Casa
Went to Casa, a Brazilian spot in the west village two Saturdays ago.
By surprise.
Pedro and I had discussed going to drinks but it morphed into a dinner that he planned without really knowing much about my allergies except for glancing at my site quickly on his blackberry. [yup, blind date] We arrived and Pedro voiced some genuine concern about my ability to find something to eat.
“Don’t worry I’ll find something”, thinking at the every least black beans and rice would be fine and free of any obvious allergens. [Famous last words, I know, but rice and beans are usually okay for me.] Our waitress arrived. I explained the AG sitch and the first thing she said was, “Don’t get anything fried, we use the fryer for everything.” Hmmm. An understanding of cross contamination? That’s unusual and a good kicking off point.
We ordered some wine and she promptly disappeared. A different waitress arrived, looking all fresh and dewy eyed and completely unaware of the conversation I had just had with dewy waitress number one. Sigh. I explained the whole thing over again and my date shifted in his chair.
I ordered Brazilian steak, plain rice, and sauteed collard greens. The great news is everything arrived allergen-free and decent.
So, either I’m having incredible restaurant mojo of late [which I hope I didn’t just kenahora now] OR foodservice management/staff are becoming more aware of making menu adjustments for allergic or food intolerant diners. Either way, yay.
Would I recommend Casa for my AG list? It was pretty, all white washed, bathed in candlelight, and our table was cozy. But I feel like I dodged a bullet - the menu was limited for me and lots of the dishes were fried or fish or fried fish or cheese balls or fried cheese balls. So not recommended for allergic diners per se but a nice evening.
By surprise.
Pedro and I had discussed going to drinks but it morphed into a dinner that he planned without really knowing much about my allergies except for glancing at my site quickly on his blackberry. [yup, blind date] We arrived and Pedro voiced some genuine concern about my ability to find something to eat.
“Don’t worry I’ll find something”, thinking at the every least black beans and rice would be fine and free of any obvious allergens. [Famous last words, I know, but rice and beans are usually okay for me.] Our waitress arrived. I explained the AG sitch and the first thing she said was, “Don’t get anything fried, we use the fryer for everything.” Hmmm. An understanding of cross contamination? That’s unusual and a good kicking off point.
We ordered some wine and she promptly disappeared. A different waitress arrived, looking all fresh and dewy eyed and completely unaware of the conversation I had just had with dewy waitress number one. Sigh. I explained the whole thing over again and my date shifted in his chair.
I ordered Brazilian steak, plain rice, and sauteed collard greens. The great news is everything arrived allergen-free and decent.
So, either I’m having incredible restaurant mojo of late [which I hope I didn’t just kenahora now] OR foodservice management/staff are becoming more aware of making menu adjustments for allergic or food intolerant diners. Either way, yay.
Would I recommend Casa for my AG list? It was pretty, all white washed, bathed in candlelight, and our table was cozy. But I feel like I dodged a bullet - the menu was limited for me and lots of the dishes were fried or fish or fried fish or cheese balls or fried cheese balls. So not recommended for allergic diners per se but a nice evening.
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