A Night Out Featuring Wine and Snacks c/o Tria Wine Room

CPM had a slight break in her graduate studies, or at least a little more time in Philly, earlier this month and we capitalized on that free time/her hubby's being out of town for a bachelor party to meet up and catch up. At some time prior to this meeting I purchased a Groupon (or it could have been a Social Living) discount for cheese and snacks at Tria Wine Room. I had tried, previously, to cash the coupon in, but hadn't read the fine print that stipulated it could only be redeemed at the West Philly Tria location. In the end that early mistake was a blessing, as it was far more fun to explore the menu with a fellow food lover. I believe we went on a Saturday evening, braving the cold, a bus, and a walk past streaming UPenn students going east to Center City to arrive at our destination. I had realized that our choice of evenings could potentially lead to a wait/the fact that we might be the only two people in the establishment not on a date ... and at least one of those expectations was pretty much met; we were seated immediately at the bar but all around us were couples. The bartender was friendly and handsome and we quickly had glasses of wine in our hands. Well, in my case, a Spanish cava/prosecco (Cava Brut, Castellroig, NV). When it came down to choosing what to eat we ultimately chose Tria Sliced Meat Plate with Sweet Red Pepper, Pickled Onion Mostarda and Spicy Garlic Oil. The variations of the sliced cured meats was lovely, as were the accompanying slices of bread and garnishes. The garlic oil was particularly delightful.

We also split the Claudio Mozzarella Sandwich with Crispy Prosciutto, Piquillo Pepper, Pesto and Garlic Vinaigrette, which was above average for a fanci-fied mozzarella panini. I was especially fond of the pesto element.

We additionally enjoyed the Housemade Lamb Sausage with White Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Mint-Feta Sauce. CPM enjoyed the white beans a whole heck of a lot while I became enamored of the lamb sausage, which was savory and hearty and magic.

We also enjoyed a chunk of Crémeux de Bourgogne cheese with its accompanying preserved cherries, but the photograph of the cheese just didn't come out well enough to bother showing you. We each ordered a second glass of wine to round out our treats. The Tria industrial complex (heh) is not fooling around with its curated wine list or attention to interesting flavor combinations and I was glad to finally check out the third of its locations. Afterwards we were going to try and have fancy cocktails at Franklin Mortgage and Trust, but it was cold and there was already a line of a good 10 people and that would have translated to a good 30-who knows minute wait, which we were having none of. Instead we went in a markedly less high-brow direction to The Bards, where we ran into LW. LW was playing darts but with folks who really know how to shoot...and CPM would not have had much fun if playing against them, so we set up shop at the lower board and played a game or two with two dudes. We topped the night off with one round of beers at McCrossens, which is generally a good way to end a night and lived up to that description admirably on this occasion.