As they say in Guilderland: Bon Appetit!!!

Sometimes the start of the weekend is on a Wednesday. Life is good.

We took Puppy Sweet Cheeks out for her (mon dieu!) 60th birthday last week, choosing Provence because it is elegant, slightly beat up, sedate and charming, like us (non!). Located in the upscale Stuyvesant Plaza it's a lovely place to wine and dine, and has been since it opened in 1999.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

The bar is small but often crowded comme les sardines, so my special powers are very useful when it comes time to fighting a way out towards the dining area.  Noisy, but friendly, it's a foule de fantaisie enjoying a fine wine selection and some very good cocktails. I loved the Chamisal Vineyards 2014 un-oaked chardonnay ($8), and Puppy took on a Moscow Mule (ginger beer, vodka and lime) while we waited for K2 to join us. They offer a small selection of $5 wine and drink specials from 3:00 to 7:00. Monsieur, that is MY kinda happy "hour".

Dining areas are dark, cozy and comfortable, but Zena needed a booster seat on the banquette 

In addition to their regular menu (which, if you haven't been in de nombreuses années, is much improved, with lighter choices, more small plates, and some hearty salads) they take the trouble to print off a small menu of daily specials, which I usually avoid, thinking someone is trying to unload aging ingredients, but this list was trés trés intéressant. Puppy loved the soup du jour of the day, Potato and Corned Beef Soup ($7) - simple, not too salty or thickened with thickeners - and a salad laced with cranberries and walnuts with mixed greens ($11).

A thoughtfully prepared dinner-sized salad with a cup of the soup du jour of the day

I enjoyed the Poisson - pan seared striped bass (perfectly cooked, simply seasoned), served with garlicky broccoli rabe and fingerlings ($26) - plain but in the spirit of the paysans - the quality of the ingredients was allowed to shine.

The poaching liquid, or nage, is beautiful and delicious

K2 won with the Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin ($25), one of their regular entrees, a rich winter delight of super tender pan-roasted pork, dried fruit, pecans and bacon with a side of braised cabbage. We all appreciated that the greens and potatoes with these two dishes were different.

Light whipped mashed, tender pork and perfectly prepared green beans were a delight.

Nous avons mangé tout. Then we celebrated la vie by sharing an Apple Tarte Tatin ($7.5) - generous for just one! - a nice combination of tart cooked apples, vanilla ice cream, caramel and whipped. A perfect way to end the day in the company of friends.

Bon anniversaire, Puppy Sweet Cheeks!

Dinner for three, including three drinks (in addition to the ones we had at the bar!) was $122 plus tax and tip. As they say in Guilderland: bon appetit!!!

Zena, Goddess of Fire

DOING DISHES: Tapas Part IV of V - Cella Bistro

Jim, the Garmin Guy, is an idiot. Good thing I have special powers, including an ability to find my way into and out of deepest Schenectady with only a few wrong turns and not onto those one-way roads going the wrong way again.

This week Foodie Friend and I decided to try the tapas served at Cella Bistro. It doesn't look like much on the outside - sort of small and plain, but on the inside it was very special. Maybe they are trying to protect their secret identity, too.

It was early and we were looking forward to settling in at the bar instead of taking a table in the back dining room, having a drink or two, sharing a laugh and of course, a few tapas. We had to find our way through 5 menus - I was feeling a bit lost but FF was already happily wandering her way through all the lists. There was a Tapas Menu, Cocktail List, Wine List, and Today's Menu Selections, as well as a chalkboard with today's specials, including a few additional tapas.

FF ordered a cocktail they called a Raspberry Truffle made from vodka, Kahlua, and Chambord, shaken and served in a martini glass ($8) that she found absolutely delicious. Eventually it made her giggle, but I digress. I took a little more time and tasted the Tamari Malbec Reserve from Argentina ($8) from a list of 10 wines available by the glass before ordering - it was strong and robust and perfect for sipping. The wine list was very nice, with selections from all over the world, running $20 (cheap) to $67 a bottle (still very reasonable). I noted a few Rieslings from New York State, in keeping with Chef Micheal's interest in going local when he can. We started our night out with a bowl of House Marinated Mixed Olives ($4) - a nice selection of both soft, black olives and meaty green ones, spicy, salty, lemony and simple. It was perhaps a bit too many for two of us, but we finished most of them by the end of the evening.

