Overall Rating: 5
One of our favorite meals of the week! Charming ambience, excellent food and service, outstanding overall.
DH, DD, and I had spent the morning in MK enjoying our last time in that magical park! We grabbed mini-muffins and fruit for breakfast from the concierge lounge, well they did, I had yogurt in the room. I dont believe we had any snacks this morning before lunch (which was fine
I think we all needed a good stretch to actually feel hungry after all this eating!). We high-tailed it over to the monorail to head over to Epcot in time to meet the fam for our 12:00 lunch ADR at Tutto Italia. You might be wondering why we scheduled this day this way
.? Well, I did not. Originally, we had two extra days on the trip, so thought wed be spending the next day at MK, and the morning after that at Epcot with our Akershus ADR. Suffice it to say, the only ADR I could get for Akershus was on the following morning (the next day). We did not want to give that up, nor did we want to skip Tutto, so we met my family in Epcot and split our day in those two parks in order to finish up MK business before we headed home the following day. It worked out fine, although we did need to rush a bit to make it because waiting for the monorails was a big hassle, took much longer than we anticipated. I imagine this was due to the fact that we had not yet traveled in monorail style
plus, when switching trains we were incorrectly directed by a CM. So, once we arrived to Epcot we speed walked all the way to the Italy pavilion.
One little note: DSis and I had two separate ADRs and it was easy as pie to combine them (we did this at Tusker House as well). Good to know for those who have trouble getting the party size ADR they need and are told there are no tables! Of course, this was a slower time of year as well.
The restaurant was fairly empty at noon when we sat down. It did fill up by the time we left around 1:20. We were seated at a very nice half-booth table towards the rear corner of the restaurant. The interior was quite lovely
if a bit formal for the more homey, simple Italian fare served. Certainly not fussy or fancy, but includes beautiful large crystal chandeliers, etc
Our charming server was from Rome, and he was the epitome of a professional server. He took our drink orders and was very attentive to DD, and to us all. He immediately brought a large glass bottle of water for DD (then another for my drink after I ordered it). Along with our drinks we received some plump, gorgeous olives and bread.
Our equally delightful second server, or runnera young woman who was assisting our server by refilling water, bringing food out, etc.was also so sweet to DD. We were good naturedly chatting about our visits to Italy.
I apologize, but I forgot to take a photo of the menu, and the one online is not current. So, I will have to guess a bit with the names of a few dishes
For starters DH had the:
Calamari Fritti - with spicy marinara sauce
The squid was fresh and the breading light and flavorful. The spicy marinara was indeed a bit spicy and quite nice. DD enjoyed some of these, as did we all because the serving was HUGE! A touch of lemon juice and this was a lovely starter
Eggplant Parmiggiano
My starter was a dish not listed on allears. It was quite wonderful! The server highly recommended it. Firstly, it was a generous portion, honestly, plenty large to have as a main dish, or plenty to share as well. My parents shared this with me. The eggplant was perfecteggplant can be soggy in the worst of dishes, but silky and robust in the best of dishesthis was the best. The individual pieces were not fried, as they sometimes are in this dish, but the whole thing seemed to be baked. A light hand of cheese was sprinkled between the layers, and the marinara was wonderful, along with fresh basil. The entire dish was delightfully rich, but not heavy, and deeply flavored with the earthy parmiggiano-reggiano, bright and sweet red sauce, and fresh basil. I truly would have been happy eating only this for my meal!
Mozzarella Sticks
These plump, lightly fried pieces of mozzarella were much better than standard sticks. Not sure why they even called them sticks
DD actually did not eat them, because they were sitting in tomatoes (which she inexplicably dislikes), but instead munched on calamari that DH ordered. I tried a bite, and these were delicious; creamy, mild, slightly crunchy, and the sauce was the perfect red sauce with a hint of sweetness. All in all, a great starter for kids (most kids
).
Sacchetti - pasta pillows filled with ricotta and mozzarella cheese in a light cream sauce
Our server felt this was a highlight of the menu as well, and it was quite good. The cream sauce was indeed light, and the sacchetti pasta was fantastic. The filling was airy and had the right balance of seasoned fresh cheese and soft pasta. It was garnished with fresh basil and little morsels of sweet Italian sausage, which was not listed on the menu. I wouldnt choose a dish with sausage, just not a favorite of mine, but these were small enough to ignore if one wished. The sausage was sweet with an assertive fennel flavor.
Dh had a pasta dish that is also not listed, so I will do my best
this was a small pasta, served with a bolognaise type red sauce, it has some sausage and perhaps veal in the delicious red sauce. This sauce was more robust than the simpler, sweeter marinara in others we had had. He loved this!
Spaghetti - with veal meatballs and pomodoro sauce
Just a quick note that my Dad ordered this very simple dish and it was spectacular! Seriously, it was the closest I have had to a red sauce I had multiple times in Florence in a simple little restaurant when studying abroad
just a pure, bright red sauce with a pureed vegetable base (carrots, onions, and celery). Marinara can be so well done, and so badly done. Sometimes the simplest things are the bestthis was fabulous. I dont believe I tried the meatballs, but Dad liked them as well as the sauce. Sorry, no photo.
Farfalle alla Panna - cream and parmesan
Another version of DDs favorite pasta. This was good because it was fortified with a little cream (actually, yes, good for our sometimes bird-like eater). She enjoyed this, and I thought it was one of the better kid pastas we received all week
Profiteroleswith chocolate sauce and vanilla gelato
Dh, DDad & DM, and DSis all ordered this for their dessert. I found it slightly funny that this was on an otherwise very Italian menu (profiteroles, especially served the way they were is really a French dish), but they were excellent! Plus, everyone seems to love them
The base is a pâte à choux dough, which are baked separately, then cut in half and ice cream, or sometimes pastry cream, is placed inside. Then, the top is drizzled with a sauce, in this case a marvelous, rich chocolate sauce.
Copetta Sotto Bosco - berries, zabaglione cream gelato and chocolate sauce
This is NOT the name of my dish, but it was sort-of similar. I had a
Zabaglione served with ripe strawberries, which the server recommended. There was some other component which I cannot now recall, but this was a traditional zabaglione, which is an egg based type of custard cooked with marsala wine, or other alcohol. The marsala flavor was pronounced but not overly strong, the berries were amazingripe with heady sweetness, overall this was outstanding. Again, it was a very generous serving, I could not finish it.
Italian Gelato or Sorbetti
Very simple, nice chocolate gelato! DD loved it, she always loves ice cream, I confess I did not taste this, but she gobbled it up.
Final take on Tutto Italiawe adored it!
All of us eagerly anticipate a return, and we are thrilled, as were we told, that it will remain in place due to such good feedback. I guess originally it was to be a temporary restaurant. I am sure it would be just as enjoyable a spot for dinner as it was for lunch.
I hope so. The whole ADR system is still a bit baffling to me...
I really appreciate your comments! And...I am SO happy you are going to try and eat there--I hope you have an amazing meal. 
).
Here, I thought I'd narrowed down my potential restaurant choices and Tutto was NOT included in the final list... after this review, I think I have to add it back in! This alone gets my attention...
