Ludo Lefebvre
Chef Ludo Lefebvre is a world-renowned chef and currently one of the most influential members of the food scene in Los Angeles. He trained in France for 12 years with some of the great masters of French cuisine such as Alain Passard, Pierre Gagnaire, Marc Meneau, and Guy Martin. Ludovic - or Ludo Lefebvre moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1990s and successfully took the helm of the fine-dining restaurants LOrangerie and eventually, Bastide. Examples of dishes he created there include Poularde marinated in Pepsi-Cola with popcorn, and Panna Cotta topped with caviar in a salted-butter caramel sauce.
After Bastide closed for renovations, he decided not to return, asking his friend who owned a bakery if he could take it over at night for three months when it was otherwise closed. Within that space, he created a special event dining experience which ultimately became known as LudoBites and was deemed by LA Weekly's Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold as "a transforming moment in the Los Angeles restaurant scene.
Pioneering the idea of the pop-up restaurant with his LudoBites concept, he embarked on a multi-city restaurant tour sharing the idea while challenging what a dining experience should be. In September 2010, Ludo brought fried chicken to the streets of Los Angeles by opening his food truck, known on the streets as LudoTruck. In October 2013, Ludo took his fried chicken concept to the next level opening his first brick and mortar location, LudoBird, inside the STAPLES Center in downtown LA.
Next, Ludo Lefebvre opened the casual fine-dining restaurant Trois Mec, garnering instant critical acclaim, and following it up with the James-Beard nominated Petit Trois in 2014. Most recently in October 2015, Ludo opened his first brunch only concept, Trois Familia in Silverlake, CA.
Ludo is also the author of two cookbooks, LudoBites: Recipes and Stories from the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre and Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses. Lefebvre has made numerous TV appearances, including Iron Chef America, Top Chef Masters, Hell's Kitchen, Ludo Bites America on the Sundance Channel, and The Taste with Anthony Bourdain, among others. He was named the break-out star of The Taste by the New York Times.