4 Girls, 3 Hours, 1 Menu

5 successful pop up restaurant incarnations later, Ludobites still remains the hardest reservation to obtain in the world. 6.0 certainly had it's reservation challenges. And after 3 weeks of waiting and reading, it was my turn. 6.0 is my third go round with the French born chef. I still stay true to 4.0, but in doing so I have to admit that my 5.0 experience was limited by both time and dishes ordered. I didn't get the full monty, and thus shouldn't compare the two. 6.0 was my best experience to date, but I have to attribute the company I was with and the incredible journey the food took us on. There were of course some misses along with the hits, but there were far more hits.

I arrived first of my party of 4, and decided that since I was a good 40 minutes early, I'd wait for my companions at the bar. This was a novelty after 5 rounds with no bar, no liquor license and a BYOB policy. The bartender on hand for this evening was surprisingly the proprietor of Max in Sherman Oaks. While I didn't get a chance to talk to her about her plans for Max, I did have a pleasant conversation with a gentleman who was enjoying his first pop up experience that evening. A former restaurateur, and chef, he expressed his pleasure at the future of food in Los Angeles. My first cocktail of the evening was one of Ludo's COQtails, the Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger. I forget exactly what was in it, but I do remember Maker's Mark and ginger. They had me at ginger. My girlfriends arrived when I was halfway through my drink. We did end up having the remaining two COQtails: Mexican Mojito and Yuzu Tequila Martini. I forgot pictures, but I loved the cucumber coolness of the martini, and disliked the cilantro filled mojito. The other girls loved both.

Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger

Once seated, Emily explained to the Ludo Virgins the concept. It took my dinner companions mere seconds to decide that for this night, we were ordering the menu. Now, I've seen this done, but have never had the chance to attempt this feat myself. I can no longer say that, and given any opportunity, with the right company, will do it again.

We began by ordering a bottle of wine, because dinner without wine is just dinner. Dinner with wine, is a journey. Jill of DomaineLA did the wine list, and I must give her kudos on this one. Our first wine was Theirry Puzelat's 2009 Le Telquel. A gamay blend out of the Loire Valley, France. I'm a fan of all things gamay, and this blend did me no wrong. Almost effervescent (yes, I used that word), the fruity red was a nice accompaniment to the first few dishes of the meal.

2008 Theirry Puzelat le Telquel Gamay Blend

The first dish brought out was the Barely Cooked Squid Noodles, Pad Thai with Prawn and Black Radish ($16). The dish was obviously Thai influenced as it was heavy in the peanut flavor that is so dominant in a pad thai. The bean sprouts were a nice touch as they added a bit more texture to the softness of the squid noodles and the prawn. I did feel that the peanut was a little overwhelming to the briny flavor I would normally have looked for.

Barely Cooked Squid Noodles, Pad Thai, Prawn, Black Radish

Of course we had the baguette, warm and perfectly crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I enjoyed the Bavatte smoked butter and Sardine-Laughing Cow cheese, but I still miss the smoked lard from 4.0. ($5)

The Hamachi Vietnamese Style ($15) was one of my favorite dishes of the evening. The yellowtail sashimi was covered in thinly sliced jicama and drowned in a fish sauce that made the mouth water. You want to talk umami, this was it.

Hamachi Vietnamese Style

The Marinated Mackerel, Leche Del Tigre, Baby Leeks, Verdolagas Leaves ($15) was my first miss of the night. I've never been a fan of mackerel. I find it to be too salty, and too fishy. I did take a few bites from Ludo's representation, and I still have keep mackerel firmly in the 'no' category. One of my other dinner mates couldn't finish her piece as well.

Marinated Mackerel, Leche Del Tigre, Baby Leeks, Verdolagas Leaves

The Salmon "a l'huile", Somen Noodles, Carrots, Red Wine Vinaigrette, with Grilled Salmon Roe ($17) was easily one of my faves of the evening. The vinaigrette was a zesty and surprising complement to the salmon and the carrots added a nice crunch, even as thinly sliced as they were. But the very best part was the grilled salmon roe. I love ordering salmon roe nigiri when I go out for sushi, but I've never had it grilled. It was delightful how it added just the slightest charcoal flavor into the dish. If I could make this at home, I would in a heartbeat.

Salmon "a l'huile", Somen Noodles, Carrots, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Grilled Salmon Roe

The scallops were perfect. Caramelized on the outside, silky smooth in the center. I immensely enjoyed the celery root remoulade and the addition of the sweetness from the dried fruits, in my case what I think was fig, was just delicious. ($24)

Scallops, Celery Root Remoulade, Red Port, Walnuts, Dried Fruits

The Black Sausage "Parmentier", with apples and mustard ($18) was my second miss of the night. Turns out it's blood sausage. Until this moment, I've never had blood sausage. Apparently, I'd make a horrible vampire, because it just didn't do it for me. One of my girlfriends remarked that it tasted like a Filipino blood pudding. Again, no idea. I'll keep trying things made of blood, however, as I want to see if I can learn to like it. This was definitely an interesting introduction that would likely have made more sense to me had I had blood sausage before.

