Innocence On Abbot Kinney - Happy Thanksgiving!

Artist Hagop Belian recently sparked up Abbot Kinney with a new mural on the side of Gjelina.

Innocence is the new work Made Of Hagop that has already become a backdrop for the Instagrammers visiting Venice. Syrian-born Hagop told me the name of this piece when I ran into him at an In Heroes We Trust party a couple weeks ago, and I think it's perfect. And also something to remember as we celebrate this Thanksgiving. It feels like our country lost its innocence a long time ago, and recent events have shown both our government and our fellow citizens to often be anything but innocent. Perhaps it's time to get back to our basics, and remember that this holiday is about GRATITUDE and FREEDOM and being the very best we can be. We need to remember what we were founded for and what we're supposed to be about.

Let us celebrate the innocence of children during the holidays and make the world a better place for them to grow up in. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new." 

             - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Gjelina Volunteer Program At Venice High - Teaching Our Future Chefs!

What a wonderful and inspiring afternoon I just had, crashing the Gjelina Volunteer Program cooking class at Venice High School. I'm honestly so, so impressed. Chef Travis Lett and Program Director, Angela Hughes, are pals of mine, so I had an inside track to getting to know all about this excellent stuff going on with the kids around our Venice community.

The GVP started a few years ago, with Lett wanting to be more involved in the community that has shared so much with him and his restaurant endeavors. They started out by making pasta with the little kids at Walgrove Elementary, which fascinated the children, Hughes told me. "It blew their minds. The power of food is taken away when it's all packaged and processed. Showing them where their food comes from and how it's made empowers them, because now they get it, and they made something that pleases them." That led to "Jammin' In The Classroom", where they would make jam from scratch, with butter the kids churned up themselves. They next attacked 5th graders with salad, which they deconstructed and showed the kids how to grow and prepare the ingredients. The kids literally devoured it all, both the food and the information. The kids at Westminster Elementary take bakery tours over at Gjusta, and learned to make bread from the wheat that they had grown themselves. Amazing.

The success on both sides was immediate, and Hughes says, changed the kids and the business, with all parties involved realizing the importance of their own health and the health of the community, which can only improve when so much care is taken of each other. As I witnessed yesterday at Venice High.

These teenagers stay after school once a week (for 16 weeks) to partake in the "Chef's Club" class offered by Gjelina's volunteer program, and they learn the whole deal, from planting and harvesting the vegetables and greens outside in the (surprisingly bucolic) Venice Boulevard-adjacent garden, all the way through eating the meal and cleaning it all up.

On this day, they were gathering up snap peas, radishes, gorgeous swiss chard, and salad greens to accompany the whole branzino fish they would be preparing as the entrée up in the classroom. Lett, Hughes, Oscar Lusth, Judy Babis (who comes up with the curriculums), and their employees/volunteers from Gjelina were out there with the kids in the garden, explaining the growth and nuances of the produce (which I also eagerly listened to), and we could have been way out in rural California somewhere, not even noticing the rush hour traffic a stone's throw away.

Public schools have been so shafted by our government over the years, as gone are the Home Ec, Shop, Automotive, Art, Music, and so many other things done away with by short-sighted politicians and budgets. Thank goodness there are those in arts and business in our community that actually do care and will do what they can to give these exceptional youth opportunities they would never otherwise have. Venice High Principal Oryla Wiedoeft has welcomed these groups (also in cahoots with the Boys and Girls Club of Venice) into the school, and embraced what they have to offer, as clearly the students have as well. All I saw were excited, enthusiastic, open faces, eager to learn and create. The atmosphere was abuzz, and I was completely jealous as I watched the kids learn knife techniques, how to blanch the snow peas, filet the whole fish, season the inside ... this was not your basic boil an egg class for high school students ... this is pretty advanced stuff.

As I watched her slicing up a lemon perfectly, a student named Emily told me that her Grandfather had a restaurant when she was growing up and everyone in her family could cook, but now she felt like she had things she could teach them. She added that now she and her Dad cook breakfast for the whole family every Saturday morning ... proving that classes like this not only help the kids, but their families too.

 One young man said when asked how he felt about the Chef's Club, "Oh, I love it! Now I do all the cooking at home, my Mom is so happy." I bet she is, especially when you see these guys whipping up dishes like these, that could easily be served right up at Gjelina itself.

