Trois Mec

To celebrate our anniversary this month (our sixth!), Justin and I dined at Trois Mec. We’d made plans to visit once before, but a nasty case of bronchitis sidelined me, making this dinner long overdue. So, we followed the glow of a Raffallo’s Pizza sign to a worn-out strip mall and prepared to celebrate and feast.

Trois Mec comes from French slang for “three dudes”– those dudes being Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal and Son of a Gun and Ludovic Lefebvre, famous for his innovative LudoBites pop-ups. Diners can snag one of the restaurant’s 26 seats by logging onto Trois Mec’s website on alternate Fridays at 8:00AM and purchasing a ticket. Tickets run around $75 per person (depending on the rotating menu and before tax and gratuity) and include a handful of “snacks,” 5 courses, and mignardises.

After being seated at the bar, Chef Ludo generously sent over glasses of bubbly to start our meal. With champagne in hand, we settled in to watch the action in the kitchen.

Bon soir, chef!

Dinner began with a quartet of snacks, which were all meant to be eaten with your hands.

First to arrive was a tiny bowl of crispy, puffed buckwheat popcorn electrified by rice vinegar. The texture and tang of these nibbles made them a delight to eat.

Next up was a cube of seasoned tapioca, which was perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy within.

Justin adored the salt cod onigiri, a bite-sized morsel of sushi rice filled with fish and garnished with salt cod cream and mustard flowers.

The standout snack for me was a miniature garlic brick toast topped with butter, parsley, and chives. If given the option, I could have easily been convinced to eat twenty more of these and nothing else for the rest of the meal.

The first of our five courses was a bright King Crab ceviche, served beneath slices of creamy avocado. Fresh fruit, cubes of citrus gelee and more buckwheat popcorn imparted a snappy acidity to the dish.

As a gift, chef Ludo sent out an additional course. For Justin, a plate of Nantucket Bay scallops and crunchy sesame brittle over a bed of cauliflower puree and lemon curd, generously dusted with tandoori powder.

For the “princess” (i.e. pain in the ass who doesn’t love all seafood equally), chef Ludo prepared a stunning medley of salted beets and thinly shaved radishes and carrots, crowned with cilantro flowers. The white chocolate olive oil that dressed the vegetables was a revelation. Since I couldn’t bottle up their supply and stash it in my purse, I did the next best thing: licked my plate clean.

A leaf of grilled cabbage brought us back to Trois Mec’s regularly scheduled programming. Atop the cabbage was a disc of umami-laden miso flan and rounding out the plate were whipped horseradish, a smoked almond milk anglaise and fennel pollen. This dish was best enjoyed with a little bit of each component in every bite. Leave it to chef Ludo to make even cabbage interesting!

Next to arrive was the much buzzed-about Potato Pulp, a mountain of riced potatoes and onion soubise (a French onion sauce) ensconced in brown butter, a French cow’s milk cheese and bonito flakes. It’s easy to see why this dish–at once both homey and completely unique– has become the restaurant’s signature dish.

Our final savory course was a beautifully composed plate of tender, juicy rib eye cap, charred broccoli, crispy shallots and, wait for it, smoked peanut butter. This dish best encapsulated the spirit of chef Ludo’s pop-ups of days past for me– unexpected, inventive and damn good.

For dessert, apple butter, creme de brie and a fluffy hay whipped cream blanketed with barley crumbles. Even this serious sugar addict had never experienced a sweet like this before. At once both surprising and refreshing, I enjoyed this to the last bite.

Our sadness over the end of our meal with tempered with mignardises, a funky but addictive black garlic caramel and chestnut petit choux.

Our meal at Trois Mec was one of the best I’ve eaten, anywhere. I could re-eat this dinner for the rest of my life and be happy. However, I love knowing that our next experience there will likely be entirely different. This was just the ticket to make our big night an unforgettable one.

