Indy67

"Think how chef's feel - you get a diner that say's they have a nut allergy,as far as the chef is concerned they have not used nuts in the preparation - but unknown to him one of the ingredients has been produced in proximity to nuts. Diner goes into shock, has near death experience, and sues restaurant." Happily in this instance, everyone can dial it down a notch. The OP wrote "lactose intolerance." That's not the same as a true food allergy. If a lactose intolerant person eats something containing lactose, the gastro-intestinal symptoms are painful and not-fun, but they're hardly life threatening. Indy 67

" I'm having a debate with a colleague about this. I maintain that green olives are an authentic, though not indigenous, ingredient in some Mexican dishes, particularly from Veracruz. He says I'm nuts and green olives don't belong anywhere in Mexican cuisine, that the presence of green olives in a Mexican-style dish would make it Spanish." You win! Although you'll see it's win with an asterisk if you read on. Below, you'll find a recipe from Veracruz that I've been cooking since the early 1980s. I originally got it from GOURMET or BON APPETIT. A quick search in Epicurious.com yields Shrimp Veracruz which includes olives as an ingredient, along with the instructions to serve with cold Mexican beer. However, two other web site post the recipe for Fish Veracruz with the comment that the use of capers, olives, and wine reflects the Spanish influence in the Veracruz region. Indy 67 Mexican Chicken in Orange Sauce 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved olive oil 2 medium onions, diced 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced 12 large pitted olives, sliced 2 1/2 tablespoons raisins 2 1/2 tablespoons capers 2 cups orange juice 1 seedless orange, peeled and diced 1/2 cup sliced almonds Cook the onion in olive oil in a covered saute pan over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and continue cooking over low heat until limp, translucent and golden, approximately 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, raisins, and capers. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated. Add orange juice and stir until well blended and any brown bits are loosened from the pan. Stir in orange bits. Set aside. In a large saute pan, cook chicken breasts in olive oil until brown on both sides. Pour orange-olive sauce over the chicken. Bring sauce to a boil. Cover chicken and simmer for 20 minutes. Alternatively: Place chicken in shallow baking dish; pour sauce over chicken breasts. Cover and bake in 350 dgree oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove cover and bake additional 10 minutes. Optional: Sprinkle with almonds before serving.

Last night, we kicked off RW with dinner at Acadiana. Nice experience. Everyone's food for each course was at least good and some dishes hit the outstanding level. This was our first time at Acadiana, but far from our first time at the sibling restaurants either at full price or during RW. The menu followed the usual Ceiba/DC Coast/TenPenh RW formula: All but the most expensive entree on the menu were available for the RW price with restricted choices on the appetizer and dessert courses. Appetizers options were three soups (Chicken Gumbo, Oysters Rockefeller Soup or Turtle Soup) or mixed green salad or shrimp Remoulade. Desserts choices were rootbeer float, chocolate bread pudding, and hazelnut creme brulee. The jaw-droppingly stellar entree was the Pan-Roasted Crispy Duck. Two people in our group ordered this. These two are duck fans and will order it almost any time it appears on the menu so they have lots of examples to compare Acadiana's rendition against. This preparation soared to the top of their hierarchy. This dish managed appealing crispy skin with succulent, moist meat. Just to calibrate this fantastic dish, I'm not a particular duck fan and I will probably order this dish the next time we eat at Acadiana. Another member of our group ordered the crab cake. He was turned off by -- his words -- "the funky accompaniments" including pickled okra and the corn relish but he said his crab was simply the best he's ever eaten. The lumps were gigantic and the flavor was the sweet flavor of astoundingly fresh crab. My onion and andouille crusted grouper was pleasant but nothing more; the crust was significantly blander than I would have imagined given the andouille. The sweet potato hash was more of a standout than the fish itself. The appetizer course illustrated the restaurant's use of spicy heat. The seasoning is assertive but not incendiary. The Oysters Rockefeller Soup tasted of Pernod, but otherwise wasn't spicy hot. The gumbo and the Oysters Remoulade had more oomph. In fact, I might have objected to the level of seasoning by the end of the portion had I ordered the gumbo; I definitely noticed the seasoning in the lone spoonful I tried. Diners who like their food even hotter, will want to use the bottle of Tabasco sauce placed on the table. In the dessert course, the creme brulee was the winner -- dense and intensely nut flavored with the added appeal of praline pecans garnish. Add good food to gracious and skilled service and appealing decor. We'll dine again at Acadiana. RW accomplished what it was intended to do. Indy 67

"Haven't heard much about La Colline in years, since I used to work on the Hill. Have you been lately? How are they doing?" Sorry. My intelligence is useless since it's five years old. My husband's company held its holiday party there five years ago. The food was delicious. The staff was cooperative and responsive to any requests. (We always have a tasting dinner in advance of the party and use the tasting to tweak the party menu and choose the wine.) If the company hadn't outgrown the party room, we might be there still. But we did grow so I have nothing new to add. If we're on Capitol Hill, we're more likely to eat new-style at Bistro Bis. We tend to satisfy our old-style cravings staying in our backyard eating at Cote d'Or or L'Auberge Chez Francois. Indy 67

"... That is so odd that this person would act so condescending. I mean was he/she an idiot? Didn't they understand that it was indeed restaurant week and that even if it's a money loser upfront for many restaurants the idea is to at least expose people to that restaurant's cuisine and perhaps entice them back for more?" I think the server was short-sighted. I think he saw his tip being whittled away by our decision to eat off the RW menu. While I can intellectually understand his concern, he was a very poor ambassador for his boss who had decided to participate in RW. "... BTW, did you speak with management? I admit sometimes I do go to management when I think that I'm dealing with a waitperson with a poor/hostile attitude; but sometimes I don't." No. There was nothing concrete enough to report to management. The server didn't actually say anything; he simply got a look of disdain on his face. Everyone in our party noticed the server's expression and commented on it. However, he did bring the RW menus to us promptly when asked and I don't believe there were any other issues. (The server may have had an attitude readjustment as the result of our having ordered drinks before dinner and a respectable wine with dinner.) Indy 67

I'm happy to report that La Colline still exists if you've got a yen for old school French. Same location. Indy 67

Divalasvegas, I would strongly recommend TenPenh and strongly recommend against Taberna del Alabardero. Essentially, TenPenh offers RW diners the run of their menu with an added surcharge on a couple of items. My husband had the lamb trio during Summer Restaurant Week and raved about it. He shared a taste and I second his opinion. I had the soft shelled crabs and found the batter too thick for my taste. Soft shells won't be an issue in January. I was really distressed by our experience at Taberna since that is one of our favorite restaurants. We were thrilled to see it make an appearance on RW, but I won't go there again for RW. I suspect the decision to participate was made reluctantly or without bringing everyone on board. When we were seated at the table, we were given the regular menus only. We had to ask for the RW menu, and the server looked noticably condescending when we made our request. Fortunately, I don't recall the service being markedly different from full-price meals there. Once we began eating, everyone was happy since the food was prepared with Taberna's typical skill. However, the choices were really pedestrian. With the exception of flan for dessert, I don't recall any of Taberna's RW choices coming from the regular menu. When we ordered our meal, we all felt like we were settling rather than selecting. Perhaps, if you've never been to Taberna, this is a perfectly reasonable time to try the restaurant, but I believe there are better options. Incidentally, I hope you're willing to be flexible in your dining times. Our schedules don't allow much flexibility, so we tend to make our reservations early. About a week after the RW participants were announced, we were already having trouble snagging reservations at 7:30 p.m. at some of the most desirable restaurants like Tosca. Indy 67