I have been putting off the review of Acadiana. What started as minor procrastination has now turned into a full blown case of denial. Why can’t I remember what I ate? Did I even go? Fact is, while great spots are easy to write up, and really bad ones are even easier, I’m not really sure what to say when the restaurant is neither. It’s tough to do a review based off the fact that the calorie consumption within its premises allowed you to live one more day.
As the latest effort from the rapidly expanding Passion Food empire, Acadiana arrived a year ago with the road well-paved. DC Coast and Ten Penh are both reasonably tasty staples, and the lovely Ceiba is still where I take out-of-town relatives lookin’ for latin. But for a small town, we do already have Vidalia, B. Smith’s, Georgia Brown, Indigo Landing, and even the new Crème …did DC really need another neo-Southern place? Well, definitely- I mean, you really can’t have too many versions of this awesome cuisine- but I find this iteration to be forgettable.
The interior is pretty and subdued in grey and wood… with diner-style booths. Which means the general effect is of a very elegant TGI Friday’s. The service was almost unnervingly alert. The best taste of the night came at the very beginning – amg fared well with a Mint Julep and I with a tasty Sazerac (a mix of, among other things, fake absinthe and whiskey) which, come to think of it, might have something to do with my poor memory of the rest of the night. Did we order wine then? I think so, but who knows! It must have been the Sazerac.
The trio of soups – turtle, crab, and gumbo, were acceptable with the crab’s crunchy corn and hearty flavor winning the bunch. On suggestion, the fried green tomatoes were delicate and delicious, although I’m not sure I’d bother ordering them again. A trio of deviled eggs were fabulous, but only because I bloody adore deviled eggs. A less biased head would probably rate them at on par with very nice wedding Hors d’ Oeuvres.
Jeff Tunks has never gotten the hang of main courses, so I usually stock up on appetizers and split an entrée. It was a special; this time there’s a memory of an enjoyable whitefish in…sauce. I can’t tell you more ’cause I just don’t know. Come on Acadiana, there’s potential here but you need to give me something I’m still going to remember three weeks later.