Friday, March 20, 2009

Grand Preview: Corkbar (Downtown L.A.)

This past week, I decided to visit my old stomping ground that has seem some revitalization that was not imaginable back in the 90s. Often disregarded and only would be seen as other side of the neighborhood that is far away from City Hall and its fancy tall building neighbors, this part of downtown was slumming it for quite a while.

Just as I had made a recent visit to D-Town Burger Bar that was about eight blocks away, I was happy another new place had opened up in downtown that is a short distance away from LA Live, Nokia Center, and the Staple Center arena.

Before we hit off to the Varnish Bar, I convinced Kung Food Panda to stop by here at this new wine bar that I read about which had its grand opening opened on March 12. We wanted to drop by and see how this new wine bar was coming along and what they have to offer.



We were quite impressed with the decor and ambiance of the place. The place have two outdoor patio areas and a several tall bench counter tables as well as a grand dining room. The place has a nice slick modern look with plenty of natural lighting to give it a warm inviting feel when you sit down. Behind the beautiful crafted bar is a tall elegant collections of wine bottles that is being offered here at an aptly named place called "Corkbar".

I would have wrongfully assumed this place would have been a stuck up or pretentious about wines, but I was quite very surprised by their welcoming friendly faces and services they offered here. Let's face it, me and the Panda are not going to look like a wine connoisseur at any stretch of imagination. It was great to see that great care of service happened.

We knew that they held a little private wine tasting for some club of sorts that was visiting this particular night. It was quite interesting to see them taking notes on each of the wine that was served here at this establishment. All of the wines and beers that are served here derived from California.


Our meal have included an order of their 6-Hour Braised Short Ribs that was served on top of cheese polenta. This was one of their two main dishes served so far as I am figuring they would be adding more down the road (since they were opened less than a week when we visited them).

The short ribs was actually pretty good. It was spot on with the Melville Syrah red wine that I have that night. That was another nice touch in their menu was their recommendation of wines that would be appropriate to go along with each of the dishes that was on their menu.


6 Hour Braised Short Ribs with Cheese Polenta ($16)


Charcuterie (7 meat for $19)

We have also ordered an array of different meat served with sliced baguette, dijon mustard and pickles. It was beautifully displayed on top of a presentation board. The seven different meat were Prosciutto, Speck, Soppessata Salami, Toscano Salami, Smoked Chorizo, Bresaola, Bündnerfleisch.


Baguette

One thing I love besides the presentation was the freshness of the meat that was served here as well. Beautifully presented, I was glad that we chose this over cheese as I would normally done, but my lactose intolerance coupled with wine would not worked that well.

FYI: *cough* cheese don't go well with Pepsi either.


Prosciutto


Toscano Salami


Smoked Chorizo


Soppessata Salami


Bündnerfleisch

For a new place like this to exist in downtown L.A. is just marvelous because a place that is unpretentious, but yet classy is a breath of fresh air that is needed here. With the food being served here that is made fresh from farmer's market, it's quite remarkable that we should have more wine bar here in downtown. This place serve as a good start and hope the revitalization continues.

Corkbar
403 W 12th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 746-0050

Corkbar on Urbanspoon

CorkBar in Los Angeles

6 comments:

Kung Food Panda said...

Good times bro!

Next time we gotta hit up Silver Lake Wine. If you can do a Thurs, the Let's be Frank hot dog stand is outside.

dfsdf said...

Great pictures! You can really see the detail of the meats.

Melissa Good Taste said...

OMG! Meat lover! The Short Ribs over Polenta looked AMAZING!!!

EatTravelEat said...

Wonderful details! The meats look very nicely thin cut and look very delicious! Certainly looks worth it for the pricetag.

Right Way to Eat said...

Hey Kung Food Panda,

Yes, we'll have to hit up Silverlake Wine soon. Good times Good times!

Hey Greg,

Thanks buddy!

Hi Melissa Good Taste,

Yes, fellow meat eater unite!

Hi EatTravelEat,

Thanks! The short rib definitely fits the price that was billed. You'll need to check it out one of these days!

gourmetpigs said...

What about if the two of you don a suit? I think you'll look like wine connoisseurs for sure, don't you think? ;)

This place is just around the corner from Rivera and price seems reasonable ... a downtown alcohol mini marathon :P ?