Black Sausge "parmentier", Apples and Mustard

The Oriental Mussels velouté, with Heirloom tomoato and small fries ($18) was a rich pureed mussel soup. Velouté translates literally to velvety, and in this case is very much applicable. Rich and creamy, this soup had the full briny flavor of mussels and though it was almost too rich to continue eating, had me wanting more. The small fries were incredibly thin and crispy with just the right amount of salt. We were meant to have put them in the dish, but ended up putting more straight into our mouths while joking we needed to search the kitchen for the person with the tiny little hands that made those fries. 

Oriental Mussels Velouté, Heirloom Tomato, Small Fries

Around this time, we ordered our second bottle of wine from the DomaineLA wine list: The 2007 Camus-Bruchon Bourgogne Rouge. A pinot noir that was slightly bigger than the previous gamay blend, it still went well with the dishes we were heading towards which were heavier than the starting dishes. I had a plan you see.

If you've been reading my blog, or know me, you know that I love foie gras with a passion. This is the first time I've had it poached-roasted and pickled. The Poached-Roasted Pickled Foie Gras with Acacia Honey, Autumn Fruits and Rose Flowers ($34) was a wonderfully surprising flavor combination. The sweetness of the honey and fruits came just shy of overpowering the buttery flavor of the foie gras. I think I'll take a basic foie gras terrine over this when pitted side by side, but I did enjoy this presentation in and of itself.

Poached-Roasted Pickled Foie Gras with Acacia Honey, Autumn Fruits and Rose Flowers

This is where we started falling apart. With 3 dishes left for our dinner, never mind the 2 desserts, we could have thrown in the towel. But we stayed strong, persevering through endless calories to the finish line. We continued on to the John Dory, served with potatoes, Herbes, Brcollini flowers, and green Jalapenos nage ($26). I almost couldn't do it, and the John Dory was a beautifully delicate white fish, with just the smallest hint of the jalapenos. I managed, and I'm glad I did. John Dory is not a fish I order on a regular basis and it was nice to see it served in a way other than merely grilled.

John Dory, Potato, Herbs, Brocollini Flowers, Green Jalapenos Nage

The gentleman I met at the bar had himself ordered the Half Chicken, Poached Egg, with Chantarelles and Chorizo ($24), so I knew to expect the chorizo foam. What I didn't expect was how each flavor when combine would be so perfectly matched. You'd think I'd know this by now, that Ludo pushes the boundaries of flavor conceptions. But I forget, and let's face it, I'm new to this whole food scene. However, I have to say, the foam was so light, with just the essence of chorizo, that it didn't overpower the dish the way it may have had it been full blown chorizo. By itself, the chicken was, well, chicken. But combined with the foam and the mushrooms, it became something else entirely.

Half Chicken, Poached Egg, Chanterelles, Chorizo

The last dish for the dinner portion was the one I had most looked forward to after seeing My Last Bite's photo up on twitter yesterday. It was also the one I was most disappointed in, because I was looking forward to it so much. The Marinated Korean Steak, with Crispy Kimchi, Bone Marrow and Shiso ($29) tasted fantastic. However, I do like my cow still mooing, and this was a little tough for me.

 

Marinated Korean Steak, Crispy Kimchi, Bone Marrow, Shiso

There were two choices for dessert, the Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta with Caramel and Caviar ($15) and the Warm Carrot Cake with coconut, Thai Curry, Mango Sorbet and Kaffir Lime Oil ($10).  The Panna Cotta was the best dessert I've had in a very long time. It was silken vanilla flavored heaven, with just the perfect amount of caramel. I questioned the caviar until I took a bite and then went under in a salty sweet dessert dreamscape.  The Carrot Cake tasted like fruit loops. That was my first impression and when I dared say it aloud, my friends laughed in easy agreement. It wasn't bad, I happen to like fruit loops. But I had dreams last night of the Panna Cotta. I would go back just to sit at the bar and eat dessert.

Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta, Caramel, Caviar

Warm Carrot Cake, Thai Curry, Mango Sorbet, Kaffir Lime Oil

It's always a fun experience at LudoBites, what with Ludo constantly changing the menu and playing with different combinations. This was my best experience yet, having had the chance to take the journey through the entire menu over a 3 hour time span with a group of girls that all love food. It was also a pleasure for me to introduce new people to Chef Ludo's cooking and bring on the next round of "Ludo Bitches". Thanks girls, and Krissy and Ludo for a wonderful experience that I will have a very hard time topping.

No longer Ludo Virgins