My View of Life on the Dock
The Cave- cheese, wine, and chocolate shop, 44 Main Street, #GloucesterMA, is another great local businesses where one stop shopping works! On Thanksgiving weekend, Small Business Saturday, the jingle of the opening door was steady. Customers were in and out picking up host gifts and a new specialty cheese, wine or pate. Laura remembers her regulars and their particular favorite eats and drinks, and better still what they might like to try next.
You really don’t want to miss this — plain & simple. If you’ve been to The Cave, you know what we mean. If you haven’t , you’re truly missing out on a new Main Street gem. Check them out on Thursday 6/13 4-6pm.
The Cave
44 Main Street
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930
978-283-0896
It’s been a while since I stopped by The Cave, but the other day I received an unexpected cash gift, so I decided to treat myself to something special! Laura always has good things in stock, so I headed over to her Main Street store.
There was someone in front of me in line, and as always I was impressed overhearing (sorry!) Laura help them pick out just the right assortment of cheeses based on flavor, texture, etc. I ended up buying a nice bag of delicacies, including cheeses:
Some were things I’ve tried before, like blueberry honey – fantastic! – and the clothbound cheddar, which is a favorite of mine. I also got two new items: First, cheddar with caramelized onions, which made a perfect companion for dinner (pork baked with onions, potatoes, and other veggies). Then, “Sir Francis” Bacon Chocolate Peanut Brittle! No kidding! Bacon, chocolate, and peanut butter all together. How much goodness can you pack into one package? I had a piece in the evening. It is an amazing combination, but not the sort of thing I’d eat a lot of at once, as the flavors are fairly intense. (That’s good, because it’s not cheap!) I recommend it as a gift for your baconoholic friends! In general, The Cave is a great place to find fine cheeses and other specialty foods. Laura will help you to find something just right!
You really don’t want to miss this — plain & simple. If you’ve been to The Cave, you know what we mean. If you haven’t , you’re truly missing out on a new Main Street gem. Check them out ahead of time and mark next Thursday 5/23 4-6pm on your calendar.
The Cave
44 Main Street
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930
978-283-0896
No joke. Seasonal wine & beer licenses kick in April 1 (MON).
That means The Cave, at 44 Main Street, can sell wine again and they’re opening up at 4pm (usually closed Mondays) to host a wine tasting from 4-6pm.
They’ll have some new Italian wines at very affordable prices. Plus they always have cheeses and other goodies to taste with the wines. (You can taste any cheese before you buy it). This has become one of our favorite new spots in town. When I go in, I always let other people go ahead of me — not because I’m polite, but because I want to see what they’re getting — and when they get a taste, I pipe up, “Can I have a taste too?” I’ve discovered over a dozen new delights this way.
Here’s a video I shot about 3 weeks after The Cave opened last Summer of Vickie tasting some of their wine and cheese.
Since then I’ve learned how to pronounce the name of the wine in the video. It sounds like “Sarah Harris”. I still don’t speak Portuguese, but Laura says that’s close enough for her to recognize which wine I’m talking about.
Usually we post about music, but we’re so excited about having launched our latest Web project that we just can’t resist showing it to you. Just in case you didn’t know, in addition to publishing gimmesound and producing concerts, Vickie and I also design and build websites (see a list of some of them here, but remember, we’re too busy to update our own website, which was built in 1998) and we do Web and social media marketing.
Yesterday, we finished a new website for one of our favorite new local stores, The Cave. This is different from all other websites we’ve built. It’s a “responsive design”, which means it optimizes the viewing experience on what ever device you’re using: desktop computer, tablet or phone. For example, here’s what it looks like on a desktop computer:
Here’s what it looks like on my Samsung Galaxy III held portrait (the way you talk on the phone).
Notice the menu system is completely different and the top heading is centered instead of flush-left. The Facebook plugin is off the screen in this picture, but you can scroll down to it. Everything is stacked nicely so you can easily find it on a phone.
If you tap the phone number at the top-right it will call the The Cave.
The photo is different too, but that’s because it’s a slideshow and a different photo was showing when I took this picture. (This is actually a little more than you’ll see all at once on a phone, but I wanted to give you an idea of how it looks below the photo.)
There are many reasons why you want a website in a responsive design. Most importantly, you want your site to be easy to use no matter what device you’re on. And you don’t want to build a completely different site for each device.
This site uses the EXACT SAME HTML CODE for the phone display you see on the right as we do for the desktop version, above. The difference in how it looks is controlled by one little file called CSS.
This helps your website rise to the top of Google search results and it also makes it easier when you need to change something (like your store hours). You only have to write content once and maintain it in one place.
Here’s what it looks like when I turn my phone sideways.
Check out The Cave’s new website on all of your devices and see how it looks.
Be sure to go down there on Tuesday and try some of their excellent cheeses and other delicacies. You’ll be glad you discovered this gem in the heart of Gloucester’s thriving downtown.
