Lunch at Gjelina (Venice, CA)

This week, after our wine class, we decided to head about 20 miles west of Downtown L.A., to the trendy area of  Abbot Kinney Blvd., in Venice.  We went in search of a restaurant called Gjelina, which has a reputation of having some of the best pizza in town.  Gjelina was also recently listed as one of the "101 Best Restaurants in L.A." by Jonathan Gold of the L.A. Times.  Gjelina primarily serves lunch and dinner, but it is also open for brunch on the weekends.

As seems to be the norm lately with most of the "hip" places in L.A., Gjelina is very minimalistic on the outside, with only the tiniest of signs in the window indicating you have found the right place. If we didn't know where to look, we probably would have missed it.

Gjelina is fairly small on the inside, with a couple of large communal tables, and a handful of other tables situated around the walls.  The interior is simple and rustic, but with some modern fixtures, including an industrial type chandelier hanging over the center charcuterie bar.  It also has an outside patio, which looked cozy, but was completely packed.  We figured that at 3:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, we would hit the "sweet spot" of time where we could easily get a table without much waiting.  It turns out that the whole place was packed from the time we arrived until the time we left.  The hostess told us it would be about a 15-20 minute wait, but we were happily seated after about five minutes. 

As our wine class ended at 2:30 p.m., and we did not get to Venice until after 3:00 p.m. (gotta love L.A. traffic), we were only allowed to order from the "afternoon" menu, which was limited to appetizers, salads, and a variety of gourmet pizzas.  This was fine by us, as we were specifically there to try the pizza, but they do have a more extensive dinner menu.

By the time we sat down at our table, we were starving, so we decided on an appetizer, which was the charcuterie board with a selection of cured meats, pickled vegetables, and mustards.   They had some pretty unique wines by the glass.  My husband paired the charcuterie with a glass of  Domaine George Vernay, Syrah (Collines Rhodaniennes, France '11), and I selected the Gilbert Cellars Left Bank Bordeaux Style Blend from Washington.

The four cured meats were prosciutto, capicolla (coppa), sopressata, and duck breast, and as you can see, we were given a hearty portion of each.  It also included three different types of mustards, from a coarse ground, to a sweeter, honey mustard type concoction.  The board also included an array of spicy, pickled vegetables including okra, cauliflower, cabbage (kimchi), and a radish.  The spice and vinegar in the vegetables was a perfect accompaniment to the fatty, cured meats.  I found it strange that we were not given any bread or toast to eat with our meats, so we asked our server who seemed surprised by our request (I forget that no one eats bread in L.A.), but she happily obliged and brought us a plate of freshly toasted bread. Combining the meats with the different mustards, on top of the bread, made for a very tasty starter.  Both of our wines also paired quite nicely.

Our main course was all about the pizza.  Now, the pizzas at Gjelina are not your typical tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni kind of pizzas.  The pizzas are thin crusted, wood-fired, with a wide range of high quality, gourmet toppings.  I chose the mushroom, goat cheese, and truffle oil pizza.  The mushrooms and goat cheese were delicious and plentiful, as you can see below.  The addition of the truffle oil kicked the whole thing up a notch, and added a fantastic truffle aroma to the pizza.  Sometimes when using truffle oil, restaurants add too much which can be overwhelming, and can also overpower the rest of the ingredients.  This pizza had just the right amount of truffle oil, which balanced nicely with the cheese and mushrooms.  The crust was thin and crispy, which is how I prefer my pizza crust.  Overall, I thought the pizza was delicious.

 

My husband selected the pizza with lamb sausage, tomato confit, rapini, and pecorino and asiago cheeses.  Due to the combination of sausage, tomato confit, and cheeses, his tasted a lot more like a traditional style pizza.  Again, the toppings were tasty and plentiful.  The use of the high quality toppings gave the pizza a really great balance of flavors.  He also thoroughly enjoyed his pizza.

Each pizza was served with a small side plate containing freshly shaved parmesan cheese, dried oregano, and crushed red pepper.  I thought it was a nice touch, and I did end up putting a sprinkle of red pepper flakes on to my pizza to give it a little more heat.

Even though we were already pretty full,  we had to take a look at the dessert menu.  My husband ordered a simple scoop of home-made, hazelnut gelato.  Only one dessert stood out for me, the Butterscotch Pot de Créme, which is a coffee mug with sweet butterscotch pudding, topped with a layer of sea salt crystals, followed by a dollop of créme fraiche, and a salted caramel drizzled over the top.  The pudding was rich and decadent, and the créme fraiche helped lighten it up a bit.  It had sea salt sprinkles on top, which added a little texture, as well as, some much needed saltiness to balance out the very sweet pudding.  It was a perfect sweet treat to end the meal.

I also ordered a cappucino, which was artistically poured with a heart design drawn in the foam on top.  It complimented  my dessert perfectly.  My one complaint about the cappucino was that it was served in a regular glass, with no handle, and it was burning hot.  Therefore, I had to wait quite a while before I could even pick it up to drink it.

Overall, we had a really enjoyable lunch at Gjelina.  I don't know that we would race back because it is pretty far for us, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it if you happen to be visiting the Venice area.  However, be sure to get a reservation ahead of time (they only take them for dinner), or be prepared to wait.