Anyway, we grabbed a cup of coffee from her regular coffee shop down the street, Caffe Nero, and spent the rest of the day shopping in Oxford Circus and eating amazing French food. In retrospect, I was exhausted, not to mention suffering/enjoying a severe case of sensory overload, but in my humble opinion, London is heaven on earth, so I mistook my exhaustion for wide-eyed dream-state and kept on groovin'.
We returned to her neighborhood around seven and decided to spend the evening walking around and seeing what we could find. She lives in Little Venice, the area surrounding the Warwick underground station, or Maida Vale. I'm not sure why it's called Little Venice. Nothing here is particularly Italian-esque, except they have a canal, but alright. We did see one place that acknowledged the Little Venice label: The Little Venice Lounge and Wine Bar. With my love of wine, I couldn't wait to check it out.
We went in and I was charmed by the comfy atmosphere. It was a very small place and with a "sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name" vibe. At the same time, was eclectic and stylishly decorated. The color scheme was dark purple and black. There was a small bar, for about six people, which was full. Along the back wall, was more seating with small tables and funky throw pillows that juxtaposed the sleek, black upholstery. A gigantic mirror hangs on one wall. These seats were taken as well. Cheyanne and I shifted nervously, not knowing where to sit, when the owner, I believe it was, asked us if we'd like a seat upstairs. Relieved, we followed her to a tiny, steep staircase you would never notice if it wasn't pointed out.
The stairs led to a loft where two couches with an abundance of patterned throw pillows awaited us. We had this tiny loft to ourselves and it was great. We each ordered a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Grifone. It's an Italian wine; we thought we'd attempt to experience "Little Venice" as much as possible.
The wine was a good medium blend. It had a medium level of tannins which blended nicely with the sweeter cherry flavor. The body of the wine was medium, exactly in the middle of light and heavy. It was served with olives, which was fine with me because I love olives, though I'm not sure olives are the most complementary flavor to a semi-dry red wine.
Our experience there was very casual (our bartender, pictured, told us to holler down from the loft when we were ready to order), but it was fun. The staff were incredibly friendly and excited to hear that I have a wine blog and encouraged me to take photos. It definitely seems like the type of place I'd hang out on a Friday night if I lived in London. Plus we ate at a fantastic sushi restaurant around the corner the next night, and I've since learned that you can order sushi from that restaurant and have it delivered to the LV Wine bar.We just stayed for the one glass, and overall, I really enjoyed my time at the Little Venice Lounge and Wine Bar. My sister and I got to relax in a quiet, comfortable atmosphere, and it was the perfect end to an exhausting and overwhelming, but amazing, day.
Here's a link to the Little Venice Lounge and Wine Bar website. It attempts to make the bar come across as a bit more sleek and sophisticated than it actually is, but I would still recommend a visit.
http://lvlounge.co.uk/
Photo courtesy of the Little Venice Lounge and Wine Bar website
Me (left) in all of my jet-lagged glory, and my beautiful sister, Cheyanne, at the Little Venice Lounge and Wine Bar.
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