A couple of us shot over to Shadow Lounge on Hertel Avenue for some eats last night and found some of the best mussels in town awaiting us. The Prince Edward Island black mussels are currently on a list of restaurant food specials, but Chef Rich Hollister assured us that variations of the appetizer would soon be found on future menus. I am a diehard fan of the mussels at Mothers on Virginia and have been hard pressed to find anyone else in town that could match their taste and quality. That is until last night…
The dish is served with a side of bread, which is perfect for dipping in the tomato garlic broth. The mussels are the perfect size, they are tender yet not tiny. This was the perfect dish for a drizzly January dinner. We sat at the bar and ate as we took in the relaxed surroundings of Shadow.
Towards the end of our visit, Rich popped his head out of the kitchen to see how we were enjoying our meal. We raved about our new find and asked him to join us for a beer. As we sat discussing the restaurant business we took notice of a sign behind the bar that had caught our attention a bit earlier. The sign read, something about ‘dirty suicide martinis’. What the…? We asked Bree (awesome ebar-tendressi) what the drink’s ‘mo’ was and she informed us that it was new and no one had tried it yet. That sounded like a challenge to Anthony who was fascinated that the drink came complete with a habanera pepper in lieu of an olive.
Much to my chagrin, the drink was ordered and Anthony ‘all-talk’ Cuellar backed down from the self inflicted challenge. He did manage to take a series of sips while reporting that the drink was getting hotter and hotter the longer the pepper sat in the glass. At that point the explosive tooth picked pepper was removed from the glass and placed on a bar-nap. By this time a small group of on-lookers had surrounded the pepper. Not wanting to disappoint the crowd, Rich grabbed the red-hot, threw it on a piece of bread and popped it in his mouth like a piece of candy. Ouch!
Chefs are a different breed of people. Food is an adventure for these guys, and even a habanera has a home in their creative diets. The pepper was no match for Hollister. He took a couple swigs from his beer and it was back to business as usual.
Not only did Rich whip up a fine platter of mussels, he also took his taste buds for a ride while chewing the fat with some of his food fans. Thanks for stepping up to the plate Rich. And thanks for serving up some mean mussels.
Shadow is located at 1504 Hertel Avenue. 716.835.3975