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.

Top Chef: Where do you go from here?

There comes a point at which a viewer has to wonder, "Could this possibly get any better?" Last night, the chefs were presented with the Bocuse d'Or challenge, inspired by the most prestigious culinary competition in the world. One of the esteemed guest judges was none other than America's most influential chef, Thomas Keller, who sat alongside Jerome Bocuse, who is now the head of the organization. Top Chef has also had the legendary Joel Robuchon, the record holder of the most Michelin stars, as a judge this season, along with slew of other world-class chefs and culinary moguls.

They've also cast the ultimate rivalry: two brothers pitted against each other, one who has a Michelin star and has opened what some say is the one of the most influential restaurants in Los Angeles this year (Michael), and the other who served as executive chef at the three-star Michelin Charlie Palmer for nine years and now owns his own restaurant. What are you going to do for season 7? Cast a divorced couple? (I nominate Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. Now that would be good television!)

Rick Bayless dishes on his trip to L.A.

Rick Bayless, winner of "Top Chef Masters" and host of "Mexico: One Plate at a Time," was spotted dining at some of L.A.'s upscale Mexican eateries last week. We got so excited at the thought he might be casing the area for a future outpost of Topolobampo or Frontera Grill that we had to give him a call.

Unfortunately, Bayless responded that, "No, I can't. I'm such a bad commuter." (L.A. is definitely not the city for him in that case.) "I have three restaurants and they are all next door to each other. ...There's nothing in the works. "

He was actually in town for the World of Flavor Conference in Napa. He then brought his team down to check out what he said was "L.A.'s movement on the creative side of Mexican food."

"When we were filming 'Top Chef Masters,' we were on set for 16 to 18 hours a day. We were sequestered; We didn't get out much," he said. Naturally, he was excited by what he saw going on in our scene. 

He did divulge that he'd been asked to return to "Top Chef" as a guest judge and also shared some of his favorite dishes from his two-day whirlwind culinary adventure through L.A.

Some highlights included Provecho's grilled Caesar salad and ceviche; Rivera's beautiful flowered tortillas and cochinita pibil; and the chimichurri steak burrito from Casa, which experienced some growing pains during its first few months on the scene (perhaps the new executive chef, Nick Albrecht, has sorted things out). During their 48 hours they also went to Loteria Grill, AOC and Lucques.

Sounds like Bayless and his gang tackled our city two or three plates at a time.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo: Rick Bayless

Top Chef 'Just Desserts' and Season 7 casting

On Sunday, swarms of starry-eyed chefs showed up at Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant to take a stab at becoming the next Top Chef. The Magical Elves production company was doing a double-whammy cattle call, where the pastry chefs auditioned for the first season of "Just Desserts" and the rest auditioned for Season 7 of "Top Chef."

Casting producer Donna Lee says that there have been some big names that have come out in other cities, but her lips are sealed on who. Eater LA reports that chefs from Ivan Kane's Cafe Was and the Dakota were in attendance, but here's a peak at a few of the promising under-the-radar hopefuls we had a chance to speak with:

Top Chef 'Strip Around the World': Hot or not?

The "Top Chef" cheftestants were given a breakfast-in-bed room service quick-fire challenge. For the elimination, they were to take inspiration from various hotels along the Strip to create a single dish for 175 people. A look at what sizzled, and what fizzled.

What's hot: 

• Seeing Padma and my girl-crush, Nigella Lawson (whom I now have to fight Jacques Pepin for, as he admitted last week that he has the hots for her too), critiquing cuisine in bed together.

• Michael V's spicy buffalo wings with cool blue cheese disc, which were inspired by New York, New York and the FDNY. I've got my fingers crossed that he puts that on the menu at the Langham Hotel & Spa in Pasadena; though the dining room is a bit too fru-fru to watch a football game in, those wings looked like the ultimate game-time grub.

'Top Chef' Reunion: What would you cook with $500?

Props to Fabio Viviani for doing a stand-up job as host and moderator on last night's "Top Chef All Star Reunion." Thank goodness he didn't take on the style of Andy Cohen, obnoxious host of Bravo's "Real Housewives" reunions, who is seemingly afflicted by an addiction to Crest White Strips.

There were some classic outtakes and a couple of moments of good drama, but the best part was the announcement of the ballooned-up $500 budget to prepare one course for the communal dinner. Each team, which consisted of two members from each season, was given quite the hunk of dough to put together a single course. Sounds like a foodie fantasy fulfilled to me.

What one course would you put together for 11 guests with $500?