Trois Mec
www.troismec.com
716 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

LudoBites 8.0

People love them some Chef Ludo Lefebvre. The passion that the food-obsessed feel for the Pop-Up King presents itself most fervently on two occasions: 1) when LudoBites reservations go live online (inevitably crashing the system); and 2) when one fails to obtain a reservation. On occasion number deux, said passion often turns on Chef Ludo and his wife Krissy, and scathing emails flood Madame Lefebvre’s inbox. In an effort to indulge the love but avoid the crazy, LudoBites 8.0 utilized an orderly, random lottery system for reservations. Apparently, your chances of scoring a reservation hovered around 5% but, still, orderly. And it’s hard to argue with a cold, unfeeling algorithm.

Fortunately, for those of us in the 95%, LudoBites 8.0 at Lemon Moon offers six walk-in seats a night, which is how Justin, his mom and I visited this latest iteration of the pop-up restaurant. Justin and his mom, in town for just one evening with her heart set on LudoBites, arrived at Lemon Moon right at 6:00PM and were seated without a wait. While I wrapped up at work, the two began with a few dishes they knew I wouldn’t lament missing out on.

The mother-son dining team began with Chicken Tandoori Crackling ($5.00), crispy chicken skin topped with scoops of chicken liver mousse and sprinkled with sea salt. The two both enjoyed the combination of the airy mousse and the crunch of the crackling.

The next Noms-free bite was the Uni Creme Brulee ($18.00). In this savory take on a familiar dessert, an uni custard was topped with not only the traditional sugar coating but also salmon roe. Both Justin and his mom were floored by each rich bite of the inventive dish.

I arrived just in time for the Black Truffle Seaweed Brioche ($5.00), and thank goodness I did! This thick, crusty slab of brioche with more than its fair share of truffle flavor was one of my favorite bites of the night.

Next up was the Duck ($25.00). Although many duck dishes are often to be too gamey for my taste, Ludo’s version was delightfully sweet and enhanced by the citrus notes of mandarin orange wedges and orange slices.

Our party then turned its attention back to the sea with Crab Meat, Avocado Guacamole and Pomelos ($25.00), mounds of shredded crab and dollops of guacamole and pomelo (a Southeast Asian citrus) in a broth. To this relatively new fan of shellfish, the dish was a little fishier than I was prepared for, and I let Justin eat my share.

For our last shared entree, we chose the Jidori Chicken ($22.00). Never one to settle for the familiar, Chef Ludo dressed his version of jidori chicken with broccoli, a parmesan soubise (a French onion bechamel) and walnut and egg sauces. Although chicken can seem boring compared to, say, uni creme brulee, the different components of the dish blended surprisingly harmoniously and were anything but a snooze.

Although we were nearly stuffed, the three of us convinced ourselves that the Goat Cheese Profiteroles ($15.00) could serve as a palate cleanser. On our plate, creamy goat cheese spilled out from a fluffy puff pastry and was drizzled with a pistachio oil and garnished with crispy leaves. Although “cleansing” this was not, it certainly was tasty.

For dessert, we ordered the Lemon Meringue Tart ($13.00), a deconstructed tart with poppy seed “crust” crumbles and fluffy mounds of lemon, meringue and vanilla. Each component was scrumptious on its own but decidedly kick-ass when mixed each of the other elements on the plate.

LudoBites 8.0 wraps up in just a few days on Wednesday, February 22nd. If you don’t have a reservation for the pop-up’s final days, be sure to give the walk-in seats a shot or check Twitter for any last minute cancellations!

LudoBites 8.0 at Lemon Moon
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludobites
www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife
12200 W. Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 442-9191

LudoBites 5.0’s Final Night

On September 3rd, LudoBites 5.0’s summer run drew to a close. This most recent iteration of Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s pop-up restaurant was, in many ways, his most successful yet. LudoBites 5.0 was met with adulation from diners and critics (including the New York Times and CNN) alike who hailed Chef Ludo’s creativity and truly inspired cooking–a tone set by the crash of the reservation system immediately upon going live due to overwhelming traffic. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed LudoBites 4.0, something about this felt larger, grander and more exciting, and I was sad that it was coming to an end.

