Fine Dining in Orlando

[Susan in FL]

If you have experienced fine dining in the Orlando area recently, please post here! Hopefully this can help travelers to the area decide where to eat.

Such was the case for my cousin and me last week, at Primo, Melissa Kelly's restaurant in the J.W. Marriott Resort and Spa at Grande Lakes. She certainly lived up to her reputation and winning of awards, serving wonderfully creative, contemporary Italian/Floridian dishes using only the finest and freshest ingredients. The cocktail and wine selection was excellent, too, as was the service.

My cousin and I were staying at the hotel (our entire stay was a feast for the senses, but I'll just tell you about the food) and we purposely went into the restaurant earlier than our reservation so we could have a cocktail at the bar before being seated for dinner. I had a Primodonna, which was Prosecco and passion fruit juice, and Gina had some sort of fancy Margarita.

My first course was Steamed Whitewater Clams with housemade Italian sausage, tomatoes, and toscano kale, served over creamy polenta. It was perfectly seasoned, flavorful but not hot, and delicately intense. The waiter suggested a glass of Cabernet with it, and it went well... can't remember what label it was. Gina had Crispy Squash Blossums stuffed with two cheeses, served over a charred baby squash salad, and a glass of Chardonnay. Hers was yummy, too. Some of the other tempting first courses were a Duo of Foie Gras and Figs, a Farmer Salad with a brioche crouton and a soft boiled egg, and Main Jonah Crab Cakes with mango avocado salsa, arugula, and citrus vinaigrette.

I had a hard time deciding whether to order the Maine Lobster pasta dish or the Grimaud Farm Duck Two Ways. I got the lobster pasta and Gina got the duck. Again, we shared, but it sure was difficult to give up even a little bit of my entree. I wished I had a large enough appetite to have eaten both! The lobster, already out of the shell, came "with three peas." Of course Gina with her quick wit immediately asked if that would be three peas or three kinds of peas. It was sweet pea agnolotti, pea tendrils, and peas with creamy lobster broth. This was divine. Gina's Duck Two Ways was a grilled breast and confit leg, with apricot gnocchi and Maine Huckleberry jus. There were some little tiny delicious baby turnips on the plate also. She doesn't eat duck nearly as often as I do; this was the best she had ever tasted and it was close to the best for me, too. We drank a bottle of Wild Horse Pinot Noir, Sonoma. I had only Central Coast Pinot Noir from Wild Horse before this. It was a great wine, and matched up fine for both of us.

Unfortunately, as good as the desserts sounded, neither of us had room. I got a cup of espresso which was perfect, and that always impresses me.

Another interesting piece to add, in talking about this hotel, is that the sushi in the Lobby Lounge was absolutely wonderful. I surely recommend this Resort and Spa, as well as Primo and the Lobby Lounge. The Ritz Carlton is adjacent, and the two hotels share the Spa, but oh that's another topic...

Edited August 29, 2004 by Susan in FL (log)

[Susan in FL]

Victoria and Albert's, in the Grand Floridian Resort on Disney World property, certainly falls into the category of fine dining in Orlando. I am copying from my post written in July:

Our dinner at Victoria & Albert's was the perfect special occasion, from the making of the reservation to the time we departed, menus and chocolate anniversary card and long stem red rose in hand.

For anyone unfamiliar with the dining experience at this restaurant: When the reservation is made, they give a full explanation of what you can expect, such as the appropriate attire and the cost of the meal, and ask several pertinent questions in order for them to prepare to serve you. They check on such things as the correct spelling of your names, so they can personalize your menu, and whether you have any food allergies or restrictions. The menu changes daily.

Service by the "Victorias" and the "Alberts" is exceptional. We were told ahead of time to expect to dine for about two and a half hours, and throughout they neither rushed nor slowed the pace we desired. It was as though they had radar, sensing our thoughts before we spoke them aloud. They were able to provide this kind of service, yet locate themselves at a distance, giving us privacy. When we spoke with staff, they were knowledgable with just the right amount of humor.

The food was superb. Everything tasted so good, and looked beautiful. There were six courses, preceeded by an Amuse and followed by coffee, etc. It was Prix Fixe, $95.00 each, a very reasonable price for such food, service, and setting. We took the suggested six wine pairings, which again at $50.00 per guest was well worth it.

