Knife & Spoon

Inside the Ritz-Carlton's Dining Room: What to Expect Before You Arrive

The steakhouse occupying the lobby-adjacent dining room at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes is not the kind of operation that benefits from a walk-in. Knife & Spoon runs on reservations, draws a crowd with genuine culinary credentials, and rewards guests who do their planning in advance. The gray-oak-wood dining room is set beneath a dramatic cloud-shaped ceiling installation, with jewel-toned accents, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a turquoise stone bar with brass detailing that keeps the room from reading as conventionally hotel-formal. For warmer months, the terrace offers a direct sightline to the lake at sunset — worth timing if that's the kind of arrival you want.

The restaurant holds a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, placing it in the tier of Michelin-recognized dining in a city where that recognition remains selective. Within Orlando's $$$$ steakhouse category, it competes directly with Capa at the Four Seasons, which brings its own Spanish-inflected wood-fire approach. Knife & Spoon's distinction lies in its dry-aging program and the particular profile of its sourcing — details that matter when you're deciding which table to book and what to order when you get there.

The Sourcing Architecture and Why It Shapes What You Order

Florida's steakhouse scene has long operated at a remove from the major beef-producing regions, relying heavily on commodity supply chains. Knife & Spoon takes a different position: USDA Prime cuts are sourced from 44 Farms, a ranch out of Cameron, Texas, known for its grass-fed cattle and consistent marbling. The dry-aging process is handled in-house by Chef John Tesar himself, with some cuts aged as long as 240 days. That's an unusually extended program , most high-volume hotel steakhouses age between 28 and 45 days, and 240-day aging puts the restaurant in a very different category from the standard prime-cut operation.

Tesar carries significant national recognition. He is a multiple James Beard Award semifinalist and appeared on Bravo's Leading Chef and the Food Network's Extreme Chef, where he had a winning run. His reputation was built primarily through his Texas restaurant work, and that Texas connection threads directly through the sourcing at Knife & Spoon , 44 Farms and the bone-in ribeye format reflect the same beef culture he has drawn on throughout his career. For guests who have eaten at his Texas properties, the menu here will feel familiar in philosophy, adapted for the Orlando context.

For a broader point of comparison, the kind of aging discipline Tesar applies here places Knife & Spoon in the same conversation as steakhouse programs at hotel restaurants nationally , operations where a named chef's sourcing philosophy shapes the menu rather than a corporate commissary. The difference in outcome between a 45-day dry-aged bone-in ribeye and one aged 240 days is significant in both texture and flavor intensity, which is worth knowing before you decide how far down the menu to go.

Reading the Menu Before You Sit Down

The menu is organized around a format that rewards group dining. The Exotics section is built for shared plates: a 32-ounce HeartBrand Akaushi bone-in ribeye is the kind of cut that makes most sense split across the table. HeartBrand Akaushi is an American-raised Wagyu-cross breed with a distinct fat profile , different from Japanese A5 Wagyu, closer to a domestic prime in yield but with richer marbling than standard USDA Prime. If you're planning a group dinner and want to build around the marquee cuts, this section is where to anchor the order.

Alongside the beef program, the kitchen sources whole fish from local anglers , a detail that places the restaurant in conversation with Florida's coastal seafood tradition even within a steakhouse frame. The whole fish preparation comes with Thai salad and lemongrass chimichurri, a flavor combination that reads more Southeast Asian in register than a conventional steakhouse accompaniment. The butter-poached Asian chili lobster, finished with white soy sauce and sriracha, follows a similar logic: familiar luxury protein, non-standard preparation.

The sides are worth treating as deliberate pairings rather than afterthoughts. The caviar potato pavé is a rich, structured potato preparation that works with the 44 Farms bone-in ribeye. The kimchi creamed spinach pairs well with the lobster. Avocado fries alongside the flat iron is a more casual combination. The vegetable and salad sections are more developed than a typical steakhouse , heirloom tomato with Persian cucumber and herb vinaigrette, beets with mascarpone and coffee-cardamom soil , which matters for mixed parties where not every guest is oriented around beef.

