Covell opens in Los Feliz; The Must gets shut down

Covell, the new Los Feliz wine bar across the Street from Wacko and operated by former Cafe Stella barman Dustin Lancaster and Silverlake Wine vet Matthew Kaner, is officially open. The 1,100-square-foot spot features a homey, ragtag-chic atmosphere with pages literally torn from an Argentinian dictionary and pasted to the walls, and salvaged windowpanes covered with that day's wine and beer specials. As promised the bar will soon feature a food menu curated by Matthew Poley of Heirloom LA and cheese picked by Paige Handler of the Cheese Handler and Pizzeria Mozza.

Covell, 4628 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz. (323) 660-4400.

Blogdowntown reports on an odd and hotly contested turn of events over the weekend, which resulted in downtown's the Must wine bar getting shut down. The gist of their story is that the owners of the Must showed up at the bar on the morning of July 4 to find that much of their stuff was gone and they were locked out of their business. What they thought was a robbery turned out to be an unexpected eviction. LAist now reports that the situation has boiled over into a lease dispute that the Must hopes to arbitrate in court.

--Jessica Gelt

Photo: The Must wine bar. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times