Tag Archives: sangria

Carmen’s Annual Holiday Potluck: Thu. Dec 24th from 5–10PM

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–Where the Sweet and Neat Meet and Greet since 2004

A Troy tradition, like Romeo and Juliet, Ham and Eggs, Oil and Water- Carmen’s and the Holiday Potluck.

We put out the basics— rice and beans, plantains and salad, picadillo and flan, sangria and Jim-Gerale. You bring a drink or dish to share (with label, sil vous plait!) and friends to share it with. We all have a grand time!

We start early: 5pm, so you can nip in for a quick hello if you are on to somewhere else. And we are here all night, so you can make this your destination. It’s always interesting, always new faces, always a great crew. Our way of saying thanks for the great times and we are glad to know you!

Special New Year’s Day Hours

—Join us as we try something new!

This year, we’ll be open from 9-2 on Friday, Jan. 1 – New Year’s Day- and 10-4 on Saturday & Sunday. We will have some amazing specials, like Orange Pecan Pancakes, Carmen’s Hearty Chicken Soup, and Paula’s Special Hangover Elixir! Recover from your holiday parties with some real food, from the only joint in town that’s open.

From then it’s on to the new year, and, unlike other times, we are staying open all winter. That’s right, you heard it here first: Carmen’s all winter long, for your brunching pleasure: 10-4 Saturdays and Sundays, with tasty food cooked fresh, and some of the finest specials you’ve ever tucked in to.

Art Night Thursday 10/30

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Carmen’s Cafe will host an “Art Night” this Thursday, Oct. 30 featuring: a honeybee themed intersection artwork project, an art opening with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a special dinner menu.

While community members create the chalk murals outside, Carmen’s Cafe will also host a tapas and sangria reception from 5 p.m. till 8 p.m. for artist Gary Masline. The restaurant will be open until 9 p.m.

Masline’s exhibit of 12 oil paintings is titled “Faces & Places.”

Based in East Greenbush, Masline’s paintings of oils on canvas have received awards from the Mohawk-Hudson Regional Exhibition, Albany Center Gallery, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region. In 2010, the Albany Institute of Art and History named him one of “Tomorrow’s Masters Today,” and in 2001 he won the Metroland readers’ poll for “Best Visual Artist.”

The paintings, on display at Carmen’s from Oct. 30 through the end of the year, use the colors and light of the American southwest, combining people and landscape images to create “stories on the walls.”

(Note: Contact Jim Lewis for publicity images of Masline’s artwork.)

SPECIAL MENU

Carmen’s guest chef, Ross Tuskey, will be preparing the following special menu for Thursday and Friday nights:

  • Braised Oxtail; Fontina Grits, Apple Gastrique, Fried Leeks, Cilantro
  • Butter Poached Monk Fish Medallions; Fried Green Tomatoes, Pine Nut Couscous, Pink lemon pearls, White Wine Syrup
  • Smoked Baby Pork-loin; Whipped Plantains with Coconut, Butternut Squash Hay, Pineapple Rosemary Demi
  • Grilled Halibut; Jicama Slaw or Yuka Fries, Pea Puree, Chorizo Cream (optional, depending on market)

Tuskey is a culinary trained chef who prepares food for Carmen’s Cafe on music nights.

Annual Christmas Eve Potluck

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Annual Christmas Eve Potluck at Carmen’s Café Monday, December 24, from 5-10

As the Potlatch tradition of the Northwest Native Americans was explained to Carmen:
When you have a good year, you naturally want to share it with your neighbors. You might invite them over for a celebration, and give them gifts like blankets to show your friendship.

Maybe the next year is great for them, so now they invite you over. They feed you, then give YOU blankets— the ones you gave them, plus some other new ones. By the tradition, their blankets are just as powerful a gift as yours, but the ones they give back to you are extra special— they have been given before, so have twice as much love woven into them. This can grow to hundreds of blankets, given back and forth year by year, a symbolic expression of a cherished relationship.

Carmen’s Café is Cuban-American, not from the Northwest, but they love the idea of Potlatch, that the spirit and intention of goodwill is more important than monetary value. They invite one and all to their annual Holiday Potluck on December 24 from 5-10. Carmen will lay out a basic spread— rice and beans, with picadillo, salad, plantains and yucca, with flan for dessert and sangria and spiced cider to refresh. Bring your own addition to share with all— drinks and desserts, main dishes and sides. Enjoy the spirit of giving and say a holiday hello to your neighbors.

Carmen’s Cafe is Very Social

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We’re now on the Social Web so you can stay up to date with everything going on at Carmen’s Cafe (and share the news with your friends) – Catering Services, Weekly Specials, New Menu Items, Live Music, and Featured Fine Artists — by following us on this blog,  Twitter – @CarmensCafeTroy “Like” our Facebook Fan Page, or send us your email address if you prefer. We also encourage you to share your reviews on Yelp.

Enjoy a breakfast buffet at Carmen's Cafe

Breakfast Buffet Next Saturday & Sunday, April 16 & 17

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Enjoy a breakfast buffet at Carmen's Cafe

Next Saturday & Sunday, April 16 & 17, we are trying something different. Every once in a while we have a Breakfast Buffet instead of our usual cook-to-order. It’s a good time to try something different, to fill your hunger both for the new and different and for the tried and true. Menu:

  • Scrambled Eggs
  • Chorizo Scrambled Eggs
  • Flamenca (Chorizo Stew, eaten with eggs)
  • Bacon
  • Home Fries
  • Blueberry Multigrain Pancakes
  • Fruit Platter w. Yoghurt Dip
  • Cheese Platter
  • Toast
  • Coffee-Tea-Juice

Price is $12 for adults, $7 for children under 12.

If you like it we’ll do it more often, so let us know, even if you can’t come in this weekend.