The Mitchell is located in downtown Dallas. It has the feel of a bar with tables rather than the reverse. I had read another person’s glowing write up of this more casual French place that would be a good option to the more formal ones newly ‘opened’ and recently written up here. Unfortunately when we got there the chef in the write up was gone and another had assumed his duties and changes had been made to the menu. Not sure these were good changes. The place has elegant chandeliers and a silent TV boxed in by the giant bar. They are short on wine selections but have about any liquor you’re looking for. Tables are small dark wood and seating is upholstered black chairs and a curving black banquette. There are also a number of seats at the bar. Service was friendly and efficient but I might have preferred if they’d spaced the serving of the dishes due to the size of the tables.
The Roasted Bone Marrow was served with provencal salsa verde, caramelized onion, toast and fernet luge. It was 2 medium pieces and one was not completely cooked. The toast was a nice French bread but it would have been better if it was toasted more and gotten a crisp exterior. I am a big fan of bone marrow but this strangely had little of the rich taste I associate with the dish. It was acceptable.
The Duck Rillette was made of confit leg, fine herbs, Château du Tariquet VSOP, local greens and toasted baguette. It had no taste and an awful color. It was plated with some died pickled cauliflower which I tried to pair with it for taste but it didn’t work together. It had no texture to speak of and frankly made me think of dog food with less smell.
The Lobster Galette was with sweet potato, broccolini, pickled cherries and dijonaise. It was described to be a crab cake made with lobster. The lobster used was the ‘foamy’ part of the claw which has little taste and a weird texture. The sauce on it was salty. It was unsuccessful.
The Scallops were plated with rainbow chard hash, house bacon and Bearnaise sauce. The scallops were nice and the bacon had lots of flavor but unfortunately the sauce was also salty and combined made it less than good. With a more balanced sauce this one would work.
The Risotto Aux Champignons was made with roasted wild mushrooms, caramelized leeks and tarragon. It also was terribly salty but it did have lots of mushrooms. The texture was good but the salt was a problem.
The Red Velvet Cake was made with chocolate ganache, bourbon ice cream and espresso tuile. It was a deconstructed version with dry cake, un-smooth ice cream and an acceptable tuile. Sorry, but I can’t recommend this place unless you just want a drink.
