Date Night With Wine and Barbrix
Being a good girl… or at least trying to be a helpful one, I planned an evening out with a wonderful gentleman. He had planned the last few dates we had been on and I decided that I would plan the next. In the past, I have never really taken too much time to plan a date but I considered this man’s past effort and I thought, “I should do this.”
Looking through all the editorials that encompass Los Angeles nightlife I was surprised at the fact that I had been to most of the restaurants and nighttime spots that were posted everywhere. So, I decided to search my imagination to picture what I had wanted out of the evening. I thought artsy, vintage, sexy, a local- not trendy- feel, wine, and tapas. Then, it dawned on me… Silver Lake. I knew that Silver Lake, L.A. would have everything I was looking for but even after searching all the city-type-search engines I found out that the only people that could tell me where to go for my sexy and intimate date were my girlfriends. They told me to go to Barbrix in Silver Lake for wine, tapas, and a romantic setting.
But I knew I didn’t want to start the evening there so I arranged an assortment of cheeses ranging from strong to sweet and paired them with berries and wines. Of course, to boot, I cleaned the house like never before to make certain that there wasn’t a spot of filth that would distract me from enjoying the company and conversation. (Believe me, I’m not the type of person that sits still easily and if I had spotted dust or filth of any type I probably would have ruined the entire mood.) As luck was on my side, the house was clean and ready to go by the time he had arrived. The only thing I forgot to do was take off my apron (but I actually think that worked in my favor and now I recommend all ladies to answer the door at least once in their apron- I definitely got a great reaction).
Walking through the entry way he smiled at my frilly and floral apron, handed me a Pinot, and then, gazing at the wine and cheese setup, he awed at my “sweetness”. My nerves finally calming down from their all-time high took notice that we had a little over an hour before we had to head out to Silver Lake. I took off my ’susie homemaker’ apron and relaxed. We sat, chatted about the cheeses and how they paired with the berries and wines. I fed him. He fed me. It was lovely. Sweet and lovely. Before we knew it it was nearing reservation time and I thanked my lucky stars for pushing the res back a half an hour.
The rain and my [lack of] sense of direction gave us some more time to exchange smiles and chit chat. We had laughed a lot by the time we finally found Tracy off of Hyperion and I saw Barbrix in orange lettering. We passed the car off to the valet and scooted out of the rain and into the small, white, chalet-like building. Inside it seemed much larger with a great dining foyer, large wrap-around bar, and backroom with a view of the open kitchen. Luckily, we were seated in the backroom on a small two-seater table which was perfectly placed in the corner- just how I like it.
The menu(s) were simple. One for beer, another for wine, and another for tapas. He took care of wine selection and passed the tapas menu to me. I flipped through and decided to do it ‘on the fly’. I glimpsed quickly and decided upon a Spanish chorizo, a watermelon turnip salad, garlic-fried sweetbreads with a garlic aioli, and a tri tip (which we compromised to be not medium, not rare, but medrare). He chose a beautiful Grenache from the Ojai Valley and decided to throw in some veal meatballs.
The plates came out with perfect pace. The table was not cluttered and we were enjoying the taste of each dish and the subtle robustness of the Grenache. I, of course, wondered about saving room for dessert and stopped the waitress to inquire about it only coming to hear that savory was the way to go. Hmmmmm… well… the savory dishes were incredible. The bites to remember for me were the Spanish chuleta, the juicy tri tip, and the watermelon radish and farro salad (which was quite surprising), and the fried sweetbreads were unbelievable!
Needless to say the meal was delicious. The company was a pleasure. I am glad we started with the cheeses however because it would have meant an extra two hours at Barbrix and who knows what else…
The night was perfect. We had the intimate, romantic meal I had sought out along with the wine and tapas that indulged the senses and led to some great discussion about the exotic combination of ingredients. I can only hope that my subsequent dates with him will be as successful.