Carmine’s Bar, Grill and Stage
East Hartford
Jan. 17, 2024
I knew Carmine’s Bar, Grill and Stage had good music on that stage. But what about that bar and grill?
Six months after visiting the restaurant to write my first music review, I decided to celebrate by returning to hear the Red Satin band perform — and to try some of the food I’d heard so much about.
Red Satin is a professional band that tours all over New England and the tristate area, but they give off the energy of a group of friends jamming together. There was a playful quality to their performance, a sense of reckless abandon with the music that made each number sizzle with electricity. The band came to play, and no one more so than the star of the show, singer Valerie Rogers. She kept the audience entertained with her dazzling voice that filled the entire restaurant. She even managed to keep me entranced while my stomach growled impatiently for the feast to arrive.
While I waited I sampled a couple of the specialty cocktails on the menu. I started with the red apple sangria. I don’t usually drink wine, but the description of apple liqueur, Proverb cabernet sauvignon, orange juice and club soda sounded intriguing. It didn’t do much to change my opinion of wine, though, as the drink fell heavy on my tongue without any of the lightness I expected the apple and orange flavors to bring. The cranberry mule on the other hand was refreshing and tasty, thanks in large part to the ginger beer at its base.
The food came out quickly and piping hot. It’s me, so you know I had to try the wings. This time I got the sweet chili wings (fried hard, of course). The wings glowed a honey orange color in the low light of the restaurant. They were perfectly crispy, cooked well all the way through to the bone, The wings were more spicy than sweet, with each crunchy bite full of chili flavor.
My favorite dish was the eggplant stacker appetizer. Unlike many eggplant dishes, this was not meant to be a vegetarian stand-in for something else. The Bolognese sauce that covered the breaded eggplant was a thick and meaty sauce consisting of tomato sauce, ground beef and onions. I’m a sucker for anything that’s breaded and has a red sauce, but the eggplant slider managed to maintain the delicate freshness of the eggplant without smothering it under the heaviness of frying or the acidity of tomato sauce.
The main course of the evening was the fra diavolo, a sausage and shrimp dish with spicy tomato sauce, onions, garlic and red peppers. You can never have enough garlic, and in particular I thought the diavolo could use a little bit more. It was missing the kick I was expecting from a meal with so many pungent flavors. The wings were actually spicier than the diavolo turned out to be, and the stacker gave a stronger taste of tomato in its sauce. It did pair nicely with the sangria though, which is something I learned last night: Red wine goes with pasta.
Six months ago, I was a total newcomer to reviewing food and events. After doing it for a while, I’ve become comfortable in my status as still a newcomer. Learning how to pair wine and food is just the latest example of how much I’ve learned and grown by experiencing the passion, creativity and drive of so many different artists, performers, cooks and everything else I’ve seen. I can appreciate Carmine’s in a whole new way today, and I’m hopeful I’ll have an even broader perspective six months from now.
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Carmine’s is open 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Friday, and 4:30 p.m.-2 a.m. on Saturdays.
Jamil heads to the world premiere of a new play at Hartford Stage.
