We are getting our first details today about the restaurant that will replace Kouzzina at Disney’s BoardWalk when it closes later this year.
Trattoria al Forno will join other eateries at the deluxe hotel and entertainment district. The restaurant is slated to open this December.
The menu will feature Italian fare with an emphasis on regional specialities and classic preparations. Many ingredients will actually be made from scratch, in-house. We can’t wait to try the freshly handcrafted Mozzarella and the house-made Cavatelli!
The restaurant will also have wood-burning ovens, and they’ll put them to good use making — you guessed it! — Neapolitan-style Pizza! Will it be like Via Napoli meets the BoardWalk? Sounds good to me!
I’m Hoping for Pizzas Like the Quattro Fromaggi from Via Napoli!
But they aren’t stopping there. Eating through Trattoria al Forno’s menu will be like taking a culinary tour across Italy. Guests can choose from a Bolognese made with Braised Beef, inspired by the dishes of Bologna. If you’re looking for a rich dish, you may want to try the Tagliatelli Carbonara from Rome (yes; that will be my first choice, in case you were wondering). Pork Chops prepared in the style of Milan will be another menu item. But those looking for more familiar Italian dishes will also find favorites like Chicken Parmigiana.
I’m also seriously excited that they’ll feature Seasonal Risottos! YA HOO!!!!!!!!!!
The wine list also promises to be something special, as the restaurant will source only Italian Wines. With more than 60 wines available by the bottle and over 25 available by the glass, wine lovers will have lots to choose from. The beverage menu will also include an assortment of cocktails, Italian beers, and sodas. Can we hope for Acqua Frescas? Because that would be awesome. Expect to see a custom blended coffee created just for Trattoria al Forno, too.
We’re Betting on Some Great Italian Wine Flights
Here are a few other menu items that we know about:
- Antipasti, including Italian Meats, Olives, and Caponata
- Shrimp with Garlic, Capers and Anchovy Butter served with Polenta
- Whole Roasted Fish with Roasted Vegetables
- Baked Lasagna
- Grilled Steak
- Slow-cooked Lamb Shank with Polenta
- Eggplant Rollatini
- Ruffled Campanelle Pasta with Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes and Genovese Pesto
- Desserts, including Tiramisù, Lemon Panna Cotta with Almond Crunch and Berries, Gelatos, and Bomboloni (Italian Doughnut Holes) with Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Gelato.
It sounds pretty impressive.
While there’s no word yet on when Disney will begin to accept Advance Dining Reservations, we do know that Kouzzina by Cat Cora will be closing its doors on September 30.
This spot on the BoardWalk has long been occupied by restaurants featuring Mediterranean flavors — first Spoodles and then Kouzzina. And now, Trattoria al Forno. We’re looking forward to seeing what this next chapter in the restaurant’s life will bring.
Are you excited to see the changes coming to the BoardWalk’s restaurant later this year? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
There does come a time (as much as it pains me to say) when playing it safe can simply mean ‘boring’.
I long for an imaginative and strongly themed restaurant/dining experience rather than just another ‘play it safe’ Italian….
Another vote against more Italian. We’ve always loved WDW for interesting us many yrs ago in trying new cuisines. Later on spent lots of yrs in Montreal, which is truly diverse re countries’ restaurants. So, Disney- you can do better, I know you can. So many good options already mentioned above: i.e., New York style deli, Spanish tapas, how about another Cuban (not a big fan of Bongos – better Cuban outside park, rest of Fla). We love Ethiopian, but I guess that’s a bit too exotic for wdw still. By the way, Sanaa is new and Indian, plus African, inspired. Looks like that hasn’t been too much of a stretch for Disney visitors to try.
I agree with the other posters. I miss the original Spoodles when it was a tapas style place. I was told that Convention goers did not like sharing food concept of a Tapas type place. but yet I send group to Cafe Tu tu Tango all the time & it is always a hit. What about a farm- to table place that seems to be the buzz word
The menu does sound good, but I’m disappointed that it’s going to be another Italian restaurant, which IMO, Disney already has plenty of.
Hmmm, another Italian joint. Not real thrilled with that as I feel there are already plenty of options for this type of cuisine throughout the world. A good BBQ restaurant that utilized the “pizza” window would have been fabulous but it seems Disney is playing it safe….again, sigh.
LOVEEEEE it,,,,can never get enough Italian,,,,,,
I think good Italian is never out of place and given that this location can’t seem to hold a restaurant for very long perhaps Disney has gone with the safe bet to draw crowds and guarantee reservations. I for one will be giving it a try and look forward to it.
We miss Spoodles, but what about keeping with the Boardwalk theme? Perhaps a moderately priced seafood alternative – less expensive than Flying Fish or Cape May – but more than just greasy fries. Another idea – while the Boardwalk is a reminder of Atlantic City, when you are in New Jersey, you will find one of the most diverse populations anywhere, with cuisines to match. Maybe a mini-version of the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival in the form of a restaurant, with a rotating menu, would be interesting. We haven’t yet been to the F&W Festival but it sounds amazing.
I did enjoy Spoodles and was excited when the restaurant became ‘Greek’. I was disappointed by Cat and her Greek/Southern fusion. If she could have kept it completely Greek, without dumbing it down, it would have been better. We had been there 2x before. Our last visit was in Jan. ’14 and ‘this’ Greek family (it was myself, husband and 2 adult sons) did not like anything we ordered. There was no flavor, no nothing. I didn’t order anything and just took a sample of everything the guys had. The best part was the wine. Our waiter was condescending to the point of being annoying. He asked if we knew the cuisine and we said we were Greek, so no explanation was needed. BUT, he went on and on as though we had said ‘No, we know nothing of the food, so explain it to us”. Sorry to say to all the people who did like this place, I am one person who is glad to see it go!
