Casellula

Months and months ago, HB came across a deal for tickets to Wicked.  I’ve been dying to watch Wicked forEVER but could never get tickets, or they were in the wrong area – I was even willing to pay full price for the seats I wanted, but I refuse to pay for orchestra seats in the back of the orchestra.  Why should I pay $112.50 (or so) to sit 20 rows back when the people sitting in the first 10 rows mostly paid that as well?!  In any case, we managed to get tickets for a reasonable price (considering it’s a consistently sold-out show) for what turned out to be great seats – I was pretty much in the exact center of the orchestra section and could see everything easily.  (Also, the show was fantastic.  I had such a great time!) 

But before any show, you really need to eat something, yes?  So I suggested Casellula, where I’d been once before and really enjoyed it – just over two years ago.  It was only an avenue and a half away from the theater, which also really helped.

Since the first time, I’ve thought often about these: peppadew peppers stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, wrapped with speck.  Little nuggets of sweetness complemented with the saltiness of the speck, these are the perfect little bite.  Love. 

Bacon, mushroom and white bean puree crostini.  A bit hard to split, but the flavors worked really well together – loved the super earthiness of the mushrooms whose name escapes me right now.  Very meaty even without bacon. 

I loved the smoked goose breast last time that the goose breast reuben seemed like a good idea this time, and I was rewarded handsomely with each bite of the delicious meat… and the horseradish aioli… so good. 

Pig’s ass sandwich was another winner, hot, succulent, hitting all the right notes.  The slightly spicy chipotle aioli complemented the sandwich perfectly. 

Mac&cheese came piping hot and though it looked like apples, it tasted really good.  Gooey cheese, pasta, and lardons scattered throughout the dish – excellent on this very cold night.  Yum. 

SpB arrived late and ordered this at the last minute.  We were cutting the time close, but when we mentioned this to the server (whom we’d apprised of our showtime earlier), the dish appeared post-haste.  Unfortunately, this was easily the worst dish of the night: short ribs, onions, peppers, and polenta.  The short ribs were woefully dry and flavorless, though it was tender.  The little pot on the side containing au jus boosted the flavor marginally, but overall the dish didn’t do it for me.  I think we all felt the same way – at least AB and I both agreed that it wasn’t that good – but we four girls managed to put down the piping hot dish within 5 minutes and get on our way to the theater. 

Yvo says: Once again, absolutely lovely service (with some oddness regarding tables, but understandable), wonderful food with just the one minor miss, and reasonable prices ($130 including a generous tip for the above food, plus a soda and two glasses of wine).  I would love to make this my local… mmm… Did I mention the extensive wine list and cheese selection?
highly recommended