Barbrix Wine Bar + Enoteca | Los Angeles, CA

Silver Lake isn't the first place you think of for high-end cuisine and adventurous wine lists, but that's changing with Barbrix, Claudio and Adria Blotta's new enoteca and wine bar. The best part: It's priced for the neighborhood in these cash-strapped times, and the locals have definitely taken notice.

Tucked away from the street in a former schoolhouse, Barbrix's vibe is very come-as-you-are, as many times as you like. Chef Don Dickman (formerly of Rocca) infuses his menu with seasonal ingredients, so it's always changing.

You might find wine-friendly dishes like matchstick endive and apple salad with Marcona almonds ($7), tender fried sweetbread poppers with harissa aioli ($6) or crispy grilled polenta with oyster and shiitake mushrooms ($5). For something heartier, there's wild boar sausage in a pool of flavorful white beans ($6) and fig-glazed duck confit on a bed of meltingly good pan-fried potatoes ($10). Order a bunch of dishes to share with the table, or two or three for yourself.

"Brix" refers to sugar measurements in wine, so you know wine is serious business here, but not so much that you can't have fun perusing the list. Try anything from a refreshingly dry Slovenian Saemling to a big Italian Barolo–glasses rarely exceed $10.

Barbrix, 2442 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; 323-662-2442 or barbrix.com