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Casellula Cheese & Wine Café
For Candlelit Dinners,
Wine & Cheese Tastings,
and Midnight Rendezvous
www.casellula.com
Cheese - Wine Tastings
401 West 52nd St. (at 9th Ave.)
Open 7 Days
5:00 pm to 2:00 am
212.247.8137
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
October 1, 2009
Deciding where to go before or after a Broadway or Off-Broadway show recently became much easier. Casellula Cheese & Wine Café opens every evening at 5:00 PM and closes at 2:00 AM, and tonight I was lucky to grab a seat at the bar. This bustling Café is packed, with loyal patrons patiently waiting their turns. Proprietor, Brian Keyser greets his guests and offers them the chance to sip wine as they chat at the door. Casellula has natural wooden furniture, refrigerated glass cabinets with constantly refreshed rounds and wedges of 40 varieties of cheese, dozens of meats and condiments, fresh baked breads, outrageous desserts, and, of course, an endless selection of wines, red and white, sparkling and rosé, for tastings, by the glass, and by the bottle.
The cheeses are American and imported, but all handmade. You can find white wines, like Schloss Saarstein, Riesling Spätlese, from Germany, at $65 a bottle, S'Eleme, Vermentino di Gallura, from Italy, at $32 a bottle, and Rudera, Chenin Blanc, from South Africa, at $11 a glass. You can find red wines, like Berger, Blauer Zweigelt, from Austria, at $39 a bottle, Pardevalles "Gamonal", Prieto Picudo, from Spain, at $46 a bottle, and Barco Negro, Tempranillo, Touriga Franca, from Portugal, at $10 a glass.
Casellula's cheese selections are systematically divided into "Fresh", "Bloomy and Soft-Ripened", "Cooked and Pressed", "Washed", "Blue", and "Cheese Flights" (Samples of Four Varieties). If you are already hungry to sample these wines and cheeses, be aware that the eight meat selections, that can be ordered in a variety of quantities, include Genoa Salami and Chorizo Traditionale. Light dinners include very reasonably priced options, like Fish Taco Ceviche, with Citrus Cabbage Slaw, Hominy, and Cotija Cheese, as well as Grilled Camembert, with Mixed Greens, Onions, Roasted Tomato, Bacon, and Croutons, for two. And, where else could you find Goat Cheese Hazelnut Truffles?
The Casellula wait staff is warm, fun, and energized. They love to help you choose your wines, especially the Wine Flight Tastings, which I had tonight, both in whites and reds. They describe the cheeses, as if each cheese has a personality of its own, while Mr. Keyser works the room, arranging the tables, engaging guests in conversation, and keeping the ambiance as effervescent as the Brut Champagnes. Be sure to visit Casellula before or after a show or for a long, lively evening. Ask for Brian Keyser, and tell him you saw them on RobertaOnTheArts.com!
Fresh Bread and Selected
Petit Pecurinu, Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson,
Green Mountain Farm Gore-Dawn-Zola Cheeses
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Casellula Cheese & Wine Café
Guests at the Bar
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Selected Choice Cheeses
at Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Selected Choice Wines and Cheeses
at Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Selected Choice Cheeses
at Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Selected Choice Cheeses
at Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Candlelight Décor at
Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Dorothy Gentry, Cook,
and Perri Cohen, Wine Server
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Apple-Cheddar Pandowsky
5-Spoke Tumbleweed
Maple Bacon Ice Cream
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Cold Meat Platter of
Chistorras, Bresaola,
Smoked Goose Breast
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Fresh Bread and Selected
Lazy Lady Farm Demitasse,
Robiola Di Roccaverano,
Cobb Hill Cheese Ascutney
Mountain Cheeses
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Liv Ruth, Asst. Fromagiere,
Describes the Selections
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Safia, Casellula Server
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Perri Cohen Pours
Red Wine Flights
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Red Wine Tastings of
McKinlay Pinot Noir,
D'Alfonso del Sordo
"Casteldrione" Montepulciano,
Mas de Gourgonnier Cabernet Sauvignon
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Brian Keyser, Owner and General Manager,
Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café, Greets
and Chats with His Guests
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Brian Keyser, Owner and General Manager,
Cassellula Cheese & Wine Café,
with His Guests
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
Allen, Casellula Server,
with a Café Guest
Courtesy of Roberta E. Zlokower
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