Fiorenzo, Orlando

I was recently in Orlando for a conference at the *massive* Orange County convention center, and had one opportunity to go out with my more direct work group, about 45 people (the conference had 30,000+ attendees, for reference). We were looking for a venue that could handle a group our size, could accommodate vegans, was reasonably priced, and nearby.  A tall order, particularly as we decided to do the dinner just the week before.  One member of our group took to organizing, and was about to lead us to Cheesecake Factory (which, don't get me wrong, has its hits), but it would require 15-20 minute cab rides, and I hoped to find something more easily accessible.   I did a super quick search, not having time to really devote to this, but also not wanting to step on toes of the person who stepped up to wrangle us, and one place did show up: Fiorenzo.  An Italian Steakhouse.

Fiorenzo is located in the Hyatt Regency, adjacent to the Convention Center, and actually, the site of many of our breakout sessions.  Location was as good as it could get, without being conference center catering on-site.  They also had a private room that could seat us.  Um, ok, yes, location, fantastic.  But what about the food?  Well, hmm, 4 stars on Yelp, and generally good reviews from regular diners and others who had been to events there alike.  Far above average for a hotel it seemed.  The menu sounded great too - all your steakhouse heavy hitters of course, including add-ons of scallops or foie gras (!), which I hadn't had in ages.  They also had a large Italian menu with pastas and flatbreads.  Again, all with good reviews.  And plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.  It sounded great.  That said, the steakhouse did have a fairly high price point, but ... they participate in an Orlando-wide program in September called Magical Dining, offering up 3 course menus for $40, with choices for each.  Now that sounded beyond perfect.  Location as close as can be, solid food, reasonable price?  We were in.

Fiorenzo was obviously adept at large receptions and groups, taking orders and delivering courses with ease.  I had to leave early because I had a meeting I couldn't miss, and when I mentioned this to my server, he prioritized my dishes - I got my first course first, I got my main course while others were finishing their starters, and he gave me my dessert to go, along with a container and takeout bag for my extra food.  Way above and beyond what I expected.  For a big group, service was really quite good, and they handled my special needs with ease.

The food was solidly lower end average, and what you'd expect from wedding or event sit down catering.  Nothing bad, nothing great, but the venue really was a great fit for our group.

Group Menu.

Because we had a large group, we were provided with a set menu.  We had no choice of starter or dessert.  For the main dish, we had a choice of florentine chicken, swordfish piccata, or wagyu beef bolognese.

Vegetarians and vegans had a separate, entirely vegan, menu - a different salad, choice of two entrees (veggies or vegan meatball), and vegan cheesecake.  The vegetarians who weren't vegans lamented their choices, I overheard several mentioning that they like cheese and cream!

I had thought we were going to be able to do do the special "Magical Dining" menu, which has 4 choices to start (two salads, a flatbread, or their signature meatball), 4 mains (including the chicken dish we had, but also their tasty looking bucatini carbonara), and two desserts (yes, salted caramel budino!!!), and I was quite looking forward to it.  That menu really does seem like quite a deal, priced at $40 per person, and all of the dishes are found on their regular menu, usually around $60 for those options.

Focaccia & Oil.

To get started, we were provided with baskets of focaccia & a pot of olive oil.  The olive oil looked decent quality, and I think there were two kinds of focaccia, one more plain, one herby.  Since I had just come from a reception with food, I skipped this.  No one else at the table commented on it, and only one person tried it.

Starter: Caesar Salad.

"Baby romaine | anchovy powder | roasted garlic ciabatta crouton | shaved parmesan | classic dressing."

For our first course, we had no choice. A Caesar salad it was.  I was a bit let down because, although I do like Caesar salad, I was eyeing the "Fiorenzo wedge" with marinated tomatoes, crispy panchetta, and more. That salad is also one of the several starter options on the Magical Dining menu, so I assumed we'd have that choice.  Alas, a regular Caesar it was for us.  The vegans/vegetarians had a much better looking salad, the "Market Salad", with more toppings: kalamata olives, baby heirloom tomatoes, shaved red onion, cucumber, white beans, and a balsamic dressing.

