Vino to Your Heart's Content at Swill Automatic

Last Friday, my friends and I dropped by the new Swill Automatic wine bar in the Downtown Arts District. I'd recently heard about the establishment via Daily Candy and was so excited at the idea of a "pour your own" wine bar. The concept is awesome. You purchase prepaid cards and may then taste wine at your leisure via the bar's automated wine machines (see photo below). Each wine bottle is displayed beneath the respective spout, with the price per taste (about $2 per tasting) digitally labeled above. With the press of a button, each selection dispenses about 2 oz of wine--a perfect amount that allows for multiple wine tastings compared to the traditional amount of wine glass tasting done at vineyards. Often finding myself looking completely clueless when called upon to order wine at company socials or business dinners, this place seemed like the perfect place to do some exploring!

I loved the bar's method of displaying its wines. Very classy and simple.

Unfortunately the actual wine dispensers weren't in operation yet, so we instead had two rounds of manual tastings of a variety of reds.

Cups galore for our tastings! The boxed wine was organic and quite tasty (check it out here). After trying 6 reds, we settled on a syrah wine, which had a slight hint of fruityness--perfect for wine newbies.

My friend, Meg, demonstrating the ease at which we could have had some wine.

Wore the famous lace top from Charlotte Russe. This is definitely one of my fave purchases of the year! :)
Buy the dress version here (Thanks, Aubrey!)

Overall, it was a fun and laid back night out with the girls. Although we didn't get the experience of pouring our own wine as expected, it was nice to chat with the staff and I liked the idea of trying out wines without the fear of being judged for not being enough of wine connoisseurs to know what we were doing. We had eaten dinner beforehand, but the bar does have a menu of food offerings. We opted for a cheese platter to nibble on with our wine and would've definitely tried some dessert if we weren't already so full. The lighting was a little bright for a bar, but the place has a lot of potential to be a good option for those looking for some good wine and chill times. We already decided that we're heading back there once the place gets fully settled in. I would definitely recommend a visit here! If you're feeling extra fancy, you can grab dinner at Church & State down the block. At night, the area is more or less deserted, save for these two establishments, but I'm interested to see what it will grow into in a couple of years. Does Downtown LA really have the potential to be a go-to place? I guess it's quite possible if they keep opening up cool places like Swill Automatic around here!

Summertime in LA

Without even realizing it, summer's practically come and gone in no time flat!

My days during the season have been filled with work, sunny evening runs, and discovering a little more of what LA has to offer in terms of restaurants, bars/lounges, and sights and sounds! To my pleasant surprise, I've had the luck of stumbling upon some really awesome places that I wanted to share.

1) Annenberg Space for Photography: Nestled between the corporate high-rises of Century City, this was a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. I've been looking forward to visiting the gallery since it's opening in April, but the new Pictures of the Year exhibit on July 11 was the perfect opportunity to finally check it out. Not only is the gallery beautifully designed, it overlooks a grassy knoll that is perfect for picnic lunches, people watching, or napping. The Century City Westfield mall is also conveniently down the street. I loved that I could enjoy the offerings of the photography exhibit and then spend the rest of the day discovering the surrounding area. With all that it offers, the gallery is free to visit and only $1 to park all day. The Annenberg Space for Photography turned out to be a terribly cute and fun date spot!



2) Bottega Louie: I have NO idea how I've never discovered this place before now! Being out on client sites has limited my time in Downtown LA, but a friend suggested this place as a lunch option recently and I AM IN LOVE. Bottega Louie offers gourmet Italian food in a classy setting. The food was scrumptious and very, very fairly priced for the ambiance that the restaurant offers. With about $25 each, we had more than enough food to spare between the two of us and even had dessert (the semi fredo was ah-mazing)! The restaurant also offers the option of grabbing something quickly from its market and patisserie if you're in a hurry. This is now at the top of my favorite places to eat when I'm in the area.



3) Boulevard3: I think I've come to accept that as a 20-something living in LA, most of my going out choices relate to bars and lounges. Going out in LA is definitely a little trickier and requires much more effort than it ever did in SF, so I hate to admit that sometimes the concept exhausts me before I even attempt to go out. Well, after prettying up for the night this past weekend, I found myself at BLVD3 for a friend's party. I've heard that it's one of the classier LA clubs and was actually really impressed by the night. The venue was great--there were plenty of large open spaces with a calming outdoor area for relaxing and talking. The crowd seemed more sophisticated and everyone had a good time without any ridiculous shenanigans that you usually see at dark clubs. This place deserves another trip back!