"Kids are smarter than we were at that age," said Lett. "They want to be here for three hours after school. Our resources should benefit their public schools and the communities around them. When the school is uplifted, it benefits everyone. We're all in this together." I had never been inside of Venice High before, just outside for games and the Grease sing-along. It's really old inside, and the kitchen area hadn't been used, and was sorely outdated. Not anymore. Gjelina has connections, obviously, and now the kitchen features a gleaming, giant new refrigerator, and spotless, upgraded working spaces. It's great.

And so are the kids. Every single one of the 35/40 kids being taught by a world-class Chef (gearing up to open Gjelina East in NYC's Bowery, where they will also work with farms and schools) for free in a public school (!) was polite, open, and all ears and smiles as Lett, Lutsh and Babis explained the steps in the recipes, all of them listening with tangible respect. "Everyone is so nice here, they treat us like professionals," added one boy as he kindly prepared a plate of their fish dinner for their guest - Lucky Me.

 It was truly delectable, and so super inspiring to see these kids so pleased with their results, sharing and discussing it with each other as they ate the feast they had prepared themselves from literally the ground up. When kids today are more interested in their phone screens than dirt, this was truly awesome. The only inkling one would have that these were 2016 teens was when one girl was going around seeing which fish platter was "The most Instagrammable". Who could blame her though, with dishes as impressive as these.

Lett and I both had chills as one student after another repeated that the best thing about the class was "It's fun!"

As learning should be. As LIFE should be, especially when you're a kid figuring out who and what you want to be. With experiences like these under their belts ... truly anything is possible.

Many thanks to everyone involved, from the Gjelina Volunteer Program, to Venice High School, to these incredible, thoughtful, talented, wonderful young Gondoliers/Chefs of Venice. They are absolutely rowing, not drifting into a fantastic future.

Gjustaaaah - Now Open

The Gjelina group's new bakery restaurant is now open. Gjusta opened its doors last week on Sunset Avenue, just across from Gold's Gym - which is hilarious, considering it'a a carb and sweets absolute Heaven and total temptation.



I went for the first time last Saturday, and it was a mad house. Droves of people lining up to check out the fantastic pastry creations from Nicole Rucker, super fine cheeses and meats, a sandwich section ... it truly is a foodie's dream. You'll just have to wait kind of a long time to fulfill it into your mouth. It will be worth it.

The ordering system is a bit chaotic as you in up for each different section and each section is packed. I'm sure this whole deal will get smoother, and this was opening weekend for a hotly anticipated spot, so had to choose either "overwhelming" or "fun" as your mindset. I chose fun.



And it was, because I ran into a bunch of people I knew among the obligatory hipsters, including the owners and Chef Travis Lett, there from Gjelina to roll up his sleeves and chip in on the new endeavor, taking customer orders and congratulations in equal measure.

I had a late one the night before, so arrived too late to partake in the porchetta breakfast sandwich they were sold out of ... but was consoled by the delicious blueberry scone I wound up with - and felt lucky to get, as they were going fast.

The breads are gorgeous. I saw a gentleman leave and walk down the street, just happily breaking off chunks of his baguette and eating it as he strolled. Irresistible.

As Rucker is a National Pie Competition blue ribbon winner, the pies are something to behold. They alone would be worth both the trip and the wait.

The wait. Don't be afraid of it, just embrace it, bring a friend to chat with, and be glad that we have this world class deluxe deliciousness just a walk away.

Yum.

Gjusta is located at 320 Sunset Ave. in Venice. There is no sign, but they do not need one. You'll know.

Pie Fidelity - A Pie Premiere

After writing about Nicole Rucker's Kickstarter film project back in March of 2013 , the eagerly awaited Pie Fidelity premiered last night at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax. It was a celebration of both the great American road trip ... and the great American favorite - Pie.

After cleaning up in the KCRW Pie contest, Rucker set out with her director, Casey O'Brien and their crew to try pies and meet their makers along the way to Orlando, Florida to compete in the 2013 National Pie Contest. Rucker thanked all from the Gjelina group (where she is the house baker), by saying, "Exploration is the name of the game - no matter what." O'Brien simply introduced the film by saying, "She's really good at making pies, so we made a movie about it." There you have it.

