“Did you do anything fun this weekend?” asks the bank teller (whom I DON’T know).

“Um..not really,” I reply. And then the obligatory, “What about you?”

“Yeah, I didn’t really do anything.”

(This is painfull)

What was I supposed to tell him? I went to a wine-tasting dinner with friends? Or that I spent all of the next day in bed with food poisoning only leaving it to commit unspeakable acts in the bathroom?

I’m not a fan of small talk. But when your small talk gets specific, you’re on the verge of being an asshole.

I continued to play his little game, nervously sweating and focusing on his Friar Tuck haircut surrounding a prominent bald spat.

“Happy Monday”, he says cheerfully as I tear the receipt from his hand and jet towards the exit.

What I did do was go to a really fun wine-tasting birthday party with friends. But not before going to dinner at Speranza in Silverlake.

Speranza is a super casual (paper napkins) Italian job, like eating on the porch of someone’s home.

Since we had about 18 people, we choose the prefix menu, which including all these apps and a really average, miniscule bowl of pasta.

The cheese plate (and bald pear) was fantastic.

The caprese salad was boring.

I don’t like the combo of prosciutto and melon, so I didn’t like this dish. Prosciutto reminds me of shaved human flesh. Which is only tasty when it’s fresh.

We were given our choice of three pastas, I chose the bolognese. Which we found out halfway through was made with Veal and this made Chesty Morgan push it away. “I’m not usually one to stand by my beliefs except when it comes to veal…”

I then had my first bite of Squid Ink pasta. Grody to the max. Squiddy! And my mouth was black after my one and only bite.

Like eating an oil slick.

After dinner, we headed to 55 Degrees in Glendale. Up top is a wine shop and below is a wine bar and a private room we had rented for our own wine-tasting. Each pour was about half a glass, so everyone got pretty toasty pretty quick. Such a fun time!

Until my food poisoning the next day…

2547 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(323) 644-1918