FF was racing ahead, careening around the menus, oohing and ahhing while I was just trying to find my napkin among all the paperwork and glasses and dishes. She was SO excited to be on another adventure, and by the promising choices on our menus!!! So I asked for Bread Service ($2), which was served warm with olive oil laced with black pepper, and an order of the Grilled Baby Artichokes in Caper Aioli ($7) for our next course. Both were fabulous - the bread was very tasty, soft and dense; the artichokes were deeply flavorful with just a touch of char served atop a bed of baby arugula. The caper aioli was out of this world wonderful - enough to slow us down. We loved this small plate - it was the best thing we ordered during our short visit.

 

FF was still zooming around looking at what we might order, but to be honest I really wanted to slow down and taste and think again what to have next. She was looking at the Starters on the daily selections and considered the Warm Mushroom Salad, Pate Campagne, or Roasted Red and Gold Beets. But we had earlier discussed ordering the Corn and Scallion Pancake, topped with cumin dusted shrimp and rajas, a sauce made with poblanos, onions, and crema. Not able to decide we ordered the White Anchovy Filets with lemon and parsley ($6) to tide us over for a bit.  Wowers, fellow eating-superheroes. This was NOT a dish for the faint of heart. Very fishy and actually served with finely minced chives. It was tasty assuming you are not prone to burping, and we thought tempering it with a piece of rye bread and a bit of cream cheese would have been nice, but it was a daredevil move for any foodie and well worth trying. FYI the lemon, served on the side to be squeezed fresh onto the plate helped cut through the intensity of this plate.

Then we enjoyed the pancake, which was thick like a regular breakfast style buttermilk pancake, fat and sweet, topped with four large shrimps. I lost the taste of the cumin from the grilling (it was a bit dusty), and the shrimps were slightly tough and overcooked, but the overall effect of the dish was rich and divine. It was a generous serving that for most mortals would be a meal in itself.

It was a pleasant crowd, mostly professional (Cella Bistro is near Ellis Hospital and not far from Union College, and there may be some GE folks around here somewhere). There were a lot of couples, too (the place is dark and warm and rich and cozy). It's not a student hangout and even though I felt like I was in a rather peculiar neighborhood for such a nice place to eat I still felt cool and trendy just being there. And we appreciated that tapas was just that: small, simple dishes to enjoy with a drink or two at the bar with a friend on a night out - small servings carefully crafted and meant to be savored with a sip or two.

Our meal, including four tapas and one starter, two drinks, plus tax was $52.70, very reasonable considering the quality of the food, the terrific service, and the ambiance.  The restaurant was very busy by the time we were done and we suspected that to order tapas the way we wanted to, which was As Needed, would have been a problem seeing how busy the staff became as the restaurant filled. But without exception our server at the bar was friendly and gracious. The rush of rush hour was smoothed over by a great meal and a casual, comfortable setting.

Zena, Goddess of Fire

PS: There is parking for about 10 cars in the lot proper but you can go wild parking on the side street.

DOING DISHES: Tapas Part II of V - Carmen's Café

Patience and Zena are two words that have never, EVER, been used in the same sentence. Except just this once. And never again. 

Foodie Friend and I made it over to Carmen's Café in Troy, NY in record time last Friday despite snow and ice and slush and parked cars on both sides of all those one-ways, the cold and the wet and the foggy everything. We were very hungry and excited to be on an adventure without the usual villains chasing us about.

What a welcome sight to find our destination! This small corner bistro was painted in colors reminiscent of warmer climes, brightly lit, and very welcoming. There were patio chairs and tables outside for summer service, or winter ninnies. A signboard advertised Latin Jazz, but that wouldn't be until Troy Night Out, so we were going to be spared a $5 cover. Street parking only, the neighborhood is a bit dreary, and, sorry to say, it smelled like gasoline and a recent fire somewhere nearby. But the good aromas wafting out of Carmen's captured our attention and we happily darted inside looking forward to trying some of what Executive Chef Chris Faraci had to offer.

