Des Moines’ Frenchest Place for a Drink
The Cave is identical to those little wine-shop cafes you’ll find tucked away in lesser-known neighborhoods all over France. Check out the venue's third-year anniversary celebration this weekend.
Here’s why I love The Cave, followed by why you might want to visit this weekend for a fun celebration.
Most everyone can conjure up an image of the classic Parisian Café—the zinc counter, the spacious windows open to views on the boulevard, those intimate marble-topped tables, the black-vested waiter with the full-length apron . . . the list of touchstones goes on and on.
Fewer people know about old-fashioned French wine bars (bar/cave à vins), and that’s likely because you don’t see them on every block of every city or town. They’re usually tucked away in the more residential areas, and they’re places where locals go to buy bottles of wine or, more frugally, refill their empty wine bottles directly from casks.
Most such places have a few tables set up where you can stop and relax over a glass of wine and chat with friends and neighbors before you head home. The menus are small — often a little charcuterie here, olives or cheese there, and perhaps little tartines of pâté slathered on sl…