“Told you I did. Reckless is (s)he.” - November 2017 Trips - 12/30 Bonus - Magnolia (Italy Trip)
- Thread starter Dis_Yoda
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Festival of the Holidays
We reached EPCOT right before opening and enjoy a few rides around Future World. At 11AM, we headed into World Showcase to try a couple of the booths before our scheduled lunch along with finding all the Chip & Dale Wreaths throughout the countries.
Since I knew we would only be enjoying savory at lunch, I went for the sweets! This fried pastry covered in cinnamon and sugar was great; however, I was wearing a white top and the honey was super drippy. It took some creative handling to try to enjoy this while not making a mess. I still failed but luckily it came out in the wash!
Bunuelo Navideno - Fried Pastry, drizzled w/ Honey & dusted with Cinnamon & Brown Sugar
We then headed to the new Margarita stand for some drinks. My mother was really happy with her cucumber margarita, although she liked the one from our Tequila Lunch in September better (the difference between freshly made and pre-mixed!) I enjoyed my grapefruit as it was a nice balance to the sweetness of my dessert. It had just the right amount of tartness.
Lime Cucumber Margarita
Acan Grapefruit
The other snack I had during our wonderings around the World Showcase was from the Cookie Shoppe. I really enjoyed my peppermint cookie as it felt like the holidays. The sprite punch was a nice light alcoholic drink.
Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookie
Cranberry Sprite Punch w/ Pear Vodka
Here were some of the wreaths we found. It was fun doing this in each country as it was something different to explore in each country, including having us go into stores we usually ignore.
Also, it is nice to see Disney keeps the stamps up to date for the completion of these activities?
We reached EPCOT right before opening and enjoy a few rides around Future World. At 11AM, we headed into World Showcase to try a couple of the booths before our scheduled lunch along with finding all the Chip & Dale Wreaths throughout the countries.
Since I knew we would only be enjoying savory at lunch, I went for the sweets! This fried pastry covered in cinnamon and sugar was great; however, I was wearing a white top and the honey was super drippy. It took some creative handling to try to enjoy this while not making a mess. I still failed but luckily it came out in the wash!
Bunuelo Navideno - Fried Pastry, drizzled w/ Honey & dusted with Cinnamon & Brown Sugar
We then headed to the new Margarita stand for some drinks. My mother was really happy with her cucumber margarita, although she liked the one from our Tequila Lunch in September better (the difference between freshly made and pre-mixed!) I enjoyed my grapefruit as it was a nice balance to the sweetness of my dessert. It had just the right amount of tartness.
Lime Cucumber Margarita
Acan Grapefruit
The other snack I had during our wonderings around the World Showcase was from the Cookie Shoppe. I really enjoyed my peppermint cookie as it felt like the holidays. The sprite punch was a nice light alcoholic drink.
Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookie
Cranberry Sprite Punch w/ Pear Vodka
Here were some of the wreaths we found. It was fun doing this in each country as it was something different to explore in each country, including having us go into stores we usually ignore.
Also, it is nice to see Disney keeps the stamps up to date for the completion of these activities?
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
They were! Too bad I didn't have more time or more stomach space to try more of the treats!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Chefs De France
Our lunch was at Chefs De France as my mother wanted to eat here. We were sat in the back room where there is area that looks like it used to be a working bar but now is just a service station. We didn’t need to look at the menu for long as we knew what we would get before we sat down. Creatures of habit, we are!
We both started with French Onion Soup (although this did shock me that my mother got this instead of Lobster Bisque) Their soup is hearty with a rich enough broth and lots of cheese. What more could one want from French Onion Soup?
French Onion Soup
My mother went with the escargot as she loves her snails, especially when covered in garlic butter. I never acquired that trait but at least she was really happy and they were gone in no time!
Escargot
As I wasn’t going to be kissing anyone this day, I embraced my love of onions and went with their onion bacon flatbread. I love how light it feels to eat but still really filling with the amount of onions and bacon on top of the thin flatbread crust.
Alsace Specialty Flatbread
After lunch, we headed out of EPCOT back to the Ritz.
And that’s it for this trip. We did have dinner offsite at Melting Pot as my mother hadn’t eaten at one in over 10 years. No photos but it was a nice traditional melting pot experience. Breakfast on Sunday morning looked the same as the previous two days.
Our lunch was at Chefs De France as my mother wanted to eat here. We were sat in the back room where there is area that looks like it used to be a working bar but now is just a service station. We didn’t need to look at the menu for long as we knew what we would get before we sat down. Creatures of habit, we are!
We both started with French Onion Soup (although this did shock me that my mother got this instead of Lobster Bisque) Their soup is hearty with a rich enough broth and lots of cheese. What more could one want from French Onion Soup?
French Onion Soup
My mother went with the escargot as she loves her snails, especially when covered in garlic butter. I never acquired that trait but at least she was really happy and they were gone in no time!
Escargot
As I wasn’t going to be kissing anyone this day, I embraced my love of onions and went with their onion bacon flatbread. I love how light it feels to eat but still really filling with the amount of onions and bacon on top of the thin flatbread crust.
Alsace Specialty Flatbread
After lunch, we headed out of EPCOT back to the Ritz.
And that’s it for this trip. We did have dinner offsite at Melting Pot as my mother hadn’t eaten at one in over 10 years. No photos but it was a nice traditional melting pot experience. Breakfast on Sunday morning looked the same as the previous two days.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
St Jude’s Marathon Weekend
This weekend was supposed to be a happy weekend about running for the children at St. Jude. This weekend ended up not being that but here are some of the happy highlights. I’ll keep the sad part of the weekend behind spoiler tags. I copied and pasted that part from my post in the Running Thread from Run Disney. I did get a good amount of bbq and some time with friends.
