Ludovic Lefebvre, photo by Nate Hoffman
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
Ludovic Lefebvre might be the most celebrated chef in Los Angeles without a restaurant. Instead, the Burgundy born, tattooed looker and star of LudoBites America, which premieres on the Sundance Channel this summer, has become the king of the pop-up. He also has a fried chicken truck, LudoTruck. Take that colonel. How did the former top toque at L’Orangerie and Bastide get from there to here? We checked in with Lefebvre while he was on the road.
What are you doing in Denver?
I am going to do a LudoBites here, I want to learn about buffalo meat because I never really eat that, never cook that. I always be interested about buffalo because it’s a big part of America. Saturday I am going hunting for buffalo. I am going to go kill my buffalo, cut my buffalo myself and find a restaurant and cook my buffalo head to toe.
Tell me more about this show you are doing.
I want to learn about America. I live here for 15 years. I don’t know nothing about American food and culture. [I’ve been in] LA and New York and Chicago all the time for business. I really want to explore America and understand the culture and food. After I want to cook, too. I want to cook for people I meet. The show will start this July.
Do you like doing TV?
I like it because I do what I want. Nothing is scripted. I go to different cities. I go to farms. I go hunting. I learn how to do a fresh tortilla. And opening a LudoBites, too. I really want to find inspiration. Last week we were in Santa Fe because I always be obsessed with Native Americans and I want to learn about the green and red chili.
You’re from France. America doesn’t exactly have that sort of culinary reputation.
A lot of people say in America we don’t have good food. Yesterday I was driving. Sometimes you have nothing to eat, just fast food. But at the end of the day there’s so much different culture in America. With the show LudoBites I want to show America is a great country for food now. I’m tired of people saying, “American food, American food.” We have amazing chefs in America.
Are you just talking fancy chefs?
In general. I went to Raleigh in North Carolina. I ate some amazing barbecue. They have this whole shoulder and start to cook it near 2 in the morning in the middle of the forest. I want people to know about that.
How much actual cooking are you getting to do these days?
A lot. In ten days in each city, I have like five days to go eat in restaurants and go hunting, see the specialty and find my restaurant. Then I’m cooking four days.
You came from this very haute background. Now you are serving fried chicken from a truck. I imagine some people might scratch their head at this or think you are selling out or something.
All my life I work in fine dining rooms. I was tired of that. I was tired to just cook for special occasions or birthdays, just to see my customer one time every year. I love fine dining rooms. But I was tired of white jackets, and toque. I was feeling like my hands was tied. It’s why I left Bastide to open my own restaurant. I start to play with fried chicken at LudoBite. Fried chicken become very successful in 2007. It’s so funny. I work at the best restaurants and now in America I’m famous for my fried chicken. End of day I decide to go on truck. I realize my job is cook for everybody. It was an opportunity to bring good food to the street. It’s the same chicken I do in my restaurant. Everything is fresh. Nothing is frozen. I buy the best chicken.
And do you have one truck or more than one?
Just one. One is enough. People don’t realize it’s a lot of work.
Do you think there will still be food trucks in five or ten years?
In LA, I am sure. Now it’s a trend. A lot of trucks are going to close and a lot are going to stay, like a restaurant. It’s a lot of work: the permit, the prepping, maintenance of the truck. You need to do the volume in two hours.
Do you think you will ever get back to haute cuisine?
I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Not now. It’s not my plan to do a fancy restaurant. But you never know in life.
What’s next? Will you stay in LA?
Of course I want to stay in LA. That’s my hometown. So I’m finishing the show in June. I’m going to open LudoBite 7.0 this summer.
Do you know where yet?
We’re working on a location.
Your pop-ups seem to generate more buzz than any others. How do you feel about being Mr. Pop-Up?
This thing start in 2007 from nowhere. I was looking to open my restaurant. I realize doing a restaurant take a lot of money and time. I decide to just rent Breadbar. I don’t want to stay home for six months doing nothing. So it became a success. After I was taking LudoBite to different locations. I become the king of pop-up from nowhere. I never realized I was doing pop-up.
Are there certain dishes you are obliged to do when you do the pop-ups?
No. What is good with pop-ups, I do what I want. I have my freedom. Always new dishes because all the time I’m in a new location, a new setup. I want to create a new concept. I never repeat dishes. I did one time because people asking for squid ink black croque monsieur with foie gras. People love it. It was so good. As a chef my job too is to please people. Usually I never repeat. So everyone is so excited because they know it’s a new location, a new menu, like when you see a new movie from Steven Spielberg. Same producer but a different story.
What do you think your teachers would think of what you are doing now?
Marc Meneau, one of my mentors, gave me a call one day like five months ago. He called me from nowhere to congratulate me on the food truck and my success. In France all my mentors think it’s amazing. They don’t call me because I get a five star Mobil at Bastide or L’Orangerie.
I want to go back a bit. Was anyone in your family a chef?
Nobody.
Was anyone a good cook?
My grandma was an amazing cook. My mom was working. I spent a lot of time with my grandma in the kitchen. I was just amazed how she was passionate and serious about food. Just to be behind her and watch her and hear sounds and smell was pretty amazing. And as a kid I loved to eat.
When did you start cooking?
When I was ten years old I started to cook with my grandma. More bread and pastry. At 14 I started apprenticeship with Marc Meneau.
You started with the best.
I’m lucky but I work very hard. He told me I have one month to show him I want to be a cook. If I was not good I was going to ‘take the door.’
Do you miss being in a restaurant?
I’m in the restaurant every week doing my show now.
I mean with the same maitre d’, the same chefs.
I love to meet people, go to different restaurants. It’s great to change yourself. Sometime in the same restaurant it’s boring.
How do you get your staff? Are they from whatever restaurant you are using?
Sometimes the staff work for me. Sometimes the restaurant closed at night. I go to cooking school or I know some chef in town. I make it happen.
Where do you like to shop in Los Angeles?
I love the Cheese Store in Beverly Hills. They have some amazing cheese and charcuterie. Also Spice Station in Silver Lake.
Tell me a few of your favorite local restaurants.
I like to go to Hatfield’s. I love Melisse, too, and Providence. The three chefs are amazing. I like go to Roy [Choi’s] restaurant, Chego. I’m a big fan of Roy, too. I love this philosophy of food.
Finally, what’s the secret to great fried chicken?
Some people are all about the crust. Some people are all about the meat. I brine the meat. I do a very spicy crust. The secret is to brine the meat. Like when you do roasted chicken, you want meat very moist and crispy skin. Very moist meat and crispy crust is what I try to do with my fried chicken. You want your meat to be juicy like a burger.
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