The film couldn't be more charming. As Rucker says when she arrives in Florida, "I was visually assaulted by a level of Americana I'd never seen." The same could be said for the film, which spotlights all the very best things about that America ... old fashioned skills, farm fresh ingredients, beautiful land, the open road, and the biggest hearts of the biggest characters.

"I like characters," says Rucker in the film (I do too!), and it shows. The folks they encounter along the way, from Venice to Orlando, are lovingly portrayed in all their down-home glory. The "Pie stops" along the way include Pie Town, New Mexico, where there were no pies to buy until Kathy Knapp moved to town and opened up shop. There her many satisfied customers experience "Piegasms", oohing and aahing over her delectable creations. I'm going there.

Rucker Ranch in Oklahoma was the next stop, at the home of Blaine Rucker's (Nicole's husband) relatives. There they enjoy home-made pies and wisdom shared ... "Always say thank you, I love you, and I'm sorry."

On they travel to the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma, home of The Original Fried Pie Shop. Fried. Pies. That's really all you need to know. Throughout the film, the various characters are gorgeously photographed in a series of stills that are so wonderful, they really demand their own coffee table book or something (with recipes, please!).

A stop in Texas to visit a friend's Grandma Jodie is a joy, and then it's on to Louisiana, where they get to sample the wares at Strawn's Eat Shop in Shreveport, where "It's like being at Grandma's house." Which I think is the appeal of pie. Childhood memories, simple pleasures, someone baking something from scratch with nothing but love. That's why I love to make (and eat) pies, and I certainly got that from my Grandma Olson. I'm also going to Strawn's.

The final pie stop in this adventure was perhaps the coolest. and the one Rucker herself was most anticipating a visit to - the Pie Lab in Greensboro, Alabama. "They put a modern take on what we're doing.", said Rucker. Wow. They have single-handedly (together) transformed the Mom and Pop Main street in Greensboro to once again be a thriving center of the community, where their philosophy states, "Pie + Conversation = Social Change." Awesome. I'm for SURE going there.

From there, they high-tail it to Orlando for Rucker to compete in the "Perfect Pie" category in the National Pie Contest. When her absolute perfection of a four-apple-combo apple pie comes out of the oven, the Silent Movie Theater audience audibly moaned and gasped ... if only it were in Smell-A-Vision!

The National Contest is hilarious. Young ladies in pie costumes, red, white and blue bunting everywhere, the Pillsbury Doughboy as a host ... it really is an explosion of Americana. It's highly amusing to watch the Ruckers take it all in, and exceptionally awesome when - SPOILER ALERT - Rucker takes home the blue ribbon.

The theater erupted in applause and cheers at that foregone conclusion, and after distributing the pies won in the evening's raffle (donated by fancy chefs about town like Evan Kleiman, whose apple I got to taste, and it was flawless), it was time to EAT PIE in the courtyard pie after-party.

The entire evening was delicious, and so heart-warming. The simple delight of a piece of pie with friends ... enjoyed all across America.

Pie Fidelity is a triumph of pie, fun, and friendship. There could be a full-length documentary on any one of the characters involved. Like all the best movies. and all the best pies ... it leaves you wanting more. Many thanks to all involved for taking us along on this absolute treat of a trip, and sharing all that love. And pie.

The Date Rape Of Venice

The guy looks good, seems nice, talks a smooth game, makes her feel special ... then the next thing she knows, she wakes up all dazed out, wondering what happened. If Venice were a human being, I'm sure she'd be feeling date raped right about now.

I've been crazy busy lately, was out of town, and only during the recent Art Walk did I have the time to cruise the whole Abbot Kinney stretch. I felt a little woozy myself. What the hell are all these chain stores doing here? What happened to the Venice Unchained organizers? Why is everyone just bending over and accepting it? It's bizarre. It feels like with the departure of such Abbot Kinney stalwarts as Surfing Cowboys and Jin and Glencrest and Lily's and Capri, the spirit and the HELL NO of the neighborhood may have departed as well. But I hope not.

I've had many conversations about it lately, as you can imagine, and there are very intelligent and thoughtful people here among us who care and have good ideas, but it takes MORE conversation among ALL of us, and then action. ACTION. You vote with your dollars, as you know, and you don't have to spend them at places that don't groove with Venice. (You know who they are just by looking at them ... Scotch & Soda? Flannel? LF? Lucky? GANT? Really?!?!) Then they don't survive, and then they go away. Or you can just accept it all, and live like every other suburban mall-goer in the nation, and forget that you ever moved to Venice because it was different, and meant something special to us. But then the terrorists win. The Venice I moved to would never let that happen.