Cocktails in First Class
Landing in Memphis
BBQ in Charlotte
Sweets from Muddy’s
Shrimp & $0.25 Martini
View of Memphis
Memphis Pyramid
Bib Gear for St Jude Half Marathon
Walking To Race Start
Shots During Race
Fed-Ex Plane
Medal
This weekend was supposed to be a happy weekend about running for the children at St. Jude. This weekend ended up not being that but here are some of the happy highlights. I’ll keep the sad part of the weekend behind spoiler tags. I copied and pasted that part from my post in the Running Thread from Run Disney. I did get a good amount of bbq and some time with friends.
Cocktails in First Class
Landing in Memphis
BBQ in Charlotte
Sweets from Muddy’s
Shrimp & $0.25 Martini
View of Memphis
Memphis Pyramid
Bib Gear for St Jude Half Marathon
Walking To Race Start
Shots During Race
Fed-Ex Plane
Medal
Last Spring, my cocker spaniel-doxie mix was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. We’ve been treating the symptoms through medication and adjusting as needed.
Sunday Night after I came home from Disney, it was rough. He was up all night coughing and we gave him a third dose of medication at 12:30am to see if it would help and it did. Monday I went to the vet to discuss and they decided we should increase his diuretic but as long as he still was eating and playing, he is ok. The increase in diuretic worked well and I had no issues Monday or Tuesday night. He was eating and playing like normal.
My husband was traveling Monday to Friday for work. I was leaving Thursday for Memphis for St Jude. As the dogs would have been home alone for at least 3 of the pill times, I decided to put them at our kennel as I knew they would have care.
At 8:00am, right as the first corral for St Jude half Marathon/Marathon was starting, I got a call from an unknown number from Bonita Springs which turned out to be the kennel owners cell phone. Jafar was refusing his pills and acting strange and she wanted to let me know. Luckily right at that time my husband arrived to pick them up as they just opened.
I sent my husband a text as I got off the phone and didn't hear from him. My desire to run pretty much was shot as I knew today was not going to be a good day but I’m so glad I had @tankgirl427 with me so she kept me going as our corral started and let me freak out while making sure I was still walking at a decent pace. I didn’t have the breath strength to try running as I was in and out of tears. As soon as we got through the loud start line area and to a quieter part of the course (33 minutes after first phone call) I got my husband on the phone. He said he was on the way to the vet as it wasn’t good. I heard again from him about 30 minutes later at the vet that they attempted to give him oxygen in the back.
It was shortly after this time we pass a distillery handing out shots of whiskey. I don’t think I ever needed a shot as bad as then as I felt so helpless. I felt so much guilt for not being home and my husband dealing with this alone.
30 minutes later, I get a call from my husband that he needed 1100 dollars as otherwise the emergency vet he was sent from our vet wasn’t going to help him since our check was declined despite having the money in the account as my husband shredded his debit card and never replaced it and we never write checks anymore. Well, the only credit card I had with me on course didn’t have that much available credit since I spent a lot on that card the last month between Wine & Dine, my work trip, Black Friday and Thanksgiving trip but thankfully they approved the over limit charge. He also snapped at me about traveling too much. He then called shortly later to let me know they planned on keeping him overnight in an oxygen crate to help him breathe.
I was still a hot mess. I had a couple of shots during the ‘fun’ mile through a neighborhood as it was an attempt to calm me. Right at mile 9, I got the worst call that I was expecting but wasn’t prepared for. My husband asked me to confirm but we had two options of intubating or euthanasia. He was heading back to the emergency vet as we had that call. I wailed so hard to the point the police office we were walking past was very concerned but luckily Betsy was there to explain.
My pace slowed to a crawl. I didn’t want to finish. I wanted nothing more than to hermit or go home. We somehow made it through at my new personal worse: 4:18:50
When I return to my friend’s condo, I call my husband and find out he didn’t make it to the vet before he passed. So to add to my guilt, I know that my lap buddy died alone at a strange vet.
I know we gave him a good life but I feel so bad about the end.
Jafar
~~~~~~~~
Update to original post for dining thread:
It’s still rough but we’ve been adjusting to our new normal. The first week was rough for all of us, especially our other dog who didn’t understand at first why his brother was gone. I still miss him but I know we gave him the best life we could.
Sunday Night after I came home from Disney, it was rough. He was up all night coughing and we gave him a third dose of medication at 12:30am to see if it would help and it did. Monday I went to the vet to discuss and they decided we should increase his diuretic but as long as he still was eating and playing, he is ok. The increase in diuretic worked well and I had no issues Monday or Tuesday night. He was eating and playing like normal.
My husband was traveling Monday to Friday for work. I was leaving Thursday for Memphis for St Jude. As the dogs would have been home alone for at least 3 of the pill times, I decided to put them at our kennel as I knew they would have care.
At 8:00am, right as the first corral for St Jude half Marathon/Marathon was starting, I got a call from an unknown number from Bonita Springs which turned out to be the kennel owners cell phone. Jafar was refusing his pills and acting strange and she wanted to let me know. Luckily right at that time my husband arrived to pick them up as they just opened.
I sent my husband a text as I got off the phone and didn't hear from him. My desire to run pretty much was shot as I knew today was not going to be a good day but I’m so glad I had @tankgirl427 with me so she kept me going as our corral started and let me freak out while making sure I was still walking at a decent pace. I didn’t have the breath strength to try running as I was in and out of tears. As soon as we got through the loud start line area and to a quieter part of the course (33 minutes after first phone call) I got my husband on the phone. He said he was on the way to the vet as it wasn’t good. I heard again from him about 30 minutes later at the vet that they attempted to give him oxygen in the back.
