Bucket List #7: Silverlake Wines + Let's Be Frank = A Night of Retro Treats

The night before my last day at my job, we rounded up the troops to go to Silverlake Wine. It's an adorable little wine shop in Silverlake near the neighborhood where G and I lived for the first 6 years of our time in LA. The wine shop has tastings several times a week that are quite inexpensive and the staff is very nice and knowledgeable. The vibe is relaxed and low-key.

On Thursdays, in addition to their tastings, Let's Be Frank Hot Dogs parks their truck outside so that you can break from the wine tasting and snag a dog outside. These are particularly good sausages. One of the owners was once the meat forager for Chez Panisse and they focus on using locally raised, grass-fed meat without nitrates and hormones. YAY for a clear conscience, but honestly my favorite part is the Devil Sauce. This is their signature spicy relish that tons of flavor in addition to heat. On this particular evening I poured this delicious concoction on top of the the already spicy “Hot” Dog. Tasty indeed, but I forgot to get a drink, so there was nothing to put out the small fire going on in my mouth until I got back inside for more wine.

I think a good time was had by all. I mean, how could it not be a good time after a few glasses of wine? On the menu this evening were flights of Viognier (one of my favorite white varietals) and Pinot. Johanna's Beau and I got into a bit of a battle of the Know-it-all's, but all in good fun nothing a couple of flights could not cure. (I had pictures of the wines consumed this evening, but somehow these have mysteriously disappeared. *sigh* There were a couple there I really wanted to remember.) I think the wine also succeeded in opening our appetites – not that this is any great feat – because several of us could not resist trying the adorably retro Cake Monkey cakes lined up near the cash register on our way out. Think Hostess cakes done right. My peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate Cakewich was delish!

(Apparently, it was REALLY good, b/c I have a crazed look here.)

Before we called it a night, Marc insisted that we had to head over to the Cha Cha Lounge next door to make use of their photo booth. By now, almost everyone else had called it a night, but J.P. and Kate battled on with us. The décor in this festive bar is eclectic to say the least, and there is certainly a lot to amuse the eye.

They have one of the craziest vending machines you're likely to see 'round these parts. It sells everything from t-shirts, to tampons, to condoms, to the snacks you were probably looking for. The object of our expedition, however, was on the wall perpendicular to the vending machine. Let me tell you, fitting four people in one photo booth takes some skill. We went through several attempts, and no matter how we tried, J.P. seemed to consistently get cut out of the picture. Our final attempt took the form of a photo relay race in which we each dived into the booth in turn, posed, and rushed out to allow the next person in with enough time to pose themselves. Getting our pics, was whole other ordeal. That machine took it's sweet-ass time!

For a while we thought the machine wasn't working and that we weren't going to get the pics we'd worked so hard for. . .

. . . but our patience was eventually rewarded!

Ultimately, I think we created a masterpiece in photo booth art.


Note: All pics for this evening (with the obvious exception of the photo booth strips) are courtesy of Mr. Marc.