celebrity eating in orlando

My mom and stepdad LOVE Orlando, so since I've had some time off, they invited me along on their most recent trip.  For some restaurant dining this trip had a specific theme - restaurants owned by celebrity chef.  We started off with lunch at Emeril's restaurant in Universal CityWalk.  They had a great prix fixe lunch menu - three courses for $22.

My mom had the fish of the day - salmon with a slightly crispy skin on top of a yummy green sauce and a bed of okra and tomatoes.

To see what I had...

Emeril's Orlando

Rating: ****

Location: Universal City Walk

Price: $$$

Reviewed: Lunch

Attire: Casual, but feel free to get a little jazzy

Reviewer: Jenn 

mussels in tomato broth with crostini: **** 

Thanks to Catherine, I am a mussels lover now!!!

braised short rib with horseradish mashed potatoes: ****
I'm all about red meat and horseradish.  This was such a new combination to me (horseradish + mashed potatoes), I'm dying to try it out on my own now!

kiwi and coconut sorbet: ****
I ended up choosing this dessert by default (not a fan of bread pudding or cheesecake), and as always with sorbet,  I found Emeril's version to be a light and refreshing end to the meal.  My mom and stepdad raved about the praline cheesecake, however. So try that out too, if you're into that kind of thing.

Wolfgang Puck's Casual Dining

Rating: **

Location: Downtown Disney

Price: $$$$

Reviewed: Dinner

Attire: Casual, but feel free to get a little jazzy

Reviewer: Jenn 

Friday night, we kept with the celebrity chef trend and headed to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Downtown Disney.  Compared to Emeril's, this was an entirely different experience.  If We3Foodies gave out letter grades instead of stars, I'd give this one a D, which just so happens to also stand for disappointed, defeated, and disgusted. Yecch.  I'll still give you the pictures. Why? The presentation was impeccable.  So, feast with your eyes only.  Save your wallet and your tastebuds.

My mom's organic chicken.  Let's just say, she wasn't impressed...

mushroom soup with truffle oil: *
Our waiter (who later handed off our table to another waiter without telling us) told us that the "soups are outrageous!" Outrageously awful was more likely.  I love mushroom soup, although I often use it to make gravy for baked chicken or pot roast.  But if you've been keeping up, dear followers, you know that I'm a sucker for truffle oil.  And was I ever the sucker when I tasted this mush.  For half a second I questioned the refinement of my palate...but I'd take the bet that no Top Chef judge would have found this palatable. The consistency was like slushy mud, and the taste didn't stray too far from the texture.  The caramelized focaccia was a dream (pretty much the only highlight of the meal), but using it to chase this soup should not be what fine dining is all about!



butternut squash soup: **
Slight upgrade from the mushroom poop soup, but the consistency was still way off.  My parents seemed to enjoy it OK, so...

rack of lamb: ***
This dish came with an hunan eggplant slaw and some cilantro-lime vinaigrette (the green dots).  The first chop was pretty good, tender, with decent flavor.  I would have given anything to have some cracked pepper or a better crust, but we could never track down our waiter to ask for anything.  The second chop I couldn't cut if my life depended on it.  This was disappointing since I ordered the chop medium-medium well.  The vinaigrette was tasty, but the snow peas in the slaw were stringy (on my plate and my mother's), leaving us with the awkward task or spitting discarding a ball of green string into our napkins with style and grace.

Sam's salmon dish.  He didn't say much about it, so I guess it was only mediocre.

service/ambiance: **
The host at the entrance of the Grand Cafe wooed us upstairs away from the downstairs dining (which my mother said is much, much better than Wolfgang's "exclusive" fares).  However, with the prices upstairs being astronomical, Wolfgang's atmosphere was more Chili's than Trulucks.  The decor was horrendous.  I was mostly put off by Wolfgang's arrogance - a prominent sign said "In Puck we trust" and apparently he though his food was so delightful, there was no salt and pepper on the table. This made me doubly mad when we couldn't track down the waiter for cracked pepper to help season the abysmal food.

We didn't have to complain either. They knew they were doing an awful job.  When the bill came, the waiter told us that we were getting 35% off our meal for "the wait." Side eyes all around.

The moral of the story: definitely go to Emeril's if you're into the celebrity chef kind of thing.  Avoid Wolfgang's upstairs dining at all cost.  If you're brave enough to venture to the cafe or the sushi bar, let us know how it went!