Travis Lett

Raised in Chatham, New Jersey, Travis' early influences in food came from his mother. A public school teacher who embraced education in equal measure to sustainability, nutrition and food politics as her life's work, she strongly shaped Travis' early identity as a cook and chef.
After pursuing a fine arts degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Travis began his early professional cooking career in Boulder, and eventually Aspen. Although he has been exposed to a range of different traditions and techniques, Travis' culinary voice has mainly been shaped by his early influences at home and the leading voices in green market based movements of the time, along with his continued interest in sustainable agriculture.

In 2007, he met now partner Fran Camaj at a local coffee shop, where the two laid plans for an ambitious new bistro on Abbot Kinney called Gjelina. Eight years later, Travis is the chef and partner of four successful restaurants in Venice Beach, and a fifth one slated to open in Manhattan in the summer of 2017.