Maybe I'd test out one of the time-consuming dishes from the new Ad Hoc cookbook, since the "All Star" show had no time limitations. Or how about taking a stab at making Joel Robuchon's quail leg stuffed with foie gras with a side of truffle mashed potatoes from L' Atelier (though I probably wouldn't be able to pull it off as well as the Michelin monger himself). That might stack up to a generous $350. I'd spend the rest on a few bottles of killer, reasonably priced bottles of Oregon pinot (under $50), maybe something from Domaine Drouhin or Soter Beacon Hill.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo: Fabio Vibiani. Credit: NBC UMV

'Top Chef': Pablo Picasso versus Norman Rockwell

This week on Bravo's "Top Chef," yet another admirer made reference to Michael Voltaggio being similar to Picasso. True, he's innovative, but it's Kevin Gillespie's Rockwellian classic American culinary art (and a down-home personality to match) that may win judges over.

Michael V.'s unabashed confidence works to his advantage in the kitchen, but it doesn't do much for endearing him to an audience. Mike Isabella suffered the same last night, boasting that at his restaurant, "20 of the 60 dishes were vegetarian," so he had nothing to worry about. Wrong.

Where Michael's cooking can be complicated and highly conceptual, Kevin's is sensible and personal, each dish relating to family history (his grandmother's big breakfasts inspired this week's TV-dinner quickfire dish) or personal experience (he's no vegetarian but has abstained from meat during Lent, which inspired the entree prepared for Natalie Portman's veggie dinner party). He seemed more excited that his grandmother might someday be able to purchase one of his "Sopranos"-inspired "Top Chef" TV dinners than the quickfire win itself.

The mushrooms, smoked kale, candied garlic and turnip puree he made for Portman evoked Rockwell's bucolic portraits of classic Americana. In an era when people are struggling, maybe even a starlet is searching for the comfort, simplicity and nostalgia that Kevin delivers.

-- Krista Simmons

Photos: Top: "Weeping Woman" by Pablo Picasso courtesy of Tate Gallery, London. Bottom: "Freedom From Want" by Norman Rockwell courtesy of Curtis Publishing Co.

Bravo orders 'Top Chef' spin-off 'Just Desserts'

On the heels of news that Bravo has renewed "Top Chef Masters" for a second season comes word that the network has ordered another "Top Chef" spin-off, the sweet-centered "Just Desserts." Read more here.

Photo: The graham cracker chewy bars at Julienne's bakery in San Marino. Here's the recipe. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

 

'Top Chef': Restaurant Wars

The judges said it was the best Restaurant Wars they've seen in "Top Chef" history, and I have to agree. The pairing of high-caliber talent with the elimination of the chefs (who had to take care of the decor and design of a restaurant as well) really let the contestants showcase what the show is about: cooking. 

That rang true until Laureen got the boot. It seemed blatantly obvious to everyone that Jen's two fish dishes and broken sauces were the weakest link. Tom even went so far as to say that her mentor, Eric Ripert, would not be happy with her after that challenge. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to run into him tomorrow at my lunch at Le Bernardin (so excited!). I'd like to ask him how he feels about Jen's fishy missteps, given his perfection of the art of poisson.

Laureen was working the front of the house -- she wasn't even the one to cook the underdone, Jell-O-like lamb dish that got her eliminated. Kevin, the king of everything carnivorous, was the one responsible for cooking the dish. After Laureen was thrown off, Kevin looked as guilty and crestfallen as Balloon Boy. He took the high road though, and opted to plead the 5th when it came to commenting on the situation. Granted, Jen is the stronger chef, but since judging is meant to be on a case-by-case basis, this episode seemed slightly faulty.

After Tom's comment that this was the "best-ever Restaurant Wars" and Toby's hypothetical three stars for Michael V., I have a feeling Michael is going to have a hard time fitting his head into that ugly baseball cap he's always wearing. Even Padma got all giggly when awarding him his 10 grand for the win.

Something tells me all this attention might make him even more overbearing in the kitchen. I guess you don't end up on top by being a softie, though. But on the bright side, at least one of our baseball-cap-wearing Angelenos could pull through in a high-pressure situation last night ...

-- Krista Simmons

Photo credit: NBC UMV

Sampler Platter: Reviving British food, hipsters make PBR more popular, Stefan Richter says something arrogant

Stefan Richter surprises no one with his arrogance, agribusiness throws its weight around and more food news in today's roundup.

-- Sorry, hipsters. Your ironic consumption of Pabst Blue Ribbon made it more popular -- and more expensive -- than other lowbrow beers. NBC Los Angeles
-- "I think America knows that I won Top Chef," says Stefan Richter. LAist
-- Sweets and schadenfreude: Cake Wrecks makes it into the New York Times.
-- California agribusiness pressures Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to nix Michael Pollan lecture. Los Angeles Times
-- Don't wear your sweatpants to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant. Washington Post
-- A recipe for bite-sized bacon caramels. The Kitchn
-- Bears love eating from minivans. Los Angeles Times
-- Hoping to incite “serious contemplation of a robust culinary tradition,” British Food in America, a new online mag “dedicated to the discussion and revival of British foodways,” launches. News items will appear “forthnightly." Cheerio, old chap.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Canned food from explorer Ernest Schackleton's 1907-09 Nimrod expedition in Antarctica, part of Britain's "robust culinary tradition." Credit: Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune.