Gjelina

I don't get out much, at least not in my own hometown.

Traffic is too bad, and the choice is overwhelming. Used to be you could see every movie, go to every restaurant, now...it's a full time job following just one scene and I'm a completist, I like to be an expert, I don't like to sample, if I can't grasp the entire oeuvre and render an opinion, I opt out.

But not last night, last night we went to Gjelina.

At first we were supposed to meet Bill in West Hollywood. But then he told us he was renting a place in Venice for the summer, so how about a restaurant on Abbot Kinney?

Yes, Venice has always been hip.

And full of crime.

Just south of Santa Monica, the area has been gentrified, but gangs and transients have not been weeded out. If you haven't had a break-in, you haven't lived there.

In the last century, is it different now?

Once upon a time it was a sleep artists' enclave. It's where Jim Morrison so famously resided.

But today, you just can't get a parking place. And you can't get a restaurant reservation either.

But Jay knew someone.

That's what getting older is all about, the relationships, it's more important than money, do you know who to call, text or e-mail who will get you not only through the velvet rope, but into the desirable location.

Which at Gjelina is the back patio. Because inside, you just can't hear a thing.

That's where I decided to go. I may not exit my house, but when I do I'm looking for a peak experience, and that's what my Yelp surfing told me Gjelina would be. I pity those with poor Yelp ratings. Furthermore, good ones just reinforce themselves. That's where people go. So I'll venture to the establishment with many reviews even if the rating is a bit lower. As for the one star reviews...it always comes down to the same, some self-satisfied prick is pissed he or she was not treated like royalty. That's right, throw out the low Yelp ratings. And know that the site can be inaccurate, but where else you gonna go in our data-driven world?

I was stunned at all the people!

Go to dinner in Beverly Hills and you run into people you know. Happened to me just the other night in Santa Monica, I ran into Cameron Crowe. But here in Venice, I knew nobody!

And that's so exciting. It throws you for a loop. It shows you know nothing. Which means life is worth living.

Who are all these people out on a Wednesday night? Lining the walls, hanging on the street?

But Gjelina is not about the atmosphere, it's about the food.

It started with the olives and cheese. And the toasted raisin bread. I'm not much of a European, the cheese course rarely thrills me, but these items were so delectable they could have made a full meal. There was honeycomb and jelly and soft cheese and crumbly cheese and no highfalutin imprimatur, just good food.

Like the merguez, chimichurri and red onion.

Huh?

We had to ask too. It's lamb sausage. And it came curled on the plate, and to say it was delectable would be an understatement.

Then there was the pork belly, with Anson Mills corn grits, greens and apple glaze. The key is to cook it like fish. With a crunchy exterior, but soft, not quite rubbery interior. This was as good I've had, if not better.

And then the grilled whole squid, with melon, red onion, arugula and salsa verde. MMM! Recently, this has become my go-to item. Used to be they cut it up, but now the thing is to serve it whole, one long tentacle in this case, you slice off a nub and pop it in your mouth and it's chewy and tasty and you should not be put off by the appellation, you'll love it.

I mean that's what I told the assembled multitude. The wilder the better. If you're not willing to experiment with your food, I hope you like being sentenced to the same damn thing for the rest of your life, I hope you like listening forever to the music you spun in high school.

And we had scallops and a salad, but I truly was not prepared for the dessert.

It was the butterscotch pot de creme, salted caramel & creme fraiche.

I know, doesn't sound so hot, and I don't even care that much for butterscotch, but it was like a pudding, with sharp flavor, and you couldn't stop eating it.

We also ordered the nectarine galette and olive oil gelato, and the warm strawberry & rhubarb crisp with almond gelato, and they were extremely good, but not quite on the level of the butterscotch concoction, few things are.

If you're looking for white tablecloths and elbow room, Gjelina is not the place. Gjelina is about the food. Sure, hipsters can hang in the bar, but that's not what's driving people here, it's what goes in your mouth, not your eyes or ears.

And that's utterly fascinating and refreshing in a world of trappings and hype.

And you wonder why food is the new rock and roll. Why MTV is dead and the Food Network is burgeoning.

Because we eat every day.

And restaurants exist in a land outside social media, outside the tech revolution. You can work it, but it doesn't work. You've just got to serve great food and continue to do so, and then you develop patronage.

Of course there's more to it than that. First and foremost the numbers. What is your rent? How much is food and how is it priced? It's a game to put it all together.

Furthermore, in most cases you cannot get rich. Restaurants rarely scale. Sure, you can start a chain, but quality control is almost impossible. It's usually about the one destination.

And it's always about conversation, a great meal is comprised of many elements.

But it always starts with the food.

And Gjelina delivers.

http://www.gjelina.com


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