In February Sweden-born chef Jernmark debuted Lielle, which quickly became one of the most buzzy fine-dining experiences in the city. This month he opened a Parisian-inspired bistro and wine bar upstairs. He says it\u2019s how he prefers to eat. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s \u201cmore about trying to find the simplicity in what we do and to make sure that there\u2019s some sort of [familiarity] on the menu,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, even the Ferran Adri\u00e0s or the Jordan Kahns of the world go out for steak frites or a burger on their days off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jernmark formerly worked at fine-dining institutions Aquavit and Per Se in New York and Restaurant Frantz\u00e9n in Stockholm. Mar\u00e9e is his most casual endeavor to date. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say Jermark\u2019s cooking at Mar\u00e9e is simple. He approaches his more casual restaurant with the same eye for detail, but, as he says, without as much refinement.<\/p>\n
![\"Salt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790097135_899_.jpeg\")
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Salt Spring Island mussels \u201cgratin,\u201d left, with Caledonian blue prawn cocktail at Mar\u00e9e, a new Parisian-inspired wine bar in Pico-Robertson.<\/p>\n
(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The burger begs to differ.<\/p>\n
Black pepper and other seasonings coat the outer edge of the grass-fed, dry-aged beef patty, which took the chef five to seven attempts to find the right purveyor. It\u2019s both seared and grilled and, in lieu of adding cheese to the patty, brushed with beef tallow that\u2019s been infused with dry-aged-beef trimmings and Roquefort cheese for funk. The fluffy, double-egg-washed-and-buttered brioche bun is baked in-house and slathered with an aioli-based relish, house pickles and duxelles made from barbecued hen-of-the-woods mushrooms mixed with house-made beef garum. Thin, crispy onion rings and fried kale add texture, and it\u2019s all cut in half and served on a layer of four-pepper au poivre, so while the burger dripping in peppery sauce can still be handheld, it \u201ceats like a dish,\u201d according to Jernmark.<\/p>\n
Escargots \u2014 practically a national emblem of French cuisine \u2014 are braised and combined with roasted mushrooms, shallots, garlic and finely trimmed fresh spinach before they\u2019re encased in a thin beignet batter, fried until airy and crisp, sprinkled with vinegar powder, and dipped into a combined house-made snail butter and b\u00e9chamel.<\/p>\n
There are split whole Caledonian blue prawns, wine-cooked and blue-cheese-flecked mussels \u201cgratin,\u201d spirals of fresh veal sausage, mixed-grill platters of meats and vegetables, and silver coupes of thick decadent, hazelnut-topped chocolate mousse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re kind of working with the same values and we look at it through the same lens, meaning we want to bring quality and accessibility together,\u201d Jernmark said. \u201cIt\u2019s approached exactly the same as Lielle. It\u2019s just in a different genre of eating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jernmark rented the top floor of the building at the same time he acquired the bottom and began construction on both simultaneously, but wanted to focus on Lielle first.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790097135_987_.jpeg\")
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A view of the kitchen at Mar\u00e9e, the French Californian bistro now open atop Lielle.<\/p>\n
(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
He\u2019d initially planned Mar\u00e9e as a more pared-down bar, \u201ckind of the vestibule of the restaurant [Lielle]\u201d and the sort of place to begin or end the evening centered on his tasting-menu restaurant downstairs. Its hours extend earlier and later than Lielle\u2019s, still making this format a possibility, but over the last two years of planning Mar\u00e9e\u2019s scope grew and took on its own personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had to kind of get its own identity and its own DNA, and could really no longer just be a part of the Lielle experience,\u201d he said. \u201cIt had to have its own life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He removed some of the partitions from its former tenant, Manzke, and added a bar with counter seats overlooking the kitchen. What was once home to dining tables on Manzke\u2019s second floor is now hidden and used as storage, a bakery, an office, a laundry room and prep space. The dining room, now painted white and decorated with daily specials and desserts written across hanging mirrors, is bright and airy.<\/p>\n
The French word for \u201ctide,\u201d Mar\u00e9e is meant to evoke ebb and flow. \u201cA restaurant only has energy because of the people who walk through the door,\u201d Jernmark said. \u201cThe guests make the atmosphere, coming and going like the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Escargot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790097136_279_.jpeg\")
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Escargot beignets at Mar\u00e9e.<\/p>\n
(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Jernmark\u2019s own preferred mode of dining is often wine bars, gravitating toward the seasonal small plates and rotating pours of spaces like Hollywood\u2019s Stir Crazy or Brooklyn\u2019s the Four Horsemen. He loosely modeled Mar\u00e9e around these, but with a more Parisian bent.<\/p>\n
Lielle head sommelier Phil South is also leading the wine list upstairs, offering full access to Lielle\u2019s bottle list plus more options by the glass and with a broader geography. At Lielle, the by-the-glass list is entirely Californian; at Mar\u00e9e, find pours from Hungary, Spain, France, Italy, Romania and beyond, with some priced as low as $12. Its chef-founder hopes the more accessible price points, as well as the walk-in-friendly format, will make Mar\u00e9e a neighborhood fixture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want to create something that feels very timeless,\u201d Jernmark said. \u201cAmbition has nothing to do with what I\u2019m addressing now. It\u2019s more about: Are we going to do something truly unique or are we going to truly be there for our guests and our communities for the next 20 years?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mar\u00e9e is open at 9575 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with kitchen hours of 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What happens when Marcus Jernmark goes casual? Mar\u00e9e is providing the answer through crispy-shelled escargot beignets, house-baked bread…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[35078,185662,59351,185668,48,52,51,151793,47,50,49,185666,185661,185660,185667,185665,185664,185663,42884,143764,30908],"class_list":["post-472095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-cheese","tag-complex-burger","tag-dining-room","tag-good-new-burger","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lielle","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-manzke","tag-marcus-jernmark","tag-maree","tag-pared-down-bar","tag-pour","tag-prep-space","tag-restaurant-frantzen","tag-sort","tag-tide","tag-wine-bar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}