For Melody Wine Bar
Recounting some of my dearest memories at Melody as it closes for good
It’s only a little over halfway through 2025, and the number of restaurant closures in LA is already uncountable. Every time I see a new Eater LA article listing the next set of closures, my heart sinks lower in my chest. But no closure hit me as hard as Melody’s. I was in the office at my 9-to-5 job walking to the bathroom, when I opened my Instagram to @melodyla’s post announcing July 12th as their final day of service. I did a full 180 and walked right back to my desk, abandoning the urge to piss I’d been holding onto for the past hour to process the news.
I’ve tried so hard to remember my first time at Melody, but I can’t for the life of me. It was so long ago, and I’ve been so many times since, that the memory’s blurred. Maybe that’s the point. I guess that’s what it means for a place to weave itself into your everyday. Melody especially felt like a second home when I moved several blocks up the street two years ago. It was there for me for every occasion.
A catch up with my dad over a bottle? Go to Melody.
A hang with my closest friends to gab the night away? Go to Melody.
A nightcap after a dinner date? Go to Melody.
A peaceful night to myself? Go to Melody.
That bungalow did so much for me. It’s one of the places where I started dabbling in wine. I remember writing down every single wine I’d try off the BTG list like a rabid ferret, trying to cling onto all the wines I was tasting and info I could glean from them.
Melody introduced me to incredible chefs through its chef pop-up structure. Most of all, I got to know the owner Eric Tucker through the years. We’ve had so many nights riffing off each other about wine. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come into Melody with an idea of a bottle I wanted to only have Eric upend everything I had in mind by plucking something entirely different off the shelf. A lot of the wine industry is intimidating and closed-off, but there are really great pockets of community in it too. And Eric embodies that kind, caring, and passionate side of the industry.
I’m beyond lucky to have been one of the many people who got to step through Melody’s door and experience the blue-lit magic that it breathed into Virgil Village. Being the sappy person I am, I wanted to share some of the most memorable moments I’ve had at Melody over the years.
1. Hot Octopus Tostada Summer
Metztli Taqueria was a long-standing Mexican food pop-up at Melody that, sadly, no longer exists. To this day, their octopus tostada might be one of my favorite bites of food in Los Angeles. To say that my sister and I were obsessed is an understatement. We were so hooked that we’d try to go to Melody almost every week just to eat it. The most perfectly cooked octopus sat atop a crisp corn tostada, slathered in smoked chile mayo and finished with a drizzle of their signature spicy peanut salsa macha. It was a Hot Tostada Summer that year, and all those dinners over shared tostadas and wine really brought me and my sister closer.
2. Where I wrote my first journalism enterprise story
In my sophomore year of college, I took a feature writing class for my Journalism degree. Though my college was in Chicago, I was home in LA attending my classes remotely because of COVID. The final assessment for that class was to write an enterprise story on any topic I wanted. At the time, Elizabeth Heitner was doing her Jewish-Mexican food pop-up residency at Melody. (Now, being the badass she is, she runs her own private culinary studio, Malli.)
I was fascinated by her cooking and wanted to know more about her background and culinary inspirations. I used her story as a lens into the rise of chef-driven pop-ups in LA since the start of the pandemic. It was my first serious Journalism story about the food world, and it opened my eyes to how generous, supportive, and genuine people in the hospitality industry are.
3. No thoughts. Just a pig talking a casual stroll on the Melody sidewalk at 11:30pm
4. Two girls drinking a bottle in 20 minutes flat
My college friend Brooke was visiting LA during the heyday of Melody — back when people would wait two hours for a table while sipping down bottles in the back lot to pass the time. After about 90 minutes of waiting, we finally got a table. But the second our asses touched our seats, Brooke got a text from her mom that her flight was landing early at LAX and needed to be picked up at 10pm. It was 9pm… and we were in Silver Lake… the opposite end of the city.
Sane people would’ve taken the loss, ordered a quick glass, and bounced. But no, we were committed to a bottle. We waited, and we weren’t backing down. So we ordered an Alsatian white, Tutti Frutti by Les Vins Pirouettes to be exact, and slang back every drop of those 750 mL in under 20 minutes. Powerful. (And if you were wondering: yes, Brooke picked up her mom on time.)
5. Opening up to my dad about my dating life for the first time
Talking about romance and relationships with my parents was not something we did growing up. That’s been changing over the last two years, where I’ve gotten slightly more comfortable telling my mom about my dating life. My dad would always be the last I’d tell. It’s never been intentional. It’s just easier, as a woman, to open up to my mom or sister than my dad.
But about a year ago, I was caught in a dating dilemma, and both my sister and mom happened to be out of town. My dad and I had already made plans to grab wine at Melody, and I was in desperate need of a sounding board. So I mustered up the courage to tell him about my situation. He was shockingly soft, supportive, and easy to talk to. Now, when I need relationship advice, I’ll hit up my dad without hesitation.
6. Where I went on the worst first date of my life
Such a stinger, but honestly one of the funniest experiences of my life. (Note to self: never go to your neighborhood spot where you know the staff for a first date with a complete stranger.)
My friends and I now refer to this notorious man as “bread boy.” So many things went wrong. First off, the guy didn’t really look like his pictures. Second, the entire date was based on us bringing each other a loaf of bread and do a bread exchange as a cheeky bit. But, of course, he forgets to bring his bread. Meanwhile, I took the assignment seriously and brought the fluffiest loaf of challah in town.
He also barely spoke, so I was exhausted after two hours of carrying the conversation. He sat hunched over like a wilting willow tree, making zero eye contact the entire time. But somehow, he must’ve thought the date was going well because he ordered a second round of glasses before I could ask for the check to flee. The second I got in my car, I deleted my Hinge profile and app for good and returned home loveless… and breadless.
7. Where my friend Dustin and I had our first bottle of wine together
Spoiler alert: we’re even closer friends and wine nerds together now. Dustin and I met working at Jon and Vinny’s where I was a sommelier and he was slanging coffees drinks at the barista station. We’d hung out a couple times before, but had never shared a bottle of wine. Of course, Melody ended up being where we drank that first bottle. I remember what we got so clearly; it was an Italian orange made of Garganega that had a soft, peachy-apricot situation going on. We wuvved it. Here’s the archival @wineswewuv post from that night.
Thank you Melody for housing all these memories for me. The physical space might not be forever, but all the feelings and memories are. Cheers.
**Update: For the time being, Melody is operating as a temporary space that Eric is calling “Bar Band Aid.” He said it’s the only way he can afford rent until a new operator takes over the space.**
bless the octopus tostadas!!
Thanks for introducing me to Melody. Sad to see such a special, zesty place go :’(