Plus de moules

Talking with Chris Surrusco at Granville Moore's about his plans for putting mussels on the menu made me think back to 2000/2001 when I was a part-owner of the (ultimately unsuccessfully) revamped Sissons.

Our chef Bill Rothwell —aka Rollo, a roller-skating champion in younger days— would prepare our mussels steamed in gueuze - an expensive, yet wonderful "1+1=3" cooking ingredient. It proved to be our second most popular dish —by a whisker— after our rockfish (striped bass).

Bill steamed the mussels with gueuze (Lindemans Cuvee Renee, to be precise), creating a broth with fresh herbs and a bit of butter. Customers would invariably ask for more bread just to sop up the broth.

And just so that you know: steaming does remove the alcohol!


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• See an adaptation of Chef Rothwell's recipe for Mussels Cuvée René: here.
• See his recipe for Chesapeake Rarebit: here.
• See Sisson's full menu: here.