Carmen's is mostly a breakfast and lunch destination, with some weird hours, but on Friday nights they stay open past 6 p.m. and offer up tapas - a separate menu, half of which are specials. The promise of something new on the menu is a good idea to get those return customers. The decor is really lovely, rustic in a way that was still somewhat savvy, with simple chairs and tables, good art, and a pretty bar area that is probably more of a lunch counter most days. Even with just a few guests the place was noisy, but happily noisy. Not sure what it would be like filled with music - the place is pretty small; some day we'll have to check that out.

We were almost 30 minutes early for our reservation, probably because I was driving too fast, but the table was ready for us and the place was relatively quiet, only two other tables, one a party of six and the other nine. It never got much busier. We were greeted and seated; our other two friends hadn't arrived yet.

Then we waited and waited and waited while the only server busied herself with the two other tables. We got water at one point, then the special tapas menu to look over. I asked for a Corona but was told they only had Corona Light. OK. But this was not a good start. Finally, after 35 minutes, my beer finally arrived. Things went quickly south in the north when FF decided she wanted a beer. The server asked "What do you want" and FF replied "What do you have?" and the server said "Magic Hat, Corona Light, I don't know." She reluctantly brought a regular menu over - the one that has the breakfast and lunch offerings - because the menu binder included the beer and wine list. But we were warned that they didn't have everything. So when FF looked at the scant beer choices and decided she wanted a glass of wine instead the conversation went something like this -  FF: "What do you have then?", and the server replied "What do you like - white or red?" and suggested a Zinfandel. OK FF decided. The server brought FF a white (pink) Zin. O-K. Strike 2.

She returned with the wine, as well as some olives and oil and bread. These were delicious - tiny salt cured black olives, green Arbequina olives, chewy rustic bread, and a bowl of olive oil laced with herbs. With drinks in hand and a snack we were feeling a bit less agitated.

The complimentary bread, olives and oil with herbs (tarragon?) were lovely

As our friends arrived I continued to peruse the regular menu, which I asked our server to leave for me to look over. I really liked what I saw. Breakfast offerings included spicy Latino dishes like chorizo hash, interesting sides like yucca fries and a Portuguese roll, omelets, and pancakes galore; lunch promised salads, Flamenca Chorizo Stew, and a Cubano sandwich. Rusty liked the idea of chorizo hash - he said that alone made him want to come back soon. Oh, we finally got plates and napkins and silverware, although my bundle was fork-free.

But when Rusty (not his real name) ordered a Peppermint Decaf Iced Tea off that regular menu our server got all wound up for some reason. I think maybe we weren't supposed to HAVE that menu, or order off of it. She snatched it up and went away with it, but not before giving FF the hairy eyeball. I tried to calm myself. Zena, Goddess of Fire wanted to continue to look at that menu but didn't want to start her shift early by fighting the forces of food service. I drank some more beer....

The tea was actually really tasty - slightly sweetened and real.

We ordered our first round of tapas, which were all delivered at one time, not necessary but good form. We really enjoyed the Marinated Manchego cheese with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, crunchy little marcona almonds and sun-dried cherries. The combination of flavors was lovely, really delicious, lip-smackingingly good - dry and tart at the time time and nicely balanced. But it wasn't finger food. And it wasn't fork food either. However, very tasty. That same combination of flavors in a form that's easier to get into your face would be a simple but worthwhile improvement. Note this was the ONLY cold tapas on the entire menu of 13 offerings, not sure why.

Messy but tasty Marinated Manchego

We also enjoyed the Alcachofas Fritas, fried artichokes that were slightly crunchy on the outside, hot, a bit greasy, served with a squiggle of house made aioli. Then 2 Empanadas - we ordered one meat seasoned with olives, capers and onions, and one shrimp flavored with onions and piquillo peppers (they also had a veggie option and a chicken option). The crusts were oily but still tender and flaky; the beef tasted a bit like salisbury steak, but still good. The shrimp was really delicious - delicate and fresh. The emps were also served with that aioli - nice and gentle, smokey, not overwhelming. I appreciated that Chef took the time and trouble to prepare it. Our fourth choice for this round was Roasted Chicken Thighs, which is English for Roasted Chicken Thighs. These were fabulous - wrapped in salty Jamon Serrano ham (really?), and a crunchy thin round of sweet potato, surrounded by fried beet slices and beet greens. This was my personal favorite of the night - complex, salty, sweet, bitter, crunchy, and nice tender chicken - a real treat.