It was shortly after this time we pass a distillery handing out shots of whiskey. I don’t think I ever needed a shot as bad as then as I felt so helpless. I felt so much guilt for not being home and my husband dealing with this alone.
30 minutes later, I get a call from my husband that he needed 1100 dollars as otherwise the emergency vet he was sent from our vet wasn’t going to help him since our check was declined despite having the money in the account as my husband shredded his debit card and never replaced it and we never write checks anymore. Well, the only credit card I had with me on course didn’t have that much available credit since I spent a lot on that card the last month between Wine & Dine, my work trip, Black Friday and Thanksgiving trip but thankfully they approved the over limit charge. He also snapped at me about traveling too much. He then called shortly later to let me know they planned on keeping him overnight in an oxygen crate to help him breathe.
I was still a hot mess. I had a couple of shots during the ‘fun’ mile through a neighborhood as it was an attempt to calm me. Right at mile 9, I got the worst call that I was expecting but wasn’t prepared for. My husband asked me to confirm but we had two options of intubating or euthanasia. He was heading back to the emergency vet as we had that call. I wailed so hard to the point the police office we were walking past was very concerned but luckily Betsy was there to explain.
My pace slowed to a crawl. I didn’t want to finish. I wanted nothing more than to hermit or go home. We somehow made it through at my new personal worse: 4:18:50
When I return to my friend’s condo, I call my husband and find out he didn’t make it to the vet before he passed. So to add to my guilt, I know that my lap buddy died alone at a strange vet.
I know we gave him a good life but I feel so bad about the end.
Jafar
~~~~~~~~
Update to original post for dining thread:
It’s still rough but we’ve been adjusting to our new normal. The first week was rough for all of us, especially our other dog who didn’t understand at first why his brother was gone. I still miss him but I know we gave him the best life we could.
TeeterTots
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2014
I am so sorry to read about your poor Jafar! I saw mention of it on another thread. We lost our beloved kitty last summer just months after our after puppy, both 12. So sorry!
I was also curious how your first HM was after surgery went, but it sounds like you need a do-over! Hopefully your ankle held up well and thank goodness for shots!
Everything at Chefs de France looks fabulous!
I was also curious how your first HM was after surgery went, but it sounds like you need a do-over! Hopefully your ankle held up well and thank goodness for shots!
Everything at Chefs de France looks fabulous!
2xcited2sleep
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
I’m so sorry to hear your sad news. It’s one of the hardest things to go through and I’m sure amplified by not being there. I’m teary just writing this. Hugs.
On to happier thoughts, how I love that onion soup!! So, so good. I haven’t tried the flat bread but it looks yummy. I am still lamenting the elimination of the lunch menu and the croque monsieur sandwich. I’ve often wondered about that bar area. I wonder if it was ever used? The room is pretty tight with tables but I wish they’d open it. I’d certainly come in at least once a trip for champagne, soup and baguette. I feel guilty taking up a table for “just” that and also prefer not to have to make an ADR. With that separate entrance would be easy enough to have a lounge area - wonder if that was the original plan.
On to happier thoughts, how I love that onion soup!! So, so good. I haven’t tried the flat bread but it looks yummy. I am still lamenting the elimination of the lunch menu and the croque monsieur sandwich. I’ve often wondered about that bar area. I wonder if it was ever used? The room is pretty tight with tables but I wish they’d open it. I’d certainly come in at least once a trip for champagne, soup and baguette. I feel guilty taking up a table for “just” that and also prefer not to have to make an ADR. With that separate entrance would be easy enough to have a lounge area - wonder if that was the original plan.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Yeah - I'm sorry for your lost, especially having two so close together. I'm terrified I'll lose Gaston as well since he's the same age. I'm lucky his health issue as he has gotten older is that he gets an inflamed disc in his spine which is treatable when it happens - it also means we don't allow him to jump a ton anymore.
I really do need a do-over but it won't be next year. Probably 2019 is when I'll re-enter the half marathon ring. My ankle held up! I had no pain although I didn't stress it with running.
Chefs de France is always awesome! I don't tend to stray from a couple of dishes but it works for me!
It is one of the hardest things to go through. I actually hadn't cried in a while about it but posting it made me cry again. I know we did all we could for him.
I actually tried to goggle the history of the Chefs de France when I did this post but I could only find that the other side of the restaurant used to be open like a sidewalk café and then it was enclosed in glass. I couldn't find anything on the other side! Maybe I'll ask one of these trips! Glad I'm not the only other person that has thought about how its odd! I blame the dining plan for the lost of lunch menus around the parks. Sometimes you just want something lighter!
Yeah - its rough, especially on the dog left behind. We've probably overcompensated - he has gotten more toys in the last 3 weeks than he probably got in the last two years (along with the crate full of toys we already owned) Jafar didn't have great recall and would run off so we wouldn't let him out of the house without a leash on, save the fenced in backyard. Our other dog will not leave your side so we don't really have to worry about the leash with him and he has great recall. This prevents some of his cries now as he gets to visit the trash can and mailbox with me. We are on a list for a puppy but we won't know if we'll get it until middle of February as it depends on how many puppies the dam has and if they are 'pet' or 'show' quality. As we are looking for a very specific breed - I'm doing my best to make sure we don't support a puppy mill or backyard breeder which means the wait will be a lot longer. That's awesome you are fostering puppies! That's a lot of work!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
L’Olivo - 2 Michelin Star - Anacapri
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, if I finished the rest of the report before I left for our Marathon Weekend trip, I would post at least the Michelin Star restaurant reviews from our trip to Italy.
