CAV is probably the easiest place in Providence to spend $4,503.75 on lunch. That's $3.75 for a cup of clam chowder - and $4,500 for an authentic antique Buddhist sculpture.
A combination restaurant/antiques shop, CAV, located at 14 Imperial Place in the Jewelry District, boasts one of the most unique atmospheres of any restaurant in Providence. Started by owner Sylvia Moubayed in 1990, CAV feels as much like a museum or international art gallery as it does a restaurant. From the first step inside, customers are treated to a visual celebration of color, light and texture. Overhead hangs a series of chandeliers, the largest of which bears a tag reading: "Handmade, one hundred percent hand cut Austrian glass chandelier - $3,300." Over the edges of each table hangs a thick, polychromatic tablecloth enlivened by geometrical shapes. Around the corner, a row of drums doubles as a table, and stylized African figurines gaze out from corners and cases.
The food, music and aesthetics are all part of Moubayed's vision. In her informational handout, Moubayed describes CAV's mission to showcase "the unique and the handmade to delight and restore you."
Moubayed herself is a world traveler, said manager Frank Warren. She has toured Africa and Asia in search of antiques to add to CAV's offerings. Moubayed is currently vacationing in Thailand, but work and play are often connected in the antique business, and she is no doubt also searching for antiques on her trip, Warren said.
"Her goal is to make people's experience here special, unique, spiritual," he said. A large part of the CAV experience is authenticity. Other than the chandeliers, which the restaurant has specially made, all the antiques for sale are originals. This includes everything from the Siamese cat figurines nestled in a bed of coffee beans to the "very rare" imported Burmese Shan lion statue that dates to around the 16th century and was just sold for $2,300.
Items like these have made CAV a hot spot for in-the-know antiques and art collectors. "We've had art dealers and museum specialists come in here and they're surprised that the stuff we had wasn't encased," Warren said. CAV's museum-quality offerings have inspired many regular customers. "There's plenty of people who come here on a daily basis just looking for antiquities," Warren said.
High-end merchandise and upscale dining have earned CAV accolades, including "Best Restaurant" (Providence Monthly), "Best Atmosphere" (R.I. Monthly) and "Most Worldly Bar" (New England Cable Network's "Phantom Gourmet"). CAV's pristine African art and handmade woven rugs also landed the restaurant a spread in Architectural Digest.
But despite the pervasive atmosphere of sophistication, Warren said that exclusivity did not fit with Moubayed's vision. According to Warren, "If someone came in here off the streets, (Moubayed) would let them eat here," because ultimately, "it's about fulfilling people."
