the gelato, he was able to confirm with the kitchen that all flavors of gelato were gluten free.  With the smallest portion size being two scoops, I asked if I could have one scoop of each of the two flavors I was interested in.  The pistachio reminded me of the gelato we had in Italy, then I tried the maple, which was hidden underneath my large scoop of pistachio, and instantly fell in love.  It was so deliciously creamy, and had just the right amount of maple flavor.  Even though the pistachio was excellent, I found myself only wanting the maple, because it was so good, and so different from any gelato I have ever tried.

I really enjoyed all three courses I ordered at Ravello, but I found myself disappointed that I had to pay for parking on top of a pricey meal.  You can only valet park your car at the Four Season Resort Orlando.  Ravello will validate your parking after you dine, which does reduce the cost, but we still had to pay $5, plus a tip to the valet.  I also missed the personal touch of having a chef visit our table, which would have made ordering much easier.

Even though nothing especially excited me when I first saw the menu, all of my food was excellent.  If I was staying at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World, I would definitely dine at Ravello again.

You can read Sarah's review of our meal at Ravello on her blog Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW.

Ravello is open daily for breakfast and dinner.  You can view Ravello's menus, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

Have you dined at Ravello?  What are your favorite gluten free dishes?








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