The Amuse was a crab cake with tasty garnishes; however, it wasn't named on the menu, so I can't remember the description. With it was served a glass of Iron Horse "Fairy Tale Cuvee" Brut, Green Valley 1995. We did order cocktails before that... my husband, a Bass Ale and I a Cosmopolitan. These were my menu selections, and the wine pairings (beer with the soup):

Lemon Grass Poached Lobster with Pickled Papaya and Tat Soi

Monchof "Astor" Kabinett Riesling, Mosel 2002

Roasted Quail with Heirloom Tomatoes, Candied Potatoes and Tomato Water

Marques de Arienzo Reserva, Rioja 1998

Brie Leek Maui Onion Cream Soup

Chimay Ale Peres Trappistes, Belgium

Roasted Duck with Mission Figs and Consomme and Foie Gras Tortellini

Hartford Pinot Noir, Sonoma 2002

Colston Bassett Stilton "Cheesecake" with Bing Cherry Compote

Croft Fine Tawny, Porto

Pyramid of Tanzani Chocolate Mousse

"Celebes" Coffee, Tea and Friandise

Russ chose a different third course and main course:

Barely Seared Ivory King Salmon with Asparagus and Ramps

Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2003

Grilled Prime Filet with Brentwood Corn Risotto, Natural Jus

Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra 2001

He ordered Grand Marnier Souffle, and we shared desserts with each other.

It was an awesome celebration!

[Majra]

If you are looking for a smaller place away from the tourist venues, try Blue Bistro. K Restaurant also offers an excellent meal.

[Susan in FL]

Hi, Majra. Where are these restaurants? What style is the food?

Grande Lakes is pretty much out of the area of the tourist venues, I thought. After I got off The Highway to Death (I-4), it seemed I drove down John Young Parkway forever before getting there.

[Susan in FL]

We recently went to the Altamonte Springs location of Seasons 52 for dinner. Beforehand I didn't think I would include this restaurant in a fine dining category, after knowing it was Darden's attempt at a more upscale eatery and reading a few less than favorable comments about it. I probably wouldn't even have suggested it as a place to meet my brother and family for dinner while they visited Orlando if a dining buddy of mine from work hadn't recommended it. However, we all were glad that this was my pick for the evening. We must have caught everybody on duty on a particularly good night and everything fell into place. It was an outstanding dinner, service included.

My first impression was a positive one when I called a few days in advance for a reservation and they had none available. The young lady on the other end of the phone was very good at her job, making me feel like she really wanted to work out something to accomodate us, but did not have the authority... "My brother and his family traveled all this way from Delaware to eat at your restaurant." After we talked for about 10 minutes, she told me that some customers ask to talk to a manager when she lets them know she cannot authorize a reservation. So, slow-to-catch-on me, I asked to talk to a manager, and within moments he rearranged some reservations and we had one.

We were seated at a very nice round table on the outskirts of the attractive room. The spring menu was organized with starters described on lists of flatbreads, appetizers, and small salads. Then there are Main Plates, and Desserts. As a starter I ordered goat cheese ravioli, Russ got garlic grilled romaine salad, my brother and sister-in-law had seared Ahi tuna and a small salad which was huge, and we had an order of garlic roasted potatoes for the whole table. My dinner was grilled boneless quail breasts and Russ's was artic char. It was a real treat to have quail boned. I've waited too long to remember what my brother, wife and son had as main courses. Everything came close to perfection. The waiter gave us excellent service, including wine selections that were right on it. We all had different wines with each course and every one was a great match. We had some enjoyable laughs and conversation with the waiter, as well, including some baseball talk. There were several good wines available by the glass, including dessert wines. Desserts are $1.99 each and called "mini-indulgences." I had three, espresso, and a fine Port.

We spared no expense, and our portion of the bill, for the two of us, was under $130.00

If I knew this restaurant was consistently this good, I would recommend it to all, including the most discriminating of diners.

[Marlene]

Hawk's Landing at the Marriot World, in Orlando is absolutely outstanding for steaks.

