Ludo Lefebvre: In and Out

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Ludo Lefebvre: In and Out
Ludo Lefebvre at Gram & Papa’s

When Ludo Lefebvre was a kid, his parents looked down their noses at chefs, saying the job was for people too stupid to be lawyers, doctors or accountants. Well, they’ve since changed their tune. Lefebvre, 40, has become one of the most well-known chefs in the world. The New York Times called him an “impresario of pop-up dining” and Time magazine dubbed him a “chef of the future.” Lefebvre has become a critic’s darling thanks to his widely popular temporary restaurant concept LudoBites – demand for a table is often so extreme that hopeful customers have crashed the OpenTable reservation system. But Lefebvre, with his brash personality and rock star tattoos, doesn’t like to be called a celebrity chef. He says he’s just a regular guy with a passion for cooking inspired by his grandmother: He would help her prepare the family meals when he was a young boy growing up in the French province of Burgundy. Lefebvre sat down with the Business Journal at Gram & Papa’s, a Fashion District restaurant where Lefebvre staged one of his most successful LudoBites, to discuss his apprenticeships under famous French chefs, his travels throughout the United States for his new reality show and what he would order for his last meal.

Question: You’ve been traveling throughout the United States filming your upcoming reality show, “Ludo Bites America.” What’s the experience been like?

Answer: I’ve been cooking for 25 years, I know a lot about cooking. But there’s still a lot I don’t know. On the show, I go and I learn about people, and I cook at the

restaurants.

What did you learn about Americans?

I learned that each state is so different. It’s very interesting to see how the cooking is so different in each state, and how people cook and eat. In Alabama, for example, people are so slow over there. I wish I could be like that in my life.

How did the show come about?

A lot of networks and producers wanted to do a show with us. People saw me on “Top Chef Masters.” I screamed a lot; I’m French; I express myself. So people love the drama with me. But I take myself seriously and I didn’t want to do a show about my life with Krissy and fight on camera in my house. It still needs to be about my philosophy, about cooking and about traveling. So we sent out a pitch to a lot of producers and networks, and Sundance Channel was the first one to say yes to our show so we went with them.

So now you’re really a celebrity chef?

People say I’m a celebrity chef and I’m not. I don’t like when people call me a celebrity. For me, a celebrity is somebody you see a lot on TV and not enough in his restaurant – that’s a celebrity chef. But when you come to LudoBites, I’m here every night.

You pioneered the pop-up restaurant business with LudoBites. Why did you want to launch a temporary restaurant?

When I created this concept, LudoBites, three years ago, it was more of a restaurant for my friends. I was tired of cooking for food critics. When I was working at Bastide and L’Orangerie, it was a race to be No. 1 and it was a lot of pressure. I was tired of wearing a white hat and white jacket. So I said to Krissy, “I just want to do a simple restaurant and cook my kind of food.” At LudoBites, we create this relationship between the chef and the customer. I take your order, I’m cooking, it’s like you are in my house.

But you haven’t been able to get away from the food critics with LudoBites. Do you still feel the pressure?

When LudoBites opened for the first time, it was great. We had a lot of bloggers and nobody was taking themselves seriously. But now, LudoBites is so big and we have all the critics coming here – from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times – it’s kind of amazing. And now there are so many bloggers and they take themselves so seriously. They come here because they want to be the first to take pictures of the food and they forget to eat. It’s still fun, but now it’s a lot of pressure.

Like all chefs, you’ve had your bad nights. New York Times critic Sam Sifton was there for one of yours, although you didn’t know it at the time. What happened?

I went walking around the block because I was getting frustrated with the staff. I had some new shoes on and I got blisters. People don’t realize, but LudoBites is challenging.

What upset you?

My staff was repeating the same mistakes. What was I supposed to do, say, “Great job”? No. I couldn’t take it anymore. Every time I have new cooks. I never really get the same staff, so I have to retrain people. But it’s fun when you finish. It’s an amazing experience.

Who inspired your interest in cooking?

My grandmother. My mom was a great cook, too, but my mom was working, so my grandmother took care of me every day. She would pick me up from school at 4 p.m. and then she would cook and I would do my homework at the kitchen table. It was just amazing to see her cook, the way she was so passionate and serious about it.

Which of your grandmother’s meals is your favorite?

Roasted potatoes with roasted chicken. It’s so simple, but so difficult to make because you want the skin crispy and the meat very moist.

Do you make that for yourself now?

Yes, and it’s not bad. But it’s not as good as my grandmother’s.

Tell me about growing up in France.

I grew up in Burgundy, wine country. It’s all about wine and food. I have memories of people coming to my house and eating for five hours. They would just party and drink and party, and my grandma would cook.

At 13, you knew you wanted to be a chef. How did your parents react to that?

My dad didn’t want me to be a chef because at that time, a chef was not a job you could be proud of. It was more like if you aren’t smart in school, then you go be a chef in the kitchen. And my mom, a side of my mom’s family is very snobby. But I liked to cook.

And your parents came around?

I went to work at a restaurant with Marc Meneau, so it was better because I was working with a big chef.

What was it like working with him?

