Gjelina's

Gjelina's on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach one of my favorite restaurants and is a must if you are ever in the Los Angeles area.  This go to is a Venice favorite for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they have most recently opened a take-out counter next door.  This is a farm to table restaurant where they use organic produce and support local small farms.  The food is amazing.  The pizzas have a thin, crispy crust and are among the best in the city.  Everything is great on the menu but my musts are the Miatake Mushroom Toast with Creme Fraiche & Truffle Oil, any of the pizzas and the Butterscotch Pot de Crème with Salted Caramel and Crème Fraiche for dessert; the best cup of butterscotch pudding you will ever have.  Ok, food aside, the design is great as well.  The decor is vintage industrial chic with its reclaimed wood ceilings and metal stools.  The concrete walls are acid washed to a beautiful mottled brown that have impressive engravings running along the top edge.  The random filament bulbs also add to the chill ambiance for this cool, hip setting.

  

Below is the take-out counter located next door and yes, the food is just as good.  I love the calacatta marble walls that run up to the ceiling.  The French brasserie-style shelving are striking and beautifully integrated with the sheet-metal counter fronts and the butcher block countertops.  

and I had to add the mushroom toast and the butterscotch pot de creme!!...Amazing!!