I don't think it's hyperbole to call it terrorism, either. Corporations are pretty much terrorists against individuality. The way giant stores have gone in and decimated local businesses in small towns across the nation might as well have bombed them, for all the damage they've done. A neighbor of mine called what's happening in Venice "Financial Genocide." Again, no hyperbole, really. The big dollar people have come to town and are systematically trying to get rid of all the people who can't afford their ridiculously greedy terms. And God forbid you want to crash in your car or van like surf bums have since California learned how. Towed. Ticketed. Arrested. B.S. (*Side bar: Of course you will Vote NO on OPDs if you love Venice the way it's supposed to be. Free.)

I recently had to move - again - from a place I really liked, after just a year, because of another sketchy landlord in Venice. This time I was tortured out by constant heavy construction in the downstairs unit daily for 6 months solid. Deafening sledgehammer-type work. Every. Day. There wasn't working water in the bathroom for the whole month of February. There was a film of dust covering everything, every day, even inside the drawers. It could not have been healthy to breathe this in every day. When the landlord, one Mr. Sheppard Solomon of West Hollywood (who told the back neighbor he "just wanted a piece of Venice") and his henchman, Noel Vietor (what a piece of work that guy is), were asked for rent compensation for these outlandish conditions, when they finally responded - which was rare - they sent a text that said, "If they don't like it, they can get the fuck out." Nice. Very Venice. So I got the fuck out, sadly, and that dude then tried to take $1,100 back from the deposit to repair the bath tub they wouldn't ever come to repair. Yep. This charmer (whose main claim to fame and fortune seems to be writing Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind" song - great) is now trying to get $3,700 for a two bedroom apartment on Westminster a block from Oakwood Park. Don't give it to him, Suckers.

Right before I moved, I was riding bikes down Lincoln Boulevard with my friend, when he saw a white guy, probably in his 30's, slide the manhole cover in the sidewalk aside, climb out, and do a morning stretch like he'd just gotten up for the day. From sleeping in a SEWER!

We went back later to investigate, but as I have a major rodent issue, and we weren't exactly invited, we decided to let it be for the moment. The image has been seared into my mind though, and the question looms ... Is this what we've come to? If people want to stay in Venice and they can't afford the premium rents we're being raped for, the sewer system starts looking like a good option?! In talking about this with a few people, I learned that this guy from that day is not alone, as descriptions of other people talking about sleeping down there do not match our guy. Wow.

I've been called a bit of a hippie (mostly for my principals I'd like to think, and less my hygiene) sure, but I can accept that change is gonna come. Everywhere. But as my friend Travis Lett said, "Yes, but there's a way to edit the change." I thought that was right on, as Travis and his business partners operate Gjelina, which is a smashing success, but also a very Venice institution. All three partners have lived in Venice over a decade plus, and care about the community to the point where Travis has said that for him, Gjelina couldn't be anywhere else. That's the feeling of Venice to me, that you couldn't be anywhere else. That's why I moved here. That's why I love it here. That's why I thank my lucky stars every time I walk the beach and wave at an old-school local, both of us breathing in the beauty and freedom of being at the very edge of the country - physically and mentally. The beach is still the most authentic part of Venice, and that has to be protected .. and trust me, the corporate letches are coming for it, with some pretty big dollar Rufis to slip in the unsuspecting beach business owners' drinks.

So be strong, Venetians. Don't abide it. The Dude wouldn't (C'mon, it was shot in Venice). You might think it looks all nice and safe around here now, but then you wake up all messed up because you thought you moved to a bohemian paradise, and then you opened your eyes to be just like everyone, everywhere else. Let's work together to preserve what's left that's special and UNIQUE about this place we love.

I'm reminded of the quote by Marcus Garvey now, when he said, When all else fails to organize the people, conditions will. 

Organize, People. Defend your Venice! 


* You can get Defend Venice shirts like the top photo at www.venicebeachhead.org.

