Ludobites 2.0

October 25, 2010

With the Ludobites 6.0 in progress in the old Max/ Marche space, I thought I would look back on my very first Ludobites 2.0 meal at Bread Bar. I went with Gastronomnom, Right Way to Eat, The Food Ledger among others. Our happy little table fell under the enchantment of Ludo that night and I haven’t looked back since. I am so looking forward to 6.0 in a couple of weeks.

Although I didn’t have this blog at the time, I wrote up the night. The following was written well over a year and half ago. Keep in mind that when I wrote it, I didn’t “blog food.” I also didn’t take pictures. The few pictured are courtesy of Right Way to Eat.

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There’s been much flurry over LudoBites as Chef Ludo is a much celebrated chef and currently on TV. I, of course, don’t own a TV and didn’t actually know what he looked like until last night. But I am a self-admitted foodie and when I heard Gastronomnom describe LudoBites as right up there as Animal (my favorite meal this year), I knew I had to go.

The six of us ordered everything on the menu except the cheese plate. The spaghetti carbonara with Santa Barbara prawn was sold out, however. Still, we had a big, big tasting.

We brought in five bottles of wine; prosecco, dry moscato, vouvray, pinot noir and a bold cabernet sauvignon. It turned out the wine went very well with all the dishes. There is a $5 corkage fee per bottle.

Starting with a soup and ending with a foie gras cupcake, everything I had was superb. There were obviously things I enjoyed more but everything was truly fantastic. Maybe I should buy a TV now to continue to enjoy this chef’s cooking?

Chorizo, Cantaloupe, Cornichon ($11)- Did this soup really have these three things together? Yes, it did. And it was one of my favorites. The smokey, porky flavor. The bright melon color. The cornichon ice all moved me. It was my first taste of happiness. And I liked the little flowers in the soup, too. Very pretty.

Salmon Rillette, Piment D’Espelette ($6)- This wonderful dish was how much? Amazing. We should have gotten two!

Green Beans Salad, Peach, Coconut, Apple, Horseradish, Lemongrass ($9)- What a wonderful summer salad. And the horseradish foam (cream?) provided the perfect kick.

Bacon Tart, Green Almond, Cinnamon ($8)- when I saw Chef Ludo tweet about this on twitter, I was all about it. Some of us thought about ordering an extra one to eat for breakfast! Or possibly a midnight snack. Or a snack in the car. Or a snack while waiting for the valet to bring the car. Ha.

Snails, Spinach, Curry- Yogurt ($12)- So, I’m a huge fan of curry. And spinach. And snails. Yes, I love my escargot. So, I was looking forward to this dish quite a bit. The snails were huge and plump. The bright green of the curry was quite delicious. And what’s this? Garlic. Ah, love.

Lobster Medallions, Honey-Sherry Vinaigrette, Daikon, Rosemary ($18)- OMFG.

Heirloom tomato Salad, Red Onions, Feta Mousse, Oregano, Olives Nicoises ($14)- very good.

Foie Gras Black Croque-Monsieur, Ham, Cherry, Amaretto ($20)- I was sad I only got the smallest sliver of foie gras but all the flavors were amazing. I could taste each one individually. Definiely a fan.

Creamy Polenta, Cantal Cheese, Oxtail Beef, Black Truffle ($14)- All rich and wonderful.

Monkfish “A La Nage”, Leeks, Nutmeg, Lemon, Potato ($18)- I kind of thought of this dish as a healthy and modern take of a German or Austrian pork and sauerkraut dish. The flavors were very “European” as my group decided.

Duck Breast, Crispy Skin Puree, Carrot Cake Coulis, Pink Grapefruits, Orange Blossom Water, Baby rainbow carrots ($24)- Shut up, get out, leave me alone. I want this baby all to myself but alas I shared it with the other five and had my one bite.

Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Smoke Eggplant, Fromage Blanc, Cauliflower, Radish ($24)- excellent. Very smokey eggplant and extremely great beef.

Vanilla Panna Cotta, Caramel, Caviar ($15)- We had to order two. It’s tiny but so delicious.

Chocolate cupcake, Foie Gras Chantily, Candied bacon- almonds, maple syrup ($12)- we had to get two of these as well. As wonderful as all the things on top of the cupcake were, what I loved was the actual cup cake itself. Perfect.

Organic Strawberry, Wasabi-marcaspone, Pistachio Parfait ($9)- My cousin and I were talking about how strawberries these days no longer taste like strawberries. I see, we haven’t been eating this dessert! I loved it but my favorite dessert was the cupcake.

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Now that my trip down Memory Lane is over, the thing I’m most looking forward to is experiencing flavor combinations I’ve never had before. The two dishes I talk about the most from that night is the duck breast with carrot cake coulis and the foie gras chocolate cupcake. Sure, the chorizo soup was fantastic as was the foie gras croque and and and. I could go on.

Instead, I think I’ll read my other Ludobites posts.