My husband and I took our first trip to Italy between October 4th and October 15th, 2017. We stayed for 4 Nights in Positano at the Le Agavi Hotel, 2 Nights at the Grand Hotel Quisisana in Capri and 3 Nights at the Hotel Majestic in Rome. The trip was absolutely amazing and I have such high praise for Tauck! We will be traveling with them again in 2019 on a 13 Day Tour of Normandy, Brittany, Paris & The Loire Valley which we will add on a weekend in Disneyland Paris to at the end as it is the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon weekend. While I know we could do Europe cheaper on our own - it was so nice to travel without having to think and being able to get access to things without worrying about it - like our after hours tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, an amazing guided tour of Pompeii, luggage taken room to room as we changed hotels, and more. I posted some of my photos on Facebook if you are friends with me there or I posted highlight each day on Instagram.
On our 2nd night in Capri, it was one of the few evenings of the tour where dinner was not arranged for us and we would be on our own. As you are told what nights are on your own, I had taken the time to do some research of what was available and discovered there was a 2 Michelin Star restaurant on the island of Capri. I knew it would be an expensive meal but it didn’t take much to convince my husband that we should try this type of meal as we’ve enjoyed wine dinners in the past and this would be the next step up in a dining experience.
We took a taxi from the town of Capri to the higher area of the island, a town called Anacapri. We arrived 45 minutes early for our dinner reservation (true Dis_Yoda fashion) so we decided to take a look at the bar of the Capri Palace hotel and get a pre-dinner cocktail. The bar was very artistic, a theme that went throughout the hotel as similar decor was in L’Olivo when we arrived there. I ordered a wonderfully refreshing blue cocktail while my husband was classy and had a Diet Coke. They also provided us with some bar snacks and took our name. The bar snacks were a nice addition but we tried not to eat too much of the lovely cashews and potato crisps. We were shocked when they brought out another plate of food to us but as they had our name, they knew we would be dining on the other side of the hotel that evening and it was a welcome due to that. We knew at that point, we would be in for a long evening of wonderful food! Of the welcome appetizers, my husband and I both loved the meatball and the pasta. The seafood cannoli was an interesting experience that I’m still not sure over 2 months later if I liked it or if I didn’t. I did not eat the slider but my husband enjoyed his.
Cocktail - Sparkling Wine, Blue Curacao, Vodka, Sparkling Water, Lemon
Bar Snacks - Olives, Cashews, Potato Crisps
Welcome Appetizers from L’Olivo - Crab Slider, Seafood Cannoli, Lamb Meatball, Pasta w/ Chili and Garlic
We closed our tab and headed off the patio inside towards L’Olivo. They took my sweater at the podium and we were lead inside a white dining room and were sat in the middle section towards a window. It gave us a great view of the place so we could enjoy some people watching as well. I’m sure though if people looked at my husband and I, we were the fish out of water. (We also were the fish out of water on our Tauck Tour by age & occupations since we’re in our early 30s and have jobs that pay each of us less than 6 figures - no speciality doctors or lawyers here! - I’m sure it's going to be even worse on our next tour we just booked yesterday for 2019 as it’s a 13 day France tour)
Place Setting
In addition to the regular menu, we were also given a water menu. I had to laugh when my husband posted on facebook “This place has a water menu of over twenty options. I might be in over my head on this one…” This gave us great insight on the salt content of waters. We apparently like our waters ‘salty’ as our normal selections were on the higher end of the scale. We selected an Italian Sparkling Water that we hadn’t tried before since why order something we could get at home? We also ordered a white wine from Italy that at this point, I have no idea what the name of it is.
Menu
After we made our selections from the menu, deciding to order two courses off the menu instead of doing one of the prix fixe selections, we were brought out an amuse bouche that was delightful. The amberjack was fried to perfection and the cheese underneath really worked. Usually you keep cheese and fish far away from each other but in this instance, it worked.
Amuse Bouche - Crispy Amberjack w/ Pecorino Sauce
My first course was a rich soup. I’ll admit it was weird to have ‘spring’ onions in the middle of fall but they tasted still in season. The cold tuna worked well with the warm luxurious soup.
Spring Onion Velvet Cream w/ Prikly Lettuce, Red Tuna Fish Tartare, Lime and Chives
My husband went with a pasta for his first course. The red prawns were plentiful on top of the fresh burrata and pasta. The red prawns were plentiful and worked well with the lemon pasta. Something about Italy and how amazing their lemons are makes me sad for the lemons I have here in Naples!
Lemon Scented Homemade Tagliolini Pasta w/ Burrata Cheese, Sea Asparagus, Oyster Leaf and Red Prawns
I’m sure it will shock no one that has been a reader of my reports that I ordered the duck. Duck is my favorite meat to eat but my least favorite to cook at home! This duck was perfection. The spring onions ravioli were a nice twist for the dish and executed nicely. I wish there were more of them!
Smoked Duck Breast w/ Carrots Cream, Celery, and Spring Onions “Ravioli”
My husband shocked me when he ordered the lamb entree. My husband has never liked lamb much when its been served to him previously. You could imagine my shock when the conversation went like this:
Mr. Dis_Yoda: “This may be my 2nd favorite thing in the world”
Dis_Yoda: “What’s your favorite thing in the world?”
Mr. Dis_Yoda: “You because you brought me here so I could eat this lamb”
I think he liked it
I didn’t even get to steal a bite!
Lamb Loin w/ Stewed Chard, Chickpeas, Liquorice Powder & Saffron Scented Rice
After our entrees, we then got to embark on what I’m going to call a study in desserts or how one orders a single dessert and you end up with 5!
Dessert Menu
After we ordered our dessert selections, we were brought the amuse bouche of the desserts. The cashew ice cream was rich but the lightness of the cake cut that richness well.
