Visits to our "Family Home"

It’s been busy at our house lately. In the last several weeks we’ve had friends and family come over and visit and make use of our downstairs guest bedroom and bath. And that brings us great joy.

My sister arrived on Friday from Oregon two days after our cousins returned to their home in the Midwest, and they arrived just three weeks after our friend visited from Massachusetts.

With each set of visitors we showed parts of the Los Angeles area in keeping with their interests: the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the gardens at the Getty, Palos Verdes Peninsula and lunch at the gorgeous Terranea resort, the famous shopping street in Venice - Abbot Kinney Road, and a movie theater where we can get reserved seats in advance. And of course we are always proud to show them our little beach town complete with surfers, the pier, beach volleyball, long walks on the Strand, non-chain-store shopping, and hordes of restaurants.

I’m beginning to sound like a travel tour guide – that’s probably because of all the touring we’ve been doing lately.

It will be quiet here for a while, but I look forward to more visitors in late May. Now I understand more than ever why our house has been named the “Family Home.”

A restaurant rant - why I won't eat at Gjelina's anymore

I met my friend Gail for lunch yesterday. She suggested a place about half-way between our homes on Abbott Kinney in Venice Ca., Gjelina, one of the new restaurant faves. I had been there once before about a year ago, and she goes there often with her son.

The menu there is quite creative. Gail had a chickpea stew with greens, israeli couscous and spiced yogurt and harissa, and I ordered a tuna sandwich with roasted peppers, arugula, and caper aoioli. I always order mindful of my dietary constraints. By a choice I made over thirty years ago I don't eat red meat of any kind, and I am lactose intolerant so I cannot eat dairy products.

We arrived a few minutes before Gjelina opened at 11:30 so we didn’t have to wait for a table. However, by the time we left at 1:00 the place was jammed with people waiting around the room's perimeter for tables. I suppose that they are so busy gives them permission for their no-substitution policy. 

This policy was stated to me when I asked that they leave off the ice cream on a piece of cake I wanted to order for dessert. No, said the server. We don’t do that. We won’t even put it on the side. She said I could move it to the side once I got the plate – but of course then I couldn’t eat it because ice cream would already be all over the top and seeping into the cake. What she was essentially saying to me is this restaurant doesn’t care if a customer with health issues makes a request in order to save him/her from getting sick from their food. 

So, I opted not to order any dessert, and the server lost a sale. She also lost my regular 18 to 20 percent tip. Gail and I agreed to only leave 10 percent.

I have never had this experience in a restaurant before. I’ve asked for the ice cream or whipped cream that is often served with cake or pie to be placed not only on the side but in a separate dish, and no one has ever flatly refused before. 

I find Gjelina's behavior unconscionable, and as a result it has lost my business forever - even though I admit the food I've eaten there is quite good. Hopefully those who read this piece will consider banning Gjelina or at least complaining as well. 

I get very ill if even a touch of dairy gets in my system. I would think that in these times when there are so many people with allergic and dietary issues, Gjelina would be more mindful and accommodating to its customers.

Hmmm. I just read a November 22, 2011 Huffington Post article about Gjelina that mentioned other blogger complaints about its no-substitution policy. Well, I wasn’t asking for a substitute. I was just asking for something to be left off the plate. The article was mainly about its recent drop from an A to a C-rated restaurant. Need I say more? Yes, I would give it an F.