Q & A with Chef Ludo and Krissy Lefebvre: Ludo Bites America, and It's Delicious

By Ali Trachta Wed., Jul. 20 2011 at 11:15 AM

Photo by Colin Young-Wolff.

If you're one of the many who scorned OpenTable (or maybe just your slow connection?) last week for not letting you snag one of the coveted spots at LudoBites 007, take heart. There's a smidge of a consolation prize we can all enjoy in the form of Ludo Bites America, which premiered on the Sundance channel last night. (The show will air every Tuesday night at 9 through August 30th.)

The reality show follows chef Ludo Lefebvre and his wife Krissy as they trek across small town America, turning their formerly stationary pop-up restaurant into a traveling road show.

Somewhere in their melee of promoting the show and locking down 007 reservations, we exchanged a few emails with the pair to find out how filming this show was different from others they've done, as well as what they ate on the road, and how the trip made them think differently about this vast country of ours.

Squid Ink: What was the most interesting or surprising thing you experienced on your road trip that changed your perception of America?

Ludo Lefebvre: I was really surprised what great and different foods I discovered. I didn't expect that America has such a deep food culture, because growing up in France I always heard differently.

SI: What did you eat while on the road? Lots of drive-thru stuff, or did you have the opportunity to sample the local flavors of the cities you went to? What was the single best thing you ate on the road (that you didn't make yourself)?

LL: We ate so many different things. In Mobile lots of seafood; in Denver we ate buffalo and wild game, plus we got to eat at Black Cat in Boulder (chef Eric Skokan is amazing); in Santa Fe it was all about the chile and my stomach burned every night. Omaha was interesting because we thought we eat a bunch of steak, but instead we had soul food and Italian. In Raleigh it was about the hog and the BBQ, and in Redondo we ate a lot of Mexican food. If I had to pick one item I would say the green chile burger from Bob Cat Bites in Santa Fe. It is definitely a close call with the North Carolina BBQ.

SI: Ludo, how did you manage creating an appealing menu for a small town palate, which one would assume would be less adventurous. (Though, we could be dead wrong on that. Are we?) What did you do with the menu in other parts of the country that you haven't done here in L.A.?

LL: I don't know if I'd say it was a small town palate. Some of the places just did not have a lot of variety for the people who live there. I tried to take into consideration that some of my techniques and combinations may be out of the ordinary for some areas, but I also wanted to make sure I gave everyone a unique dining experience. I was impressed with how adventurous most people were. They were grateful and thankful for the unique experience. I don't think I did anything different than I would do in L.A. -- it was all based on the ingredients I had available. Maybe if I had a little more time and some more experienced help with me, I could have pushed the envelope even further, but I'm happy with the menus I produced.

SI: You're both familiar with being on camera via Top Chef Masters and The Apprentice, but of course this show isn't a competition, it's about your lives, your marriage and this work that you each pour your blood, sweat and tears into. How is it different filming a show that's so much more personal?

Tags:

Ali Trachta, Krissy Lefebvre, Ludo Bites America, Ludo Lefebvre

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Esch U. Obfuscation

"I didn't expect that America has such a deep food culture, because growing up in France I always heard differently."

No doubt. But you've been in the United States for 15 years and still harbored this kind of shallow -- or is "biased" the right word? -- understanding of our "deep food culture"? I'm not a professional chef and have only been to France a couple of times, but I can cite many regional specialties of your home country and have even cooked a few of them. Most amateur food lovers in this country could probably say something similar.

"We ate so many different things. In Mobile lots of seafood; ... in Santa Fe ... chile .... In Raleigh it was about the hog and the BBQ ...." This is what took you 15 years to discover? Say, have you heard that New York has pizzerias and Jewish delis?

I'm perplexed by these revelations, because Ludo and Krissy seem like very good people, and they've been successful in a highly competitive field. How could they know so little about their profession in the country where they live? Equally mystifying is the fact that the LA Weekly Voice and Gazette didn't ask obvious questions that might have led to a much-more interesting piece. Reminds me of the LA Times covering John Edwards.