Dessert #1 - Cashew Ice Cream, White Chocolate Cake
Not knowing I was going to have cashew ice cream prior to this course, I had selected the Hazelnut dessert. The panna cotta was light, filled with hazelnut flavor. I had ordered it as I thought it would be a very light dessert after the heaviness of the meal and it was that so I was happy.
Dessert #2 (Dis_Yoda’s) - Hazelnut, Panna Cotta, Sable’, Black Chocolate and Caramel Sauce
My husband has not met a brownie he didn’t like so you can imagine I wasn’t shocked at all that he ordered the brownie based dessert. This was dense and rich! He was happy that there was the fruit sorbet to help cut that but he reached “full” really quickly with this dessert.
Dessert #2 (Mr. Dis_Yoda’s) - Chocolate & Passion Fruit - Milk chocolate Mousse, Nuts Brownie, Passion Fruit & Tropical Fruit Sorbet
So imagine our surprise when there were more sweets brought out to the table after our dessert selections. The selection of small Italian bites were plentiful. I really enjoyed the mini-Tiramisu along with the gelatin based fruit treat.
Dessert #3 - Petit Fours
But wait, there’s more! Not long after they brought us the small bites, they brought us 4 Zeppole along with two dipping sauces - a chocolate based one and a lighter cream one. They were the perfect warm temperature to enjoy with that lighter cream sauce. I really don’t know how I found the room to enjoy my 2 but I did.
Dessert #4 - Zeppole
And because we weren’t full enough - at the very end of the meal as we were paying, they brought over a massive candy cart. They did offer to let us have our selections “to-go” so we decided that was the best options for us.
Dessert #5 - Candy To Go
It was at this meal, I also learned how wonderful limoncello is for an after dinner drink. It did help with my digestion and gave me enough umph to head out of the restaurant down to the taxi station so we could head to the town of Capri and walk back to our hotel.
Limoncello
Looking back at my credit card statement, we got out of here for about $450 US. I can say that my husband and I have had more expensive meals here in the states on a handful of occasions (meals at Victoria & Albert’s and Wine Dinners) but they don’t hold a candle to this meal. The service at this restaurant was exactly what you would expect it to be. They anticipated your needs before you could even think to ask. They were polite and not overbearing. They knew how to keep the meal timed as to not rush you but at the same time not take too long. I state that but I would also expect that at a 2 Michelin Star restaurant as you have to have both the food and service to get that recognition. I’m so glad we decided to try this place as it was truly a memorable meal!
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, if I finished the rest of the report before I left for our Marathon Weekend trip, I would post at least the Michelin Star restaurant reviews from our trip to Italy.
My husband and I took our first trip to Italy between October 4th and October 15th, 2017. We stayed for 4 Nights in Positano at the Le Agavi Hotel, 2 Nights at the Grand Hotel Quisisana in Capri and 3 Nights at the Hotel Majestic in Rome. The trip was absolutely amazing and I have such high praise for Tauck! We will be traveling with them again in 2019 on a 13 Day Tour of Normandy, Brittany, Paris & The Loire Valley which we will add on a weekend in Disneyland Paris to at the end as it is the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon weekend. While I know we could do Europe cheaper on our own - it was so nice to travel without having to think and being able to get access to things without worrying about it - like our after hours tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, an amazing guided tour of Pompeii, luggage taken room to room as we changed hotels, and more. I posted some of my photos on Facebook if you are friends with me there or I posted highlight each day on Instagram.
On our 2nd night in Capri, it was one of the few evenings of the tour where dinner was not arranged for us and we would be on our own. As you are told what nights are on your own, I had taken the time to do some research of what was available and discovered there was a 2 Michelin Star restaurant on the island of Capri. I knew it would be an expensive meal but it didn’t take much to convince my husband that we should try this type of meal as we’ve enjoyed wine dinners in the past and this would be the next step up in a dining experience.
We took a taxi from the town of Capri to the higher area of the island, a town called Anacapri. We arrived 45 minutes early for our dinner reservation (true Dis_Yoda fashion) so we decided to take a look at the bar of the Capri Palace hotel and get a pre-dinner cocktail. The bar was very artistic, a theme that went throughout the hotel as similar decor was in L’Olivo when we arrived there. I ordered a wonderfully refreshing blue cocktail while my husband was classy and had a Diet Coke. They also provided us with some bar snacks and took our name. The bar snacks were a nice addition but we tried not to eat too much of the lovely cashews and potato crisps. We were shocked when they brought out another plate of food to us but as they had our name, they knew we would be dining on the other side of the hotel that evening and it was a welcome due to that. We knew at that point, we would be in for a long evening of wonderful food! Of the welcome appetizers, my husband and I both loved the meatball and the pasta. The seafood cannoli was an interesting experience that I’m still not sure over 2 months later if I liked it or if I didn’t. I did not eat the slider but my husband enjoyed his.
Cocktail - Sparkling Wine, Blue Curacao, Vodka, Sparkling Water, Lemon
Bar Snacks - Olives, Cashews, Potato Crisps
Welcome Appetizers from L’Olivo - Crab Slider, Seafood Cannoli, Lamb Meatball, Pasta w/ Chili and Garlic
We closed our tab and headed off the patio inside towards L’Olivo. They took my sweater at the podium and we were lead inside a white dining room and were sat in the middle section towards a window. It gave us a great view of the place so we could enjoy some people watching as well. I’m sure though if people looked at my husband and I, we were the fish out of water. (We also were the fish out of water on our Tauck Tour by age & occupations since we’re in our early 30s and have jobs that pay each of us less than 6 figures - no speciality doctors or lawyers here! - I’m sure it's going to be even worse on our next tour we just booked yesterday for 2019 as it’s a 13 day France tour)
Place Setting
In addition to the regular menu, we were also given a water menu. I had to laugh when my husband posted on facebook “This place has a water menu of over twenty options. I might be in over my head on this one…” This gave us great insight on the salt content of waters. We apparently like our waters ‘salty’ as our normal selections were on the higher end of the scale. We selected an Italian Sparkling Water that we hadn’t tried before since why order something we could get at home? We also ordered a white wine from Italy that at this point, I have no idea what the name of it is.
