Marcus Jernmark is making quite the impression with Lielle, his tasting-menu restaurant that premiered in February. It’s receiving glowing reviews from critics and diners alike. Bill Addison, of the Los Angeles Times, writes that Jernmark’s tasting-menu restaurant is “one of the decade’s most exciting and assured debuts … ” in Los Angeles. Jernmark is also the man behind Marée, where my partner and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this year.

Marée had been open but two weeks when we dined there on a Monday evening last month, and while I generally avoid visiting a restaurant until it’s been “broken in” for at least several months, I miss French bistros and decided to make an exception to my rule: after all, Marée calls itself a “California French Bistrot.” This is a first look at the restaurant.

This building has seen a lot of culinary activity. (Brockhaus Images)

Marée is situated above Lielle in a building on West Pico Boulevard that has housed its fair share of restaurants over the years, including Osteria Romana Orsini, Sotto, Test Kitchen, and, most recently, Walter and Margarita Manzke’s Bicyclette, which I liked immensely — the République couple closed up shop there in 2024.

Jernmark’s creative partner, Andrea Jernmark, and Lovers Unite have given Marée’s interior an assured and inviting bistro feel. You’ll find, among other sights, textures, and surfaces, a zinc chef’s counter (weathered intentionally), vintage mirrors, a bar of green onyx marble, Fritz Hansen pendants, Thonet-style chairs, and Knoll velour-upholstered banquettes. The space is warm yet bright, in a wavelength proper for dining, drinking, and conversing.

Thonet-style chairs set a proper tone at Marée. (Andrea Jernmark Instagram)
An undulating bar leads the eye into one of Marée’s dining areas. (Photo by Kort Havens)

I like the colors of Marée; nothing offends the eye or the sensibilities. Some surfaces shine, others calm with their warmth. There’s gray — dark, dramatic gray — some copper, a touch of yellow at the entryway. And the walls, with their textured white expanses, make the other colors profound and true. It is a space that beckons and seeks. (Click here for more images of Marée at Lovers Unite.)

The zinc chef’s counter gives diners a perfect seat. (Photo by Kort Havens)

I order beef tartare as often as I can, and that was how I chose to begin my meal at Marée. It’s served on a round plate; pieces of finely diced celery dot the beef, along with parmesan and black pepper and olive oil. No egg yolk, which is a fine move by Jernmark. Earthy, rustic, pleasing texture, acid supplied by the olive oil and celery.

It’s my opinion that a dish of tartare should always be served with at least one piece of bread, even if the guest has not ordered bread service. We had not ordered the bread service, but my request for a piece of bread was granted. It was good bread, and with great pleasure I used it to eat the tartare; the bread soaked up the flavor-infused oil and I left nary a drop on the plate. A dish well prepared.

Beef, celery, and Parmesan combine in Marée’s tartare de boeuf. (Brockhaus Images)

A salad of figs and goat cheese was also on our menu that night, a small plate, figs and chèvre under dressed and crisp greens, figs meaty and slightly sweet, cheese creamy and tart. It was a good bite, altogether, to come after the tartare.

Tomatoes came to the table next, a Munak tomato salad with shiso vinegar and fig leaf oil. Fresh, lively, a clearing-of-the-palate dish that makes one wish peak tomato season lasted longer than it does. Touches of salt, along with the slightly savory fig oil and bracing vinegar, meld into something magical and alive.

Munak tomatoes, fig leaf oil, and shiso vinegar. (Andrea Jernmark Instagram)

The Caledonian blue prawn cocktail was to our liking; heads on, cooked so that the flesh retained moisture and bite — overcooked prawn or shrimp or lobster is never fun — and served with a cocktail sauce comprised of Marée’s homemade hot sauce, ketchup, tomatoes, and horseradish. A lemon wedge completes the dish.

I like my prawns cooked the way they cook them at Marée: carefully, not too long. Tough prawns are a travesty. (Brockhaus Images)

I ordered the veal sausage, because I am a sausage person. It’s made at the restaurant, and I sensed some offal, which I love. It’s served over lentilles du Puy and baby cauliflower florets and it’s moist and rustic and savory and earthy. Some house-made grainy mustard is a fitting accompaniment.

A coiled link of veal sausage and lentils make a comforting meal. (Brockhaus Images)

Perhaps you have heard of the hamburger au poivre that’s on the menu at Marée? It’s been appearing on a good number of social media feeds. We ordered it. Whenever I select such a dish my mind automatically goes to one of my favorite examples of a burger, The Big Mec, which is served at Petit Trois L’Original.

Marée’s hamburger is good, really good. It’s brought to table cut in half, the cut side down on a platter that contains an ample amount of au poivre sauce. There are fried onion rings on this burger, along with fried kale chips, Espagnole sauce, and oyster mushrooms. There’s plenty of beef, and it’s finished over Japanese charcoal, a touch that imparts umami and a note of mystery. The rich, grilled bun took on the sauce in a delightful manner. We also ordered fries, which are worth the $16 price tag. They were hot, crisp, toothsome, and stood up well to the aioli and mustard I asked for. What good is a fry without both?

The hamburger au poivre at Marée. It’s more than a burger, in a good way. (Andrea Jernmark Instagram)

We closed the meal with a chocolate mousse studded with caramelized hazelnuts, a dessert that straddles a great line between sweet and savory. Not savory in a meaty way, but savory in a dark-chocolate acid-salty way. It is served towering in a small ice cream parlor dish, and sharing it was fun.

A dessert of chocolate mousse and caramelized hazelnuts. (Brockhaus Images)

Marée shares Lielle’s wine list, a 47-page offering that includes some great California bottles — Radio-Couteau Seabed Estate Chardonnay for $175, Littorai Mays Canyon Chardonnay for $275, Hirsch Vineyards San Andreas Fault Pinot Noir at $182 — along with abundant selections from Europe, zero-proof libations, and a smattering of spirits (grappa, cognac, armagnac, amaro). I appreciate any list that includes Philip Togni wines, and this one, put together by beverage director Phil South, does. Corkage at Marée is $50, and at Lielle it is $75; if you buy a bottle from the list the fee is waived for one bottle.

Marée is definitely a bistro, and, based on my one meal there, it is a good one. You’ll pay $42 for the burger, and the veal sausage costs $48. If you have a meal at Marée you’ll have to assess whether the food is worth the money. I must be honest and state that I have had meals in bistros in France that cost much less and were just as good, but this is Los Angeles and that burger is damned good.