Amen.
Travis is a down-to-earth, hard working wunderkind if ever there was one - my fucking gardener is light-years more “enigmatic.”
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If anything makes my eyes roll, it’s this useless review.
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Actually her complaining about PR is kind of a valid one in this sense: writers and editors could tell a more compelling story if we had access to Lett and anything really at Gjelina, but they’re all about shutting media out. That’s totally their prerogative, but I think BR is just saying it’s a shame that we won’t get to know more about the MTN team and their perspective. Instead, it’s just a more myopic storyline of “white guy chef makes Japanese food.” It’s a look into how a lot of media people perceive Gjelina and their group, so I think it’s kind of cool that she mentioned it.
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I am going to respectfully disagree. The trope of "white guy making [insert random ethnicity, race, culture here] food may be what Lett is trying to avoid.
Los Angeles has been melding food since its origin. We are the very definition of the melting pot.
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What is important though, is the impression she leaves with the majority of readers.
So what’s the impression you got?
Trope? Lol Gjelina is the king of hipster tropes.
He discusses Lett’s ‘radio silence’ with regards to any media or press inquiries.
But this assumes Lett (or other restaurateurs of his ilk) want the publicity.
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Lol, true. 
Yes he does. And again I wonder “Why?”
Who cares that he won’t return the presses calls (other than the press)?
The food is clearly meant to speak for itself. And the stellar reviews from BR and GS, as well previous postings here, and elsewhere, show just how well it does just that.
With all respect to you Matt, why do writers and editors need a PR package to tell the story in a more “compelling” way? The food is compelling enough to fill seats (and milk crates). All the places are totally jammed. Seems like you are all a little miffed at your irrelevance (to their team) and their customers.
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Yeah sure, that’s why he let the Weekly take photos of the food right? If he didn’t want the review, he would’ve declined coverage.
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It’s just about having a dialogue and relationship, is all. Of course some places don’t need it or want it. That’s fine. But I think BR’s argument is that sometimes having some kind of communication allows for the kind of explanation that helps a restaurant like MTN. What’s weird is that they have an in-house media relations person at the Gjelina, but she never returns calls or emails, or when she does email back, it’s usually a worthless response.
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In a culture where many chefs seem to view cooking food for paying customers as a mere stepping stone to television stardom or celebrity sponsorship, I applaud Travis Lett for his apparent satisfaction in performing the unglamorous but exceedingly difficult task of serving good food, consistently.
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You (and BR and GS) all do such great work - I’m a real junkie of your work and a great appreciator of all you do. Still, I really have to question the motivation of so much complaining about the lack of PR/interview response from them - hell, 2 LA reviewers took precious eye-ball time away from the main part of the reviews to actually complain about it in the same week.
It seems apparent that they do not care to have the dialogue/relationship/access you all seem to crave (and crave under the pretense that it will “help” them). Sounds (to me) like there is something the press is not getting and it makes them unhappy. Like jilted lovers, you (I mean the ‘royal you’ not specifically, you, Matt) are so used to special treatment that Gjelina/Gjusta/MTN won’t give you.
I suspect, in my heart of hearts, it has less to do with telling any story than with having somebody to call to get you onto Gjelina’s patio on a Friday night at 8.
In the absence of that, you may as well just tell the incredible story of a barely trained - but incredibly talented - chef who has three (!) SRO places, doing unbelievably diverse foods (Japanese, bread, smoked fish, unearthly veggies, pizza) at about the highest level any of us have ever seen, consistently, (day) night after (day) night after (day) night.
Now, I am off to wait for a seat at MTN!
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That’s an interesting choice of words.
Did you expect Lett to foment another Red Medicine / Irene Virbilia incident?
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Yeah sure, that’s why he let the Weekly take photos of the food right?
You kinda bolstered what many feel: the food does the talking/it’s about the food. And if all what MTN gave up were pictures of food, then mission accomplished. Anything beyond that discussion ventures into the realm of scandal.
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Critique on the food was fine. Whining about no access to Lett is what a group of critics can discuss at a forum or at the local bar.
Suggesting Gjelina and Co. is a gentrification incubator or whatever is idiocy. Gjelina opened around the third wave of gentrification. The first wave rolled in around the early to mid-90s. Rockenwagner, then Joe’s, along with the florist, Scentiments ($100+ flower bouquets, anyone?) were among the businesses that pushed into Abbot Kinney, which led to the beginning of the demise of all the original businesses and artist studios along and adjacent to AK.
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Great post you put into words exactly what I (and I suspect others on this board) were thinking but much more eloquently so!
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