Menu
After we made our selections from the menu, deciding to order two courses off the menu instead of doing one of the prix fixe selections, we were brought out an amuse bouche that was delightful. The amberjack was fried to perfection and the cheese underneath really worked. Usually you keep cheese and fish far away from each other but in this instance, it worked.
Amuse Bouche - Crispy Amberjack w/ Pecorino Sauce
My first course was a rich soup. I’ll admit it was weird to have ‘spring’ onions in the middle of fall but they tasted still in season. The cold tuna worked well with the warm luxurious soup.
Spring Onion Velvet Cream w/ Prikly Lettuce, Red Tuna Fish Tartare, Lime and Chives
My husband went with a pasta for his first course. The red prawns were plentiful on top of the fresh burrata and pasta. The red prawns were plentiful and worked well with the lemon pasta. Something about Italy and how amazing their lemons are makes me sad for the lemons I have here in Naples!
Lemon Scented Homemade Tagliolini Pasta w/ Burrata Cheese, Sea Asparagus, Oyster Leaf and Red Prawns
I’m sure it will shock no one that has been a reader of my reports that I ordered the duck. Duck is my favorite meat to eat but my least favorite to cook at home! This duck was perfection. The spring onions ravioli were a nice twist for the dish and executed nicely. I wish there were more of them!
Smoked Duck Breast w/ Carrots Cream, Celery, and Spring Onions “Ravioli”
My husband shocked me when he ordered the lamb entree. My husband has never liked lamb much when its been served to him previously. You could imagine my shock when the conversation went like this:
Mr. Dis_Yoda: “This may be my 2nd favorite thing in the world”
Dis_Yoda: “What’s your favorite thing in the world?”
Mr. Dis_Yoda: “You because you brought me here so I could eat this lamb”
I think he liked it
I didn’t even get to steal a bite!
Lamb Loin w/ Stewed Chard, Chickpeas, Liquorice Powder & Saffron Scented Rice
After our entrees, we then got to embark on what I’m going to call a study in desserts or how one orders a single dessert and you end up with 5!
Dessert Menu
After we ordered our dessert selections, we were brought the amuse bouche of the desserts. The cashew ice cream was rich but the lightness of the cake cut that richness well.
Dessert #1 - Cashew Ice Cream, White Chocolate Cake
Not knowing I was going to have cashew ice cream prior to this course, I had selected the Hazelnut dessert. The panna cotta was light, filled with hazelnut flavor. I had ordered it as I thought it would be a very light dessert after the heaviness of the meal and it was that so I was happy.
Dessert #2 (Dis_Yoda’s) - Hazelnut, Panna Cotta, Sable’, Black Chocolate and Caramel Sauce
My husband has not met a brownie he didn’t like so you can imagine I wasn’t shocked at all that he ordered the brownie based dessert. This was dense and rich! He was happy that there was the fruit sorbet to help cut that but he reached “full” really quickly with this dessert.
Dessert #2 (Mr. Dis_Yoda’s) - Chocolate & Passion Fruit - Milk chocolate Mousse, Nuts Brownie, Passion Fruit & Tropical Fruit Sorbet
So imagine our surprise when there were more sweets brought out to the table after our dessert selections. The selection of small Italian bites were plentiful. I really enjoyed the mini-Tiramisu along with the gelatin based fruit treat.
Dessert #3 - Petit Fours
But wait, there’s more! Not long after they brought us the small bites, they brought us 4 Zeppole along with two dipping sauces - a chocolate based one and a lighter cream one. They were the perfect warm temperature to enjoy with that lighter cream sauce. I really don’t know how I found the room to enjoy my 2 but I did.
Dessert #4 - Zeppole
And because we weren’t full enough - at the very end of the meal as we were paying, they brought over a massive candy cart. They did offer to let us have our selections “to-go” so we decided that was the best options for us.
Dessert #5 - Candy To Go
It was at this meal, I also learned how wonderful limoncello is for an after dinner drink. It did help with my digestion and gave me enough umph to head out of the restaurant down to the taxi station so we could head to the town of Capri and walk back to our hotel.
Limoncello
Looking back at my credit card statement, we got out of here for about $450 US. I can say that my husband and I have had more expensive meals here in the states on a handful of occasions (meals at Victoria & Albert’s and Wine Dinners) but they don’t hold a candle to this meal. The service at this restaurant was exactly what you would expect it to be. They anticipated your needs before you could even think to ask. They were polite and not overbearing. They knew how to keep the meal timed as to not rush you but at the same time not take too long. I state that but I would also expect that at a 2 Michelin Star restaurant as you have to have both the food and service to get that recognition. I’m so glad we decided to try this place as it was truly a memorable meal!
2xcited2sleep
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
Yay!! Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been anxious to hear about it since you first mentioned it as it may be the closest I get to a Michelin starred meal. It looks and sounds amazing!!!
I am a huge fan of limoncello. I imagine it’s on another level there. Those desserts are something else! Wow!!! Your entrees look pretty delicious too. That’s awesome your husband loved the lamb so much. I’m super intrigued by your soup - that is right up my alley. The plating of everything is just exquisite!
I would be over my head with 20 varieties of water too! Holy cow!
I see the menus are in English. Do either of you speak Italian and if not was it ever an issue there or elsewhere?
