Licensed to crow: LudoBites returns (in Version 007) to Gram & Papa's in August

Best bring your online-reservations A-game when slots become available for the next incarnation of LudoBites (you might recall that the last few pop-ups crashed the reservations system). LudoBites -- this time dubbed "007" -- will return to Gram & Papa's downtown, Tuesday to Friday nights from Aug. 3 to Sept. 10. Online reservations via OpenTable will be available starting at 4 p.m. July 14, in honor of Bastille Day. 

"It's the French revolution -- no, the French evolution!" says chef Ludo Lefebvre. Lefebvre and his wife and partner, Krissy Lefebvre, have just wrapped up several weeks of shooting the first season of their Sundance Channel television series, "LudoBites America." The show, to begin airing July 19, follows the Lefebvres as they open pop-up restaurants in a new city each episode.  

Now, LudoBites the pop-up will return to its regularly scheduled programming in Los Angeles. Ludo says the menu will be ...

LAX gets wings? Ludo Fried Chicken may land in Terminal 4

Chef Ludo Lefebvre may be bringing his Ludo Fried Chicken (also known as LFC) to Los Angeles International Airport. Dubbed Ludo Vite, the concession stand is part of Delaware North Cos.' proposed food and beverage bid for LAX, under consideration by the airport.

Lefebvre couldn't be reached because he is recovering from back surgery. But expect a menu similar to the Ludo Bites Truck's, which features Provencal pepittes, fried chicken balls infused with herbes de Provence and rosemary; honey-glazed garlic wings; and chicken strips. Ludo Vite is proposed for Terminal 4, where American Airlines and American Eagle, Cathay Pacific and Qantas are located. (A chicken-and-biscuit-with-maple-butter breakfast on your way to Hong Kong?) 

The proposed contracts for the overhaul of restaurants at LAX has been hotly debated, but the L.A. City Council late last year approved the first round of concession bids, including one involving Delaware North. 

Also in the works may be a concession from chef Josie Le Balch of Josie restaurant in Santa Monica, says Delaware North. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Ludo Bites Truck. Credit: MobiMunch

 

 

Spotted on the red carpet: Wolfgang Puck and his menu for the Oscars

On Sunday afternoon I was in the press bleachers on the red carpet at the Oscars. The glut of celebrity was so overwhelming that I became numb to the whole thing. There's Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow with their arms around each other; there's Justin Timberlake; there's Colin Firth; and so forth.

As my eyes glazed over and my feet turned to ice (it was cold out there!) I suddenly caught a glimpse of Wolfgang Puck and his son Byron, with a whole crew of white-clad chefs, carrying a sample of the dinner Puck planned to serve at the Governor's Ball after the show. The delicious-looking food shook me from my star-induced stupor.

Word on the carpet was that Puck's smoked salmon Oscars are amazing. Best of all, he liberally doled out Sherry Yard's signature gold-plated miniature Oscar chocolates to everyone he saw. Also on the menu: a sushi and shellfish station, black truffle pizza with ricotta and thyme, a trio of salads, pan-roasted Dover sole, vegetable risotto paella, and asparagus with Iberico ham and black truffle aioli.

Puck said he was cooking for 1,500 guests and that he had 12 chefs just working on the special requests of the stars.

The Governor's Ball was the last in a series of Academy Awards dinners helmed by celebrity chefs. Joachim Splichal regularly caters the Emmys; Suzanne Goin concluded her second year catering the SAG Awards last month; and, for the first time ever, Ludo Lefebvre catered Elton John's Oscar party. I'm told that food went really fast.

For more on Wolfgang Puck on the red carpet, check out this post on Ministry of Gossip.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Wolfgang Puck, left, and son Byron on the Oscars red carpet on Feb. 27, 2011. Credit: Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times

Foie gras beignets as LudoBites 3.0 debuts at Royal/T

Chef Ludovic Lefebvre built his reputation at fine dining palaces L'Orangerie and Bastide* and cemented it on Top Chef Masters, but he's made his cooking accessible to the rest of us with LudoBites, his pop-up restaurants. These experiments in temporal dining have allowed Lefebvre to innovate in the kitchen while adding an air of exclusivity to dinner. It's all the intensity of an affair without the day-to-day torpor of a marriage.

