Cheese and alcohol: two dear friends with whom we’ve spent many a night alone. And while the pleasure of pairing a bright orange supermarket cheddar with a cheap bottle of wine in the comfot of your own home, sometimes it’s wise to up the ante with some help from the professionals. Casellula Cheese & Wine Cafe fits the bill, serving up an impressive array of local and international cheeses with a diverse wine menu to match, along with an exciting and appropriately cheese-friendly savory menu.

Wanting to partake in the restaurant’s celebration of all things meaty, cheesy, and briny, my friend and I opted to sample the Mustard Miso Pickles, the Stuffed Pappadew Peppers wrapped in speck, the Shell-fish Taco Ceviche, and the highly acclaimed “Pig’s Ass Sandwich,” an item whose popularity owner Brian Keyser attributes at least in part to the silly name. And then we ordered a whole bunch of cheese – but we’ll get to that later. While the pickles held back in terms of salt, showcasing instead the complimentary flavors of Dijon and miso paste, the stuffed pappadew peppers fully delivered in the form of five little speck-wrapped, piquante flavor-bombs, crispy on the outside and bursting with fresh mozzarella within.

The Shell-fish Taco Ceviche is a refreshing alternative to an otherwise pork-centric menu, but the true standout here is the Pig’s Ass Sandwich, a perfect and playful riff on the traditional Cuban. Glazed ham and pulled pork butt are served with cheddar, Fol Epi, and crunchy pickles on an insanely good Sullivan St. ciabatta. The sandwich is served in easily shareable strips, along with a delicious, smoky chipotle aioli. Dip liberally.

It would of course be a mistake to come to Casellula and bypass the cheese, but it would be an equally grave mistake to play it safe with the cheese menu out of intimidation. Thankfully, the staff at Casellula are here to help; they will serve as your well-informed docents of all things cheese, eagerly guiding you through the bounty of offerings with descriptive terms like pliable, and pinecone-y, and yee haw. And who better to do so than Keyser himself, formerly the cheese director at The Modern, who patiently listened to our vague cheese preferences and produced five flawless recommendations as a result.

Our absolute favorites were the pressed and cooked Gardunha, a Portuguese goat’s cheese with unrivaled, almost nut paste-like texture, and the Grevenbroecker blue, which was served with fabulous red wine marinated cherries. These two cheeses especially were beautifully complimented by our choice of beer, a Scottish Harviestoun ale called Ola Dubh which is aged for 16 years in whiskey casks. If you choose to go the wine route, ask for a recommendation based on your choices of cheese. The menu is diverse and far-reaching, featuring many unusual varietals and reasonably affordable options.

Feeling a bit burnt out on dairy by the meal’s end, we opted to share the Peach Pecan Crumble for dessert, which is encased in a delicious, pilowy crust and served with poached blueberries. We left feeling rich with knowledge and enthusiasm about the cheeses we had sampled, and anxious to return.

–Helen Goodman

Where: 401 West 52^nd Street nr. 9^th Avenue, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
When: 7 days, 5pm to 2am
How: Take the C, E to 50^th and 8^th; the 1 to 50^th and Broadway
Phone Number: (212) 247-8137
Website: www.casellula.com
Price: food ($3-$14), cheese $6 ea.

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3 Comments | Posted on October 26, 2010 | Categories: Dining, From the Blog, Midtown West

tags: Casellula, Cheese, Helen Goodman, Hell's Kitchen, Midtown West, wine