You walk in politely thinking that dinner will be some kind of concoction where the name is fancier than the ingredients. The steady influx of patrons carrying bottles of alcohol covered in wrinkled paper bags does nothing to assuage your feelings of guilty and pre-emptive judgment.
It’s just that sort of place…quaint, simple and completely under the radar.
It’s not where you might expect James Beard nominee and recent Top Chef Masters contestant, Ludo Lefebvre, to surprise and potentially cause your salivary glands to overwork themselves, but here he is…at Breadbar.
With the instability of the economy around us and the media that never lets us forget it, Chef Lefebvre is taking a big risk here. Some few months ago, he left the flashy underworld of Las Vegas and came back to LA to start what many call a guerilla-style pop up restaurant.
- Step 1: Find small restaurant (or bar that serves bread???) that also lacks dinner menu.
- Step 2: Partner with restaurant and create dinner menu.
- Step 3: Save on overhead and make guests bring their own booze.
- Step 4: Be a tease and leave before you become part of the tired LA scene. Think three months max.
Therein lies the recipe for inspiration and the non-committal culinary world. I would assume it’s similar to the one men have been using in relationships for centuries, but I can’t cite a resource for that statement so we’ll call it “a woman’s intuition.”
So when you get there (reservations recommended), sit down and order. The menu changes daily and it’s small, so between three of you, you might very well order the entire menu and have no need to be rolled out the door.
Think French with a twist. Lefebvre likes to mix textures, temperatures and obviously flavors. The food doesn’t taste like what you might expect only because you really don’t know what to expect. The appetizers were overwhelming but thankfully I selected the Poached egg 65 degrees, morels, smoked mornay sauce and toast which has completely spoiled my idea of cooked eggs. Soft, rich and delicately savory with the balance of creamy sauce, egg yolk and the salt of the morels, I can no longer eat eggs over 66 degrees. I also attempted the Chorizo, cantaloupe and cornichon, and while an interesting twist on room temperature soup with spices and iced pureed cantaloupe to match, I found it far too rich to finish as a soup.
65 Degree Egg
On entrees, get the Laquered pork belly, mustard ice cream, napa cabbage and imaginary choucroute. The tang of the fatty pork with the cool bite of the mustard ice cream will surprise you and then melt in your mouth. The choucroute was more of an extra, the other components were the lead actors. The Grilled hanger steak, beer emulsion, black sesame miso, potato chips, charcoal oil isn’t a bad choice if you enjoy smoky flavors and very earthy elements. Beware: start eating as soon as you get served because the chips begin to get soggy if left in the emulsion too long.
Laquered Pork Belly
On desert, there was no wow factor. Simple comfort flavors, but nothing to call home about.
By far the highlight of the night was meeting Lefebvre himself. A delicious specimen that dares to rival even his own food, his newly cut coif was messily spiked and his plain t-shirt displayed his downright irresistible tattoo sleeves on his tan arms. When he opens his mouth with that thick French accent and tells you to stay away from French men (because they’re trouble), his sense of humor and playfulness makes the connection to his food more evident.
In short: Go for the food. Stay for Lefebvre.
http://www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/
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