[Bill_H]

I posted this months ago, but with this fine thread I thought I'd bring it forward a couple of pages. It's another viewpoint on Primo.

Feb 14 2005, 01:00 PM Post #1 

Well, I've never tried one of these before, and I do not have the foodie knowledge of many of those dining reports I have enjoyed reading so much, but nevertheless I thought some on here may enjoy a recount of my recent vist to Melissa Kelly's Primo in the JW Marriott in Orlando.

The occassion was my wife's blanketety-blankth birthday (edited out by her). The JW Marriott is a still-new hotel in south Orlando, away from Disney, located in the Grande Lakes resort (which it shares with the Ritz). The hotel features two main dining options. Citron is the more casual option, and the fine dining option is filled by Primo, a "sister" restaurant of Kelly's Rockland, Maine location. From what I've heard, from an atmosphere perspective the two couldn't be more different.

After valet parking, you enter the beautiful lobby of the JW Marriott, which has lighted candles everywhere (including outside by the valet stand). Primo's is on the main level. As this is a convention hotel, anyone who lives in Orlando can tell you how IMPERATIVE it is not to be seated by a large group. Expense accounts and no spouses seem to bring out the worst in folks. I had requested a more private table due to our "special celebration" status, and I had been told it would be noted. Alas, the hostess was about to seat us when I asked if she had been notified of this, which stopped her in her tracks. Luckily, the manager was there and found an available table which met our needs quite nicely (she was about to put us right next to a table of 20!  ). The space is pretty with a show kitchen and an adjacent bar. They have a private function room and several columns and pillars throughout. The noise level was OK away from the big groups, but you are in a hotel and our "window" seat was actually glass doors with the metal push-bar handle so common to convention hotels. We had a nice view of a deserted patio and stadium-type lights.

This was our second visit to this restaurant. The first was the month it opened and while we enjoyed it there were a few kinks to work out, which we excused due to the newness. As you'll see, it seems these kinks are in the DNA of the establishment rather than a phase to get through. The waitstaff are all VERY young and attractive, which is by no means an issue but is reflected in the quality of service. Let me take you through our meal first, then I'll evaluate the service in my overall wrap-up.

While the menu changes daily, here's a sample menu Primo dinner menu.

Amuse bouche

Roasted mussel with garlic breadcrumbs - tasty enough, but presented by a roaming assistant manager-type while we were in the middle of discussing the menu with our waitress. Nothing too noteworthy here, but heck, it was only an amuse, right?

Primi

Antipasti - not my first choice at a restaurant like this, but it was my wife's birthday and she loves these. The selection changes daily, but ours had two meats (sopraseta and salami), roasted red peppers, a nice olive mix, fried artichoke with a garlic cream sauce and pickled green beans and carrots. Weirdly, no cheese, which it seems to me is usually on an antipasti. The meats were fine but nothing better than the deli selection at a nice grocery store. The olives were good, but the two standouts were the artichokes and the pickled veggies. Primo has an organic garden on-site and the quality of the veggies throughout the meal were obvious. The style of the artichoke was new to me and I loved it - wish I could have had a just that as my first course.

Kumomoto Oysters Two Ways - crisp lemony fried with romesco and on the half shell with Meyer lemon mignonette - wow, best part of the meal. The fried oysters were great, but the half shell ones were fantastic. Too bad we had only 3 of each, which caused serious negotiations between my wife and I as to who would get the second half shell (raw oysters are hard to split). She pulled the birthday position and I settled for a tasty second option of the extra fried 

Carne

We both chose options from the Carne section for our main course (other options were Pasta and Pesce)

"Surf & Turf" - Dry aged NY Strip steak on a crisp main lobster, potato cake with garden vegetables and roasted langoustine - my wife's selection, huge piece of steak and a cute lobster, by which I mean it was tiny. I won't spend too much time on this as it was what you'd expect, the steak was superb and the lobster sweet and tasty, but the amount of lobster meat was so miniscule as to be but a tease. The veggies were again great, but the potato cake wasn't worth eating.

