Profile

Brian Keyser has nothing against fine food and wine. He’s been serving it for almost a decade as a waiter at some of New York’s top restaurants, including Chanterelle, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and most recently the Modern, where he ran the cheese program. It’s just that he could do without the stuffiness, the pretension, and especially the suit. So, Keyser and Joe Farrell, a fellow former waiter, opened Casellula, where he’ll get to talk cheese in jeans and a T-shirt. Roughly three dozen varieties will be available at a time—some, like Estrella Family Creamery’s Dominoes, making their New York debut. The menu incorporates cheese, or beer, or both, into nearly every dish, from brûléed Rogue River Blue with cherries and Otis Oatmeal Stout bread to lemon tart with pistachios and goat-cheese ice cream. Local produce is pickled and canned to extend their seasons, and local beer from Red Hook’s Sixpoint Craft Ales is on tap. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Related Stories

Featured In

• New York's Best Cheap Eats 2007 (7/30/07)
• Restaurant Openings: Spirito Ristorante, Perilla, Casellula Cheese & Wine Café, and Sandro’s (5/14/07)