Bar Covell

When Bar Covell opened nearly 15 years ago, on a sleepy stretch of Hollywood Boulevard bordering eternally-hip Los Feliz, most LA wine bars were, with a couple of notable exceptions (looking at you, Lou Amdur!), sad clichés full of bad cheese boards, themed flights and card-reading Enomatic machines.

Covell changed all that. It felt raw, intimate and real. Sommeliers from several of the city’s best restaurants pulled shifts behind the bar. There was no list; the day’s selections were scrawled in chalk pencil on reclaimed windows hanging from the ceiling. Candles offered the vast majority of the light. There were snacks, but nothing too serious. Tables full of the young and hip drank still-affordable bottles of L’Anglore and Rougeard and Labet. Most nights were packed, and LA finally felt like it had joined the wine bar party.

In the years since, Covell has matured into more of an institution, and its immediate surroundings have developed into a lovely local ecosystem perfect for a hyper-local weekend in LA. These days, you can stay in one of the nine sumptuously-decorated apartment-suites that Covell’s owner, Dustin Lancaster, has opened directly above the bar, and – without ever getting in a car! – feast on the wonderful food of restaurants like Kismet and HomeState, drink the expertly-prepared espresso of local-favourite Go Get ‘Em Tiger and have a nightcap at one of LA’s first true wine bars.

Covell’s wine program still operates very much as it did in its early days: there’s no list, just helpful people ready to provide guidance and find you the perfect wine for your mood and moment. Trust them, tell them what you like – and, just as importantly, what you don’t – and they’ll take it from there.