Long Beach’s Marlena—the Californian-meets-Mediterranean gem in Naples—has launched into an updated brunch menu that is one of its strongest yet. Chef Michael Flores (formerly known as Michael Ryan) has created a menu that leans into meaty, heartier options, going beyond the space’s knack for house-made pasta and some of the city’s finest pizza.
The result? Laminated biscuits—rosemary-tinged biscuits treated like croissants—slathered in a wonderfully meaty, Long Beach Mushrooms-filled gravy. This time, Chef Michael is using blue oyster mushrooms; before, he’s used chanterelles or yellow oysters or… With a splash of sherry vinegar, the gravy is beautifully bright and, when combined with an egg and the biscuit, delightfully rich.
Or his collaboration with Chef Carlos Jurado of Selva with a brined’n’smoked pastrami sandwich on rye with pickled cabbage, Comte cheese, and horseradish crème fraîche. Or his incredible salt-bomb that is the eight-ounce, dry-aged burger available on the brunch menu. Topped with slightly funky manchego—which is sliced through with a bright piparra chile relish and adobo aioli—and arugula before being stuffed between a sliced brioche bun.
It’s a distinctly Marlena brunch menu, something that follows Due Fiori in terms of adhering to identity in a brunch world where a restaurant’s identity seems to get lost. And it is a welcome addition to a Long Beach brunch scene that has never been stronger.
How did Marlena come to be?
Marlena has brought a fresh, quietly confident energy to Naples since opening two years ago. Tucked just off 2nd Street, it offers the neighborhood a sense of calm along with a style of Californian cooking that felt new not just for the area when it opened, but for Long Beach at large. After all, it was only spaces like Ellie’s and Wood & Salt that were pushing a California-centered approach to menus.
Taking over the former Russo’s space for three decades, Marlena was a full reimagining: Bright, seamless indoor-outdoor flow. A menu rooted in the ingredient-driven ethos that defines places like République and Alta. And the talent of a crew that felt like a powerhouse.
Chef Michael—whose résumé spans from Rustic Canyon and Felix to Win Son and Faith & Flower—first came to Long Beach with the transformation of the menu at Claire’s at the Museum. (Yes, he is why Claire’s became significantly better.) A longtime apprentice of Evan Funke, he leans into a Californian sensibility.
The name “Marlena” carries the restaurant’s emotional core. Owner Robert Smith and his wife, Jen, relocated from the Bay Area to care for Jen’s mother, Marlene—whose German heritage pronounces her name as “Marlena.” It became both a personal tribute and a perfect metaphor: split into mar and leña, the name also reflects the restaurant’s soul: sea and firewood, the twin elements that define Marlena’s kitchen and its return-home spirit.
How Selva’s Chef Carlos Jurado is becoming a collaborative leader in the Long Beach food scene.
The Selva-smoked pastrami at Marlena has one key component: Chef Carlos Jurado. So it is worth mentioning—as Chef Michael himself brought up: “There is no one more willing to open his doors for collaboration than Carlos”—how Chef Carlos is altering the food game through hefty collaboration.
And it goes beyond food collaborations like the pastrami at Marlena or his brilliant collaboration with Sura Korean BBQ for Long Beach Food Scene Week. Or brand collaborations like the one he did with Sublime for the Vans Warped Tour x Long Beach Food Scene Week partnership. Or participating in the inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe competition. Nearing four years in its Long Beach presence, Selva itself has become a ground for everything from burger competitions to residency spaces for bourgeoning chefs and food brands like the utterly delightful Got Your Back. (Which, by the way, has extended its residency at Selva beyond November.)
It’s something definitively worth celebrating—and something that should happen more often in Long Beach.
A look into the brunch menu at Marlena…
Hearty if not rustic in some senses. Fulfilling and distinctly Marlena.
Biscuits and gravy: Parmigiano and rosemary biscuits | blue oyster mushroom gravy | sunny side egg
Breakfast sandwich: laminated biscuit | confit bacon | sunny side egg | white cheddar | fingerling potatoes
Pastrami sandwich: Selva-smoked pastrami | horseradish crème fraîche | Comte | pickled cabbage | rye bread
Dry-aged burger: 8oz. dry-aged beef | manchego | piparra chile relish | adobo aioli | arugula | brioche bun | fries
Benedict pizza: sunny-side egg | bacon | spinach | Parmigiano Reggiano | hollandaise
Baked eggs: tomato | capers | olives | smoked paprika | feta | toast
Chopped salad: radicchio | fennel | celery | cherry tomato | salami | pecorino Toscano | Parmigiano | whole mustard vinaigrette
Crispy fried cauliflower: chermoula | cilantro | lemon | breadcrumbs
Bufala ricotta on toast: hazelnuts | honey | black pepper | persimmon marmalade
Rum apple cake: Butter and rum sauce | Salted caramel soft serve ice cream
Marlena is located at 5854 E. Naples Plaza Dr.