VERY DISAPPOINTED with this decision. Loved Kouzzina. More Italian-thought Disney embraced diversity….
More veggie-friendly options would have been a more interesting and preferable choice. I had the same reaction as other folks…there are a lot of Italian–style places on property (and some just steps away in Epcot or at the Swolphin). I will miss Kouzzina’s vegan-friendly tapas menu and would think that area (frequented by adult WDW guests) could do very well with a healthy-and-fresh-style eatery. Or an allergy-and-special-diets destination. Isn’t it time to give Chef TJ his own restaurant by now!?
Yawn. Out with original food with flavor, in with the same old boring stuff. I enjoy Italian food, a lot, and hope that you finally have the courage to do it with flavor. But I fear this will be yet another safe, bland, try to make everybody happy version. Even the Jalapeno Margarita I had last year just tasted like cucumber. Double yawn.
As an update to my comment of 07/31, I am not happy about another Italian Restaurant. Why not a Greek/Turkish restaurant? Why not a complete Mediterranean which would encompass all the cuisines that border the Med? Why not Indian? I would love to see that. But, I remember a comment in one of the Disney guides from long ago, (“The basic American palate is not used to ‘strange’ spices and different ways of cooking. Don’t eat there if you’re going to complain.”) This is why I believe the restaurants ‘dumb down’ their food to the point of continued blandness. Many places are afraid to make their cuisine the way it is supposed to be made for fear of the customer sending it back and saying, “Ooh! That’s way too spicy for me! I can’t eat that!” Believe me, I have heard that many, many times!
EXTREMELY EXCITED…love the idea and the menu items look scrumptious….can’t wait to try it in January 2015 ..
So looking forward to trying this new restaurant. Sounds awesome!
Please improve the atmosphere! Cat Cora didn’t change the noise level when taking over from Spoodles. Too noisy to have a family meal with conversation-you could hear every chair move around tables throughout the restaurant. Wish it was something different than another Italian restaurant but if the food is good and the atmosphere becomes more tolerable we will go as we usually stay at Boardwalk Villas.
I agree- another Italian is so mundane…a Spanish tapas or a Mediterranean place would’ve been nice here….I doubt I’ll be eating here…I wonder why they chose such a restaurant? It all sounds so heavy too..
What about breakfast –
hate that it is going with another Italian.
This past Wednesday (Sept 24) we went to Kouzzina’s for a farewell breakfast with the family. On the way out I had a quick conversation with the host. It seems during renovations the breakfast service is moving to Flying Fish where they will soft launch the new Italian themed breakfast menu. So we will not go without breakfast at the Boardwalk waiting for the new location to open! Hooray!
Didn’t care for Kouzzina. Waitress was very rude and insulting so we didn’t leave a tip. Never went back.
Would love to see Greek or Indian also. Just my opinion.
Too bad!!! Their cinammon rolls were the reason I went to Disney 🙁
I’m not gonna lie… I’m pretty devastated…
Kouzzina was my favorite breakfast dining experience in the Kingdom… The food was so good, and the location was ideal if you were hopping over to Epcot or Hollywood studios after dining… I’ve been talking about going back for a couple years now and unfortunately never will get the chance…
As an ex cast member and truly passionate Disney lover this ranks right up there with unwelcome changes… sigh…
seems Disney is going for the cheaper foods pasta, pizza, and higher profit margins. Oh well, I guess it will be good for pizza night…. Not when I’m on vacation. I miss Spoodles, I used to spend 2 hours at dinner in that place, the food was fresh and not boring!!
Another thought…. If Disney is going for higher profit margins, why not put in a food court (like Dixie’s Landing). The bakery is morphing into a “want a be reduced” food court, but with no seating and crowded lines. Disney could incorporated the bakery, and ice cream parlor/candy shop and pizza along with the various meals, from fast foods, deli items, salads with soda, wine and beer, servicing breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snacks. Just a thought, but too bad Disney don’t listen to their customers.
Though I was one of the early posters to complain about ‘another’ Italian option at Disney World I will say the traffic seems higher than the times we visited Kouzzina in the past. After 3 dinners and 2 breakfasts at Trattoria I have come to feel as at home as with the old tenant. Our last visit included a long meal on the Boardwalk facing patio. So while I do feel they ‘played it safe’ and Asian (well maybe not on the Boardwalk..) or Mediterranean would have been a better option – at least what is there is enjoyable and worth returning to.
always looking for more creative vegetarian options.. i like the italian menu just hoping the eggplant rollantini is vegetarian! no meatsauce please! seems alot of people are upset with the changes at disney just hope they notice although the damage has been done especially at downtown.. 🙁
as Jack says, as longtime vegetarian, I always look for more interesting veg option esp on vaca. so we skip the italian spots usually. disney has come so far over yrs with Sanaa now, Jiko and veg options in various spots. thrilled recently to learn Kona has vegan banana toast, can’t wait to try.
that said, we do love strolling the boardwalk. actually had a very pleasant ezduzit pizza dinner one night at boardwalk takeout window. pizza pretty good, view terrif, littles especially happy haha.
not planning to go to any italian spots next trip, but I suppose its disney’s fallback to please the crowds in general, business decision on their part. but won’t see us there.