(Credit: Jesse Mergenthaler)
Get your head out of the gutter! What he means is that he'll ask you your favorite flavors and offer samples until you find a wine that suits your palette. He elaborates: "Like if someone comes in for a merlot, I try to give them something with aspects of those flavors: fruity, spicy, dry."
And he’s not kidding! On a recent night, the bartender—a dead ringer for Scarlett Johansson, only brunette—offered us so many tastes that I was sufficiently buzzed by the time I'd settled on a light, crisp glass of the 2006 Lee Family Rose from Monterey, Calif. And every time she opened a new bottle for another patron, she offered tastes all around. I never would have thought to order the white "Jalousie," but since my tasting, I’ve craved its minty aftertaste.
Part of the bar's appeal is its size. With only 14 stools at the copper-top bar, Sgt. Recruiter is almost like a private tasting room, complete with silver buckets for dumping out what you don't like.
The space itself is connected to Cobras & Matadors in Los Feliz, but unlike the Spanish tapas restaurant, this wine bar has a French-American feel. All the wines are from France or California, and the small menu has the traditional offerings: steak frites, moules frites, pomme frittes, onion rings and fresh oysters. The only thing you'll find from the Cobras menu is the plate of socca cakes, which are made of chickpeas and seasoned with cumin and honey.
So, why go French when there's already a Spanish theme going on next door? "It's a concept [owner] Steven Arroyo played around with for a couple years," says Swim of his boss, who traveled to New York and Paris for inspiration. Ultimately, he wanted to pay homage to the wine cafés of Paris. We'll raise our glass to that.
What’s behind the name? A quick trip to Google shows that there’s a famous restaurant in Paris called La Taverne du Sergent Recruteur.
Why isn't the bar listed? There’s no phone number because the bar only welcomes walk-ins. If you need to reach the bar, call Cobras & Matadors.
What kind of wine do you order with food? "That's the beauty of wine," says Swim. "It's completely subjective." He goes on: "[They say] Zinfandel goes well with lamb; Cabernet with steak; Pinot Noir with duck. I say ‘throw all that shit out the door.' It’s basically what tastes good to you.”
Click here for Sgt. Recruiter's address.
Alexandra Le Tellier is Bars & Clubs editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
