JETSETREPORT

Gjelina

Stylish, delicious eatery in LA's Venice

Hours Sun, Sat 9-12am; Mon-Fri 11:30-12am
Phone (310) 450-1429
www.gjelina.com/

1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd Venice CA 90291 United States

restaurants

After a 2-week wait for a reservation, the face behind the podium was none other than the former hostess at Chateau Marmont who manages her reservation book like a guest list - and it's not privy to Opentable. Located along ever-trendy Abbott Kinney that's in a metamorphous between arty neighborhood and increasingly too-trendy retail strip, this Venice eatery easily ranks as one of the best in LA in terms of food, design and overall crowd. Once entre is secured, guests enter a dimly lit design lair that mixes rustic industrial elements from reclaimed wood tables and brick floors to filament lightbulbs and old-time school chairs.  Through the back of the restaurant, iron glass doors lead to a spectacular rear patio with fire pit and cool collection of actual Venice locals and sexy characters that maintain the arty integrity of this LA gem.

The Food

A single page menu of fine print font packs as much variety and flavor as you can find in an LA eatery divided between categories of charcuterie, vegetable, salad, small plates and plates. Appetizers of wood-roasted cauliflower are followed by charred romanesco with capers and grilled king oyster mushrooms. Wood fire pizzas vary between all-white blanco to duck sausage and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms nothing short of sublime. Small plates include wood-roasted peel and eat prawns worth the labor, red King Salmon with poached egg and grilled asparagus with pancetta. Larger plates of braised chickpeas with Israeli couscous and Chitarra pasta with crabmeat was better than our half-chicken Jidori but not the flatiron steak with tomato butter.

Last Word

Stylish gourmand along Venice’s Abbott Kinney forges new territory in LA cuisine as long as you can get a reservation.

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