On 5.0’s final night, the LudoBites Truck parked outside Gram and Papa’s. For those without an actual reservation–or what the NYT called “the summer’s must-have accessory”– the truck offered a taste of the chef’s cooking…

…but the line snaked around the block. My hungry stomach was relieved to be heading inside rather than waiting in line.

Our LudoBites finale began with hot miso soup with cherry tomatoes and an “uni black panini.” As someone who is both Japanese and from Hawai’i, I have slurped my fair share of miso, but I was wholly unprepared for the uniquely rich flavor of the broth and the textural intrigue of the plump cherry tomatoes.

Upon reading “uni black panini,” I thought that the panini was, perhaps, black because of the outer casing of the uni (or sea urchin). However, it was, in fact, a “black uni panini,” and I was startled and somewhat traumatized when a briny gelatinous ball shot into my mouth with my first (and only) bite. For the record, everyone at my table and everyone around us loved this; I’m just seafood incompatible (as Chef Ludo and Krissy know).

Whether in salad or sandwich form, caprese is my meal of choice whenever it appears on a menu. As such, I obsessively checked the online LudoBites menu for weeks to ensure that the heirloom tomato salad with mozzarella ice cream and basil crumbles did not disappear before my reservation. I am eternally grateful that it did not. Each bite of the ethereal mozzarella “ice cream” (whose texture was like that of a Yoplait Whip) combined with the distinct flavor of the heirloom tomatoes and the crunch of the basil crumbles was pure delight. I enjoyed this dish so immensely that I can still taste it.

Although J & I already ordered the poached egg potato mousseline with chorizo during our first visit to 5.0, we ordered it again for the tasting pleasure of our friend and LudoBites neophyte Diego. Not really. We just wanted it again. Thanks to a particularly generous serving of smoky, crunchy chorizo, this dish was even better than our first order.

The roasted Sonoma saddle of lamb with goat cheese, candied black olives, artichoke salad and mint pesto sounded like a dish that we quite enjoyed from LudoBites 4.0, so we decided to try this new version. Although this version sadly came without its own side of potato mousseline like its predecessor, the combination of all of the flavors on the plate was intriguing. I particularly enjoyed the lamb with its salty topping and the artichoke salad (which tasted a bit like fresh parmesan cheese!).

We may have the Korean BBQ Cook-Off (for which Chef Ludo was a judge) to thank for the “Korean Style” marinated steak with pickled vegetables, grilled baby corn and crispy bacon. Here, the chef nailed the sweet kalbi flavor, and the steak provided a much more satisfying bite than thin strips of shortrib. Although the crispy bacon was not an inextricable part of the plate, I certainly enjoyed it and wanted more of the crunchy goodness.

We finished our dinner with a pistachio ice cream “sundae” with bing cherries, hot chocolate sauce and salted pistachio. Here, salty and sweet melded beautifully, anchored by the wonderfully rich flavors of the chocolate and bing cherries.

Just when I thought that nothing could top my final meal at 4.0, Ludo breaks out more surprises. Congratulations to Chef Ludo and Krissy on LudoBites 5.0!

LudoBites 4.0 @ Gram & Papa’s

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/gram-papas

www.twitter.com/chefludo

www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife

LudoBites 5.0

When LudoBites 4.0 ended, a part of me felt as though something was missing. I had grown accustomed to clicking onto the LudoBites menu online in search of new additions, planning in advance for my next reservation, or popping by to say “hello” to Chef Ludo and Krissy. Thankfully, LudoBites 5.0 has begun, and the Ludo-shaped hole in my heart has been partially filled.

Again located at Gram & Papa’s in downtown LA, LudoBites 5.0 runs from July 21-September 3. This time around, the menu features many Asian elements infused with the spirit of experimentation and, of course, French influences and techniques.

Our hungry party of three began with an order of vadouvan naan bread with salted coconut butter ($4.00). Vadouvan, popular in France, is an Indian spice blend consisting of onion, shallots and garlic, cumin, cardamom and, frequently, curry leaves. The marriage of the curry-like flavors to the soft, fluffy naan was both natural and delightful. Although the bread provided more than enough flavor for one’s tastebuds, we none the less slathered it with the rich coconut butter, which we continued to dip our fingers into long after the bread was gone.

