Casellula Is My Favorite New York City Restaurant

Casellula - Hell's Kitchen
401 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019

As we walked up to this little wine bar in the rain, we almost stopped short because of what looked like paper covering all the windows, a typical sign of interior renovations. Instead, it was just fog that had clouded the glass--a veil for the patrons that kept the harsh elements locked outside.

Unfortunately, a 40 minute wait deterred us from becoming one of the carefree indoor patrons that night. We had returned to the wine bar having eaten there not three weeks prior. Sadly, we veered our hungry bellies in another direction but vowed to return again.

It was the cheese that lured us back. How could it not with a knowledgeable fromager on staff to suggest the perfect set of country cheeses to pair with your wine and food selection?

Winter is when we found this gem. And the cold, the rain, and the fog are now gone. Summer is here, and we have been back to this wine bar several times since--I've lost count. Returning not just once, but repeatedly, Casellula has made me break my golden rule of unique dining experiences in the city. How am I supposed to try everything that New York has to serve if I continually revisit old stomping grounds? But this is worth it. Time and time again, it's worth it, so I can't help but return.

What makes Casellula my favorite restaurant in New York City? For a wine bar with a fromage specialist and an ever-changing menu of items such as Goose Breast Reuben or Roasted Bone Marrow, the lack of pretension is ironic. Instead, this simple, little restaurant--far enough removed from Times Square to be considered a midtown respite--is just warm and cozy, and it serves delicious food. It's as simple as that.

One particularly memorable night entailed an epic search for chocolate dessert. Though we were in Hell's Kitchen, I was thwarted at every turn in trying to satisfy this craving. Of course, I turned to Yelp in fervor, and a number of dessert options either looked mediocre or were already closed. I identified an Italian dessert place a few blocks away that looked like it had fine desserts, and I even called ahead to confirm their dessert menu and let them know I was coming in for some chocolate cake. However, once happily seated in a booth in the back, our waiter informed us that they were sold out of chocolate cake. Though other options were available, my heart sunk, and we excused ourselves from the establishment. Next, we tried a French restaurant not too far away. I liked the look of their chocolate cake, and we were about to take a seat when I saw that almonds were baked into the cake. Allergic to almonds and quickly running out of options, I decided not to stay.

I remembered Casellula.

We walked in, sat down (with no wait, thankfully), and asked to only see the dessert menu. They had chocolate cake.

I asked the waiter, "How good is your chocolate cake?"

He said, "Very good."

As a child, my mother spoiled me with her restaurant quality baking, and she has a particularly feisty chocolate cake that would knock out most competition. So, I'm not easily impressed with dessert, and nearly 40 minutes after my search for chocolate began, I wasn't in the mood to mess around.

"I have extremely high standards for dessert, particularly chocolate cake. Are you sure I'm going to like this?" I asked, in the politest way I could given my temperament.

"Yes," he stated confidently.

The cake arrived. I was disappointed. A thick block of chocolate layer cake sat before me--chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and so on...just like one might find in a grocery store or at a child's birthday party.

But then, the waiter held up a pitcher of heavy cream and ceremoniously drenched my chocolate cake. Oh my goodness.

How was it? Heaven. Chocolate decadence sopping up smooth white cream. The cake was richer than I had anticipated with frosting that was far less sugary than a cheap birthday cake. Little bits of chocolate (were they tiny chocolate chips?) melted with every bite. And the cream? Soaked up inside every nook and cranny, making this the most moist (and caloric) cake imaginable.

While that certainly wasn't the last time I went exclusively for dessert, I wouldn't want to peg this restaurant as just a wine bar, just a cheese bar, or just a postprandial dessert spot. It's everything, and I enjoy everything about it. That's why I'll be going back--again.

Take In A View Of Manhattan From The Water's Edge

Water's Edge
401 44th Drive at the East River
Long Island City, New York 11101

Let's face it, Manhattan could be cleaner. It could be more modern. The island has moments of profound beauty, but more often I'm looking at gum-spattered sidewalks and mountains of trash bags.

Something happens, though, when you leave the city and glimpse it from the outside. The scale of the island decreases, but the grandeur becomes overwhelming. It's a spectacle that doesn't tire or fade. And what better way to enjoy Manhattan than from the Water's Edge in Queens?

With such a stunning view, I had expected sky-high fares and mediocre food. While the prices were indeed quite high, they were as reasonable as could be expected in the shadow of skyscrapers. The food, on the other hand, exceeded expectations.

I was a winner with the crab cake. Water's Edge is a seafood restaurant, after all. Yet they were able to prepare impressively delicate and light gnocchi, a textural feat we could even taste through the heavy cream, salty bacon, and general weight and gluttony of the dish.

