My sis and I just went to Cha Cha Cha (their original location on Virgil) for a long overdue brunch-date. I had the Black Bean Tamales and the Caesar Salad. The tamales were made with sweet corn (which I love) but it came topped with a cold tomatillo sauce, which unfortunately, I’m not crazy about. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because it’s not a good sauce — I’m just not a fan of tomatillos. No doubt, next time I’ll try a different sauce.

The Caesar Salad was good, but it didn’t have enough dressing or garlic croutons. The dressing was a traditional Caesar dressing (with the anchovies) which was also good. My sister had Huevos Al Salmon (grilled salmon filet over scrambled eggs with garlic and basil), she really enjoyed it. She also highly recommends the Swordfish Caesar and the Tortilla Soup on a rainy day.

The star of the meal however for me , was the sangria. It had apple, orange and most likely brandy in it — I could have sworn there was also some pear in it. It was extremely easy to drink with a wonderful fruity flavor and a slight kick at the end. It’s one of those drinks that you have to be careful with as you don’t realize how much you’ve had until you stand up. At $20 a pitcher (about six glasses), it’s a good deal.

If you can’t make it to Cha Cha Cha and you feel inspired to create your own sangria, there are an infinite number of recipes out there — as far as wine goes, I’d recommend using Pinot Noir (it may be more expensive, but it’s worth it) because of the high resveratrol content. There is an endless array of ingredients that you can use with so many possible flavor combinations — so I’m sure you’re going to come up with something interesting. If you do, please let me know.