I could never say that we did not eat well on Valentine's Day this year.
We started our day with rope drop at EPCOT. Rope drop was great, with the characters and the excitement. After riding Soarin' and getting fastpasses for Test Track, DH and I made our way back to World Showcase for our lunch at Tutto Italia.
We were among the very first to walk through World Showcase that morning and it was fantastic to see everything without anyone else around. The countries are all so beautiful with so many flowers everywhere. The attention to detail is amazing.
We were greeted warmly upon arrival at Tutto.
The dinining room was pretty empty when we arrived, but it gradually filled up while we ate.
I started lunch off with a Bellini, one of my favorite drinks in the whole world. I love Prosecco all on its own, but throw some peach puree in there, too, and I'm in heaven.
My DH had the fried calamari for his appetizer. It was fine, nothing to get too excited about. The coating was a little thick for me and there were only rings, no tentacles. I'm sure this makes a lot of people very happy, but being Italian and growing up in the Northeast, I have been eating calamari since...well...I could chew, basically and I really like the whole experience. I also like the fried banana peppers you often get in your fried calamari up here. But, again, it was good.
I had a roasted beet and arugula salad with goat cheese and a lemon vinagarette. This was light and delicious. The beets were sweet and a great counterpoint to the spicy arugula. The dressing was tart and bright and very fresh tasting.
Onto our entrees... DH had a grouper fillet on a bed of spinach with a caper lemon butter sauce. This was absolutely heavenly; light, lemon-y, and very well prepared. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky and fresh. I wondered why I didn't order this...
Oh, yeah...I know why...because I find it nearly impossible to pass up pasta. There were several good options on the menu, but I wanted something lighter and so I went with linguine with clam sauce. The linguine was good, but why I ordered something I can make at home in about twenty minutes, I'll never know. I try to order things when I eat out that I don't make at home! Oh, well...it was still yummy.
The pasta was cooked perfectly and the tomatoes were a nice addition. I just love the balance between the flavors in clam sauce; you have a garlic and then the salti-ness of the sea from the clams.
DH and I were stuffed at this point and didn't order dessert. We were quickly discovering that the DxDP is just too much food. I especially didn't want to ruin our next meal....
Overall, Tutto was one of the better dining experiences we had. The food was delicious, the service was efficient and friendly, and at one TS credit, it is a bargain. It is slightly less of a bargain if you're paying OOP, but not that much more expensive than many restaraunts near my house. We would definetely go back to Tutto, especially if we do the DP on our next trip.