We next ordered the confit pork belly with raw choucroute Thai-style with mustard ice cream ($24.00). Popular in Alsace, choucroute is typically made with cabbage, potatoes, spices, white wine and smoked meat. In chef Ludo’s version, the rich, soft pork belly played nicely off the sweet, tangy and crunchy choucroute. I only wished that there was more pork belly in this scrumptious dish.

As a lover of all things potato, I was particularly taken with 4.0’s creamy, buttery potato mousseline. As such, 5.0’s potato mousseline with poached egg and chorizo ($15.00) was a must-order. The delicate flowers atop the dish bely its strong, savory flavor courtesy of the chorizo and poached egg. In taste and texture, this dish’s ingredients were truly harmonious.

Halfway through dinner, Krissy asked, “Are you going to order the beef?” referring to both the raw wagyu beef with dried miso, somen noodles, peanut vinaigrette and candied watermelon and my wimpy palate. And because LudoBites has become my testing ground for previously un-sampled foods, I did. Although I could not deny the beef’s lovely miso flavor, my friend and I could not help but thinking about how delicious it would be cooked, and I focused my attention the peanuts, somen and sweet watermelon. My and my friend’s mental block thrilled J, who happily polished off the dish.

Our final dish was the steamed duck with crispy skin puree and lemon verbena and a balsamic white peach ($26.00). This, my first steamed duck, was incredibly tender and very enjoyable with the crunch added by the crispy skin. Although I did not quite understand the peach, I happily ate it.

Thus far, LudoBites 5.0 strikes me as a perfect representation of Chef Ludo: the food takes his French roots as its base but pushes boundaries with its inspiration from other cultures and spirit of adventure.

Although eager diners overwhelmed the LudoBites reservation system, both crashing it and fully booking 5.0’s run, you can try to snag a last-minute reservation by following Krissy on Twitter and keeping a watchful eye for tweets about cancellations.

LudoBites 5.0 @ Gram & Papa’s

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015

www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/gram-papas

www.twitter.com/chefludo

www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife

Gram & Papas

With the hubbub surrounding Gram & Papa’s as host to LudoBites 4.0 and the forthcoming 5.0, one might forget that the downtown breakfast and lunch joint is a restaurant in its own right. Well, for the record, it is. Daily since 2008, Gram & Papa’s has dished up meals made with carefully sourced and fresh ingredients to scores of hungry patrons.

Given my affection for downtown Los Angeles and proclivity for sandwiches as my lunch of choice, Gram & Papa’s and I were destined to be friends.

My hungry friend Diego and I waltzed into Gram & Papa’s on a weekday around 12:30PM, expecting to immediately take a seat and order our sandwiches. Unfortunately, a large lunch crowd had already beaten us to both the tables and the ordering counter. Although the wait presented a slight inconvenience, I was pleased to see business booming in the restaurant.

Diego ordered the Grammy’s Turkey Burger ($9.00). Given the restaurant’s diverse offerings, I was somewhat surprised by his seemingly ho-hum choice. Gram & Papa’s turkey burger, however, was anything but. With caramelized vidalias, a tangy “G&P sauce” and a flavorful turkey patty perched upon a fluffy rosemary focaccia bun, this sandwich was bursting with pleasant surprises. All the sandwich lacked, in Diego’s opinion, was something to mix up the sandwich’s all-around soft texture (he topped his sandwich with a few chips and was quite satisfied).

I decided to try the Ludo’s Parisian Sandwich (Paris ham, Emmenthal cheese, honey butter, cornichons and radishes, $10.50), a limited-time offering crafted by Chef Ludo himself. Although I was disappointed by the sparing amount of cornichons and radishes, the perfectly crunchy bread, sweet ham and piquant cheese made up for it. The star of the sandwich, however, was the indulgent honey butter which was, unfortunately, concentrated only on one part of the sandwich. Well, perhaps, not too unfortunately–those were some tasty bites. Fittingly, Chef Ludo showed up just as I was finishing lunch, and I was able to share how much I enjoyed his creation.