Clockwise from left - an empanada cut into three servings, the fried artichokes, and a personal plate of of shared goodies, including some of that chicken I loved so much

Round 2: Everything in foodsville was so far so good and Zena and friends were slowing down a bit and getting into the laid back groove of being out in Troy of all places on a Friday night. We ordered the Pan Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with balsamic, the Albondigas al Jerez (meatballs sauteed with sherry and garlic), the Chorizo Stuffed Mushrooms because Rusty was NOT leaving without a hit of chorizo, and an order of the Platanos.

Platanos on the right, mushrooms on the bottom, meatballs on the left and the brussels at 12:00 o'clock

The Platanos were fried, sweet, not too firm and, to use the technical term, not too gushy either. The mushrooms were buried in chorizo and cheese and cilantro. Bride of Rusty pointed out that it was a good mushroom dish for people who didn't like mushrooms, because you couldn't taste them. The meatballs were laced with the flavors of oil and lemon and stock and sherry, scrumptious. We thought they were baked, not pan sauteed as it said on the menu, because the texture was quite soft and tender and there was no browning, but that's not a complaint. Finally, the brussels: they tasted burnt to my palette, with hard/crispy outer leaves, and greasy; also these creepy deep fried white beans sat on top. The beans were dry, kinda mealy. I wasn't crazy about this dish but everyone else seemed pleased so I'll just leave it at that. 

Small salt cured black olives and green Arbequina olives. Very nice.

Overall we were very happy with the tapas at Carmen's. Some of the dishes were quietly creative, and all of it made from scratch, with a nice variety of meat, fish and veggies. Our one complaint about the food was only that everything was greasy, not always in a bad way, and fine when you are going out for tapas as a snack with a drink. However, as a meal it was heavy like I was being held down, and you KNOW how much I hate that! We loved the platanos but I think if any one of us had eaten all four they would surely have died. Hmmmmmm - maybe there's a secret weapon here that I need to consider. Anyway, more fresh, cold tapas would have been welcome additions to the menu. These could be very simple preparations to foil the richness of the current spread. 


Carmen's needs to make some serious improvements in their wine and beer offerings (selection and availability!), and the servers need to know what the hey they are serving. Tapas is about the drinks as much as it is about the food. You can make lots of moola-ka-hi serving nice beers and wines. People drink more, and eat more, when the pairings are good. A separate wine/beer/beverage menu is a must.

Dinner for four, with four drinks and one soft drink and eight tapas with tax and tip was $27.00/person, which was very reasonable considering the quality of the food. 

It was nice that during our visit Chef Chris came to the table to say "hi" and ask if we were enjoying our meal. He's a nice guy and he's going places, that's for sure. I suggest you check out their web site - http://carmenscafetroy.com/. It's very hip and up to date and fun to explore.


Zena, Goddess of Fire

PS: FYI if you are following a Honda Civic, gold, 4-door that doesn't appear to have a driver it's probably me. Steer clear. I may be in a big hurry to check out some more tapas!

DOING DISHES: Tapas, Part I of V - Barcelona

WARNING: This blog post contains wireless calories. 

Okay you were warned.

In celebration of large puffy coats, oversize sweaters, and layering up against the cold, I think wine and multiple small plates, tapas, enjoyed with friends, is the way to go if you imagine you should be eating "light" and avoiding adding inches to your waistline and think you can hide under your large puffy coat, oversize sweater, and less than stylish layers. Advice from Zena, Goddess of Fire (and, according to Cookie, Gym Rat): go slow and learn to savor every bite. Then have another. It's what tapas is all about.