Maryland Crab Cake. Lump crab, chive slaw, Cajun remoulade ($15)

Hand Rolled Gnocchi. Specked ham, shitake mushrooms, truffle oil, taleggio cream. ($14)

For dinner, I ate the lobster and shrimp entrée. Paler than my typical red, Main lobster, this crustacean crawled from Brazil. I recognized the difference in color immediately, asking the waiter about the lobster's origins (rather than paying attention to the menu's detail in the first place). Yet, I couldn't taste too much of a difference, though the meat was tougher and less sweet. The white wine and butter sauce blanketed the dish, blurring any flavor distinction I may have been able to make. I couldn't even finish the whole meal--the butter slowed me down and eventually became overbearingly rich.

Shrimp and Brazilian Lobster Tail 7oz. Francese. White wine, lemon butter sauce ($45)

Chilean Sea Bass. Cherry peppers, red onion, sweet corn, cilantro pesto. ($34)

View of the bar and the restaurant beyond.

We left as the staff closed up the restaurant. Despite the rocky start to the evening, it was smooth waters the rest of the night at Water's edge. Full of butter and cream, we rolled home (in a Lyft car) and slipped into a food coma that lasted to the next morning. 

Savor "Forbidden" Foods At Traif

Traif - Williamsburg
229 S. 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

In getting to the restaurant, my friend and I had gotten delayed by a complicated bus transfer that landed us--lost--in the middle of the most Orthodox Jewish part of Brooklyn. We somehow didn't feel it was appropriate to go up to anyone and ask "Do you know where we can find the restaurant, Traif?"

Traif, the Yiddish word for food that does not conform to the Jewish dietary laws of kashrut, designed its menu off all the most succulent "forbidden" foods. Dinner started off right with an amuse bouche of warm bacon broth. Every plate thereafter seemed to outstrip the former. A tapas restaurant, the waitress highly recommended we order eight dishes among the three of us, but we found that seven was plenty.

The strawberry-cinnamon glazed Berkshire baby back ribs--meat that falls off the bone slathered in a smoky sweet sauce--were my personal favorite. However, fresh mozzarella and beets were elegantly simple.

For dessert, try the round doughnut puffs. They're covered in candied bacon.

Order Dinner But Skip Dessert At Xai Xai South African Wine Bar

Xai Xai - Hell's Kitchen
369 W 51st Street, New York, NY

Ostrich mini-burgers; gorgonzola, bacon-wrapped figs; and oxtail were just a few of the small plates we ordered at the candle-lit wine bar. As white candles flickered in tissue paper wrappings, we mused over the diversity of the menu.

I could hardly discern the details of the space; the candles provided the only light, sitting atop every table, shining from wine racks, and scattered elsewhere about the dim restaurant.

Hardly noticing the server--he wasn't too talkative, was there when we needed him, absent when we didn't--the food arrived without a lengthy wait. The tapas arrived in clusters atop a few large dinner plates.

For calorie as well as monetary considerations, I opted out of wine--at a wine bar--to be able to try dessert. This method usually serves me well given my penchant for chocolate and distaste for even the slightest of headaches, but in this case, I should have opted for a South African wine.

Of the doughnut dish we ordered, the vanilla ice cream was the best part. Nothing about the custard cake moved me. I dabbled with my spoon, picking at the dessert like an eight year old boy moves asparagus with his fork. The desserts lacked the same creativity and care we had in our main meal, and we left on a sour rather than a sweet note.

However, I would still recommend Xai Xai. Just, order dinner--with wine--and skip the dessert. 

Stroll Over To The Park For A Glass of Wine Under Illuminated Trees

The Park - Chelsea

118 10th Ave., New York, NY 10011

Firefly lights illuminate the indoor trees at The Park, a multi-purposed bar in Chelsea. My friends and I sat in relative quite under the twinkling lights while a steady bass pulsed from a nearby room (from which we could see drunken people stumble out from the crowd). The space is composed of not only The Garden, where we were sitting, but also the Main Room, the Atrium, the Red Room, and the Penthouse. 

For my friends and I, this was a quiet last stop to a laid-back evening of cocktails and banter; so we were in no mood to join the fray of boozy club goers. It was also too late for dinner--or even dessert. However, the calm of nature brought under the warmth of the indoors, friendly waitresses, and reasonably priced drinks (for Manhattan) indicated this would lend itself to a very pleasant mid-day repast.

As they also serve brunch, lunch, and dinner, I intend to go back to The Park  to experience it under a different light. It's particularly tempting when the cold and rain-drenched city is begging for a spring that just isn't quite ready to blossom yet.

Take Refuge At Riposo 46

Riposo 46 - Hell's Kitchen
667 9th Ave., New York, NY 10036

Despite being just a few blocks away from Times Square mayhem, Riposo 46 feels like a calm get-away. The restaurant consists of a few high wooden tables and an L shaped bar. It was busy--I took the only empty seat--but not noisy or overwhelming.

Wine glasses range from about $9-$12; the menu was diversified, not pretentious. With a glass of white hanging from my left palm, I asked the bartender to surprise me and bring Riposo's best flatbread.

He returned several minutes later with a large Prosciutto di Parma, big enough to share, with Prosciutto resting in folded heaps across the arugula. Thin, warm bread, fresh greens, and salted strips of fine charcuterie folded up into bites of Italy.