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- The Revelry Room Bar + Kitchen, a new restaurant with a Prohibition-era theme, opened at the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel.
- The menu features comfort food with an emphasis on local ingredients, including a build-your-own charcuterie board and a unique pork tenderloin sandwich.
- A wide variety of cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are available, along with Iowa beers on tap.
The Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel debuted its new restaurant on May 30, bringing late-afternoon-to-dinner hours, comfort food dishes that can be shared, and cocktails. The Revelry Room Bar + Kitchen sits in the southeast corner of the downtown Des Moines hotel with a storied past.
Robert Ash, vice president of food and beverage at StepStone Hospitality, the company that operates the hotel, worked on the menu and look of the space. When StepStone took over management of the hotel, the owners decided to revamp the restaurant.
“We were looking for something refreshed, to reinvigorate, to reintroduce the hotel back to the city, and this was a great opportunity for us,” Ash said.
The restaurant is a nod to the Prohibition era, blending a classic tavern feel with modern touches, and focusing on local ingredients and craft cocktails.
What does The Revelry Room look like inside?
Don’t expect the space to look like a restaurant. The Revelry Room off the lobby of the hotel has more of a lounge atmosphere with conversation areas set up with sofas and chairs. A couple of high-top tables can seat larger groups.
The walls feature historic photos of the Savoy, as well as art from a local artist, in this case, Haleigh Anderson, that can be purchased. The restaurant plans to change the art monthly, Ash said.
The restaurant also offers T-shirts and hats with its logo and cute sayings on it for purchase. They sit on a bookshelf that’s more of a curio cabinet with tchotchkes and books to look at. Some longer coffee tables feature books on local history as well.
One interesting piece is a green chandelier that uses wine glass bottles. Each table has a small light on it that can be turned off as well.
Overall, the space feels like a modern tavern setting with spaces to hold more intimate conversations.
What to eat at The Revelry Room
Make no mistake that this is a restaurant with a comfort food menu that emphasizes local products. Ash and executive chef Nija Lightfoot emphasized local producers when discussing the menu.
Lightfoot came to Des Moines via Maine, where she has a personal chef business, ShamHouse Chefs, and her family is in Atlanta. “I can’t wait to get out when I get a chance to go explore … especially food,” Lightfoot said.
Here’s a look at some of the dishes on the menu:
Charcuterie board, $28 to $68: The Revelry Room leans into local ingredients, using Scenic Route breads and Iowa cheeses on the charcuterie board. “You can choose your different options. It’s more of a build-your-own. You have your vegetables to go with it, grilled bread,” Lightfoot said. “It should be good for those people who don’t want to have too much, but they want a little something, something.”
Diners can choose two-ounce portions of cured meats such as black pepper sorghum salami and finocchiona salami, as well as cheeses including Jasper Hill cave-aged cheddar and Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze. Accoutrements such as bread-and-butter pickles, rosemary Marcona almonds, caramelized onion jam, and grainy Dijon mustard come on the charcuterie board along with grapes and a baguette.
Revelry bourbon bacon, $17: This showstopper of a dish will pique other diners’ curiosity when five thick slices of bourbon bacon come out on an apparatus that allows each to hang down in a strip.
Cheese fondue pot, $32: The fondue pot has officially made a comeback in restaurants, and The Revelry Room’s version uses a traditional Alsatian cheese fondue recipe with baby potatoes, chunks of sourdough bread, and sliced apples on the side.
Butter board, $16: If sampling a variety of butters is on your bucket list, this dish will give you a chance to try smoked sea salt, whipped dill, and caramelized shallot butters served with milk bread from Crème.
Revelry burger, $18: An 8-ounce slab of Angus beef comes topped with cheddar cheese, horseradish, crispy onions, and a black pepper mayo. The fries, thick slabs of potato coated in a garlic Parmesan that makes them crispy on the outside and soft inside, may become your new favorites in Des Moines.
Iowa pork tenderloin sandwich, $17: Ash wanted another way to showcase Iowa on the menu, and opted for a breaded pork tenderloin. His twist? He uses crushed saltine crackers for the crust on the pork tenderloin.
The Big Gooey, $16: This sandwich is guaranteed to show up in an Instagram reel for the pull. Aged Iowa cheddar, mozzarella, and American cheeses melt together on sourdough bread with slabs of bacon tucked into the sandwich.
What to drink at Revelry Room
About half of the menu is dedicated to cocktails with and without alcohol. A shining star on the menu is an ode to the martini, with customers selecting their spirit, how dry or dirty they want it, whether it’s shaken or stirred, and how it’s garnished.
The classics, such as a Sidecar and Bijou, find representation on the menu, as well as novelty drinks.
The Southern Living, $16: Jack Daniel’s honey whiskey and sweet tea vodka pair with peach schnapps and peach puree in this drink garnished with a lemonade popsicle and mint.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $14: RumChata and vanilla vodka form the base. Fireball whiskey and a cinnamon sugar rim give the drink some pep.
Bathtub gin, $16: This cocktail combines Botanist gin, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, and pineapple juice, served in a miniature claw-foot bathtub.
Tropical Passionrita, $16: This cocktail starts with tequila and uses a passionfruit syrup, triple sec, and simple sugar.
Revelry Room also offers nonalcoholic drinks.
Maple espresso untini, $14: A mocktail version of the espresso martini.
Strawberry lemonade shrub, $9: Think of this as a jazzed-up version of strawberry lemonade, or a nonalcoholic mojito.
The bar also offers Iowa beers on tap from Big Grove, SingleSpeed, Exile, and Confluence, as well as wines and a selection of top-shelf whiskeys.
Will the Revelry Room serve brunch?
Brunch is on the way to The Revelry Room
In July, the new restaurant plans to introduce brunch on the weekends. Four variations of the bloody Mary make the menu.
The restaurant also plans to offer grab-and-go options.
Where to find The Revelry Room Bar + Kitchen
Location: Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel, 401 Locust St., Des Moines
Contact: 515-244-2151 or opentable.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m.
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Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at [email protected].
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