Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Amorette's Patisserie - Disney Springs

I was so excited when Disney announced that Amorette's Patisserie was opening in the new Town Center neighborhood of Disney Springs in May.  The main reason I was looking forward to visiting this new shop is that they sell gluten friendly cake, and other sweet treats.  You can check out pictures of their beautiful creations on Disney's website here.


After a disappointing experience at The Daily Poutine in Disney Springs last Saturday, we headed to Amorette's Patisserie.  After reading my friend Sarah's review on her blog Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW, I was not expecting a good experience at Amorette's either.


On their allergy-friendly menus, Disney uses the term gluten/wheat friendly instead of gluten free.  At the bottom of these menus, there is a  disclaimer that because of shared kitchen space, there is a risk of cross contamination, but that chefs will use reasonable efforts to avoid it. The use of the term gluten friendly at Disney World has never concerned me, because I have been eating safely at Disney once a week for the past eight years.  When guests at Disney World see the phrase gluten friendly, they are probably expecting that Disney is going above and beyond to keep their food safe.  That is why I am so concerned about how Amorette's is labeling some of their sweets as gluten friendly, when they not taking the proper precautions to avoid cross contamination.


At first glance, this adorable Mickey Macaron Financier looks safe.  The ingredients list is free of gluten, there is no warning about cross contamination, and it is labeled gluten friendly on the back of the box and on the sign on the display.  If I had not read Sarah's review and talked to a cast member in the patisserie, I might have picked one up and paid for it, not having any idea that I was eating something prepared in an unsafe environment.


Both Sarah and I questioned cast members at Amorette's Patisserie and came to the same conclusion, that you might want to skip eating their gluten friendly sweets if you have celiac disease, because they are not being prepared using reasonable efforts to avoid cross contamination.  They are not taking the precautions that many bakeries take, like using dedicated pans and utensils, having a separate prep area, or baking gluten friendly items first thing in the morning before preparing items with gluten.  The picture below is from Disney Springs's website, which states that they have, "gluten-free macarons and signature cakes," and says the Mickey Financier is gluten free.


Amorette's Patisserie is Disney owned and operated, so I hope that they fix this situation in the near future, and start making their gluten friendly items friendly enough for people with celiac.  In the meantime, I recommend going to Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC - Disney Springs, which is a dedicated gluten free bakery, or Sprinkles, which takes the proper precautions to keep your gluten free baked goods safe.




4 comments:

  1. Hi Alexis! That's disappointing! Just wondering if you let Disney's customer service know about this... seems like a pretty big issue to me since Disney prides itself on being allergy friendly and taking all necessary precautions. Hopefully they get their act in gear! :)

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  2. Do you happen to have an update?

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    1. If you search my blog using the search bar, you should find a photo of a dessert I ate there

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