Thanks Yelp!

On Friday night I spent some time with someone very dear to me and we decided to head across the river to a place that's very dear to me - Troy. The four years I spent in Troy were formative, as college is for most people. I started on my path there shy, insecure, and just desperate to find my own way. I left a much stronger, more independent person and I always get a smile on my face when I think about my time as a denizen of the Collar City. Troy's come a long way since I moved out ten (gasp) years ago and I don't visit nearly enough.

So we headed across the river without a plan and were debating dinner options when it struck me that I should turn to Yelp. I always have a list of places I want to try, and when push comes to shove, I forget my list. Thanks to my handy app, I was reminded of Carmen's, which I remembered other local folks raving about, so we headed there.

I didn't think to sneak any pictures as I was wrapped up in the food, company and sangria, but I love this place! We had a truly spectacular cheese plate that was clearly selected with great care, a range of tapas (including the best fried plantains I've had in a long time) and a generous helping of sangria. I went for the spicy, which was pitch perfect. Complex, refreshing and interesting - certainly not cheap red wine with some fruit tossed in. We were sitting at the bar and had the pleasure of chatting with staff and the proprietors, lovely people all, and sampled the other sangria varieties - a dry red and a white - that were also fantastic. It was just one of those nights where we very much needed to stumble on a little bit of magic and that is exactly what we did.