Atwater Village residents and chefs Peter and Lauren Lemos have long relished panoramic views of the Los Angeles River from their neighborhood and the adjacent Frogtown. They’ve spotted Great Blue Herons while walking the sinuous riverside path, watched skaters do tricks at the neighborhood skate park, befriended artists next door, and chatted with the La Colombe baristas.
When a local developer approached them to open a riverside restaurant in Frogtown, it seemed like a slam dunk. “There’s a really cool, creative energy in Frogtown,” Peter Lemos says. “We just can’t see ourselves anywhere else.”
Enter Lingua Franca, a restaurant six years in the making that debuted the weekend of February 17. Following the success of their neighborhood sandwich shop Wax Paper, Lingua Franca is taking the spotlight on California cooking up a notch.
“Our lingua franca is good food,” Lemos says. “So that’s sort of our thinking [behind the name]. We want to be the lingua franca for a whole community of people, and create good food for good people.”
The opening menu is a good indication of the hyper-seasonal food Lemos wants to celebrate at the all-day restaurant.
“We’re so blessed to live in Southern California, and that we can use the products all around us,” Lemos says. “We don’t need to fly in olive oil from Italy. We have plenty of good olive oil in California, and we can tie that back to Lingua Franca being a California restaurant. That’s what I want more than anything.”
Lemos recommends first-time diners begin with the simple salad of mixed greens tossed with a tangy Catalina dressing made with ketchup, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, ground mustard, and sugar. The hearty hamburger is another one of his favorites. He sandwiches patties topped with pickled red onions and cabbage in housemade English muffins created by pastry chef Kirstin Bliss. The rich trout confit is another collaboration with Bliss: Fish from Mt. Lassen gets served with saffron-infused cream cheese and crunchy lavash chips.
Lingua Franca will expand its menu in the near future. Still to come is a grilled quail marinated in citrus peels, olive oil, and poppy seeds––a nod to both the state bird and the state flower.
Lingua Franca’s bar program reflects the restaurant’s ethos as an inclusive, social space. Lauren Lemos helped develop a robust by-the-glass and bottled wine program along with cocktails. Highlights include a canned, low-alcohol wine spritzer from Napa Valley’s Sans Wine Co., along with a selection of wines on tap for happy hour. Craft beer is also on tap, including options from local legend Craftsman Brewing Company. Versions of Kir royales and Lillet spritzes feature fruits from local farmers markets.
A foamy, wintergreen draft root beer from Indian Well Brewing Company is a stand-out among the non-alcoholic options (and one of Peter Lemos’s favorites).
A vibrant exterior boasts murals and hand-painted insignia by the Lemoses’ friend and artist, Marjory Garrison. Accompanying the murals is a stained glass egret Peter and Lauren Lemos made in collaboration with Highland Park fine arts company, Judson Studios.
The Lemoses hope to acknowledge the thriving creative community around them with every detail in the restaurant. More than half of the riverside spot’s 60 seats are at patio tables crafted by local woodworker Tommy Ferrick. Light fixtures from nearby furniture maker Ravenhill Studio and tablewares from local Mt. Washington Pottery fill the interiors.
“Our community is full of creative people we’ve met over the years at Wax Paper,” Peter Lemos says. “I love people who march to the beat of their own drum, and take their creativity to improve the world around them. It’s very inspiring, and we are fortunate to have those people in our lives.”
Lingua Franca is open Monday to Thursday from 9 am to 10 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 11 pm.
Lisa Kwon is a reporter and writer focused on arts and food culture in Los Angeles, CA. Find Lisa on Instagram and Twitter.
