Yes, It IS About the Food OR Two Foodies Do WDW From Table To Table--TR About This Page:

[Her Dotness]

If what appears below regarding Captain’s Grille seems familiar to our longtime followers, that’s because it appeared previously. I realized after thinking about our experience at Captain’s Grille that I truly hadn’t anything more to say about the food than my response when Laurie said she‘d found it to be no better than your standard hotel restaurant. So, call me lazy (which I’ll admit to), but this already said it just fine.

I had a very nice lobster omelet with multiple chunks of lobster throughout, sautéed onion and asparagus bits, the last somewhat overcooked but fresh-tasting and tender without mushiness so excusable. It was accompanied by perfectly fried hash browns ("Savory hash browns" as listed on the menu). Again, lots of what tasted like Vidalia onion maybe....

Captain's Grille did that lobster omelet totally right. BIG clawmeat garnish with a watercress and grape tomato side salad topped with a stunning lemon vinaigrette.



Drew had blueberry-ricotta-lemon curd hotcakes and the most fabulous grits I think I've ever tasted.



He doesn't ordinarily want any lemon curd, he explained, having had some once that was too sour and lemony. This was fantastic! I adore lemon curd but can't recall ever before having had any as perfectly balanced as that was. Smooth, velvety texture--simply perfect.



And the grits he had with the hotcakes? O. M. G. Creamy, powerfully flavorful--the very essence of grits which I'm not all that fond of typically. I nearly stole these from him!

Consequently, I’ll only add that the coffee was excellent and refreshed regularly, not as mellow as Kona Café’s for obvious reasons but still topnotch.

All-in-all, a terrific day-starter further enhanced by excellent service. Disney got an email about our server, and I received a very nice call from a Guest Relations CM last weekend thanking me for taking the time to praise our server, Robert, as well as Angela of HBD. Both richly deserved recognition for service that would have made Walt Disney proud.

[SheLovesAriel]

Sounds and looks like a fabulous meal! Where did you send your email? I need to follow up with one myself.

[Her Dotness]

To wdw.guestcommunications@disneyworld.com

[Colexis Mom]

Great meal at CG!!

[chezp]

That lobster omelette sounds and looks so good.

[shazza]

Caught up. Absolutely agree with your review of R&C. Definitely a great fish and chips dish. From your preview of AP, I was surprised as all of our experiences have been positive. But, even good food won't make up for bad service.

DH had the same comment on the crab cake - ok, but too much stuff. We also had the same entrees, and enjoyed them. I would not have been as patient - after 10 minutes of no coffee/dessert offers, I would have been visiting those 3 CMs standing around and shaking things up

Looking forward to more.

[lauriep]

Yep, at least one breakfast at Captain's Grill is definitely on my agenda for my next trip. Thanks for waking me up to how good this place is now!

[Her Dotness]

Sure hope it doesn't disappoint which could, of course, occur. Feel free to blame us if it does, Laurie.

[lauriep]

I have a feeling it'll be more like toasting you as I enjoy a wonderful start to the day!

[Her Dotness]

We really feel it’s dangerous to rave too much about how marvelous Tutto Italia is for fear it will become a 2-cr restaurant even though it richly deserves that status. We’ve eaten there twice now and would be hardpressed to say which was better. Really, equally delicious.

Every staff member seems to delight in providing top quality service. We certainly can’t complain that we’ve ever gotten less than that. Well, enough of the kudos and on to the food.

We began with Tutto Italia’s wonderful bread variety. I avoided them, easy enough to do with the marvelous g-f options Tutto Italia offers although I chose to pass on even those so as to have room for other deliciousness. As he often does, knowing how difficult it is for me to resist good bread, Drew moved it over near himself to reduce temptation for me.



However, I surprised myself by trying one of these olives.



Mind you, I DETEST olives. Yes, I’ll eat them if I must to be polite or if other ingredients overpower them, but otherwise they’re on my icky-yukko list.
Except, these smelled and looked tremendously enticing. I can’t explain how something I hate could smell that terrific. So, I tried one, and wonder of wonders, they didn’t even taste much like my prior experience of olives. These were very fresh, not terribly salty at all--the extreme saltiness being what I dislike most--and with the texture of a Bosc pear, firm bordering on chewy. As I mentioned previously, I even sucked at the pits--that good. I still don’t believe it, but I ate almost all of them which amazed me at the time and still does.