With a sandwich and salad to fit every lunch mood, Gram & Papa’s is a standout lunch location. And who knows? Chef Ludo may even pop by!

Gram & Papas

www.gramandpapas.com

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015

(213) 624-7272

LudoBites 4.0 x Trois

Despite attending the FoodDigger LudoBites 4.0 preview and visiting again on opening night, my appetite for LudoBites 4.0 was not yet satiated. After all, the menu has seen many changes in its seven-week run with additions (such as braised beef cheeks) and subtractions (such as the egg and potato mousseline with lobster) nearly every week. As such, I decided to visit LudoBites 4.0 once more at the end of its run to sample Chef Ludo’s new dishes and to celebrate my recent graduation.

I was delighted to see that the warm baguette with honey-lavender butter and smoked lard ($4.00) had survived the entire LudoBites run. The salty, crusty bread is the perfect canvas for the sweet spreads. The honey-lavender butter was particularly sweet this visit, and I quickly ran out of bread trying to eat as much of it as I could.

Our second appetizer was the Santa Barbara prawn with avocado, passion fruit and cocktail sauce ($28.00). Although the name is straightfoward, the dish was actually full of surprises: the avocado was frosty, the cocktail sauce, smoky and the passion fruit, a powder. I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity and adventurousness of this dish.

If the number of laudatory blog posts and tweets (and happy TwitPics) are any indication, the crispy soft shell crab cone with mango, red spicy mayo and Corona granite ($19.00) has been one of the standout dishes of LudoBites 4.0. With this in mind, I brushed aside my lifelong boycott of crab because, apparently, LudoBites inspires a sense of adventure in my normally wimpy palate (Sidenote: Is it just me or is soft shell crab strange because you eat the whole thing?)

Although I avoid seafood (except shrimp) at all costs, if this is crab, then I love crab. The breading gave each bite a pleasant crunch, and the full-bodied red spicy mayo–reminiscent of the coating on slippery shrimp–made the dish feel both comforting and indulgent. This was the perfect introduction to crab.

J and I both also loved the Corona granite, which instantly made us wish we were lounging poolside with about 50 more of these little cups in a chilled glass (OK, mug).

New to the LudoBites 4.0 menu but not Ludo’s fans are the “Peppites” of fried chicken with coconut polenta, grilled baby corn, bok choy and diablo sauce ($18.00) a.k.a. “LFC “(Ludo fried chicken) or simply “LudoBalls” (which is far more fun to say). Although J and I loved the incredibly tender, rosemary-flavored fried chicken and the accompanying crunchy veggies, part of us yearned for the greasier, down-and-dirty version with sweet and spicy dipping sauce from the LA Street Food Fest. We, however, definitely appreciated waiting several minutes for these rather than several hours as we did at the festival.

Our second entree was the rack of lamb with goat cheese, artichoke and mint–one of the chief reasons I had to return to LudoBites. Can anything that is roasted in its own fat be disappointing? Highly doubtful. Every bite of lamb was tender and rich, and the flavor was amplified by a nice layer of salt. The creamy goat cheese was also a highlight of the dish, and I had to stop myself from licking it off the plate.

Also accompanying the lamb was a silky potato mousseline. Although I enjoyed the potato mousseline with lobster from the first weeks of LudoBites, I did wish I could enjoy a heftier portion of the potato-y goodness. Wish granted!

Although, I was fairly full after our appetizers and main courses, dessert was a must, particularly because the strawberry, macaron, lemon-verbena meringue ($12.00) was the other reason for my return. With fresh strawberries, pillowy macarons and whipped cream, this dessert was the epitome of every synonym for “delicious” for this strawberry-obsessed, pink-loving blogger. I would be hard-pressed to think of a dessert that I could love more than this.

Evidence of our love for our dessert

Merci to the incredibly hard-working and talented Chef Ludo and his one-woman-army wife Krissy for another wonderful dinner! I hope that you can get some sleep once LudoBites 4.0 finishes its run.