It was very hard. I was 14 years old, working 18 hours a day with 20 cooks in the kitchen who beat me up all day and said, “You are doing a bad job.” They would put me in a corner, and tell me to peel the potatoes. But I liked it.

Any other memories from that experience?

I was living in a house with a lot of people, like a boarding house, and I was scared. I was 14 years old; it was chaos. I was living with people who were 20 years old and 30 years old, and they were all watching porn movies on TV. I was afraid to take a shower with them. It was terrible. Every morning, I had no way to get to work so I would hitchhike. Some guys would take me every morning.

What lessons did you learn?

Just to say, “Yes, chef.” Even if the chef is wrong, you say, “Yes, chef.”

How did working at such a young age shape you?

I learned to be responsible, it was good for me. I think being a chef really saved me from being a bad boy. Trust me, at 14 years old I was doing some stuff.

Like what?

I was very bad in school. I was stealing radios from cars, stupid things. I would take a bat and break the mailbox of the teacher. I had nothing to do in Burgundy and my friends had nothing to do.

Did you graduate high school?

I don’t know how, but I graduated high school. I graduated because my dad put me in religious school.

You moved to Los Angeles at 24. Why Southern California?

I came to L’Orangerie. I had a chance to go to Chicago or New York, and I don’t know why I picked Los Angeles. I was thinking I would stay for two years; I’ve been here for 16.

What kept you here?

I became the head chef at L’Orangerie after six months and I was very happy to be head chef. But I think it was too much. I wish I would have traveled more, traveled to Asia or South America and learned about food.

So you shouldn’t have stayed?

I wish I had stayed two years at L’Orangerie and then done something else. But I became head chef and it was a good job. I always say to my young chefs, “Don’t become a head chef at 24, 25 or 26. Work with other chefs and learn their different philosophies.”

Which chef was the most influential in your life?

Marc Meneau because I learned a lot about cooking from him. He taught me to have this connection with food.

Do you keep in touch with him?

A few months ago, he called me and said, “I’m very proud of you.” He had heard about the food truck. And that’s cool, a three-star Michelin chef is proud of my food truck.

Have people ever said anything about your food that upset you?

When somebody tells me my steak tartare is too raw. It is raw. People don’t know. I don’t know how bloggers with no experience can come here and judge me in my job. You know what my dream is? To go and judge people in their job because they judge me in my job.

Sounds like the negative comments hurt you.

Sometimes it makes me sad and sometimes it make me want to close the restaurant because it hurts. They come here to judge you and to be negative because you are so successful.

There are moments when you want to stop doing LudoBites?

So many times I want to quit, but Krissy won’t let me.

What’s Krissy like?

We don’t fight too much. When we have fought a few times, I say to Krissy, “What happens at the restaurant has to stay at the restaurant.”

How did you two meet?

When I was a chef at L’Orangerie, she was a guest. Trust me, I was working.

I know Krissy had a hysterectomy after being diagnosed with cervical cancer. So did you have a surrogate for your baby twins?

We had a surrogate; it was an amazing experience. We tried adopting, but it’s a messed-up business. It was a nightmare.

How have the twins changed your life?

The babies have given me more inspiration. I want to be more successful for my kids and more responsible in life. I’m not going to ride my motorcycle anymore.

So they’ve motivated you.

I think I’m going to make a line of food for babies. When we did the baby shower and played the games, they blindfolded me and I had to taste the baby food. It didn’t taste like what it’s supposed to taste. I’m going to cook for my babies, do a BabyBites.

What else inspires you?

What’s going on in my life, what’s around me. I get inspiration from traveling, looking at other restaurants, looking at magazines or painters.

Who is your favorite artist?

I’m obsessed with Jean-Michel Basquiat. To look at his paintings makes me want to cook. His texture, his color, I like the way he paints a message in his paintings. It’s very powerful.

Tell me about your tattoos.

I got my first tattoo in 1996. I got a flower on my back. I regret it now, I cover it. People ask me, “Why don’t you have a tattoo about food?” But I have things that inspire me in my life. I have Buddha, it’s a spiritual thing, and the name of my wife and my sister. I have a rooster. In France, the logo for national teams like soccer or rugby is the rooster.

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

In life, you need to be you and don’t try to be somebody else, and it’s true. Pierre Gagnaire told me that.

What would you order for your last meal?

My grandmother’s roasted chicken with potatoes.

What do you have left to accomplish in your life?

A lot of things. Next year, I hope to open a new restaurant concept. And I want to take LudoBites on a restaurant tour like a band, like a rock star.

Ludovic ‘Ludo’ Lefebvre

TITLE: Founder

COMPANY: LudoBites

BORN: Burgundy, France; 1971

EDUCATION: College of Toucy (high school equivalent); apprenticeship supervised by Le Castle in Dijon (technical school equivalent).

CAREER TURNING POINT: Starting LudoBites, a temporary restaurant he runs with his wife, Krissy.

MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE: Krissy; Marc Meneau, Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Passard, chefs he studied with in France.

PERSONAL: Lives with wife in Sherman Oaks. Couple has twin babies, a boy and a girl.

ACTIVITIES: Taking care of twins; painting.

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