Pie Fidelity with Gjelina's Nicole Mournian

Nicole Mournian is a complete treat of a lady, which makes complete sense, as she is the creator of some of the best treats life has to offer. Namely, Pie. She is the masterful baker at Gjelina, and she's about to hit the road to the National Pie Contest in Florida on a mission she has dubbed "Pie Fidelity."

She embarks on this adventure confidently, having won (pretty much sweeping) the KCRW Pie Contest last fall, with Best In Show, Best Savory Pie, Best Fruit Pie and Best Crust ribbons all going home with Mournian. Now, I'm a pie maker myself, so I can rest you assured that Mournian's creations are the absolute top of the heap. Like, I'm intimidated. But mostly inspired.

Especially when she makes it all so fun. The trip to the National Pie Contest will be about winning (Mournian claims to be very competitive, but I've only ever seen pure sweetness) the whole thing, for sure, but it's also about the journey. She and co-worker/filmmaker, Casey O'Brien, will be road tripping all along the "Southern Pie Belt", interviewing and making pies with down-home bakers across the country, creating an oral history documentary of real pie in America. Pie Fidelity. I'm so jealous.

Mournian's own journey began growing up in San Diego, in a family that wasn't really too big on baking (dessert was often store-bought strawberry shortcakes). She went to the San Francisco Art Institute for photography, and while shooting a bunch of food for a project, she realized that she had a better time making the food. When she graduated, all the other students received cameras for their big gift ... Mournian got a KitchenAid mixer. Clearly, others were supportive of her talents.

She started lying about her kitchen experience and making up references to get jobs in kitchens where she could really learn her craft. She worked at Influx in San Diego, where she learned a ton, then moved up to L.A. and worked at Fresh in Culver City, then headed over to learn coffee at Intelligentsia on Abbot Kinney here in Venice. While working at Intel, Mournian met and became friends with Travis Lett, Chef at Gjelina. He offered her a job and she moved down the street to become "General Manager & Baker" for Gjelina, where she now blows minds daily with her perfect concoctions (like the cacao/avocado mousse she gave me to try while we were chatting ... oh my GOODNESS!).

Encouraged by Lett and the team at Gjelina, Mournian entered the KCRW contest the first time, and lost. Didn't even get an honorable mention. Competitive streak kicking in, she spent the next year researching and perfecting her recipes and crust. The day of the contest last year, she got stuck in L.A. traffic and got her pies entered just three minutes to the deadline, the last person to enter. All the other entrants must be bummed that the traffic wasn't a bit worse, as Mournian's savory pie (pork belly!) and fruit pie (blueberry/blackberry) took home all the top prizes. The famous Chef judges were baffled by her crust, and were offering her jobs on the spot. Gjelina knows what they have in Mournian, however, and everyone is all the way behind her as she heads off for the big National Contest in Florida.

But we have to help her get there! Please kick in on her Kickstarter page to help fund their great pie adventure, and celebrate all the bakers that make our country so rich in tradition and deliciousness.

Please go NOW (there are only 4 days left to contribute!) to Nicole's Pie Fidelity page:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/piefidelity/pie-fidelity

... and contribute what you can to make this high in the sky apple pie hope come to fruition! I heard about the whole story on Pi Day (March 14/3.14, get it?), where Mournian was just taking the strawberry/rhubarb pies out of the oven, after getting back from judging Google's campus pie contest. There did not appear to be any real threat to the National crown over there, so we can send our Venice team off to the National contest on April 28th, feeling great about their chances.

Go Nicole! Go Casey! Go Pie Fidelity! Mmmmmm ... Pie.

GTA (Gjelina Take Away) Is Open - and Awesome

GTA, the new breakfast and lunch spot from our pals at Gjelina, is now open for business, right next door to G-Dogs, as we call it. (I don't really know why, we just do.) It was slow to open, and I'd walk by all the time, bug Travis (Lett, Gjelina's chef, great guy and neighbor) about it, and now our patience has been amply rewarded.


EVERY morsel I have consumed from this rustic and classy at the same time counter is pretty much eyes roll back in your dang head delicious. The blueberry brown sugar scone - ummm, wow. I've never been much of a scone gal, as I find them dry and boring, but now I could scone it up on a daily basis. That's because there's a bunch of different - and all jamming - flavors. Bacon & Date. Berry and Ricotta. Oatmeal and something. Awesome and awsome. Those, plus delish coffee cake, fresh strawberry turnovers - if you get there early and lucky enough, egg sandwiches, biscuits, cookies, tra la la! Gorgeous coffees (cortado dulce, please!) too, but they don't yet have take away cups, so you have to stand there and slam it, which I can't always do. That all goes on until 11:30, and then they switch to lunch.


