Liberty, Equality, LudoBites

Ludovic Lefebvre’s french revolution, 4.0

Comments (0) By Jonathan Gold Thursday, May 20 2010

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That being said, the idea of progress has to be involved — plenty of lousy bands also play rough early shows. The squid carbonara, Lefebvre’s take on Nobu Matsuhisa’s take on the classic izakaya dish, has been improving every week: Its “noodles,’’ cut from lightly boiled calamari, are glazed with a light Parmesan-pancetta emulsion, and arranged into a nest with a poached egg at its core — with your first bite, the barely thickened yolk leaks out and forms a luxurious sauce. And the appeal of LudoBites lies with the idea of its perfectibility — that the blood-sausage mousse really will become lighter and a bit more sharply seasoned, that its apple purée will show greater perfume of the fruit and that the artificial wasabi will eventually be replaced with a dab of the infinitely better real stuff.

Here, you are part of the creative process, or at least it feels that way. LudoBites is a rough sketch on its way to becoming a restaurant, the edges not quite sanded, the execution still a little awkward, the exquisite touches not quite in place. Anybody who has ever worked as an editor knows well this sensation — it is the excitement of encountering a wonderful yet imperfect manuscript that requires a little help before it blossoms into greatness.

PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN

LudoBites' Ludovic Lefebvre

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When you are handed a bowl of something like Lefebvre’s choux farci, a French home-cooking staple given a twist by the foie gras the poached cabbage leaves encase instead of the usual bready dumplings, nudged toward Los Angeles by a hint of kimchi in the consommé, you are perhaps willing to forgive the slight overcooking, the imperfect clarification of the consommé, and the childlike dice of crunchy watermelon radish tossed in as a garnish. The impression is less a dish than notes toward a dish, and you feel privileged to have been present at its creation.

If LudoBites ever becomes a proper restaurant, with wine service, a fixed menu and reservations available through OpenTable, the stuffed cabbage could well become one of its famous dishes, Food & Wine will laud the inspiration, and the issues of broth clarity and poaching time will have been fixed. The spontaneity of the moment will have been lost.

LUDOBITES: ludobites.com.