Perhaps there is no architectural feature more distinctly Angeleno than a strip mall. The city is full of them with their busy facades and bright neon signage. Their wonderfully eclectic, multi-purpose tenants give shape and home to the multitudes of ethnic communities that make up LA’s diverse population. Trois Mec and Petit Trois can be found side-by-side in a Hollywood strip mall, nestled between a dry cleaners and a Yum Yum donut. Ludo’s restaurants and the dishes he creates for them embody the cultural mash-up and high/low flair that is the strip mall philosophy.
La mer means, simply, 'the sea.' Ludo came up under mentors like Alain Passard and Mark Meneau, chefs with an almost pathological obsession with ingredients. His eyes light up when he describes the Lobsters of Brittany, the Oysters from Cancale, and the myriad of other extraordinary culinary jewels. In this episode, we explore how the oceanic bounty of France is some of the best anywhere by profiling the ingredients that can be pulled from it.
A bistro is typically defined by its modesty – they are relatively small, affordable and humble. The bistro has become rather ubiquitous these days but despite its many incarnations, at its core, a bistro is a place where every man can eat, and eat well. With Petit Trois, Ludo Lefebvre has brought the spirit of the bistro to Los Angeles. In this episode, Ludo brings us back to Paris to introduce us to some of the people and places that first inspired him to begin a culinary career.
Ludo Lefebvre apprenticed under – and learned from – some of France’s most esteemed chefs, but it took a move to Los Angeles, starting a family and a rough restaurant review for him to figure out what he really wanted to do with his culinary future. This episode examines the ties between artists and their education, and how childlike wonder can, in fact, translate into a career. The question Ludo poses is whether an artist follows instinct, training or intuition… or perhaps all three.
Chef Ludo Lefebvre began his US career cooking at Los Angeles restaurant Bastide, but after it closed for renovations he opted not to return and instead chose to do things his way. Borrowing a friend’s bakery space, which was closed in the evenings, Ludo created a unique dining experience in the form of small, reservations-only, “chef’s choice” dinners. These dinners became known as LudoBites, a pop-up deemed by Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold as "a transforming moment” for the LA dining scene.
The Great Pyramids of Giza remain one of the enduring wonders of the ancient world. This mesmerizing monument have eluded astronomers and archeologists for centuries. Why and how the ancient pyramids of the pharaohs were built? Were they merely burial tombs, or a cosmic vehicle to the celestial world? What were the motives and methods behind the orientation of the pyramids to face the four cardinal directions with extreme accuracy? The world's renowned Egyptologists, astronomers and engineers join forces to solve some of the long-held mysteries about the pyramids.
Trois Mec and Petit Trois can be found side-by-side in a Hollywood strip mall, nestled between a dry cleaners and a Yum Yum donut. Ludo’s restaurants and the dishes he creates for them embody the cultural mash-up and high/low flair that is the strip mall philosophy.