Happy #tastytuesday friends! Today, we are staying on Walt Disney World property, but headed to one of my favorite restaurants: Ravello at Four Seasons Orlando. Located in the Disney-owned neighborhood Golden Oak, the Four Seasons is one of my favorite places to visit when I want to experience a little bit of luxury and pampering. Ravello is the Italian fine dining restaurant located on the first floor of the resort, and it is not to be missed!
To get to this restaurant, you will enter through the main entrance of the resort (where cars are parked by valet only) and go through a thermal temperature check that’s so quick and easy that you don’t even notice it. Then, you will take a right, walk through the main lobby and head either to the elevators at the very end of the hall or take the stairs through The Lobby Bar (yes, that’s actually the name- I looked it up!) down one floor.
When you arrive downstairs, you will wait in a beautiful waiting area by the bar for your table to be ready. I made our reservations using OpenTable for 7:30pm, and our table was ready within minutes of us arriving and checking in at the hostess stand (to the left in the picture above).
The tables here are well spaced out for social distancing, and there is also an outside dining area that is covered as well. Last time, we enjoyed our meal outside and had a beautiful view of the grounds from our table. This time, we were happy to be seated inside because the humidity made for some uncomfortable weather that day.
Once we were seated at our table, we were handed 2 items: an antiseptic wipe and also a plastic bag to put our mask in. We really enjoyed the touch of both, especially the plastic bag, as we sometimes forget to bring one to hold our masks when we take them off to keep them sanitary.
Above, you can find the current menu for Ravello that I screen shotted directly from the Four Seasons Orlando website, which is also something you can access via a QR code once you are seated at your table in the restaurant. Although there is not a specific allergy friendly menu, I did put my food allergies in the comments section of the reservation on OpenTable, and I also made sure to talk to our server about them as well. He told me to look at the menu and to let him know what I wanted and that he would talk to the chef about making the food safe for me to eat.
To start, my husband and I ordered a dish that we absolutely LOVED the last time we dined at Ravello: Beef Carpaccio. Now, if you don’t like raw or very quickly seared beef, you will not like this dish, and it also did not include the pecorino as we asked for it to be dairy, egg, and gluten free. Honestly, I thought it was a 12/10 as Ravello knocked it out of the park! It was perfectly salty and the agrumati (basically a spicy mustard) mixed with the arugula mixed with the beef was the perfect savory bite. I would go back and order this dish again and again.
Next, my husband and I also decided to split the Cozze in Brodetto, which is a muscle dish with tomoato sauce/broth. It was also a 12/10, absolutely amazing. The muscles were cooked perfectly and were so tender. The sauce had a little kick to it and had me coming back for more. And the chef was kind enough to replace the bread and add dairy, gluten, and egg free bread instead. I would also order this dish again and again.
Finally, for my main course, I had spoken to our server who let me know that the chef had made a gluten free pasta that evening that was also dairy and egg friendly. Now, it’s not every day that a person with my kind of food allergies is able to eat freshly made pasta, so I couldn’t resist. I asked for it with red sauce and sausage mixed in. Wow oh wow was it great! The pasta was very tender and the sauce reminded me of the same sauce on the Cozze in Brodetta. The sausage was also the perfect balance in the dish. My one complaint was that it was a little salty, but that’s it! 9/10 for me for taste; 12/10 for options!
Overall, I have always loved my experiences dining at Ravello and I am curious to try breakfast there as well. I think this is a great option for a date night or even for someone who is looking for an amazing Italian meal at the Most Magical Place on Earth. I’ll see you real soon Ravello!
You can check out videos of my review on my Youtube Channel, and you can follow me on social media (Instagram; Facebook) for more allergy friendly and Walt Disney World updates. Here’s to living our best and most delicious Disney lives! <3
~ Meagan
Meagan has been living with many food allergies and sensitivities since she was 19 years old. She is currently a Personal Vacation Advisor for Magical Vacation Planner, specializing in helping her guests book trips to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. Meagan enjoys researching fitness and nutrition and has taken a special interest in finding allergy friendly options at Walt Disney World.
Interested in having Meagan help you plan your next trip? Send her an email at m.slone@magicalvacationplanner.com or get a free quote at https://magicalvacationplanner.com/staff/meagan-slone/!