On Friday Feb. 1, Savour Wine and Cheese had a Beer and Cheese Pairing event! They had a variety of cheeses and beers available for tasting, and a sheet for you to mark what you thought were the best pairings. If you identified all the same pairings as the store’s expert, you got a gift certificate! Also, all the featured beers and cheese were on sale %20 off.
I stopped by at the beginning of the event. I didn’t try the beer because I had to drive right afterwards, but I did try the cheeses, which were all very tasty. I ended up buying a cheese called “Red Dragon”, a Welsh cheddar made with ale and mustard seeds – really good, with a distinctive flavor! Here are some photos I got before the crowd arrived (I only had time to be there at the beginning when there were only a couple of people, but more were arriving as I left).
… was the first purchase! They had a slight delay in opening the point of sale due to technical difficulties, and that gave me time to be the first one in line to buy something on opening night:
I got a few more photos too, of course. You can tell what GMG contributors like when three of us show up at the same event without any prompting…
I am glad to have this great new store as a neighbor; they are right across the street from the parish parking lot!
If you are a cheese lover, you really should stop by The Cave. You can taste before you buy, so you can find just the right kind of cheese for whatever recipe or occasion you are planning. They also offer wine and cheese tastings on Thursday nights, 5-7PM (they are announced on their Facebook page).
I stopped by several days ago, looking for something not too bland, but not too sharp; something with character, but not overwhelming. I particularly enjoy cheese with soup – either on the side with crackers, or diced or grated into the soup itself. (Some cheeses, especially aged cheeses, are a source of glutamate, which gives the “umami” flavor to things, which I like very much). After trying a couple of options that Laura suggested, I settled on Dubliner cheddar.
As it turns out, I haven’t had soup since I bought this cheese, so last night I opted to try the it with some multi-grain Wheat Thins and Sauvignon Blanc. It really worked!
I mean, wow! I could have polished off all the cheese in one sitting, but I held back, because I really want to try it with soup.
So, if you are looking for the perfect cheese for your palate, let Laura help you find it. She also sells wine and various artisanal marmalades and spreads at The Cave, so she can undoubtedly help you find the perfect pairing.
This French proverb is printed on T Shirts and hangs over the door at The Cave — 44 Main St. For some reason, it took Vickie and me 3 weeks to get there, but we finally made it yesterday and boy are we glad we did. Then we took our bounty to a friend’s house. The best way to enjoy good food is with good friends, each being enhanced by the other. Check out the video to see what we got and how it tasted.
Laura, who owns The Cave, tells me she’s got a 3 year lease and they will be open year round. Sounds like a plan to me. Vickie and I will be in again soon.
Just as The Cave has something for every palate, tonight there’s music for every possible taste on Cape Ann from string quartet to bluegrass to rock, soul, reggae, pop, New Orleans jazz, blues, metal, singer/songwriters — you name it. Don’t stay home. Check the live music lineup and get out on the town!
Last night was the Grand Opening of The Cave – purveyors of fine wine, cheese, and chocolate at 44 Main Street in Gloucester. GMG was well represented, so I am sure that other photos will appear on the blog, but here a few shots I took:
Because wine was being served, they had to check our ages at the door:
Alexander Thompson was on hand with some of his delectable tomato marmalade, which being sold on site:
It went really well with these crackers and cheese, but it’s also good on toast (I can vouch for that, having bought a jar a short time ago), and I’m sure it’s great in any other context where fruit spreads are used.
They also sell fig spread, local honey… “tastefully” arranged on the mantlepiece.
They have a variety of chocolate too, of course, as their tagline indicates:
Unlike the classic cheese shop sketch by Monty Python, this cheese shop is well stocked:
Plenty of wine also grace the shelves. I was told that the emphasis is on Italian wine, although there is also some from California.
There were lots of smiles from behind the counter…
…and in front as well, as the visitors enjoyed the samples of wine, cheese, chocolate, etc.
Among the visitors was Fred Bodin (at the right below), at whose shop I had sampled The Cave’s merchandise last week.
He got a good shot of me being carded at the door…
Remember The Cave, “Purveyors of Cheese, Chocolate, and Wine”, soon to open at 44 Main Street in Gloucester, covered in this post last month? They will be having their grand opening on the evening Thursday, June 21, from 5 to 7PM.
I met the proprietor, Laura Cramer at Bodin’s Historic Photo and Fine Art last week at the Dad’s Night Out event. I got a nice photo of Fred and Laura together – but I didn’t notice that I didn’t have a memory card in my camera… So, you’ll just have to use your imagination.
She had brought along a platter of delicious cheese, crackers and olives:
Since people were a bit slow to come into the store, she took the platter outside to tempt passers-by:
(photo by Fred Bodin)
The cheese was really delicious, and Laura really knows her business; she explained the origin and characteristics of each cheese, which she had obviously chosen with care. Check out the store’s grand opening this Thursday! And don’t miss those evening events at Bodin’s Historic Photo. You’re bound to find interesting people and good food, not to mention Fred’s fascinating photos, paintings by local artists, and more.
Meet Laura Cramer owner of The Cave a wine, cheese and chocolate experience.
Good Morning Gloucester 