Last night, Oak Cliff made a big to-do for Bastille Day. The party included a mussels competition among about eight well-known chefs. David Uygur of Lola won, beating out Marc Cassel of Park.
While putting away some mussels at Vickery Park recently, a friend mentioned Cassel’s legendary mussels at the old Green Room. I never had them, unfortunately, but my friend still dreams of them.
And Park is on my list of places to try again — I haven’t been back since soon after they opened last year. As another friend noted last night, mussels are “a thing” right now. “You never used to see mussels on a menu, and now everyone has them,” he said. There might be some truth to that.
Which brings me to the point that my favorite place for mussels in East Dallas is a sleeper. Chef Asher Stevens of the Cock & Bull Pub can throw down on some mussels. They’re not French per se, but cooked in white wine, butter and mirepoix with a little chipotle flavor.
