dsm Dish - June 20, 2025

The best way to spend $100 at Purveyor

By Wini Moranville

On a recent visit to Purveyor, in the East Village, I was struck by how much it resembles a French cave à vins (wine cave), with its plentiful wines on tap and wide array of tasty little snacks. True, Purveyor’s menu leans more toward Italy and Spain, but the whole idea of coming into a neighborhood wine shop to refill your empty bottles while having a glass of wine and a little nibble before you go, well, that swings French, too.

To be clear, Purveyor offers more than just small bites. In addition to tapas and charcuterie, you can enjoy sandwiches and daily features (like Couscous Thursdays) in a casual restaurant setting. (Note the hours.)

But if you want the French cave à vins experience, check out their thoughtfully curated wines available by the bottle, glass and, unusually, by the growler. Sixteen wines are “on tap,” so you can choose one, settle in for a snack if you’d like, and enjoy both the vibe and some savings on the well-chosen pours.

“We hand-select wines and buy them in six-barrel kegs,” manager Eva Lavalle explained. “The tap system allows us to offer many wines by the glass, because if we had to keep 15 bottles open at a time, a lot of it would eventually go to waste.”

The growler setup offers an added bonus: Once you buy the bottle, you can refill it again and again, paying only for the wine itself, not the packaging. The container holds a liter, the equivalent to about 1.3 standard bottles of wine.

One caveat: Wines purchased from the tap should be consumed within three or four days.

When I asked Lavalle about the best way to spend $100 here, she rounded up the following mix of products to enjoy on-site and to save for tapas-style nibbles at home.

Empanadas ($10 for two): These homemade savory pastries come with a choice of four rotating fillings. Graziano sausage is a popular pick.

Fangst Limfjord Tinned Mussels Marinated with Dill and Fennel Seeds ($11): Lavalle said these are perfect for “just a little bite on toast.”

A’ Siciliana Aranciata di Sicilia ($3): A refreshing blood-orange soft drink that’s made with real
blood oranges from Sicily.

La Narval Pulpo Tinned Octopus with Garlic Sauce ($12): “I’m not sure there’s a better way to enjoy octopus,” Lavalle said.

Vietti Roero Arneis White Wine ($28): This is a stunning white wine with great acidity and weight, made from an under-the-radar grape.

Growler of Wine ($5 for the refillable bottle, plus $20-$30 per liter): Choose from one of 15 wines on tap.

Salted Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies from Doré Bakery ($7 per package): The shop rotates its supply of cookies from this artisanal bakery, but this flavor is a popular standby.

French Macarons from Doré Bakery ($6 for three): Enjoy rotating flavors of these delicate French pastries.

For more shopping recommendations, read Wini Moranville's suggestions for the best ways to spend $100 at AllSpice Culinarium, The Cheese Shop and Gateway Market.

Quick Bites

Thelma’s Ice Cream Sandwiches will now be sold in Costco stores nationwide, about a dozen years after its humble beginnings at the Downtown Farmers Market. The Des Moines-based business started with Great-Grandma Thelma’s snickerdoodle recipe, a tasty story you'd better believe we've covered in dsm.

Locals Bar & Stage is opening soon at the corner 15th and Walnut streets, in the former Teehee’s Comedy Club. The new bar will be operated under the same owners as The Walnut restaurant just a few doors down. They haven't yet announced an opening date, but keep an eye on our Restaurant Radar for updates.

“Pieowa: A Piece of America” will screen at the Varsity Cinema on July 10. The pie-focused documentary explores how and why pie became synonymous with state fairs and Iowa hospitality.

Events

Saturday and Sunday: Choose Iowa Farm Store Crawl offers a weekend full of discovery and on-farm retail.

Tuesday: Tapas in the Garden offers a bite to eat and a scenic stroll at the Wallace Farm in Orient.

June 27-29: The Des Moines Arts Festival features quite a feast at two food courts, on both ends of Western Gateway Park.

June 28: "MasterChef" Grant Gillon makes dinner with chef Ian Robertson and his team at Oak Park.

July 1: The Historic Corn Plot Dinner offers several courses, each made with corn harvested on site at the Wallace Farm in Orient.

Shell yeah: Grilling oysters is easier than you think

By Mary Jane Miller

Now that it’s summer and you’re firing up the grill, why not add some briny oysters? Three or four oysters served with soda crackers is enough for an easy and elegant appetizer. A dozen will make a meal for two with a salad and a loaf of crusty bread.

I came up with this idea during a solo trip to Napa for work. I picked up a bag of oysters from the Tomales Bay Oyster Company right on the shore and was looking forward to an indulgent dinner at my Airbnb in the middle of a remote vineyard. That night, I lit a fire, poured a glass of wine and shucked a few oysters, which I drizzled with some mignonette sauce I’d picked up at the oyster farm. (Mignonette sauce is essentially red wine vinegar and chopped shallots.) Lovely.

I shucked a few more, had a little more wine and eventually realized I’m not the best oyster shucker. Little bits of broken shell kept falling into the flesh. By then, the fire had burned down to a nice bed of coals, so I swung the grill over the coals and tossed a couple of test oysters on top, just to see what would happen. And sure enough: The shells popped open after just a few minutes.

I used a towel to pull off the flatter top shell. The oysters still had a silky texture, but the oyster liquor — the briny mix of seawater and the oyster’s own juices — was steamy and delicious without a speck of broken shell. A few drops of the sauce made them even better.

Back home I tried out my new trick on my gas grill with oysters I picked up for $1.25 at Waterfront Seafood Market. (It's the best place to buy locally. There's good turnover.) The oysters were bigger than my batch in California and the shells didn’t all pop open, but I suspected they were done when some of the liquor started dribbling out. And I was right: The shells popped right off with a little coaxing. I dressed them up with a bit of homemade mignonette sauce and some compound butters, just to gild the lily. The butters were the star, melting into the hot juices. (Next time, I’ll save the mignonette sauce for chilled raw oysters.)

The butter
In the kitchen at Aunt Maude’s in Ames, we used to make something called “snail butter” to serve with escargot and garlic bread. Its French name sounds fancy — beurre maître d'hôtel — but it’s pretty simple. Just mix 1 stick of softened butter with a quarter cup of finely chopped parsley and chives, two grated cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and a dash of salt and pepper to taste. If you have leftovers, just spread a bit on crusty bread and enjoy. (Another tip: Mix 1 stick of butter with a quarter cup of finely chopped kimchi and spoon a dollop onto eggs, toast or hot cooked rice or vegetables.)

The platter
Before grilling the oysters, I like to cover a serving platter with an inch-thick layer of rock salt (often sold for homemade ice cream). It keeps the finished oysters steady and upright.

The grill
To grill the oysters, get the grill very hot. Place the unopened oysters on the grill with the flat side up. Close the grill’s lid and cook the oysters for 5-10 minutes, or until they just start to open and the juices start to bubble out. Use tongs to lift the oysters to a rimmed baking sheet. With a towel protecting your hand from the hot shell, use an oyster knife to pry off the flat top shell and detach the morsel inside. The top shells usually pop off so easily, a sturdy butter knife works, too.

Place the oysters on the prepared platter and top each one while it’s still hot with a spoonful of softened compound butter. Serve with a few lemon wedges. When it’s time to dig in, I like to lift each oyster onto a soda cracker or a piece of bread and sip any remaining juice right from the shell.

The surprise inside
You might find a bonus in your oysters: a pea crab. These tiny stowaways are harmless and live inside healthy oyster shells. They are sweet, briny and delicious.