Typically, only fancy people walk through a velvet curtain to get to their seats, but it takes a very brave soul to go through these very motions clad in jeans and a sweatshirt.
Caren’s Wine and Cheese is an upscale Yorkville lounge, with two levels and a latern laden patio, beautiful and atmospheric at night, though it’s closed for the winter. But the inner décor will not leave you wanting for the outdoors, especially when there is snow falling lightly on the other side of the window.
It’s dimly lit and ambient inside, complete with stucco ceiling, reds and oranges, and curvy modern lamps on the tables. One might refer to it as intimate, except that the tables are quite long, which ultimately ends up distancing you from your dining partner. If you opt for the “Fondue for Two,” though, this distance might save you some face when you blatantly wipe the liquefied cheese fom your mouth. Otherwise, perhaps you will recall a certain scene from Batman, where Bruce Wayne walks the salt over to his date. It kind of feels like that.
The music I recognized right away — It’s Blue Six from my MTV yoga video (and also the Buddah Bar album). This proved comforting, and helped to ease an overtly under-dressed individual (no names) into the classy atmosphere, especially after having just passed by a drop-top convertible outside Sassafraz, blasting the Kanye. Do the fancy people of Yorkville use Kanye as a means to appeal to the young masses? To ease them into their upscale elite inevitability? Sure felt that way.
According to Ben Franklin (and also the Carens website), “Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.” Great truths like this one — together with the name of the bar having both the words “cheese” and “wine” — set the tone for what you’re about to find upon opening the menu: lists and lists of cheese and wine. No surprises here. What Carens does, it does well. There are entrées and brunches as well, but no one goes to a cheese and wine bar for salad and cornish hen.
The wine list is diverse, featuring bottles from all across the globe, and ranging in price from reasonable to very expensive. The cheese list is more expansive than one can imagine — more than 22 varieties — arranged into fresh soft, soft ripened, semi-soft ripened, firm ripened and hard ripened. Rest assured the menu will feature a cheese platter or two, and interesting little sides, like pears, sweet gherkin pickles, fresh figs, or cured Italian meats, all of which pair perfectly with any smooth, strong cheese and a white wine.
According to a line scrolled atop the menu, "What though youth gave love and roses, age still leaves us cheese and wine.” I’m no poet, but probably this translates directly into: cheese and wine are classy, and will make you appear classy when consuming them together. What this timeless adage neglects to mention, though, is that it’s also just plain delicious.