Wine, Bar, and What to Order at the Turquoise Counter

The wine list at Knife & Spoon sits in $$$ territory by Orlando standards, with 255 selections and an inventory of approximately 750 bottles. California dominates, which tracks for a steakhouse of this profile , Napa Cabernet and the Bordeaux varietals that fill that register are the conventional pairing logic for the beef-forward menu. The by-the-glass selection is deliberately varied, with documented access to rare pours and, unusually, sake , a nod to the menu's broader flavor register. Corkage is available at $50 for guests who bring their own bottle. Wine Director Jessica Dukes oversees the program, and the list reflects the kind of depth that takes a wine program beyond the standard hotel-restaurant placeholder tier.

Bar program is anchored around the Ritz-Carlton's barrel-select 1792 bourbon, used as the base for the Seared Citrus Old Fashioned , made with seared orange cordial. It's a cocktail format that fits the room: classical structure, a specific premium spirit, one technique-driven modification. Whether you start or end the meal there depends on how much time you want to spend at the terrace before sitting down.

How to Plan the Visit

Reservations are recommended, and given the Michelin recognition and the restaurant's position inside one of Orlando's premier hotel properties, booking well in advance is practical advice rather than boilerplate. The restaurant serves dinner only, with business casual as the expected standard. Valet parking is available on-site at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes address at 4012 Central Florida Parkway, which puts it on the south side of Orlando, removed from the theme park corridor but accessible from the I-4 interchange. Gluten-free options and vegetarian options are available on the menu. Outdoor seating on the terrace is weather-dependent.

Google reviews stand at 4.2 across 452 ratings , a solid floor for a hotel restaurant, though at this price point and Michelin recognition, the relevant benchmark is more the quality of experience per cover than aggregate score. The $$$$ pricing tier means a dinner here is a deliberate commitment. Build the evening around the table rather than trying to rush it , the menu structure, the wine list depth, and the terrace all favor a longer sitting.

Orlando's Fine Dining Context

For travelers building a broader Orlando dining program, Knife & Spoon sits in a specific tier. It is one of a small number of Michelin-recognized restaurant options in the city. Others worth knowing in the $$$$ range include Sorekara (Japanese), Camille (Vietnamese), and Kadence (Japanese) , each operating in a different culinary register and serving a different kind of evening. Sear + Sea provides another reference point for hotel-anchored fine dining. For those cross-referencing across cities, the hotel steakhouse format here has parallels with operations like A Cut in Taipei and Born and Bred in Busan , premium beef programs operating within luxury hotel structures, where the chef credential and sourcing program carry the identity.

For planning beyond this restaurant, EP Club covers the full range of Orlando's dining, drinking, and hospitality options: see our full Orlando restaurants guide, our full Orlando hotels guide, our full Orlando bars guide, our full Orlando wineries guide, and our full Orlando experiences guide. For national reference points in serious American dining, Le Bernardin in New York City, The French Laundry in Napa, Alinea in Chicago, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, and Emeril's in New Orleans each represent distinct positions in how American fine dining is currently defined.

FAQ

What's the must-try dish at Knife & Spoon?

The dry-aging program is the clearest differentiator on the menu. Cuts from 44 Farms, aged in-house by Chef John Tesar , some up to 240 days , are what separate this kitchen from a standard hotel steakhouse. The 44 Farms bone-in ribeye paired with the caviar potato pavé is the combination most directly anchored in that program. For guests who want to understand what the kitchen does at its most distinctive, that pairing is where to start. The 32-ounce HeartBrand Akaushi bone-in ribeye from the Exotics section is the move for groups wanting a shared centerpiece cut. The butter-poached Asian chili lobster with white soy and sriracha is the strongest non-beef option for guests who want to see how the kitchen handles seafood within its broader flavor framework.