LudoBites 4.0 @ Gram & Papa’s

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/gram-papas

www.twitter.com/chefludo

www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife

LudoBites 4.0: Part Deux

Click Here to see Noms, Not Bombs’ first visit to Ludo Bites 4.0.

How does one follow up a delicious dinner with FoodDigger, fellow bloggers and personal time with Chef Ludo and Krissy Lefebvre? Why, with another trip to LudoBites 4.0!

Celebrating our first (official) LudoBites dinner and our anniversary, J and I headed to Gram & Papa’s for LudoBites 4.0’s opening night. In addition to the Tartine Plate, Brie Chantilly Napoleon, Egg and Potato Mousseline with Lobster and the Poached Jidori Chicken from the menu last night, we sampled a couple of new dishes.

As a second entree, J and I ordered the Steak Au Poivre with Polenta Bone Marrow and White Asparagus. I rarely order steak and will probably order it even less after this…because it will nearly impossible for any dish to compare with this juicy, tender meat that practically melted in my mouth. The white asparagus contributed a lovely crunch and a subtle sweetness to the dish. “Delicious” does not even begin to describe Chef Ludo’s steak au poivre.

For dessert, we ordered the Raspberry Religieuse with Pistachio Parfait. With creamy raspberry filling inside the puff pastry, this was akin to a raspberry profiterole. What a delight to look at and eat.

Although J is still bitter that I enjoyed LudoBites two nights in a row, he was thrilled to finally sample a Chef Ludo dinner for himself. He was all smiles all night!

I may have visited Chef Ludo and Krissy two nights in a row, but, sadly, I have no more reservations. I’d love, however, to sneak in somehow towards the end of LudoBites 4.0’s run to see how the menu has evolved… Anyone wanna take me? 🙂

LudoBites 4.0 @ Gram & Papa’s

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/gram-papas

www.twitter.com/chefludo

www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife

LudoBites 4.0 FoodDigger Preview(!!!)

The wait is almost over, Los Angeles foodies! Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s LudoBites 4.0 opens tonight at Gram & Papa’s in downtown LA.

Thanks to the folks over at FoodDigger, however, Chef Ludo prepared a special preview dinner last night for a group of us lucky, lucky bloggers. Having missed LudoBites 1.0-3.0, my only Ludo-experience was his fried chicken at the LA Street Food Fest. Translation: Noms, Not Bombs was stoked for this dinner.

Although Chef Ludo and his wife/partner-in-kitchen-crime Krissy wanted the night’s menu to be a surprise and did not give us this until the end of the meal, here is our menu for your viewing pleasure.

Jill Bernheimer of DomaineLA provided superb wine pairings for each course of our meal. My personal favorites were the 2009 Donkey & Goat Rose of Grenache Gris and the 2008 Julien Fremont Cider.

Behold: the lightbox. It was a food blogger’s dream to have this at our disposal for the night.

That’s me!

First up for the table was a crispy, delicious salted baguette served with “three fat textures,” which were a lavender lard, clarified butter and whipped brown butter. I never thought that the words “I think I’ll have more of the lard” would leave my mouth, but they did…multiple times.

Chef Ludo plates our next dish

While we were still stuffing our faces with the bread, the next dish arrived– Carrot Salad with saffron anglaise cream, pearl onions, citrus and mustard powder. The carrots were not only beautiful to look at but also delightful to eat. They had a smoky flavor that made them unlike any other carrot I have eaten.

In an interesting touch, the blood orange, orange and lemon were cooked in such a way that you could eat the rind with the fruit. Yum!

Next on the menu was an Egg and Potato Mousseline with Lobster and Borage Flower. Although I am Japanese and from Hawai’i, I do not particularly enjoy seafood (Chef Ludo: “You are Japanese…but no seafood??). I recently, however, decided that I would like to try lobster, and here was my opportunity!

The lobster pieces were like little surprises in the sea of potato-y goodness and, to my surprise, I very much like lobster! I did, however, leave the egg. One step at a time.

