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!

Pil Pil

I went to Pil Pil on Friday, which is located at 265 E 78^th St. I’ve walked by it several times and it always looked like it had a fun interior. Plus, the name is kind of cute. While writing this, I googled what “pil pil” means and it actually has nothing to do with wine or even tapas. It’s a type of spicy fish sauce…definitely random.

Anyway, the interior is indeed fun and visually interesting. Vines are entwined in the ceiling, which appears to be made to look like a pergola. The brick walls have little alcoves cut into them that have seen many, many candles melt within them. It creates a cool, almost gothic effect. The stand out part of the décor, however, is an array of bottles with brightly colored lights behind them that serves as the backdrop to the beautiful marble top bar.

Pil Pil is a Spanish wine bar, which I was pleased to see when I arrived because I adore wines from this country. There is a good selection of both red and white wines and the menu shows the grape variety for each wine, as most Spanish wines are named after the region and can be a little confusing. Glasses of wine are actually sold as a “mini carafe” which is 8 oz of wine. The average pour for a glass is around 6 oz, so this is a good value as it wasn’t priced any higher than most wine bars that I’ve been to. The mini carafes started at $11 and were priced up to $17 and bottles were $38 to $69. They also have some happy hour specials on beer and sangria. However, on Sundays and Mondays, all bottles of wine are half off! Since their bottles aren’t overpriced, this is a great deal.

I selected a mid-range priced wine and ordered the 2007 Valserrano Crianza Rioja. I may have mentioned this in previous reviews involving Spanish wine, but it’s worth repeating: Spain has labeling requirements in regards to how long a wine must be aged before release. Crianza is the term used for the minimum time: 2 years of ageing with at least 6 months spent in oak barrels; Reserva is aged for 3 years with 1 year in oak; Gran Reserva is aged 5 years with at least 18 months spent in oak.

This Rioja smelled of sweet dried strawberries and was very aromatic. It tasted very similar on the palate, plus a little hint of plum. The tannins were a little harsh, but it was enjoyable. It would have been really, really good with the lamb sliders they serve here, which are topped with Manchego cheese….yum. It seriously took every effort to save my appetite for dinner and not order them.

Pil Pil has a really nice, pleasant atmosphere. The service was quick and polite and the place was busy, but just enough to create a background buzz of conversation. It was filled with groups of girlfriends catching up, as well as a couple of dates. It started to get busier after 7, so get here a little early to grab a table if you plan on hanging out for a while.

It took me a while to see this, but I eventually noticed that there’s a super creepy skeleton hanging from the wall, shrouded in some brown cloth. Forgotten Halloween decoration? The bar’s founder? The world may never know. It’s also clutching a champagne glass in one of its boney hands. In the timeless words of Sawyer from Lost, “Cheers, Skeletor!”

Pil Pil is a trendy, yet casual place and boasts a very cool setting. I really don’t have anything negative to say about this bar. It’s one of the better Spanish wine bars I’ve been to, if not the best so far. Stop by to have a glass and discover why I love Spanish wine so much :) And please, order those lamb sliders for me! I give Pil Pil a rating of 4.2 out of 5 glasses.

The vines that cover the ceiling of the bar

My mini carafe of Rioja

The cool bottle display behind the bar

There was a rack of wine bottles at the end of each row of tables

look closely...it's Skeletor!