Second Meal: Moules à la Marinière (Fresh Mussels Steamed Open in White Wine)

Not going to lie my new adventure has been off to a slow start. I started with a BANG then nothing… that is until now. I love mussels, have always loved mussels, and probably will always love mussels. Is it the small of the shallots? The taste of the mussels? Or using bread to soak up the extra wine broth? Who knows! But no matter what it is I would consider this dish as a comfort dish. First it’s pretty simple and second quick to make*. I followed the recipe exactly and throughly enjoyed it but I would suggest that I add more shallots as I am partial for stronger flavors.

I didn’t make anything for dinner that night. Yes you are reading that correctly I ate 2 pounds of mussels all in one sitting perhaps I missed my calling. I’m jumping around the cookbook but thinking I should choose a more defined path. Maybe do one recipe from each section until I rotate all the way through and then repeat?

* As long as you soak and wash the mussels before hand!

Revival, Decatur

Two words. DO FAMILY STYLE. Yes I know that was three words but the two you should remember are family style. It’s really the only way you should do dinner at Revival and while I’m sure you could dine another way you would be missing out. Seriously. All you do is pick the entree you want (1 per person) and they do all the rest. And by “all the rest” I mean they pick the hors d’oeuvres, relishes, & trimmings. We picked the fried chicken and beef and pork meatloaf wrapped in bacon. The hors d’oeuvres that graced our table were the toasted deviled ham tea sandwiches and the kale salad with apples, cheese, & boiled dressing. I knew the sandwiches would be good but I was blown away by the kale salad. So blown a way in fact that I had to ask what they did to it. Turns out they massage it so it becomes tender. Doubt I’ll ever do this at home but at least I know what I would have to do just in case. The trimmings that blessed our table were the hickory-smoked local greens, granny’s pole beans, green cabbage with confit ham, and stone ground grits with caramelized onions. My favorite were the pole beans. And for dessert we had the lemon icebox pie and cinnamon baked apple with streusel and vanilla ice cream. I should warn you this is a lot of food but the idea is to take leftovers home just like you would any family dinner at Grandma’s house. And lastly I must declare we found the best old fashioned in Atlanta. Each of us ordered two it was that good. So run run run if you haven’t tried Revival yet. It will restore your faith in Sunday Dinners.