Pizza is Back!

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

July 1, 2024

 

My family thinks it’s ridiculous that every time I pass the Italy pavilion at EPCOT, I check to see if the pizza window at Pizza al Taglio, next to Via Napoli, is open.

“Why,” you may ask, “with all the upscale and unique foods in EPCOT, are you looking for a paper plate of pizza-window pizza?”

Because the thick squares of pizza there remind me of the Sicilian-style pan pizzas back home in New York, and I haven’t yet found adequate substitute pizza here in Florida to replace my old favorites.  Pizza Ponte in Disney Springs comes the closest, but it’s a little far to go when I just want a slice for lunch!

Pizza al Taglio isn’t open often.  In fact, I’ve never actually seen it open during any of the festivals.  I suppose that with the plethora of food booths ringing the World Showcase, it just doesn’t pay for Disney to open the window while all the other goodies and seasonal specialties are available.

  
But this summer, with a nearly three month downtime between festivals, the pizza window has been open twice while I’ve been at EPCOT!  So regardless of what else we are eating for the trip, I’ve acquired a square for myself, even if the rest of the family is rolling their eyes at me.

For those of you who have been to Via Napoli before, the Pizza al Taglio portions are not the same artisanal pizza slices coming out of Via Napoli’s sculpted giant wood-burning pizza ovens (named after the 3 active volcanoes in Italy—Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli), despite the proximity to sharing a wall.  Via Napoli has fancy (but very delicious!) pies, with prosciutto, cantaloupe and lots of other toppings available to jazz them up.  Via Napoli imports their flour from Southern Italy, and sources their water for the dough from a spring with similar components to that of Italy's Campania region.  On the other hand, the Pizza al Taglio slices are just your average, utilitarian, feed-the-family quick slices, ridiculously simple, but tasty all the same.

So, here’s the very short food review: Pizza al Taglio serves both pepperoni slices ($9.00) and Margherita slices  ($8.50).  You can also grab some Tiramisu ($8.00), or some wine or beer to accompany your slice.  The square slice itself is pretty large, covering the whole plate, and the dough is not heavily sauced.  The tomato-based sauce is not a particularly sweet sauce, but neither is it overtly acidic.  There’s a perfect amount of melty cheese capped on top, thick and stretchy. The bottom of the slice is lightly crisped, but the inner dough is light, pillowy, and about an inch thick.  Air bubbles along the crust sides remind me of Friday night pizza night back home!  The pepperoni slices also had the really good pepperoni on them - you know the kind – the pepperoni that curls up around the edges and forms a little cup to catch the oils and bring lots of spicy flavor to the pizza.

Alas, I know that the days of grabbing a slice from this window are limited, and that once the festivals return, the Italy pavilion won’t need this grab-and-go anymore – at least until the high-traffic holiday weeks when the crowds swell a little more. When that happens, I’ll go back to checking for an open window.

 

__________

 

Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

 

Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at

https://raykeatingbooksandmore.com/shop/ols/products/disneyplanner.  A PDF version is available here.  And please listen to the Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating podcast. 

Check Out Disney World’s Best “Pies” for Pi Day

 by Beth Keating

Review/Lifestyle

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 13, 2023

 

Once upon a time,  a long time ago, I was a middle school teacher. And if you’ve ever had the occasion to interact with middle schoolers, you know it’s not easy to capture their attention.  “Pi Day” was one of those days in the school year that seemed to excite the class across the board.

“Pi Day” is March 14, or 3.14, based on the mathematical constant for π (it’s actually 3.141592, etc., because it goes on forever, or at least for trillions of digits.) π represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

So, back to the middle schoolers – we celebrated Pi Day by having the kids bring in their favorite pies for a festive lunch.  Most of them brought things like apple pies, chocolate pies, berry pies, you get the idea…. The teachers then had the kids make their own circular  “pizza pies” with English muffins and pizza sauce.  A good time was had by all.

 

If you find yourself at Disney World for Pi Day on Tuesday, there are a few interesting selections you can grab for your own Pi celebration.  While pizza might be your obvious choice, there are lots of other possibilities along the way. (Please, don’t go for the nearly $12 individual doughy theme park pizzas at places like PizzeRizzo when there are so many better options!)

 

One of my personal favorites is in Animal Kingdom. Trek over to the Yak & Yeti Local Food Café in the Asia section of the park, and grab a cute little mini mango pie ($7.99). This delicious individual serving pie has a tangy filling, and a graham-cracker adjacent crust. Best served cold, they are a great afternoon treat, but I’ve been known to try one for breakfast, too.  Hey, you are on vacation; it’s fine!

