I just read a travel article that reminded me how much my husband loves moules frites in France, mussels served with French fries (and of course good baguette to mop up the sauce). Do any of you from the Sacramento area have a restaurant to recommend? Many thanks.

brasseriefood032418.pdf

Plan B, two locations

Moved to United States

I was going to suggest Brasserie Capitale too.

The moules offered here in Calif are probably not the Moules du Bouchot that your husband most likely ate in France. A "world" of difference!!! I love them too - but we wait until we are in France before we have them. Actually, I cook them myself while in France (we stay in self catering gites & apts). We had them 5 times this year in France. You can actually find them shrink wrapped at groceries & poissonneries (most are not shrink wrapped, however).
Moules de bouchot - techniques



Stu Dudley

They can be good even if they are not the 'same'.

There is no "same" between moules de bouchot and PEI mussels. My wife & I try to get mussels here that we can enjoy - but the difference between Bouchot and American mussels is like the difference between chicken livers and foie gras.


Stu Dudley

That might explain why we were disappointed with the mussels served at Plouff in San Francisco. Having to pay extra for baguette didn't help.

We had dinner at Fresca on 24th St in Fan Francisco 1 1/2 weeks ago. A late 20s early 30s "daughter" and her father sat at the table next to us - and they only spoke in French to each other. My wife asked them (in French) if we could borrow their pen to sign our dinner check - ours was out of ink. Conversation in French started and we told them that my wife went to summer school in St Brieuc, Brittany France. They were both from San Brieuc. She has lived in the US for about 15 years - married to a US citizen & living in San Francisco. He still lived in St Brieuc Thirty minute later, we found out that she didn't like most of the French restaurants in San Francisco - especially Plouff. Most of the Bouchot mussels we dined on this past year in Brittany, came from St Brieuc. We told her to try Nico - our favorite French restaurant in The City.



Stu Dudley

I would expect PEI mussels to be different from mussels gathered off the French coast. Mussels, like oysters, reflect the waters they come from. Mussels from Tomales Bay do not taste the same as mussels gathered on McClures Beach--both locations are part of Point Reyes--and neither available in stores or restaurants; you must pick them yourself.

Moule du bouchot reflects a technique for raising mussels; technique which is probably applied everywhere mussels are commercially raised:
https://www.elementseafood.com/what-...ouchot-mussel/

The Bouchot mussels are definitely raised differently. But the meat is yellow or orange tinged, sweet, smaller, and thus quite different from the "other" mussels we see at some "less expensive" restaurants in France. I have never seen a yellow tinged mussel in the US. So I think it is a different mussel breed also. It is hard to imagine two mussel beds next to each other, where one is using the Bouchot "technique" of growing and the other is not - but they both are the same breed of mussels and the Buchot mussel is yellow & sweet and the other mussel is not. IMO, if the mussel beds in Calif & PEI could produce a Bouchot mussel - they would. But I have not seen one here.


Stu Dudley

I still think that it's the waters, just like the type of feed affects the color of an egg yolk.

DW and I are meeting janisj at the Boiling Crab on K in Sacramento tomorrow. They do have mussels if that is what you're looking for. I think I'm having the gumbo.
Anyone else in the Sacramento area that wants to join us.

Curious about these various farmed mussels, bouchot or otherwise; there is a well-regarded Manhattan restaurant that offers bouchot mussels farmed in Maine...wonder what those are like?

Minetta Tavern

Follow up to tomfuller's post: just left our mini GTG with tom and the lovely mrs tom now heading to the amtrak station to catch their train north. Had a great time- talking about everything . . . Including a 'little' about trains😊 Had shrimp and soft shell crab and adult beverages and good company

Sounds like fun!

No one had the mussels?

. . . nope, didn't want to upset Stu . . .

Why would it upset me???


Stu Dudley