The October issue (otherwise known as the Man Issue) of LA Confidential was a big one for me since, in addition to my pieces on Richard Sandoval's restaurants at Santa Monica Place, and Waterloo & City, plus that little feature about the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, I did this little write-up about a new wine bar in Los Feliz called Bar Covell. Oddly enough, it's the newest wine bar in Los Feliz in quite a while (though another one just opened up as part of the Alcove, called Big Bar).I'll spare you the details on the quirky little place now since you can read the piece below, but do stop by a newsstand and buy the issue (Kobe Bryant is on the cover) since it's packed full of all kinds of good stuff!
COVETING COVELL
Los Feliz's Bar Covell draws local wine lovers in droves.
Remember when you were a teenager and you would excitedly sneak into the garage while your folks were out to chug a beer amongst the piles of mismatched boxes? Drinking at Bar Covell, Los Feliz’s newest wine bar, is kind of heady like that thanks to eccentric bric à brac décor courtesy of owner Dustin Lancaster (former bartender at Café Stella) like vintage cameras mounted on shelves made of antique books, a wall papered with the pages of Spanish-language encyclopedia picked up on Lancaster's travels in Argentina, a bar made of reclaimed wood from a Kentucky barn, and a crowd of sociable Eastsiders competing for the title of Best Skinny Jeans. The gregarious bartenders have been trained by General Manager Matthew Kaner (you might recognize him from Silverlake Wine), and do an astonishingly good job at deciphering ambiguous descriptors like “puckery” and “energetic” to find the right wine for each patron from an evolving list of 50 or so. And if they don’t get it right the first time, they’ll pour as many tastes as it takes—or until you choose one of the frequently changing artisanal beers on tap instead.
4628 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027, (323) 660-4400; barcovell.com
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