 

Hollywood Studios has a few specialty desserts that appear for holidays, and there are a few that will be disappearing soon from the 50th anniversary celebrations. But if you want a pie that’s a little more traditional, pay a visit to your cousins at 50s Prime Time Café for the Lemon Meringue Pie ($9), a tart lemon curd in a crisp pie shell, made all the better because it’s topped with a toasted meringue and raspberry sauce. Just be sure to keep your elbows off the table.

 

If you find yourself in EPCOT, head to Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion, where three massive wood burning ovens, each named after one of the active volcanoes in Italy, bake up perfect (and sometimes unique) Neapolitan pies.  On a recent trip, we sampled the Quattro Formaggi Pizza (ranging from $25-$55 depending on size), and the Prosciutto e Melone Pizza, a delightful and unexpected white pizza with cantalope! (ranging from $26-$54 depending on size).  

Disney Springs is a goldmine of “pie” entrees, or desserts, as the case may be.  For a more non-traditional pie, the quick-serve Cookes of Dublin offers a delicious Chicken & Wild Mushroom Pie ($15.99), a combination of chicken, wild mushrooms and leek in a white wine cream sauce topped off with a flaky pastry.

 

Wolfgang Puck is perhaps the king of “pies,” having staked his reputation on his signature haute cuisine pizza over the years. His Disney Spring’s location, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill,  currently offers more than a half-dozen pies, ranging from a simple Margherita ($18) to the somewhat pricy but very delicious smoked salmon pie ($32). Can you say Spago?

 

Pizza Ponte is a quick-serve favorite of our family, as its pizza is closest to our New York style preferences. The Big Roman ($6.95) is a LARGE slice, more than sufficient for a nice lunch, but we’ve also enjoyed the Four Cheese slice ($7.95) and, of course, a traditional pepperoni slice ($7.25). They’ve all called us back to Disney Springs again and again, and you can’t go wrong with any of the pies from Pizza Ponte. 

The home cooking at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ is always tasty and oh-so-filling, and with so many delicious things on his menu, you’d be forgiven for overlooking the chocolate pecan pie ($14), a 100-year-old Smith family recipe.  You’ll be torn between this and the similarly priced hummingbird cake (always a winner), but it is Pi Day, so you’ll lean toward the nutty goodness. But, if you are really unable to make a choice, and have a friend with you, you can always opt for the Signature Sampler ($24), a higher ticket dessert that nonetheless will give you the hummingbird cake AND the chocolate pecan pie AND the carrot cake. Oh, and a scoop of ice cream, too. Roll yourself on out of the door when you are done.

 

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, also at Disney Springs, may be familiar to many Disney guests, because as a chain restaurant across the U.S., it’s a good possibility you have one in your hometown.  With so many other yummy and unique choices on your vacation, Blaze may not be your best use of dining locations, since you can visit one once you get back to the home front, but if you need something speedy, they are a solid choice to design your own meal.  If you aren’t in Disney, you can also take advantage of Blaze’s special $3.14 11-inch pies on Tuesday, as long as you sign up ahead of time for the Blaze rewards program.  They’ll drop you a special coupon in their app for your discounted meal.  (The coupon is good through March 31st, so maybe you can get a double Pi Day out of it.). Check the Blaze website for participating locations near you. 

 

Blaze isn’t the only locale where you get to see your pie being made.  Pay a visit to Trattoria Al Forno on the Boardwalk, where the open kitchen lets you watch the chefs hard at work as they prep your dinner.  Choices range from the Pizze Margherita ($20), with its fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, to the Pizze Carni ($23), a three-meat pizza with an unexpected blend of Italian meats including prosciutto, capicola and sausage, with a bit of a bite from a smattering of pepperoncinis. We’ve never had a bad meal at Trattoria Al Forno, and while it may not be a pie, the Veal Osso Buco here ($35) has been a birthday dinner for a family member on several occasions.

 

We’ll finish off your journey through the Pi Day possibilities with a restaurant you probably haven’t been to – Ale & Compass at the Yacht Club.  And, more importantly, we’ll recommend a dish that you might never have thought of including in the “pie” search: the $30 New England Seafood Pot Pie, made with shrimp, scallops, crab, and sustainable catch of the day, along with baby carrots, pearl onions, peas, potatoes, and crustacean cream, served up under a gloriously puffy crust.  It’s only served during dinner hours from 5-9 p.m., however, so you have a very limited window of opportunity to sample this oceanic delight.  May we suggest pairing it with the restaurant’s Parker House Rolls ($13), which in our family’s opinion, is one of the best reasons to visit Ale & Compass? They are served with bacon jam, pub cheese, and citrus butter, and are insanely good!

 

No matter which “pie” you choose for this year’s π day, we hope you enjoy exploring some of these great Disney dishes.  Maybe you’ll discover a few that we haven’t tried yet.