Lunch. MMMM sandwiches - I've had the roast turkey and roast beef, (because I'm not at all afraid of meat) and both are what your Mom might make, if you have a good cooking Mom. The bread is made right there in their fiery ovens, with gorgeous "ears" sticking up - a term Travis taught me, those ridges that rise up on artisan breads. The same right-on pizzas that they kill you with next door. Limeade that tastes just like Summer. I'm so happy somewhere this good is only a stone's throw from home, and I already know pretty much everyone that works there. THAT is a neighborhood joint, never mind the hype.

Speaking of hype ... a little editorial here ... Much has been made of Gjelina and its no substitutions* policy of late. I completely admire Travis and Co. for sticking to their guns and making the policy apply to everyone, across the board. It's about time someone went a little Pinko in an LA restaurant! If some random "Don't you know who I am?!" outraged celeb can't handle their demands being denied for once, order something else. Go someplace else. Grow up!


Early on I wrote a story about Travis and Gjelina, with the title, "Gjelina's Food Artist", and that's what he is. Just taste his stuff and try and debate it. You wouldn't say to a painter, "Hey, I'd rather have you use red here than blue". Or tell a musician what chord to play and when. Why is it any different for a guy who chooses to express himself through food? It isn't. And if you can't handle that, just don't go there. Then another table will open up for someone with an open mind, and you can get your ass kissed in West Hollywood or wherever. Everybody wins.

I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's scone, and some friendly chit chat with my brothers and sisters at my new favorite hang in the 'hood. Venice style.


* For the record, at GTA you MAY have omissions (I don't care for the kale on the egg sandwich and I hate mustard, so bonus!) but you may not have additions. So there.

GTA
1427 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice

Travis Lett - Gjelina's Food Artist

"Travis Lett is a good person. He's an artist too, and his artistry is food." So said my friend, photographer Kwaku Alston when I was doing a story on him (2/16/10)and talking about his favorite Venice spots, of which Travis's restaurant, Gjelina, is most certainly one. I've seen Travis around for years, and couldn't be happier that such a really good guy's business endeavor has taken off so well {Full disclosure: it's one of my favorite Venice spots too, so this is gonna be totally biased, OK? Cool.}. So well that he's a super busy guy and it was only yesterday that we finally had a chance to sit down for a minute and share a few Venice/life stories.

Travis is from New Jersey, grew up there and then headed off to UC-Boulder to study fine art ... painting, sculpting, all of it. He always liked to cook, and his Grandparents were farmers in Ohio, so he grew up with a healthy appreciation for the origins and benefits of naturally grown produce, and the sources of food is still what interests him the most about the field. When interns or someone asks Travis when he decided to be a Chef, his answer is, "I still haven't." Meaning he never chose it as a career, but paid for his art schooling by bumping around as a prep cook, and got really good at it, until a friend in L.A. needed someone to help him open his sushi restaurant (Tengu), and off Travis went, for what he thought would be a few months.

That few months stretched out longer, and after crashing in Hollywood or his car for a while, that got old and he looked for a place in Venice, as he said, "It was obviously the place to be, where I gotta be ...". (I exactly know the feeling he speaks of. Clearly.) He found a place down by Speedway & Horizon, and has been in Venice ever since. 930 in the Westwood W Hotel hired Travis as Chef and he began his "rough draft" concept for what Gjelina would become in the future, by buying everything he could from Farmer's Markets, organic and local, and creating menus based on seasonal availability. This was a bit more radical at the time, especially for a Corporate-owned hotel restaurant, so after a while, it was time again for Travis to move on. (Yay).



While doing some restaurant consulting gigs, and trying to sort out what was next for him, Travis would walk from his place to Abbot's Habit to get coffee and work, and passed by this building on the corner every day, with an open half-door, with Pit Bulls inside. He's say hello to the dogs and soon got to talking with the owner, Fran Camaj, who just so happened to want to open a restaurant in the space there that he already owned. From the very beginning, they agreed on the local, organic, seasonal approach to a menu, as well as the idea that it needed to reflect the Venice Community. A third partner, Robert Schwan - another long-time Venice resident and restaurant manager (72 Market Street, Wabi Sabi) - shared their vision, and they took a chance on hiring a young Chef in Travis that valued his creative freedom and ideals (Oh, the designers and architect too - all Venice folk). They have backed him up every step of the way, and the mad success of Gjelina has been their reward for their (not much of a) risk.