Then came Chef Ludo’s famed Foie Gras Croque-Monsieur with Lemon Turnip Chutney. Foie gras was another first for me, and it paired beautifully with the prosciutto, cheese and chutney.

After the croque-monsieur, it was time for Burgundy Escargots with Garlic Flan, Green Jus and Yellow Flowers. Krissy correctly guessed that escargot were also new for me and, although I won’t rush to eat it again, I did enjoy the overall garlic flavor of this dish and the beautiful presentation.

The first protein was Colombian River King Salmon Confit with Spring Cabbage, Orange Skin and Juniper Berries.

Chef Ludo plates the next dish

The second protein was Poached Jidori Chicken topped with Crispy Skin and Hazelnuts served with Garden Vegetables and Bacon Royale. A forkful of the chicken + crispy skin + a dollop of the bacon royale= pure heaven.

By this point, I was pretty full…but then the Brie Chantilly Napoleon with Honey Comb, Frisee Salad and Balsamic drizzle arrived. The brie was whipped for an astounding two hours before it reached our plates and was incredibly fluffy and light. The brie, honeycomb and balsamic were absolutely phenomenal together.

When we all turned around to see what was in store for dessert, a universal “whoa” spread throughout the room. A giant souffle?! After all that food? I couldn’t possibly! Oh well, if you insist.

This was no ordinary souffle, but a Dark Chocolate Souffle with Black Pepper Milk Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate Cream. The ice cream was bold and peppery–a strange mix of spicy and sweet that was fantastically delicious.

After the dinner, Chef Ludo spoke with us about his love for pushing the envelope in his cooking and how he looks forward to changing up the menu throughout LudoBites 4.0’s run. He hinted that the menu may get more “provocative” after the first two weeks.

What a lovely night! Although I, of course, enjoyed the food, I also loved the wonderful company of my fellow blogger friends (nice to meet you all!), the fantastic FoodDigger crew and the whole LudoBites team.

LudoBites 4.0 runs from April 8-May 28 but, if you don’t already have your reservations, you had better get looking for someone who does; reservations were 100% booked within 24 hours.

Thank you to Chef Ludo and Krissy, FoodDigger, DomaineLA for an unforgettable night!

LudoBites 4.0 @ Gram & Papa’s

227 E. 9th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90015
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/gram-papas

www.twitter.com/chefludo

www.twitter.com/frenchchefwife

LA Street Food Festival

Oh, LA Street Food Festival. I have waited so long for you. Today, over 30 trucks, street food vendors and local designers and artists gathered at LA Center Studios for one day of extreme gastro-nomming.

After the Haiti Food Truck debacle, J and I decided to get there sooner rather than later. The two of us plus my friend Josh and his buddy Aaron arrived at 10:45 (15 minutes before the scheduled opening) and found ourselves at the end of a line that weaved down the block and through a parking lot. I stopped complaining, though, when I saw how quickly the line behind us grew (and, boy, did it grow). The line started moving at about 11:30 (after people had already begun deserting), and we got in at about 11:40…starving and ready for some serious nomz.

Because none of us had eaten yet, our group went to Mama Koh’s Chicken first, which had almost no wait time.

The wings were really sweet and tasty. I didn’t know that such little bites could have such flavor.

Next up, The TastyMeat Truck. J has had his eye on them for a while, and we were all glad to see that they were here today. Inspired by the doner kebab, The TastyMeat Truck aims to please your inner carnivore.

The TastyMeat truck had some dishes that aren’t on their menu online. One of them was Feta Fries with tzatziki sauce. I wish that these had been topped with crumbled feta, but, none the less, I really enjoyed the tanginess of the sauces and loved these fries.

The TastyMeat truck, like most of the other trucks, changed its menu for the day to be more of a tasting/sampling menu. We ordered their “Just the Meat” dishes with beef/lamb and falafel. All four of us were impressed and would definitely like to try their wraps in the future.

Afterwards, J got into line for LudoBites from Chef Ludovic Lefebvre, who has previously set up pop-up restaurants at Royal-T and Breadbar. Angelenos love their LudoBites, and its line was already winding around the area.