Anyway, the salad was ok.  I did like the use of baby romaine, that was a bit novel.  The lettuce was quite crisp and fresh. I didn't detect the anchovy powder, but the dressing did seem to have a slight fishiness to it (that I like, as I adore anchovies).  It wasn't tossed with dressing, rather, just drizzled, and wasn't over dressed.  The parmesan was parmesan.  The only thing that really stood out was the croutons, they actually were pretty good, nice garlic flavor, great crunch.  It was entirely unseasoned, and required copious amounts of pepper applied at the table (luckily, we had a pepper mill on the table).

I'd call this a solidly average Caesar salad, with slightly interesting base lettuce and croutons, and slightly annoying to eat given the large pieces and need to cut and distribute the dressing.  It left me really wanting for some shard red onion to contrast, and some juicy tomatoes.  But, yes, traditional Caesar it was.  ***.

The regular menu has this for $14, I'm not sure if it is a bigger portion there. 

Main: Swordfish Piccata? Or Seasonal Fish (Swordfish).

"Seasonal vegtables | Lemon caper butter sauce | Salsa verde." or maybe ... "Pea purée | peas | carrots."

I was a little surprised when my main dish showed up.  Yes, it was swordfish, but it sure did not look like any piccata I've ever seen.  Yes, it may have had "seasonal vegetables", but, where was the lemon caper butter sauce?  What about the salsa verde they mention?  There was none of either of these elements.

The regular menu, and the Magical Dining menu, both have a "Seasonal Fish", which I had been told was swordfish that day, served with pea puree, peas, and carrots.  My dish certainly had all of those things, and then more.  I'm not sure if our menu was wrong, or if they gave me the other dish to help with my speedy exit?  I left before the others got their mains, so, I didn't see if anyone else actually got piccata sauce.

Anyway.  This dish, much like the Caesar, was hovering right below average.  Basically what you'd expect at a wedding or banquet, better than on an airplane.  The fish was cooked ok, a bit dry, but, without any sauce (lemon caper butter as promised or otherwise), it was even more dry.  The thick pea puree didn't help, it made it eat very, well, dry.  Like the Caesar, it was also completely unseasoned, and quite bland.  I added as much salt and pepper as I could, to both the fish and puree, and all the vegetables.

Speaking of those vegetables ... yeah, they weren't very good.  More in line with cafeteria food - cubes of carrots and peas mostly, with a few bits of asparagus and a few tomatoes. The tomatoes were nice as they added a tiny pop of acidity.  Again, though, the vegetables were entirely unseasoned, and entirely dry.  They weren't too mushy, but certainly weren't particularly fresh and crisp.  More (any) seasoning needed, and, wow, this dish needed a sauce.

On top was a mound of soggy greens.  Watercress maybe?  But so wilted, so soggy.  Dressed in something I guess, but I didn't detect any flavor.  The greens were pretty off putting in their sogginess.

**+ for the overall dish, although the fish itself was fine (***).

The regular menu has the seasonal swordfish dish for $32, and it is also a Magical Dining option.

Dessert: Tiramisu.

"Espresso angalise | chocolate sable."

For dessert, I was really looking forward to their signature salted caramel budino, as I adore puddings, or perhaps the seasonal fruit croustade with ice cream, but alas, we had only one option: tiramisu.  I really thought we'd have the budino, even if on a set menu, as it is the one on their Magical Dining menu too.

Since I had to leave for a meeting, AND I avoid caffeine at night, I asked for mine to go.  The restaurant handled this request with ease, providing it to me before the others even were served their main dishes.  It wasn't mangled when I got it, but, apologizes, I took the photo after I got back to my hotel, and it clearly suffered.

The menu description made this sound slightly non-traditional, with espresso anglaise and chocolate sable ... what I got was really a standard tiramisu.  Espresso soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone cream ... there were certainly no chocolate sable cookies to be found, and the cream didn't seem espresso flavored ...

That said, it was a good traditional tiramisu.  The cake layers were well soaked, the cream rich, the balance of components just right.  Above average tiramisu, but just nothing like our menu said.  ***+. 

The regular menu has a different version of the tiramisu, with "creamy mascarpone | chocolate "croutons" | coffee reduction." for $10, but that sounds even more deconstructed than what we had, so I'm quite curious what that one is like.