Friday night I dined at Ludobites 5.0 which is currently at Gram and Papa's in downtown LA. It's the summer tour and a very hard reservation to get so I was excited and enthusiastic. We had an 8:30 reservation and I ate lightly all day so I would have lots of room.
I'd eaten Ludo's food at Breadbar a couple of times and during the first appearance at Gram and Papa's in May. I'm a fan. One of the things that makes me a fan is when I feel like the chef is having fun in the kitchen. I like it when my mind is blown, or when I take a bite and my eyes close and my head tilts back and my mouth smiles involuntarily. Last night held several of those moments.
When I arrived I was hungry, like scary hungry. The kind of hungry that makes me kind of cranky. I was also tired because it had been a long day that started with a good work out since I knew I was going to be going on a culinary adventure. The kind of work out that makes you ravenous. My 5 companions were equally hungry and tired and so it was good that they cracked our wine and got it poured out quickly. I brought a 2007 Old Shin Bone from Peterson Winery in Sonoma - one of my favorite wineries in the region, and although I opened it a couple of years early it was completely drinkable and delicious.
I can be like that with waiting. I look under dirt to see if the seeds have sprouted, cut into meat on the grill to see if it's done, open the oven and pull out the cupcakes to see how they're doing.
I'm working on the concept of delayed gratification - but it's really hard.
We started with 2 orders of the Vadouvan Naan Bread with salted coconut butter. The bread had a sweet saltiness that provided the perfect vehicle to get the coconut butter into my mouth. Praise Jesus, let the games begin. The bread was on the table for less than 1 minute and seemingly evaporated, thankfully the Cheese Cupcakes frosted with Chicken Liver Pate with a glistening puddle of kumquats was close on the heels of the naan. There were cornichons in there too although I didn't actually see them because we fell upon the cupcakes like a flock of seagulls. The cupcake was moist and the cheese was subtle, the pate was creamy and the whole mouthfull was surprisingly light, completely delicious.By now we'd opened the 2005 Cask Rubicon Cabernet Sauvignon - mmmmmmmmm - to coincide with the arrival of the Poached Egg, Potato Mousseline with Chorizo condiment.
I was getting into the rhythm having sated the extreme hunger I'd walked through the door with and although we'd ordered three so they were split between two people it was only my love for my friend Adi that allowed him to get a few bites. I wanted to dig into that bowl like a real life Oliver Twist, you know singing about how great the food is while hunched over it so that no one else can get their spoon in your bowl.
After that rich and decadent deliciousness I was starting to feel a little bit full (okay I totally could have stopped eating), but I was also starting to get food drunk, and yes wine drunk so when the Raw Wagyu Beef in dried Miso, Peanut Vinaigrette, Candied Walnuts and Mint arrived I thought I'd try just a small bite because I was, you know, full. Only the beef was so light and fresh and beautifully seasoned, and all those flavors in my mouth at the same made me so happy, that I just had to have 5 or 6 more bites.
Now I was really and truly full. Which was why I was discomfited when the Hot Foie Gras with Chinese Barbecue Sauce and Miso Eggplant arrived. I mean I'm starting to get uncomfortable and considering that I might be too full for foie gras. That just doesn't happen. Someone orders another one more and it mocks me when it arrives because I'm now dancing around painfully full.
We still have the Grilled Octopus, Oregano, Grilled Hazelnut Polenta, Pineapple Aioli, Piment D'Espelette Gelee and Black Sea Bass, Cauliflower, Black Garlic and Yellow Panna Cotta which has just arrived on the table and the Goat Cheese Soup, Bacon Lardo, Tofu, Green Apple, Frisee Salad, the Confit Pork Belly, Raw Chacroute Thai Style with Mustard Ice Cream AND the Steamed Duck, Lemon Verbena, Crispy Skin Puree, White Peach, Radish and Balsamic to come.
I should stop eating and definitely stop drinking because I'm no longer buzzed I am full on happy drunk. I want to hug everyone, especially Ludo and thank them for sharing this experience with me.
Even the woman at the table next to ours who is braying with laughter that cuts through the cacophany of a packed Friday night, like the background of one of those 60s movies that take place in a bar populated with broads one would call "frowsy," cannot annoy me.
It would be great to be able to sit in a barcalounger to finish the meal because I am ready to lay down. It's 11:00 and we're still eating. I just need a little nap and I'll be good to go. Really. Instead we just keep eating and I know that it was really good, but I don't think that food tastes the same when you're stuffed as when you're starving.
Much like going to the grocery store I think that sitting down to eat a spectacular meal is best done on a stomach that has had a snack and knows how to pace itself. So next time, and there will be a next time at the end of this month, I will make sure that I am not starving and that we will not order every single thing on the menu since I feel compelled to eat everything and restraint has never entered into the experience.
I would never claim to a be a food critic - I am quite certain that they do not get drunk and inhale their food, but I do know what works for my partifuclar taste buds and I will try to share those experiences in a meaningful way here.
Bottom line: Ludo makes food that makes me very happy!
