Serious Eats: New York
Drink Wine Out of Baby Bottles at La Cave des Fondus
Drinking wine at Le Refuge des Fondus.
New fondue restaurant La Cave des Fondus in Soho will serve wine and beer in a unique way: out of baby bottles. La Cave des Fondus is modeled after the famous Le Refuge des Fondus in Paris where wine is served in the same way, but commenters at the New York Times' Diner's Journal aren't loving the idea.
My blasé attitude toward drinking wine out of a receptacle I haven't used since I could barely walk may have to do with me not liking wine in the first place, but my other reason is that If La Cave des Fondus is supposed to be like Le Refuge des Fondus, it would almost be strange to drink wine in a normal manner. I ate at Le Refuge des Fondus two years ago: it's tiny and cramped and has a crazy, crowded, chaotic, barlike atmosphere. You're surrounded by cigarette smoke, shouting in mostly French and English, pots of bubbling cheese, and, of course, wine in baby bottles. I have a feeling it's not the typical fondue experience—and that's why people go there.
Does the prospect of drinking wine and beer out of baby bottles entice (or repel) you to eat at La Cave des Fondus?