The well-respected and -reviewed Gjelina, established in 2008, has an upbeat vibe with farm-to-table food concept, where prime-time seating was booked for a month. The late and acclaimed Los Angeles food critic #JonathanGold once said of Gjelina: “everything that might persuade a snowbound New Yorker to change coasts.”

During a past trade show trip in January 2020, I booked some seats with my then co-workers, where we enjoyed the food, pleasant service and energetic atmosphere. Our orders consisted of thin-crust pizzas, a cheese board, #wagyu #beefrigatoni, and drinks of various types (additional images), but i’m thinking if there was a second visit—my food experience would have been better. For example, the craft beer list could have been deeper and I could have possibly ordered better dishes. For some reason, this initial visit did not meet my high expectations of the establishment.

Unfortunately, after over 11 years, their founder chef #TravisLett recently sold his shares of the restaurant and is on a new project. I got word of this as I asked our server how Travis was doing, and I also mentioned I’m a proud owner of their popular cook book.

I’ve prepared various food items from Gjelina’s book that caters to simple, rustic foods with great cooking techniques, and always resulting in amazing flavours. For example, Lett’s garlic confit cooks bay leaves, garlic and thyme in olive oil, where this then can be brushed on a pizza dough as its foundation and adding a layer of complex flavours to be complemented by the other pizza ingredients.

#Photo: #Canon 6DM2 with 35mm @ 1.4Love
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