Escargot Beignets, Au Poivre Burgers, Tiramisu Brûlée, and LA with Marcus Jernmark

Jordan Okun (0:11)

All right, we might as well start, yes?

Marcus Jernmark (0:13)

Sure.

Jordan Okun (0:13)

All right, Mad Food, I'm Jordan, Max is here. We are coming to you straight from the Pico Blvd house of Marcus Jernmark. Once again, you last heard from us inside Liel, and now we're upstairs inside Marée, the house of Jernmark's new second floor building.

We're at L.A.'s newest Michelin-starred building, Max. And we're with the man himself. We just sampled his newest menu, so let's get right to it. But first, we got to say welcome back Marcus.

Marcus Jernmark (0:44)

Thank you so much and welcome back to you.

Max Shapiro (0:46)

I'm just happy to be in front of you again. You've been in front of me many times. I have been in front of you a lot. It's nice. Well, that leads to the first question.

Marcus Jernmark (0:56)

Maybe the most important question, Marcus.

Jordan Okun (0:58)

Marcus, has Max eaten at L'Ell too much or just the right amount of times?

Marcus Jernmark (1:02)

I would say just the right amount of time.

You have probably missed a menu. Have you?

Max Shapiro (1:09)

I have missed one menu, but I've also doubled down on multiple menus.

Marcus Jernmark (1:15)

Sure. I think that you've been here just the amount of time to understand how we structure the menu, how we do evolve with the seasons. I think that's the bare minimum. If you want to understand a product, you need to pay your dues.

Max Shapiro (1:34)

I like the bare maximum.

Marcus Jernmark (1:36)

You're good at that.

Jordan Okun (1:38)

He's treating L'Ell how you want it to be treated, which is experienced with each new menu.

Marcus Jernmark (1:45)

Yes, very much so. I mean, Max, feel free to chime in here, but you have even been to some of our pop-ups that we have done, like when we had Maison Sauté in-house.

Max Shapiro (1:57)

Yes.

Marcus Jernmark (1:58)

So that was awesome.

Max Shapiro (1:59)

My favorite restaurant in Paris.

Marcus Jernmark (2:01)

Yeah, same for me. But yeah, I think it's very, very nice to be able to cook for a person that is connected to his opinion and is connected to his, and consciously connected to his palate.

And that's very, very nice for a chef to be able to cook for a person like that. So I do appreciate cooking for you Max. And you know this because I reached out to you well before I even opened a restaurant, just to go out and have conversations about food.

And I feel like you have not only a palate that is connected to your mind, but also you're well traveled and whatnot. So I mean, I'm preaching to the choir. I guess you have this podcast because of that and your passion Jordan. But for us in the chef community, it's something that we don't take for granted. We cook for a lot of people that come for various reasons, and we love them all for whatever reason they're coming to us for. But when you do cook for someone that has like a little bit of a depth to it, you know, we'll take it. I love it. So, you know, thank you for patronage. And Jordan, you also have been with us.

Max Shapiro (3:16)

Another Michelin chef. Oh, go, please keep going. And thank you because I come here knowing that I will have a very great experience and a meal that is using product that I recognize and I know is of the highest quality.

And it's so exciting for me to come to a place where you know what to expect, but then you also get something a little different every time, which is really exciting. And thank you for offering this to our city.

Marcus Jernmark (3:49)

Yeah, thank you.

Jordan Okun (3:50)

But tonight we both dined at the brand spanking new Marée, which by the time this episode comes out will be open. Correct. Your new ode to, I want to call it an ode to a French Bistro.

I think you could easily call it a French Bistro, but it could also be looked at as an ode to a French Bistro, very much through your lens and through a different kind of lens than the traditional French Bistro. And pretty fucking competent ode to a French Bistro, Max.

Max Shapiro (4:25)

Well, when you have a chef of this magnitude, everything is pretty competent.

You're someone that is not just cooking for yourself or your ego, you're cooking for a customer base. And I think-

Marcus Jernmark (4:41)

All the time.

Max Shapiro (4:42)

All the time.