Casellula Cheese & Wine Cafe

Yesterday, I went to Casellula which is located at 401 W 52^nd St. I’ve walked by it a few times and it always looked tempting. A cheese and wine café? It has my name all over it.

When I walked in, I wasn’t greeted right away, so I kind of bumbled around looking for a table that would give me a good angle for taking pictures during my review. As soon as I started to sit down at a 4 person table, I was quickly intercepted and directed to a table for 2. It was a little unsettling, but I figured the place must fill up quickly and they would need the space for larger parties. It did start to get a little busier as the evening progressed. Groups of friends were meeting there after work and some people were there by themselves. It’s definitely a great place to relax in for a while.

Casellula is really charming inside. The staff was very busy and hard working, so the place has a bustling café atmosphere, but it remains very relaxing, casual, and chilled out for the customers. The décor is understated with just some simple worn-looking café tables and chairs, brick walls, big windows in the front, pretty lighting, and a little kitchen behind the bar. There is also a cheese case that made my mouth water just looking at it (ok, so I ordered some cheese too). I honestly felt like I could have stayed there for hours feasting on cheese sipping on a couple glasses of wine and would not have felt rushed to leave.

The wine list was a little confusing and it was difficult to find prices easily. I think it was because the formatting was a little strange, or maybe it was just my OCD kicking in. Anyhow, prices were about average for a wine bar in the city. Their small selection of wines by the glass were between $9 and $14 and bottles were $36 to $98. They also offer small bottles of mostly French wines starting at $29 and as expensive as $62. I ordered the 2010 Claar Cellars Chardonnay from Washington. I was given a small taste of it before they poured my full glass. If you’re a frequent reader, you know I love this type of service. The pour was also quite large! Another point for Casellula. The Chardonnay smelled very good and fresh - like stone fruits (peach, nectarine) and corn kernels. It tasted like grapefruit and had a nice acidic zing to it. It was delicious and a great summer Chardonnay!

The service was great and three different people had actually come to my table to take my order, deliver my wine, and check up on me. Everyone was really nice and friendly and helped give the bar a homey feel. I even heard one of the waitresses giving very thorough descriptions of some of the wines to a group of people at a table nearby as they were making a bottle selection.

There are few things I love more than wine and cheese and this place caters to both. It has a busy yet comfortable vibe, delicious and well priced wines, and an amazing selection of cheeses. It’s a fun place and would be great to go to either before or after dinner. I will definitely be back. If you do happen to stop in this wine bar, do yourself a favor and try the Pecorino cheese. I give Casellula a rating of 4.5 out of 5 glasses.

The homey and relaxing interior of Casellula

See the cheese case? Om nom nom nom!

The oddly formatted menu

My glass of Chardonnay

My wine and cheese!

Balon

This week, I reviewed Balon which is located on the Upper East Side at 245 E 81^st St. The exterior has a new-looking, pretty, brick facade with a big entryway and some plants outside to liven up the street. The inside is just as lovely. The bar feels like a trendy, modern, European café. French music was playing the entire time I was there, the bar has all different types of leather and wicker seating, arched doorways, a painted ceiling, and there is a garden in the back. Even the view looking out onto the street is quaint. Everything about this place is luxe. It’s definitely not a casual place! I would have felt very odd had I been wearing jeans.

The wines are moderately expensive with glasses starting at $10 and up to $18 and bottles are $40 to $79. The average price of a glass was about $15, however. Many of the wines were from France, so I decided to order a 2009 Florian Mollet Pouilly Fume because it’s my favorite French wine to say. It’s pronounced “Poo ee foo may”. Fun, right? Pouilly Fume is a dry white wine from the Loire Valley of France and it's made with the Sauvignon Blanc grape. It generally has a smoky or mineral-like quality to it, although I didn’t taste or smell either of these in this particular wine. It was yummy, though. It smelled like lemon and perhaps a little bit of mineral? It was difficult to pick up on if it was there. It tasted like grapefruit and honeysuckle and it had a tart finish with a solid acidity that left my tongue feeling a little tingly. The wine was served in delicate stemware, but the pour was on the small side considering how expensive it was.

While the space is gorgeous, the atmosphere is kind of cold and uptight. Customers, myself included, that were there just for drinks were refused seats at the empty tables in the back of the bar. Instead, we could sit at the bar or at one of the café tables in front. It seemed a little uptight to me. The staff was nice and although they were chatting with another one of the customers seated at the bar for a bit, they weren’t very attentive. I was completely ignored between being served the wine and finishing it. The bartender was actually openly reading her Kindle and was probably in the middle of 50 Shades of Grey a chapter when I finished my wine because it took her a while to notice that I was either ready for another glass or the check. Good thing I wasn’t in a hurry. I finally got the check and….there was a $30 minimum for credit cards. I didn’t notice this useful piece of information anywhere on the menu, so this was a surprise. Businesses get charged a certain percentage for charging credit cards, I get it. But do you have to inconvenience your customers because of this? Who carries that much cash around these days? That was the nail in the coffin. Sorry, Balon. I also think you owe me the $3 fee for the ATM that I had to walk two blocks for.

This wine bar is really nice, but I wasn’t particularly blown away by anything aside from the fantastic space. Props to whoever designed the interior here! The wine I had was very good, but I don’t think I enjoyed it enough to order another $15 glass of it. Relax the atmosphere a bit, throw out this ridiculous credit card minimum, and this place would be cool. For now, I give Balon a rating of 3 out of 5 glasses.

The cool exterior of Balon

My glass of Pouilly Fume

The beautiful interior of Balon

The quaint view of 81st St from inside the bar