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Venice, CA | New York, NY | Las Vegas, NV
Named for founder Fran Camaj’s mother, Gjelina opened on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in 2008 and built something that proved difficult to replicate: a restaurant so deeply rooted in its neighborhood that the neighborhood grew around it. Its philosophy is purposeful simplicity. The menu follows the California harvest, guided by daily conversations and long-standing relationships with Southern California farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and co-ops. The produce leads. Everything else follows.
The Sustainability Print:
Produce-Forward by Design:
Gjelina’s menu places vegetables at the center of the plate with the same seriousness most kitchens reserve for proteins. Roasted cauliflower with garlic and chili, wood-grilled artichokes, seasonal grain preparations: these are not side dishes. By making vegetables the focus, the kitchen substantially reduces the carbon footprint associated with meat-heavy dining without ever making a point of it.
Reclaimed and Considered Design:
The restaurant’s interior features reclaimed wood furnishings, exposed brick, and materials chosen for character as much as sustainability. The space reflects the same sourcing philosophy as the kitchen: nothing wasteful, nothing disposable.
Organic and Biodynamic Beverage Program:
The wine list is curated around West Coast producers who practice organic and biodynamic viticulture. The beer selection spotlights independent Northern California craft breweries. Sustainability extends all the way to the glass.
Seasonally Evolving Menu:
The menu changes regularly in direct response to what California farmers are actually growing. There is no static offering, only what the season provides at its best.
The Gjelina Group Foundation:
The restaurant’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit supports programs focused on culinary education, urban farming, vocational skills, arts, and environmental sustainability for communities in California and New York. Founded in 2011, it ensures the group’s impact extends well beyond the dining room.
Gjelina has spent nearly two decades proving that the most sustainable thing a restaurant can do is source honestly, cook simply, and stay deeply connected to the farmers who make the menu possible. Its foundation supports urban farming and culinary education in the communities it operates in. Its beverage program reflects the same values as its kitchen. And its decision to center vegetables, not as a trend but as a foundational commitment, has influenced how a generation of California restaurants thinks about the plate. For Tinġo, Gjelina is a benchmark: a restaurant where sustainability is not a program, it is the identity.