Next came our appetizers, mine a simple mixed greens salad containing endive, radicchio, arugula, white asparagus, a thin slice of red radish with a fantastic balsamic vinaigrette dressing--sharp but not overwhelmingly so, the perfect enhancement to these incredibly fresh greens. I’d bet that was a high quality balsamic vinegar in the dressing as flavorful as it was. (By the way, did you know that you can make an inexpensive supermarket balsamic taste somewhat like an expensive one by reducing it by half over very low heat? Yup, it works, but make sure it’s just barely simmering to prevent a burnt taste. It’ll take a few hours but sure is worth the effort if you’d rather not lay out $40 or more for a really good balsamic. Credit to America‘s Test Kitchen for this tip.)



Drew’s appetizer was parma ham slices with ricotta cheese and fig bits on crostini. Even though he doesn’t care much for salty foods either, he loves parma ham and said that this was a wonderful combination, the richness of the ricotta and sweetness of the figs complementing the salty ham.



TBC

[Her Dotness]

My salmon was among the best I’ve had anywhere--perfectly medium-rare. That onion-looking stuff atop it was actually shaved fennel. I’m not that fond of fennel ordinarily, but this in combination with the very light tomato sauce and those lovely fat asparagus spears was simply marvelous. Oftentimes, asparagus stalks that plump will be woody, but these were tender and incredibly flavorful as well as perfectly cooked. Needless to say, I ate myself silly on this entrée.



Drew had chicken scaloppine with white asparagus spears, capers and lemon. I heard almost nothing from him as he ate it but occasional yum-yum noises. He gave me a bite, and it was fantastic, the sauce especially flavorful and not too heavily lemony.



Drew can never resist a good cannoli, and needless to say, Tutto Italia does a fantastic one filled with sweet ricotta and mascarpone cheese, tiny dark chocolate bits and candied orange pieces. He wasn’t very talkative while eating this either.



My dessert was an intensely chocolatey panna cotta (custard) with amarena cherries. Those were the most intensely flavored cherries I think I’ve ever tasted, about the size of a dime and densely textured to the point of chewy. They were magnificent atop that chocolate custard.



As before, the service was gracious with some nice eye candy for me in Stefano, our beverage and incidentals server. He was quick to observe our needs and supply them almost before we noticed any lack. Rita, our primary server, was a delightful conversationalist as well as very knowledgeable about the menu. She advised us expertly on what we might enjoy most.

Definitely one of our must-do-every-time restaurants, no question. Yes, Tutto Italia is more Italian than Italian-American with an upscale atmosphere but delightfully so we think.
　

[jlhill4444]

I am all caught up now. Sounds like you have had some hits and misses in the food department so far. I guess that comes with any trip to Disney. Some of our favorites are others' least favorite.

I would be remiss if I did not stick up for the young boy at AP that you described as being squirmy. It is very easy for someone to pass judgement on both the parents and the boy, but without knowing the situation (child could have cognitive delays) you really should not concern yourself with others' behavior or parenting. There are just too many situations that could being going on behind the scenes. Also, as a parent, while I do not allow my children to disrupt others while eating dinner, we do take them to signatures whenever we attend. We will not pay for a babysitter for our children so we can attend a signature dinner because this is a family trip and we like for them to try new things and experiences as well. Of course when we dined at V&A we did not have the children with us because that was the dinning policy of the restaurant. While I have enjoyed the food reviews and porn, I feel that part of this report has turned into a child bashing review. There just seems to be too much fun and excitement at Disney for me to be concerned with how others parent or children behave, other than my own. (Now rude adults are another matter entirely, but mostly I overlook any child misbehaving because I do not know the circumstances, and would hope others would allow me some wiggle room as well.)

[SuperDave]

Too bad about your experience at AP! I've ate there a few times and have had some slow service at times, but not as bad as yours.

Looked like a winning meal at R&C and I must try it sometime. I've ate at CG, but for breakfast only and enjoyed it. You seemed to have quite a lunch at Tutto Italia. While, I've always enjoyed my meals there (last being in 2012) yours looked quite exceptionally and seems they may have improved the menu, since I was there. Especially, the entrees which look so good on their presentation alone! Hope they were as good as they look!

[Her Dotness]

Yes, Dave, the food at Tutto Italia is indeed as good as it looks we think.

Our twice having eaten there--last fall and almost exactly a year later--are both more recent than your last experience. Suggest you try it again sometime as perhaps there's been a chef change, and you may find it much more enjoyable--or not. Perhaps our tastes differ somewhat.

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

Yes, Dave, the food at Tutto Italia is indeed as good as it looks we think.

Our twice having eaten there--last fall and almost exactly a year later--are both more recent than your last experience. Suggest you try it again sometime as perhaps there's been a chef change, and you may find it much more enjoyable--or not. Perhaps our tastes differ somewhat.

I'm just used to great Italian food here in CT, just outside of NYC. I've always found TI to be quite good, although not quite as good as some of the Italian eateries I frequent in my area. I'll probably give Tutto Italia a go on my next WDW trip and see if it has improved!