Gjelina is named for Fran's Albanian mother, hence the Albanian "Gj" spelling. It is always busy, and people are always enjoying it. The back patio is my favorite place to sit, enjoying truly delectable dishes (and maybe some lovely wine?) in the sunshine of the 'hood. When discussing the fruition of his vision, Travis told me that "what's dear about it to me is that we're getting food from the right sources." They purchase their ingredients from local artisan producers, from olive oil makers, to cheese, to the gorgeous produce at the Farmer's Market right up the street. Because of their dedication to this, Travis said, "There is a shifting balance in the way people think about their food, you can feel it happening." And it's because of people like him that this is so.

Travis said he thought that if you communicate with, and understand your customers, offering them a fun, stylish place, with delicious food, created with integrity and in a value-driven sense, Venice would react resoundingly well - and they have. He straight up says that this restaurant was opened with the belief that it was meant to be HERE, for the people of the area, and would be irrelevant out of its context (like when people want him to open one up in Vegas). He wanted it to represent US, and be a place for the Community to gather (and these days the A-list celebrities really seem to want in on that Community too ... what are you gonna do?). The partners' idea was that they wanted to have a place "that seems like it was already here." I think they've nailed that ... that bustling corner of Abbot Kinney now seems like it was always so.

I told Travis that I have a problem, and that is that I love certain things on his menu SO much, that I have to get them every time, lest I be haunted by them for days later (looking at you, Gruyere/Caramelized Onion/Fromage Blanc/Arugula Pizza & Butterscotch Pot de Creme with Salted Caramel and Creme Fraiche - of which I have said I might want it to be my last taste on Earth. For real.). He laughed and said where some people might take off the 4 least-selling items on a menu, he'd rather take off the 4 BEST sellers, so that people try something new, as he wants his guests to "Experience this place WITH me." I promise, in that case, to open my taste buds up next time, at least a little. Which is also why the delish BLT you might love and want every time may not always be on the menu. The tomatoes out of season will not be served by Travis at Gjelina, but when they're back and thriving, you'll appreciate that ol' sandwich all the more. (and those tomatoes will soon be grown right on Gjelina's own rooftop garden!) The same bit of a rebel (in a city - Greater L.A. - of ass-kissers, let's face it) yell comes out with Travis in the little comment on the front of the menu that says, "changes and modifications politely declined". I completely respect this, as I feel like it's his vision, no ma'am, you cannot have your dressing on the side, hold the everything, annoying little requests. But Travis explains it more like it's not his elite Chef that knows everything better than you stance, it's that "I'm kind of a Socialist when it comes to my Restaurant ... I want to please everyone the same." So the dishes are all prepared the same way, he encourages his staff to not spend extra energy on one person over another, and if customers are cool, they may get the extra attention to their experience, vs. the ones who like to hear themselves bitch about everything (my read on them, not his).



We chatted in the sunny, huge-window-ed upstairs of Gjelina, that is now a cool apartment-type place to kick it, but may soon host private dinner affairs. What a great space to talk about Venice and one's place in it - overlooking all the AKB businesses and foot traffic, people honking, waving, and dinging bike bells below us.

And speaking of bike bells ... I was telling Travis about my stolen/returned Delores the Bike story to explain my desire to build Community and tell our stories to each other, and it turns out he has a good one of his own. His Beach Cruiser was taken from his yard, an all too often told bummer of a tale. He wrote it off, and hoofed it around instead for about six months. Then one day he was leaving his house and there was his bike, back in the yard, having been fully improved, complete with freshly pumped up tires, and even some replaced parts. He said there may have been some Burning Man Playa dust on it, but he couldn't be sure if it was the thief's, or his own leftover memories. How about that?! Another one that makes you go, "Only in Venice". That would also go for Travis's feelings about Gjelina, and where he wants to be.

EAT LOCAL!

(Extra points if you can bike or walk there. Which we can.)


Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, 90291
310.450.1429