Friday, January 8, 2016

Trattoria al Forno Dinner - Disney's BoardWalk

On New Year's Day, my family had dinner at Trattoria al Forno on Disney's BoardWalk with one of our school's Chinese international students, and her mom, who was in town for Christmas break.


Trattoria al Forno, a table service restaurant serving Italian cuisine, celebrated their one year anniversary last month.  In the past year, Trattoria al Forno has become one of our favorite restaurants at Disney World for breakfast and dinner.  When we were seated, I was given an allergy-friendly menu that lists options for people with gluten/wheat, milk, egg, soy, fish/shellfish, and peanut/tree nut allergies.



From previous visits, I knew that there were many more gluten free options than what is listed on the allergy-friendly menu, and our server even told me to look at the regular menu, because everything is naturally gluten free or can be modified to be gluten free except for the pizzas, baked lasagna, and house-made ravioli.  Trattoria al Forno uses gluten free breadcrumbs in all of their dishes, which means that fried calamari, meatballs, chicken parmesan, and the pork Milanese are all safe options.


The allergy-friendly menu lists the following options as gluten/wheat friendly:

  • Appetizers - fried calamari, grilled treviso, Caprese salad, cured meat plate, mixed greens salad
  • Entrees - chicken parmigiana, braised short rib bolognese, pasta alla vongole, whole roasted fish, pasta carbonara, wood-grilled t-bone steak
  • Desserts - lemon panna cotta, strawberry-basil sorbetto, chocolate or vanilla gelato


Gluten free options on the kids' menu include the mixed greens salad, seasonal fish, grilled chicken breast, pasta marinara, vanilla gelato, and the fresh fruit cup.  The Italian garden meringue mushroom s'mores are no longer on the allergy-friendly menu, but hopefully, they are still gluten free, or can be modified to be made gluten free.


The following options used to be on their old gluten free menu, and according to what my server told me, they should be able to be made gluten free: Venetian mussels with tomato-curry broth, risotto del giorno, the polpetta gigante (giant meatball with pasta), chianti-braised lamb shank, pork chop all milanese, and eggplant rollatini.  The grilled tuna, a new dish, should also be able to be modified to be gluten free if gluten free pasta is substituted for the house-made cavatelli.  For dessert, additional options include the affogato al caffe (espresso with choice of hazelnut or vanilla gelato), and the hazelnut or pistachio-stracciatella gelato.  I always recommend getting a regular and an allergy-friendly menu when dining at Disney, because there are often more gluten free options than what is listed on the allergy-friendly menu.  You can always ask to speak to a chef or have your server check with a chef if you have questions about items not listed as gluten/wheat friendly on the allergy-friendly menu.


Trattoria al Forno serves Udi's gluten free rolls, which are usually very dry, so I like to ask for the Udi's bread they serve at breakfast.  It is very good toasted, with a little bit of butter, and it is great dipped in the agrodolce served with the calamari.


For dinner, I decided to order two appetizers.  This was my first time trying the Caprese salad with fresh tomatoes and house-made mozzarella.  I was impressed with both the mozzarella and the tomatoes, and I love when a Caprese salad is served with a balsamic reduction.


For my second appetizer, I ordered my favorite dish at Trattoria al Forno, the fried calamari with balsamic agrodolce.  The breading is always crispy and well seasoned, and the calamari is perfectly accompanied by the agrodolce, which is both sweet and tart.


We passed on dessert, because my family wanted to sample some of the other treats available around the BoardWalk.  The gelato at Trattoria al Forno is very good, but on past visits, the portion size has been ridiculously small for the price.  You can read my previous dinner reviews of Trattoria al Forno here.

You can read more about Trattoria al Forno, view their menus and hours, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Trattoria al Forno?

0 comments:

Post a Comment