I will have to check out Tauck. What would you say the typical demographic is? I’ve also been looking at Adventures by Disney and most reviews talk about how you really become friends with your group - curious if same here.
Thanks again for posting. I loved the peek at what looks like a truly World class meal!
I am a huge fan of limoncello. I imagine it’s on another level there. Those desserts are something else! Wow!!! Your entrees look pretty delicious too. That’s awesome your husband loved the lamb so much. I’m super intrigued by your soup - that is right up my alley. The plating of everything is just exquisite!
I would be over my head with 20 varieties of water too! Holy cow!
I see the menus are in English. Do either of you speak Italian and if not was it ever an issue there or elsewhere?
I will have to check out Tauck. What would you say the typical demographic is? I’ve also been looking at Adventures by Disney and most reviews talk about how you really become friends with your group - curious if same here.
Thanks again for posting. I loved the peek at what looks like a truly World class meal!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
I still have 1 more Michelin meal to post sometime in the next couple of days as we enjoyed a 1 Star in Rome. That one ended up being cheaper (only $325) but also was an excellent experience. This was definitely the best restaurant experience I've had so far in my life. As we are pre-planning France so far in advance - this meal may end up topped by some place in Paris as this far in advance, I can check out a 3 Star meal and hopefully get reservations. That is on the 'to be planned' list.
I love limoncello so much - it was nice there as every place had their own version of it so each were a little bit different. We came home with 3 bottles of it from various towns which we haven't broken into yet. The plating here is nothing compared to Magnolia as that was truly art on a plate.
I think more people I associate with would be too. At least I learned something there!
Neither of us speak Italian. I did take 6 years worth of Latin growing up so I have some reading ability for the basics but it was never an issue anywhere. Most signs were in both Italian and English everywhere. Most restaurants had menus that were half Italian/half English. It was very tourist friendly no matter how small the town was!
The demographic for their land tours or river cruises tends to be people in their 50s and older with a fair amount of extra income in their lives. The lower of the activity score, the older the demographic will be. The majority of our tour were specialty doctors & their spouses, older lawyers & their spouses. These were the people that have done multiple Tauck tours. We did have a retired school administrator who was doing an one in the lifetime trip. My husband and I were the odd ones out since we're in our early 30s, no children (or plans for children) with normal professional jobs (Quality Engineer and Retail Manager) There wasn't a lot of common grounds there. We were friendly with the people we toured with but not people we would make life long friendships with. Apparently being a female engineer was an oddity to some of them and our non-trip related conversations revolved around that. I know that wasn't a typical career path for their generation, especially as a female. It will be interesting to see what happens on the tour in 2019 as with it being 13 days. We can do these types of trips once every two years with planning accordingly.
This is separate from Tauck Bridges which are their 'family' tours. Those tours tend to have people in my age range (25 through 45) but they involve children and family based activities, similar to the non-adult only departures of Adventures by Disney.
The Italy Tour has the following 'score':
My Upcoming Tour has the following:
Glad to share! It was so weird to go on a trip and not do a trip report afterwards so this is a nice compromise.
TeeterTots
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2014
Wow! What an experience! Yum to everything! Aw to Mr Dis-Yoda! Super sweet!
When you mentioned escargot was not your thing I was going to tell you “this I can eat”....oddly, I can’t bring myself to try duck! So strange!
When you mentioned escargot was not your thing I was going to tell you “this I can eat”....oddly, I can’t bring myself to try duck! So strange!
kastoney
Disney foodie served with a side of sarcasm
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
This looks awesome! Who knew MGM could actually make a good drink!I really liked my cranberry mule. It felt Christmasy which it was already at Walt Disney World. Can’t go wrong with vodka, cranberry juice and ginger beer!
And score another for MGM!!! This looks awesome.It was their normal popcorn topped with caramel, chocolate, marshmallows, pretzels and m&ms. They actually layered it throughout the box so the goodies were all throughout!
I was torn between this and the octopus on our last trip and went with the octopus. It was good, but I have a feeling this would be much more up my alley.My mother started with the crab salad and was really happy with this choice. The crab with the watermelon was a good combination of textures.
How in the world did you order this and not have it without the mushrooms??? Sounds good and all, but mushrooms!!!!! Here I thought you were my mushroom hating soul sisterfter debating between a few items this time around, I decided to go with the beef short ribs and what a great selection that was! The meat melted in your mouth as it should. The polenta worked well to balance the richness. If it weren’t for the gross mushrooms, I would have been a member of the clean plate club.
Yum!!! This looks delicious. Was it like a churro??? Looks like someone just flattened out out.This fried pastry covered in cinnamon and sugar was great; however, I was wearing a white top and the honey was super drippy. It took some creative handling to try to enjoy this while not making a mess. I still failed but luckily it came out in the wash!
Bunuelo Navideno - Fried Pastry, drizzled w/ Honey & dusted with Cinnam
Yours is the first review I've seen of the new stand. Glad to see they are offering some unique options. How are the prices?We then headed to the new Margarita stand for some drinks. My mother was really happy with her cucumber margarita, although she liked the one from our Tequila Lunch in September better (the difference between freshly made and pre-mixed!) I enjoyed my grapefruit as it was a nice balance to the sweetness of my dessert. It had just the right amount of tartness.
I've been eyeing this bad boy for years but Jason doesn't care for Les Chefs so I've never had it. I'll have to keep eating vicariously through you.As I wasn’t going to be kissing anyone this day, I embraced my love of onions and went with their onion bacon flatbread. I love how light it feels to eat but still really filling with the amount of onions and bacon on top of the thin flatbread crust.
You poor thing. My heart goes out to you.
