Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Drinks report: Bodega De Cordova

After seeing "The Passenger" the other night, with all its scenes of languid drinks in Spanish cafes, naturally I needed to hit a Spanish cafe, and fast. We decided to try the new Spanish wine bar Bodega de Cordova on Fairfax -- I knew they didn't serve much food, so first we fueled up with some tangy squash soup and an ahi tuna burger at M Cafe. The Bodega is hidden in a small storefront across from the Whole Foods driveway, and there's virtually no parking for miles around -- possibly a slight problem unless you live walking distance. They've decorated the space with Spanish posters and corrugated metal, and classical guitar plays in the background. The friendly servers are happy to explain the Spanish wines and give tastes of them, but it took me a few tastes before I found one I liked. The tapas menu is very small, mostly just simple things like olives, almonds, cheese and bread. And of course, with L.A.'s draconian alcohol laws, you can't take your glass of wine to the sidewalk table for even a millisecond.
Verdict: It's a cute place to stop in for a glass of wine after a movie at the Grove, maybe...but it's kind of hard to imagine fitting this into an evening, since you can't get a real meal, and anyone in your party who doesn't want wine is out of luck. I think this type of place might better fit into the lifestyle of New York or Barcelona.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is parking on the back of the building.

Anonymous said...

Such an article actually makes me laugh at how some people are lacking intellect to understand certain concepts. The place the article reviews is actually a "Wine Bar". People who enjoy wine go to wine bars. In NY, Barcelona, and, believe it or not, in LA.
I think this place is magnificent. It´s personal, unpretencious, authentic and service is truly good.
So for those of us who like wine and know that Spanish wine is not only more interesting than our dull native Californian wine (although beautifully marketed, dull indeed) it is probably the greatest wine in the world and is undermarketed because of one simple reason: People who consume it just know it´s there.
Something people may not know is that this fascinating little "Bodega" has finally opened its doors on Fairfax and offers not only excellent wine, olives, Serrano Ham (exquisite with a glass of Rioja wine), chorizo and other "tapas", but introduces us to the delightful authenticity of a typical Spanish bodega. This authenticity is something one should try for himself, however, if I had to describe the experience of having a glass of wine at a bodega, I would probably have to say the tasting of wine in one is all about the warmth of the understatement of doing so to the sound of old Flamenco and Bullerias.
To La Bodega de Cordova, congratulations on your great place and thank you for finally bringing this to LA. . The only problem now is a movie at the Grove will cost me the price of a ticket plus a bottle of your Priorato wine which I have to recomend to every one interested in trying a complex wine worth every evening at your bodega.

Cheers!

And by the way, there is parking at the back of the building, just don´t expect to walk out sober after you try the Priorato.

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