Gjelina

Gjelina, that trendy but not too trendy restaurant on Abbott Kinney (that trendy but not too trendy street in Venice), is like Craft and Little Giant combined but with that California casualness and breeze that makes it unpretentious – even when it is crowded on a Monday night and Owen Wilson (he checked me out!) is hanging around.

It was round two for me there last night and what struck me this time was how heavily the dishes rely on the natural flavor pairings of only a few ingredients. The items are simple and yet each one packs a flavorful punch. It’s fun to see the star ingredients listed out on the menu – really alluding to the fact that you could make these items yourself (or The Dish’s Dish could do it for you) if you got the balance juuust right.

We repeated a few vegetables from last time – Brussels sprouts and cauliflower – and we added a new one – radicchio. The cauliflower is still my very favorite. There really is something very Little Giant about the dish – the simplicity yet expert preparation, the balance of fat and fresh and sweet/savory equilibrium… sweet vegetable plus a few chili flakes for good measure.

Moving down the menu, we added the trout salad to our order. White fish tossed between curly leaves of arugula, flavored by grapefruit and lemon and punctuated with avocado and shaved red onions – with each bite, I kept saying to myself, “remember to make this at home! This is perfect for a simple supper!” Likewise for the squid… on which we re-upped after we gobbled away the first order… it was such a simple combination of capers, parsley, shaved celery and tiny smashed potatoes. I could so easily imagine the process of composing this dish – the best dishes are always the ones to which you say “why hadn’t I thought of it before?” So Craft.

As a bonus, we threw in some pizzas. Hen of the woods, beet greens and taleggio was my addition. The boys picked the eggplant, tomato, oregano and mozzarella pie. I know better than to eat pizza outside of NYC but these are really pretty good. It’s not so much about the crust/sauce/cheese ratio as it is about the interplay of gourmet ingredients, which sometimes can be just fine with me!

Dessert was chocolate chip banana bread pudding.  It was another of those dishes: "Why didn't I think to do that?!"