 

_______________

 

Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

Pizza Ponte Review: Go For The Pizza, But Skip the Sandwiches

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

July 1, 2021

 

A recent afternoon found us at Disney Springs when a sudden Florida thunderstorm cropped up. Crazy, right? We didn’t have lunch reservations anywhere, and having just parked in the Orange garage, we were on our way across the bridge when the skies threatened to open up. We made a last minute decision to scoot into Pizza Ponte, and we were glad we did.

Pizza Ponte is the quick-serve restaurant under the Maria & Enzo’s sign in The Landing section of Disney Springs, and is part of the Patina Restaurant Group that also brings you Via Napoli in EPCOT, and Maria & Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway, and The Edison in Disney Springs.  The unassuming counter service room has a few indoor seats, but as those were already full, we opted for an umbrella-topped table outside.  Between being tucked next to the side of the building, and the oversized umbrella, we were easily protected from the rain.

 

I’ll put it out there, right up front.  We are New Yorkers by birth, which means we are, for all intents and purposes, pizza snobs.  Our recent arrival in Central Florida has meant that we haven’t yet found a pizza place that rivals our much loved New York-style pizzas.  And while we initially went into Pizza Ponte with skepticism – Disney rarely gets rave reviews for pizza – we left pleasantly surprised.

We ordered a slice of the four cheese pizza ($7.95), an oversized square white slice that rocked. A thick, soft crust was abundantly topped with a mix of mozzarella, provolone, fontina, and parmesan cheese, as well as a drizzle of olive oil. It was closer to a Sicilian or pan slice, and perfectly baked, with its edges nice and crisp without being burned.  We also opted for a rather large slice of the pepperoni pizza ($7.25) with lovely little “pepperoni cups” on top.  (If you are from the northeast, you know what I’m talking about. It’s those little pepperoni slices that curl and crisp around the edges when cooked, curving upwards into a “cup” shape with all the delicious oils pooling in the middle of the cup. Stop going “ewww.”  It’s a pizza thing.)

 

Both the slices were delicious, and we have plans to order them again.  For those of you who would like your pizza a little more Neapolitan-style and traditional, “The Big Roman”($6.95) is a plain, yet gigantic, slice of regular, triangle-shaped, red-sauced pizza.

 

Also on our dining menu that day were two of Pizza Ponte’s handmade sandwiches. The sandwiches weren’t pre-packaged, and we watched the cast member assembling the sandwiches and popping them into the pizza oven to bake, so it took a few minutes to gather our lunch. That was okay by us, as it meant the sandwiches were hot and fresh.  

 

The chicken parmigiana sandwich ($9.95) was somewhat forgettable, however, and while it was okay by quick-serve standards, we wouldn’t go out of our way to try it again. The chicken was a tad on the dry side, with a light amount of sauce on a short “hero” roll. (That’s another northeast term – for those of you elsewhere in the country, substitute the word “sub” or “hoagie” roll.) In its favor was the fact that the sauce tasted “real,” and not like a canned sauce.

On the other hand, the prosciutto sandwich ($9.75) was a flavorful, oblong sandwich, which would make a nice light lunch or dinner if you were looking for something not quite as overwhelming in the Florida heat, or after a day spent stuffing yourself in the theme parks. The bread itself was toasted, with a slight char, and the heat from the sandwich had melted the fontina cheese just a little.  Each bite was a touch sweet, and just the tiniest bit salty, with a hint of bitterness from the arugula to balance it out.  The cheese was strong, but in a good way.  The sandwich passed the “I’d get this again” test. For those of you from the northeast, though, this is a smaller-sized sandwich. Don’t expect the foot-long hero rolls you’d get in a sandwich shop in Jersey.

 

While waiting out the rain, we decided we’d throw caution to the wind and test out the desserts while we were there.  We tried the tiramisù cup and the cannoli (each $8.00).  There were also cheesecake, chocolate cake, and chocolate chip cookie selections available.

The tiramisù cup was an unexpectedly light dessert with a soft cake base and a dusting of cocoa that was obvious in the taste blend.  Coffee was the dominant flavor without being overwhelming.  It was a nice afternoon boost, and we’d be tempted to grab one of those little bowls on our way back to the garage on future trips.

The cannoli was a bit heavier in the dessert category, but yummy, nonetheless. The shell remained crisp, and the inside filling was a softer texture than we were anticipating, and not as firm as the more frosting-like consistency you sometimes find in cannoli cream.  It was, however, a welcome treat as we waited out the storm.

 

If you are looking to “grab a slice” while you are at Disney, let the name “Pizza Ponte” catch your attention. It was worth our stop.

 

__________

 

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!