Lavomatic

July 17, 2008
An urban wine bar, maybe the manifesto? As it were posted on the door. After several visits, I have come to realize that this is clearly the case. But, pull up a seat at the bar and it is clearly obvious that Lavo (thats what the kids are calling the place) has several hidden gems in its beer cooler. The bartender informed me about a keg of Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale that would be going into rotation. And they may be getting a half barrel of Kwak for early fall. I also was fortunate enough to experience Hopslam on draft for the first time at Lavo. Rumor has it that they may be doubling their draft selection by the end of July (please be true). I am told that the manager who runs that wine program is also in charge of the beer program, but that there are several beer enthusiasts employed at lavo. This might aid in the randomly eclectic selection of beers that are currently available at Lavo.

June 20, 2008
They have a small selection of beer, but they have some good ones, and they also have been getting the rarities that I likethe Hopslam and Maharaja (on tap) were great. In early May they had a Cinco de Mayo festival and paired an awesome southwestern shrimp dish paired with Rogue Chipotle ale on draught! The managerwho is the wine guy, but clearly also loves his beerhas spent generous time talking with me, too, when they’re not busy. He says that they have Avery 15th hitting the tap in June sometime, and he’s got Dragon’s Milk going on around then, too. Just had dinner last night on their rooftop garden with some Alesmith and a J.W. Lees Harvest 2002 and a plate of incredible Buffalo short ribs. Speaking of Alesmiththe manager was also talking about a tentative idea for a Christmas in July dinner event, which I hope will happen. I’ll keep going back often.