As a bit of background, according to Penelope Casas, from her book The Little Dishes of Spain (one of my favorite cookbooks of all time), tapas originated in the nineteenth century in Andalucia. The original "tapa" was a complimentary slice of cured ham or sausage placed over the mouth of a wineglass, the verb "tapar" meaning 'to cover' - to keep out the flies. I've never eaten a fly (uh, well, maybe fruit flies in my wine on the back deck in summertime) but I think keeping them out of the food should be a rule, rather than a guideline. Anyway, she says there are no rules, but most tapas are eaten out of hand, in portions that lend themselves to sampling and eating good food and moving about the bar, engaging in conversation.

While we don't have the same culture as the Spanish, with their tapas taken between meals and in the off-hours, we do have a few restaurants in the Capital district that are offering alternatives to that big evening meal, whether at the bar or seated in the dining room with friends. After scouring the web, looking for places that were offering tapas as a central option, rather than a sideline, we decided to start with Barcelona on Western Avenue, near the University at Albany.

The bar at Barcelona is lovely, but we took a table with arrangements in advance to order from their tapas menu. The dining room is very elegant, surrounded by windows looking onto Western Avenue; the crowd was older and dressy and low key. We ordered our first bottle of wine, a bottle of Marqués De Riscal Sauvignon Blanc Rueda. The wine list had a nice selection, not just offerings from California (Lexus noted that it was a nice international selection), with lots of choices by the glass,  between $7.00 and $8.50/each. We all thought the prices were very reasonable. The waiter emptied the first bottle into our four glasses (yes, there were four of us). It was light, fruity, slightly acidic, tart, not too dry, with no bosom (Foodie Friend being abundant in this department, so she should know). It was a good choice. We ordered our first round of tapas.

On the top left was the Eggplant Rollitini, clockwise to the Patatas Bravas, and at the bottom the Calamares Fritas. Note the Spanish-ish names, because all were decidedly not Spanish in nature, more Italian in keeping with the comfort zone of Barcelona's regular menu. The eggplant slices were rolled with a mixture of ricotta and fresh spinach and baked to perfection - simple, lovely, rich and delicious. The Patatas were roasted reds with a spicy chili pepper sauce served with a side of blue cheese dressing that I personally found ordinary and reminiscent of "wings". Red thought they were a bit overwhelming but tasty; Foodie Friend also liked and suggested they were a bit more complex than Frank's Red Sauce. I didn't think they were all that great. Not very Spanish.There was something really hot in there that I thought was unpleasant, so I drank more wine, which was good. The calamari was wonderful, not greasy or chewy, with the classic Italian side of marinara, although eating them out of hand without any lemon or sauce I thought they tasted very bland. The servings were quite a bit bigger than I would have expected for a tapas, which was a nice surprise, since they were all under $8.00.


Round Two: In keeping with the tapas tradition we talked and talked and decided it was time for more food and wine. Staff reset the table with flatware - very professional and attentive. Garlic Shrimp, Gambas al Ajillo, and a salad-off menu, which our server was happy to prepare for us, and Chorizo Con Cebolla. The shrimp was a classic tapas, not too garlicky served on toast points - my favorite dish of the night. Very Spanish. We ordered the salad as a double side serving with a balsamic vinaigrette - it was crispy and very tasty.

The chorizo wasn't at all greasy, very tender and smokey. Oh, and another bottle of the Rueda. A nice balanced meal, unbalanced by alcohol, and very filling and satisfying overall.

The tapas menu at Barcelona was a strange hybrid of Spanish ideas and Italian realizations that didn't quite cut it as tapas in the traditional sense, but pretty tasty. I wish they had more variety on their bar menu - things with pastry, olives, more fresh veggies. Maybe a basket of bread as part of the service, something I noticed no one in our vicinity seemed to have at table (and they weren't doing tapas, either). Lexus noted that the appetizer menu and the tapas menu had a lot of overlap. We overstayed our welcome - three hours of yak and food and wine and happiness, and had to be reminded by the staff that they wanted to reset the table for waiting guests- but we we more or less sober at that point and were ready to take our leave.

Dinner was $26/person including tax and tip at 18%. Good value for a great night out. 

I think the service at Barcelona is excellent and though I thought the food was really darn good but maybe not exceptional I appreciated how comfortable and well-cared for I felt during our time there. Sounds like love and passion and community to me, si? Good eats.

Zena, Goddess of Fire

And note there were no flies in our food. (: