As the opening chef of Gjelina and Gjusta, Travis Lett had a lot to do with our modern conception of SoCal cuisine. But after selling off his stake in the Gjelina Group in 2019, Lett was absent from the California culinary scene—until now, that is.
Lett has returned with RVR, a Japanese izakaya in Venice that opened on Tuesday, Eater L.A. reported. The new restaurant shares DNA with the now-closed MTN, which Lett initially headed up in the same space, but it’s been adapted to our current climate.
“This is not one of those moments where everybody’s popping Champagne and celebrating the good life,” Lett told Eater. “There are some challenging aspects to life right now, economic and otherwise.”
Chopped tuna and negi hand roll
Graydon Herriott
RVR’s menu acknowledges that, with dishes ranging in price from $6 to $28, Eater noted. For now, the restaurant has launched with dinner only. There are small plates and hand rolls to start—the former includes dishes like chicken karaage and gyoza, while the hand rolls are stuffed with ingredients such as pork belly with spicy mustard greens and roasted miso-cured salmon. Local vegetables star in a Caesar-like chicory salad with tofu dressing and anchovy panko. Charcoal-grilled items, meanwhile, feature proteins like local squid and curried lamb.
The ramen that Lett served at MTN has been tweaked to now use aged noodles made with two different flours from a mill in Washington State, Eater wrote. Two traditional offerings use either pork and chicken or vegetables, and two additional mazemen dishes hold the broth. One echoes carbonara through the use of confit mushrooms and cured egg yolk, while the other brings in clams, scallions, herbs, and chiles. Eventually, RVR will expand into lunch offerings, focused on sets with a protein (fish, meat, or plant-based), steamed rice, soup, and pickles.
House ramen with crispy pork belly chashu
Graydon Herriott
To pair with the food, the wine director Maggie Glasheen has devised a wine list that leans heavily French. Cocktails are largely savory: Lett worked with Nina Wongsuwat on a drinks menu that includes a gin Gibson with house-pickled onion garnish and a Negroni that uses plum Contratto instead of Campari. As for the design, the 75-seat restaurant is meant to make you feel comfortable, with Lett aiming for warmth and brightness.
“I found with restaurants, there’s food, design, beverage, and service, and then there’s those things that come together and form some type of alchemy that relates to timing,” Lett said. “Food, like other art forms, needs to be contemporaneous. In other words, makes sense for the moment. We’re trying to meet the moment.”
Now that RVR is finally open, Lett will find out whether the moment is once again ready for him.
Click here to see all the images of RVR.
