Close To Home: Crafted & Cured

Posted on February 27, 2023    Posted by Athena Scalzi      14 Comments

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my “Close To Home” series, where I feature local eateries that are totally worth checking out! For today’s feature, I’m so excited to be sharing Crafted & Cured with y’all, because they just opened earlier this month right in the heart of downtown Troy.

Crafted & Cured specializes in decked out charcuterie boards and craft beers, making for the perfect Friday night hangout spot. It’s located inside of what used to be a bank, so there’s high ceilings, grand arches, ornate detailing, and an overall elegant and classy feel to the place, while still being casual enough for jeans and a couple of cold beers.

Make no mistake, though, the charcuterie boards will have you feeling like a sophisticated adult that definitely doesn’t just eat shredded cheese out of the bag at 3am in front of the fridge.

I went with my friend and we sat at the charcuterie bar, which was a great idea because we could actually see them make everything right in front of us.

After perusing their detailed menu, we decided to go with the “Best of the Best Board” and added smoked scallops to it, because why not?

And here it is in all its glory:

Now that is a damn good lookin’ board. After setting it down, the board-maker explained everything that was before us. Freshly sliced baguette drizzled with olive oil and herbs, Manchego, Serrano (which was explained as prosciutto’s cousin, but the nice cousin that you invite to be in your wedding and not sit in the back), “ubriaco pinot rosé” aka drunken cheese, cured egg, kimchi, cactus salad, cornichons, almonds, berries, figs, the works! Needless to say, my friend and I demolished this board.

After experiencing such a great board, we decided we had to try the “Smokey Waves Board” as well, which looked just as good:

Aside from the pecan smoked trout and smoked scallops, it came with two different semi-soft cows cheeses, and all the yummy accoutrements from the other board, like the cactus salad, cured avocado, figs, Peruvian sweety drop peppers, bacon jam, olives, almonds, and all that good stuff.

Both boards were absolute bangers, but if I had to recommend one, I would say the “Best of the Best Board” is the way to go. You can’t beat a good Manchego paired with prosciutto’s fancy cousin.

After leaving this place, I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I knew I had to go back for their “Dessert Board”. Before getting such a sweet treat, though, I decided to try something on their menu that wasn’t a board. I got these stuffed olives:

There were three different kinds: roasted garlic, bleu cheese, and onion relish. The roasted garlic was my favorite of the three.

Also, this place carries Twenty One Barrels cider! Obviously I had to get my favorite flavor of theirs, Frosted Cranberry.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the Dessert Board:

Macarons, honeycomb, house-made chocolate bark and peanut brittle, chocolate thimbles filled with blackberry compote and mascarpone, lemon goat cheese, a creampuff with hazelnut filling topped with balsamic pearls, almonds, and strawberries, all drizzled with chocolate syrup. This thing was a beast, and even with my insane sweet tooth, I had to put some in a box to take home.

It was amazing though, so if you check this place out, make sure you save room for the dessert board!

I ended up bringing another friend just a couple days later and getting the Best of the Best Board again, as well as the Ploughman’s Board, but I didn’t get a picture of that one because we got it to go and had it later on. The Ploughman’s board had this really unique cocoa Cardona that was pleasantly sweet, as well as some great prosciutto, which is actually my favorite charcuterie-type meat. Overall another win!

Aside from these extravagant and delicious boards, the service here is top notch! Everyone is really friendly, whether you’re ordering from the charcuterie bar or the actual bar, you’re sure to get a kind person willing to explain everything to you (like what the heck scamorza is).

This place is for sure one of my new favorites, and one I plan to show to all my friends (individually, of course, so I have more excuses to go). I highly recommend Crafted & Cured!

Which board looks the best to you? Do you like bleu cheese? What’s your favorite wine to pair with a board? Let me know in the comments, be sure to check them out on Instagram, and have a great day!

-AMS