With Lielle, Michelin-Starred Swedish Chef Marcus Jernmark Makes His L.A. Mark

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LIELLE
Designer: Lovers Unite
Location: Los Angeles

On Offer: At his first restaurant in Los Angeles, Michelin-starred Swedish chef Marcus
Jernmark asks guests to get comfortable. Seated side-by-side on merlot-hued leather-upholstered loveseats that snake through the 2,300-square-foot subterranean space, Lielle’s 42 diners are quite literally in close quarters. Thanks to the chef’s kindred collaboration with L.A.-based design firm Lovers Unite, they’d never know it. These custom banquettes are curved inward, keeping the focus on the California-inspired tasting menu he serves atop ovoid cherry wood tables set with a tablescape by his wife and creative partner, Andrea. It includes cork chargers, hand-sewn linen napkins, and wabi-sabi ceramic elements of service.

A few steps below ground, the windowless, low-ceilinged dining room had its challenges, but Lovers Unite cofounders Alan Koch and Karen Spector leaned in. Envisioning the space as a historic wine cave, they plastered the walls; added brick pavers by ORCA to the floor, entry, and bar; installed a cork-lined, barrel-vaulted ceiling overhead, and employed antique mirrors and silvered lunettes to pool soft light from a selection of vintage Danish and French sconces, mirror-tipped bulbs, and custom table lamps made by local designer Matt Alford toward the presented food. In the bathroom, striated red travertine and stainless steel accents parallel the disco ball–like columns in the dining room. Using raw materials allows the visible presence of the makers’ hand in the design, as it is in every dish. Cozy and moody, “we turned the restaurant into a hug for the tasting menu,” says Spector. After all, adds Koch, “chef Jernmark’s not really just about food; he’s about total experience.”

Standout Features: chef Jernmark’s robust four-course, $150 tasting menu provides a fine dining experience that satiates. Umami-packed dishes, like grilled abalone over a bed of seaweed rice and local squab au jus with preserved peppers and yuzu, are inventive and farm-fresh. Balancing complex flavors with seasonal cooking, each can be paired with a glass—or a bottle—from the eatery’s extensive wine list, which rotates around 250 to 300 selections. Ranging from $17 to $56 a pour, by-the-glass offerings favor Californian vineyards and were selected intentionally for patron-led pairings.

While the restaurant eschews much of culinary theater’s typical poured sauces and tableside cooking, the design amplifies dining in more subtle ways. Sociable seating brings gazes always to plates or a companion. Service from the front of the table feels pleasantly personal. Overall, an intimate, caring feeling pervades a space devoid of that guaranteed feel-good element: sunshine. To capture that, however, the same team is opening a casual wine bar counterpart, Marée, in the bright and airy upstairs space later this year.