Gjelina in Venice: a high-energy Mediterranean restaurant

The tall door of the rustic Mediterranean restaurant opens, closes, opens -- on a roar of sound inside, much of it generated by the folks at the two tall communal tables docked at the bar. Laughter wafts up to the funky chandelier, an old pot rack dangling bare filament lightbulbs. Silverware clatters. Hands hoist glasses of wine. The party at Gjelina, a few-months-old spot on Abbott Kinney Boulevard, is impromptu and ongoing.

By S. Irene Virbila

October 1, 2008