Le Caveau Opens Above the Good King Tavern

Chloe Grigri pours a glass of wine. | Photo by Neal Santos

In France, “le caveau” is the colloquial term for a wine cellar — a place where wine is bought and sold by the glass and the bottle. In Philadelphia, Le Caveau is the wine bar up the stairs from the Good King Tavern. The bar will open Thursday, October 24th.

Chloe Grigri, one half of the father-daughter team behind the Good King Tavern, was inspired by the wine bars of the Loire Valley and the rest of France where people gather to sip wine and nibble snacks. Le Caveau will do its best to recreate these spaces with a French-focused wine list, all made from sustainably farmed grapes. Natural wine makes up the majority of the list, which also features some non-French bottles.

The Good King Tavern, which will remain unchanged as a neighborhood restaurant and bar on the ground floor, will share a wine list of over 130 bottles with the upstairs space. Guests can enter Le Caveau from 7th Street or through a small door inside The Good King Tavern. The upstairs space, which has served as storage space since the restaurant opened in 2013. With the help of restaurant designer Robert Brown, the team transformed the space, maintaining its tin ceilings, original brick and red pine floors. 

In addition to wine, a small menu wil be available, featuring charcuterie and French cheeses, plus snacks like olives, radishes and butter, fish rilletes and French hot dogs (think: baguette as bun).

To begin, the bar will be open 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The restaurant is on the second floor of The Good King Tavern, located at 614 South 7th Street. Scroll down for photos of the space and a first look at the menu.

The space

Photo by Neal Santos

Photo by Neal Santos

Photo by Neal Santos

The menu

(click to enlarge)