Gjelina: California Cooking from Venice Beach

(Hardback)

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Fans of great L.A.-healthy-ingredient-based cooking, ofeclectic-delicious cooking; patrons and followers of Gjelina,GTA, and Gjusta; the young, shoppy consumers of 'it' objects;and foodies/collectors who love popular of-the-place, of-themomentcookbooks. And people who love Venice Beach as aframe of mind.

From the LA Times: 'In some ways, Gjelina is an unlikelysuccess story. The restaurant opened with no publicity, no sign,no valet. Lett, who says he's 'not even a highly trained chef,just a resourceful guy,' had literally bumped into the job, aftermeeting the owner on the street. And despite his penchant forconversation and his model good looks, he has shied away frommedia and refused television appearances, at a time when it'sthe norm for self-promoting young chefs to jump at the chanceto star on reality TV.On any given Saturday, from morning to night, 1,000 peoplewill have filled the 100-seat restaurant. 'That's 10 turns with asmall margin for error,' Lett says. Even through the worst ofthe recession, each month has been busier than the last. Andon a Monday at 10 p.m., you will still have to wait 45 minutes ifyou show up without a reservation.'

From Bon Appetit: 'Gjelina is the benchmark for a new kind ofneighborhood restaurant. The dim room filled with woodentables and bare old-school lightbulbs is sexy; the Venicelocation (on chic and cheerful Abbot Kinney) is sexy; andeveryone from the servers to the diners is sexy. In spite of itall, the food remains stellar at brunch, lunch, and dinner.'

Author Bio

Travis Lett is the chef at Gjelina, GTA, and sister bakery Gjusta.He caught the cooking bug while an art student at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder, cooking at an Italianrestaurant for a few years. He left school, moved to L.A. on awhim, and worked as head chef at Japanese restaurant Tenguin Westwood, then ran the kitchen at the W hotel in Westwoodbefore leaving to become a private chef to movie producer JoelSilver. He joined Gjelina as a consultant and quickly because apartner after turning the restaurant into a instant success.

Michael Graydon is a food, lifestyle and interiors freelancephotographer based in Toronto, Ontario. His work has appearedin every Canadian and U.S. shelter and food magazine and heis beloved by design bloggers around the world.

Nikole Herriott, this project's stylist, blogs at http://www.herriottgrace.com/blog, also a hotspot in the blogosphere, andco-owns the online shop of covetable housewares with her dad.She also lives in Toronto.