APtravelnews-November 24th—The Hyatt Regency Orlando-Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL.—We visited the Hyatt’s Fiorenzo Italian Steakhouse after our day at a Manufacturers Fishing Show, for dinner. It turned out to be a highlight of our visit to Orlando! Hopefully, you’ve been reading APtravelnews, so you would have seen that we travel by auto, air, foot, but also on our stomachs. No adventure away from home can be successfully wonderful if the cuisine isn’t. No problem here! Fiorenzo’s Chef James O. Stafford (Jim) is an artist with meats, produce, dairy and sweets! We started out with a Chocotini (Martini with a lace of chocolate) and an appetizer matched to home baked Crostini and delicious Condiments. We chose a selection of smoked Scamorza, Truffled Pecorino and Jamon Iberica( Iberian Ham). Cheeses were “off the grid” terrific and the Wild Boar Salami has a new fan! A tasting cup of Fagiole Soup created with Cannellini Beans, Sweet Italian Sausage, Escarole and Basil Pesto, plus a cup we shared of Spicy Tomato Soup with roasted eggplant, Fregola and Olive oil capped off our appetizer list. At this point It might have been enough for anyone with a smaller appetite, but oh no, not us! Next on our hit list was Yellowtail snapper, one of President G.W. Bush’s favorite fish (recipe in my Calypso Café book) it was a special this night, so we tried their fish entrée and another entrée; Colorado Lamb Chops, complimented by a spread of incredible Risotto. This combo, really brought home Chef Jims expertise. Good, really great Risotto takes a balance of great products and excellent understanding of cooking times and blends, needed for perfection. Jim has it down! From the cheese rolls, to the final assault on our wastes; the desserts, we swooned (probably a bit from the exotic flavored Martini’s too) over the hot chocolate Volcano Bomb (they don’t call it that, but WOWser- oozing chocolate, Filbert nuts, red raspberries, and, and I do mean: “and” Cinnamon Gelato! Promise; this was incredibly tasty and memorable. Barb went for her favorite: Tiramisu. I tasted it and found out once again why it’s a heavenly Italian treat. If it’s done correctly, almost nothing can beat it for an end-of dinner delight! Guess we have to go back again for Barbara’s Birthday and again for our Anniversary, and for my Birthday, the kids, the family, the extended family! We loved everything about Fiorenzo. Our waitress Laura Ardron was so attentive and informative about all of the menu items, we felt she was a great asset to Fiorenzo, probably one of the very best wait staff people we ever came across. Get in touch with Fiorenzo Steak House just inside the front door at the Hyatt Regency Orlando across from the Convention Center, at 407-345-4555