What an amazing experience. Italy is so on my bucket list for one of these days. I'll have to remember the name of your tour company
Sounds like a good deal all things considered. Thanks for sharing!
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
So much good food!
Your meal in Italy sounded just divine! If we ever get to Europe, I want to try a Michelin star restaurant or two.
The meal at Chef's De France sounded yummy, I love their onion soup!
I remember reading about Jafar on FB, how heartbreaking to be in that situation.
I'm going to look into Tauck to see if they have any super low activity rated tours! I hope soon to close the chapter on our old place and get on with traveling!
Your meal in Italy sounded just divine! If we ever get to Europe, I want to try a Michelin star restaurant or two.
The meal at Chef's De France sounded yummy, I love their onion soup!
I remember reading about Jafar on FB, how heartbreaking to be in that situation.
I'm going to look into Tauck to see if they have any super low activity rated tours! I hope soon to close the chapter on our old place and get on with traveling!
tnbrowne2004
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2005
So sorry about your dog, losing animals is just so difficult. Your review of L'Olivo looks delicious. I will also check out Tauck, we were supposed to be going to Italy this year but we've changed our plans and now are going to go on a cruise in Asia. We'll probably hit up Shanghai Disney and at least one of the Tokyo Disney parks. I have to admit I am a bit freaked out with the language barrier so for Italy I think a tour group would be right up my alley, so I am putting this on my bucket list for 2019! Thanks for your reviews, they are always great and informative.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
He can be sweet on occasion. I find it really funny you will eat escargot but not duck. I mean, ducks are cute, but super tasty!
It can! I hope Baseline Taps is also tasty. I'm going to try it out in February during Princess Weekend I think. Hope the drinks and food are good!
It was! Such a great holiday treat.
You can keep your octopus! I find it too chewy for my taste. My mother loves this dish. She's had it during her solo time at WDW in August before I joined up with her. This was really light but filling!
Oh, I hate mushrooms. I actually missed that there were mushrooms in the dish as I saw meat, red wine sauce and polenta. At least they were easy to pick out!How in the world did you order this and not have it without the mushrooms??? Sounds good and all, but mushrooms!!!!! Here I thought you were my mushroom hating soul sister
It was like a churro but with honey on top! A lot more crispy too.
I don't remember much about the prices as I didn't pay for the margaritas. I know she spent somewhere between $20 and $30 but not much more than that. The options were unique and I will be back especially since La Cava always has such a horrible line. I haven't stopped in there for a while because I just end up annoyed.
You could always barter that you go to Sci-Fi for him - he can go to France for you!
Thank you!
Tauck was an awesome tour company! We can't wait until our 2019 tour with them. They even have a family friendly version called Tauck Bridges (although I won't go on those tours since I have no children) but the quality would be the same although with some different activities. I'm glad I found them when Adventures by Disney didn't work out date wise for us since now I found a great travel company to see the world with. (I'm way too lazy to plan out of the country trips).
It was! So glad I got to enjoy that meal!
So much good food!
Your meal in Italy sounded just divine! If we ever get to Europe, I want to try a Michelin star restaurant or two.
The meal at Chef's De France sounded yummy, I love their onion soup!
I remember reading about Jafar on FB, how heartbreaking to be in that situation.
I'm going to look into Tauck to see if they have any super low activity rated tours! I hope soon to close the chapter on our old place and get on with traveling!
It was such a great meal! I know you would have enjoyed it as well. I hope you get to Europe one day! Just don't try to book the Michelin Restaurant only a few weeks in advance or you will get blocked out of some places like we did! I think I got into L'Olivio as it was so close to the end of season for Capri and the island didn't have a ton of overnight visitors. For 2019 France - my goal is to get a 3 Star in Paris. I need to figure out when reservations open up for some of those places so I have a chance to get in! I think I want to try Guy Savoy's place but there are like 6 different options in Paris that will be in a reasonable walking distance from my hotel.
I think the River Cruises have a lower level. I'm sure you could call and ask them as I know you have other considerations to worry about as well. I think many of the European countries that have older infrastructure might be difficult for ECVs or unsure footing. I was so glad that my ankle was fully healed from surgery and that I got the surgery done as otherwise I might have had problems. We did have have 1 individual on our tour that had a lack of depth perception and needed a walking stick to help him walk around so his wife was helping him a lot or any of the various gentlemen on the tour since obviously, she couldn't take him to the restroom. Despite the amount of food provided through the tour, I didn't gain any weight due to the amount of walking involved. My husband did gain like 10 pounds though which he lost quickly upon return to normal.
Can't go wrong changing your plans to cruise in Asia! That sounds awesome! What cruise line are you going with? Hope you get to enjoy both Shanghai and Tokyo Disneyland! Italy was always going to be our first couple European adventure as we knew it would be important to both of us. Italy was actually really easy to get around through despite not speaking English, at least in the main towns. The signs were in both Italian and English everywhere.
I like going with a Tour Group mainly as I don't want to deal with all the logistics of travel overseas while dealing with work in the real world. I didn't have to worry about how I got from the airport to the hotel (private transfer included), how we got from place to place, our luggage would be picked up from our hotel room around 7:00AM and then would show up at the next hotel already in the room. They made sure we got to the major sites of the area and then provide options for when we had time on our own. If you check out the "other options" thread on the Adventures by Disney board - there may be other tour provides other speak highly of depending on how much you want to spend. I have no regrets on my decision!
It is hard. I'm glad we still have our other dog so the home doesn't feel completely empty but it still feels like something is missing. I hope we get a puppy from the upcoming litter the breeder I'm talking to has but I won't know that until mid/late February.
It was incredible! The desserts just kept coming! The next Michelin meal had 1 less dessert course.
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