From the sidewalk, Cheongsu looks a little like it wandered into Fort Lee from somewhere else. The café sits tucked along a side street, its wood exterior and large windows giving it the appearance of a small cabin that somehow found itself surrounded by Bergen County. Through those windows comes the first clue that something is happening inside: tables, warm light, people gathered over drinks and desserts. It is the sort of place that can interrupt a walk.
Inside, the cabin feeling continues. Wood, warm tones and a room filled with people give Cheongsu a coziness that feels particularly noticeable against the denser landscape of Fort Lee. There is an intimacy to the space, even when it is busy. People settle in. Conversations stretch. The large windows that make the café so intriguing from outside become part of the atmosphere once you’re sitting behind them.
“Cheongsu looks a little like it wandered into Fort Lee from somewhere else.”
Then there is the menu. Cheongsu has the familiar café categories, along with offerings that require a second look. One drink in particular arrives looking remarkably like a crème brûlée, complete with a caramelized crust across the top. It also comes with equipment: a small wooden spoon and instructions to break through the surface before drinking it.
There is a satisfying little crack as the spoon breaks the hardened sugar. Pieces of caramelized topping fall into the creamy drink below, bringing some of the texture and flavor of the dessert into each sip. It turns ordering a drink into a tiny ritual, the sort of detail people tend to remember long after they’ve forgotten what they ordered at the café down the street. One of the things we look for at Bergen Society is a sense of place. There are plenty of lists telling us where to eat and drink. We’re interested in the places that make us stop, look twice and wonder what’s going on inside. Cheongsu did that before we ever saw the menu.
A quick look inside Cheongsu, from its cabin-like exterior to the drinks and atmosphere that caught our attention.
And there is plenty more behind the counter to inspire that inevitable thought familiar to anyone who enjoys finding a good food spot: I’ll have to come back for that. Cheongsu is also a reminder of how much of Bergen County reveals itself at street level. Fort Lee is often described through its skyline, restaurants, high-rises, traffic and proximity to the George Washington Bridge. Tucked among all of that are places whose personalities are much smaller and more specific. Sometimes they occupy a storefront you’ve driven past dozens of times. Sometimes they’re sitting on a side street waiting for someone to wonder what’s behind the windows.
Maybe that’s the best way to experience Cheongsu. Notice the little cabin, look through the windows, and go inside.
. 