After a widely acclaimed three-month stint behind the stoves at Breadbar this past summer, Lefebvre on Tuesday night launched LudoBites 3.0 at Japanese maid cafe/art gallery Royal/T. It's a much shorter stint and a much smaller kitchen, but once again, the tattooed French expatriate mixes classic culinary technique with a slew of global influences and ingredients.

Sampler Platter: LudoBites debuts at Royal/T, Padma poses nude, the strongest beer in the world

Ludovic Lefebvre is the man of the hour as his latest pop-up restaurant debuts tonight in Culver City, plus other non-Ludo food news.

-- Kevin Eats previews LudoBites 3.0, which debuts tonight at Royal/T with a wine list curated by Domaine LA.
-- Teenage Gluster and his mom teach chef Ludo to make a mole.
-- A Cadbury descendant crusades against Kraft's potential takeover. Wall Street Journal
-- Street Gourmet LA tastes Samuel Adams' Utopias, the strongest beer in the world.
-- Thieves steal $100,000 of donated food, toys in Orange County. NBC Los Angeles
-- Louisiana restaurants sue vendors after point-of-sale hack. PC World
-- Pregnant "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi poses nude for magazine. Hindustan Times
-- Potatomato pops into Mercantile.
-- China welcomes back Canadian bacon. AFP
-- J&D's, the folks who make bacon salt, bring you these new bacon products: BaconPOP popcorn, bacon ranch dressing and bacon-flavored envelopes.
-- Tacos El Fenix: The real Baja fish taco. Gourmet Pigs
-- Some Premium Edge cat foods recalled due to thiamine deficiency. L.A. Unleashed

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Chef Kris Morningstar, middle, chats with a customer at Mercantile in Hollywood. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times.

LudoBites comes to Royal/T in Culver City starting Dec. 2

Chef Ludovic Lefebvre's pop-up restaurant LudoBites at Breadbar was a smash success, and when it ended in August, his newly expanded L.A. fan base hungered for more. Amid the swirling rumors that he would launch a brick-and-mortar restaurant -- still a distinct possibility -- Lefebvre has partnered with art gallery/Japanese maid cafe Royal/T for another incarnation of LudoBites, which debuts in December.

The 13-day engagement (Dec. 2 to 4; 9 to 10; 13 to 17; and 20 to 22) is presented in conjunction with Jane Glassman's "In Bed Together" exhibit. We suggest making reservations as soon as possible.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Chef Ludovic Lefebvre works behind the counter while diners eat LudoBites at Breadbar. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Sampler Platter: Ludo pops up in Culver City, hummus wars, albino carrots, chili cornbread sandwich

The Hummus War drags on while Amelie Mauresmo sips a 1982 Lafite Rothschild and albino carrots plot a return to store shelves.

--Los Angeles magazine, which features real L.A. waitresses in November's fashion spread, says chef Ludovic Lefebvre will do a pop-up restaurant in Culver City come December.
--Regional cuisine war simmers as Lebanon retakes from Israel the coveted world record for largest plate of hummus. Yahoo! News
--All McDonald's in Iceland to close after krona collapse. Bloomberg
--Chili cornbread sandwich gains national fame. Marshall News Messenger
--After centuries away, albino carrots return to store shelves. Daily Mail
--Slate explores the world of hardcore couponing.
--The culinary adventures of chef Celestino Drago. LAist
--French tennis star Amélie Mauresmo shares her passion for collecting wine. Wine Spectator
--"Corndog on a PLane," art that delivers what it promises. Finally. Etsy
--Half of Britons injured by their biscuits (i.e. cookies) on coffee break. Telegraph

--Elina Shatkin

--Photo: Lebanese chefs joyfully react after breaking a Guinness World Record by making a bowl of hummus weighing more than 2,056 kilograms. Credit: Hussein Malla / AP