J was clearly going to be there for a while, so Josh, Aaron and I decided to head elsewhere.

First up was the Sweets Truck. I was almost shocked by how many sweets they had! They were definitely not going to have a repeat of the Haiti Festival.

I decided to branch out from my standard red velvet and ordered a Banana Shooter. It was yummy, but a little thicker than I thought it was going to be. Thank goodness for the free water tent!

Josh wanted to try one of their Red Velvet Cookies and, judging by how quickly it was gone, he really enjoyed it.

Aaron and Josh then headed to Yum Yum Bowls for some Thai food.

I recommended the Panang Curry, which is impressively good and is definitely of restaurant quality. Luckily, isn’t too spicy because it was a really hot day.

By this point, we were all melting and decided to leave poor J behind and brave the crowd to visit the other side of the festival.

Nothing beats shaved ice on a hot day, and Get Shaved came to our rescue! In addition to their normal sizes, Get Shaved was offering shaved ice shooters for $1 and “UFO’s” for $2 but, hey, it was hot! I ordered a medium, and Josh got a large.

I branched out this time and tried the Melona flavor (ok, so maybe one new flavor out of three isn’t really “branching out”), which was awesome. I think this may replace Pog as one of my regular flavors…

The plan was to take them back to the LudoBites line, but mine didn’t quite make it that far. Woops.

Eek! Think we can make it back?

By the time we got back with our shaved ice, J was almost to the front of the LudoBites line…which was when we heard that it would be another hour wait after ordering to get the food. Apparently, two of their burners were out. OY. Some people bailed after hearing this, but, after waiting an hour and a half…was another hour really that much more?

LudoBites number in hand, the four of us then made our way to Uncle Lau’s BBQ, which used to be Chef on Wheels but is rebranding and revamping its menu. They didn’t have their signature shrimp scampi (which is second only to the famous Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, in my book) but were serving Pulled Pork, Brisket and Kal-bi Sliders on Hawaiian sweet bread.

The pulled pork slider topped with coleslaw was a pretty bland. I was not a fan. The kal-bi slider was topped with kimchi and had a delicious flavor, but the meat was way too tough. I hope that Uncle Lau’s can figure everything out soon because 1) I looove their shrimp and 2) because everyone who works there is really friendly.

And then, the moment we had been waiting for arrived. LUDOBITES! The truck was serving chicken fried into balls and flavored with rosemary. The chicken was incredibly tender, and the crust was sweet and flaky. The rosemary and the sweet and spicy dipping sauce added wonderful flavor. This was my favorite dish of the day (although maybe the ordeal to get it is influencing my decision).

I couldn’t pass up the chance to snap a pic with Chef Ludovic. When I told him that we’d waited for a total of about three hours, he apologized profusely and said, “These had better be worth it, then!” What a sweetheart!

I really wanted to try Fresser’s and The Grilled Cheese Truck, but those lines were completely out of hand. I also really wanted to try QZilla, which was serving its meats on Texas Toast. NOM. I guess those will have to wait til another day!

Having a group of four at the festival definitely worked in our favor. I don’t know what we would have done if we had to focus on one truck at a time. Well, actually, I do know; we would have spent a lot of time at LudoBites and not eaten as much as we did…

What a fun day with great friends and yummy food! Yes, it was a day full of waiting in lines, but this definitely didn’t detract from the experience since we we came prepared to wait. I’m still thinking about all the great things I ate today!

Mama Koh’s Chicken

www.twitter.com/mama_kohs_chkn

The TastyMeat Truck
www.twitter.com/tastymeat
www.tastymeat.org

The Sweets Truck
www.twitter.com/thesweetstruck
www.thesweetstruck.com

LudoBites
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites

Yum Yum Bowls
www.twitter.com/yumyumbowls
www.yumyumbowls.com

Get Shaved
www.twitter.com/getshaved
www.getshavedice.com

Uncle Lau’s BBQ
www.twitter.com/unclelausbbq
www.unclelausbbq.com