Grilled Grimaud Farm Duck Breast on a bed of crispy turnovers stuffed with duck confit, potatoes and our own greens - I have never had duck at a fine dining establishment, so I took a chance and was quite pleased. The meat was smoky and tender (with no hint of grease or fat) and the sauce was mellow and complimented the meat. The turnovers were like little awesome samosas, I could've had a plate of them, and the spinach was delicious. I ate all of my sides, which NEVER happens. I especially enjoyed the tiny orange slices (no peels) that were on the plate (they may have been mandarin, not sure). I have one complaint here, though: Both on this visit and on my previous visit, my main course has been lukewarm. Last time I sent it back, and their second attempt was not much better. Now, I'm not looking for a piping hot plate, but at least 3 separate entrees have been cold at the finish of my meal, which is not acceptable anywhere, but certainly not at this level of dining. My wife's meal was the right temperature, so my guess is they have problems with timing of separate diner's selections.

We also ordered a side from the Contorni section:

Panelle, herbed chickpea fries, EVO and Sicilian sea salt, Puttanesca dipping sauce - oh, dear god this was lovely. I need to learn how to make these, the "fries" were like the best polenta you've ever had and the Puttanesca was sweet and tangy, with copious amounts of capers and kalamatas. Mmmmmm.

Dessert

They offered a cheese course, which we usually take when offered, but the choices were uninspiring (Gorganzola, pecorino (our waitress called it a picante), and triple creme) and since it was a birthday we decided to go sweet.

Apple crumb cobbler - didn't get the details down on this one, it was good, but not great. Loved the Gelati it came with. They did manage to write Happy Birthday in chocolate around the rim of the plate after I dropped numerous hints.

Chocolate dipped cannoli with sweet ricotta and Amarena cherries - much better option, the cherries were in a syrup that tasted of rum and were like heaven in the mouth.

The bread was served with a nondescript olive oil and was good but not great (a levan natural grain, a baguette, and foccacia) There are tables around the dining room heaped with bread and the servers cut it for you at the tables and bring it to your table. You need to ask for butter.

We had a lovely wine, an Oregon Pinot Noir (Eyrie). The wine list is a little pricey, but it is a nice restaurant, so it is appropriate. My wife also had a nice Morraccan Mint tea with her dessert which was apparently a Vermont organic variety.

Service: Here's the main complaint other than food temperature. While our waitress was nice enough, we didn't see her much. All of our food was brought out by other servers, after the initial pour we had to handle the wine ourselves (the table next to us actually had to get up and get theirs from a serving table), and our questions were usually met with polite non-answers (my wife's request for advice on eating the tiny lobster was met with "Yeah, they are hard to eat, hahahaha. Do your best") As seems to be a problem in Orlando, in opting for a pretty staff they've missed out on experience and commitment, so while they were competent, at this level they should be extraordinary, and that was not the case.

So, overall, we had a nice meal but not at the level for which we had hoped. Our total bill (accompanied by two tiny lavender shortbread cookies) was $185 pre-tip, which is on the high-end for Orlando (make sure to validate your valet stub - otherwise it's $11  ). The menu is ambitious for this town and it changes often, so I would like to return, but as long as their service issues remain, I think there are better options in town. Now if only they had those chickpea fries as takeout 

[Susan in FL]

...thought I'd bring it forward a couple of pages. It's another viewpoint on Primo.

Glad you did, Bill. It's good to have additional points of view... That sure worked in my favor for our dinner at Seasons 52!

[OrlandoMan]

I'd like to add to the thread about Primo. My wife and I dined there for the first time this past April, for her 50th birthday. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience; all the food was excellent. But what I wanted to add is that about 95% of the food there is organically grown, according to the chef. My wife and I are entertaining the idea of opening an all organic restaurant, and, having mentioned that to our server, the chef (not Mellissa Kelly, by the way), came out at the end of our meal to discuss this with us. She mentioned that it takes a long time for a restaurant to be certified Organic, hence, they don't advertise that they are. But they certainly strive to be, and 95% is just about there.

[Susan in FL]

Please keep us posted about your idea of opening an all organic restaurant, and your progress if you decide to do it. I'm assuming it would be in Orlando... ?

I'm glad you're posting. Our central Florida contingent here is slowly but surely growing!