Farmers Market Eats
Dallas Farmers Market addition exploits healthy restaurant trends
New restaurant Mudhen Meat and Greens opens on January 18 at the Dallas Farmers Market. The healthy-ish eatery from restaurateurs Shannon Wynne, Keith Schlabs, and Larry Richardson is currently open for dinner, with lunch and weekend brunch service to be announced shortly.
Chef is Suki Otsuki, previously of Lark on the Park and House of Blues, and desserts are prepared by pastry chef Laurel Wimberg.
The menu features all the correct adjectives: pasture-raised meats, ocean-raised fish (because they would likely die if you raised them on land), and produce that is organic and GMO-free "whenever possible."
There are key trendy ingredients such as kale, cauliflower, and kelp noodles, plus juices, smoothies, and aguas frescas. Mudhen also has a nutritionist, Sundrops founder Mark Herrin, who consults with Otsuki on nutritional benefits.
Wynne says that the goal was to open a restaurant with options for folks who try to follow a healthier lifestyle.
"All of the dishes will not appeal to the 'meat and potatoes' crowd," he says. "But if we do it right most everyone should be able to find some good meats and greens on our menu."
While the menu does have the overt presence of vegetables and salads, there is also pork poutine, grass-fed burgers, rotisserie chicken, and bison meatballs.
The restaurant has two large outdoor patios where diners can nibble al fresco or with a view of the kitchen.
Cocktails are named for chicken breeds (Leghorn, Rosecomb, Chantecler, etc.) and are "hand-crafted." There are 20 beers on tap from local breweries including Lakewood, Peticolas, and Community Brewing and a special Mudhen Blend from Holy Kombucha. Wines are available both by the glass and bottle.