227 E 9th St
Los Angeles, CA 90015
So it wasn't until the fourth iteration of Ludo Lefebvre's guerrilla-style restaurant takeovers that we finally got to partake in his highly acclaimed creations. We were lucky enough to get reservations on the second day of his takeover of Gram & Papas and were part of the first seating that night.
1. tartine plate "warm baguette" with honey and lavender lard and a bacon infused butter - We're fans of any sweet and creamy butter. The honey and lavender ranked right up with various maple butters we've had before. The other butter was just ok. The baguette had a very nice exterior "crunch". However, the large grains of salt on the outside was a bit over-powering.
2. burgundy escargots, garlic flan, green jus - Flowers seemed to be a central theme of a few of the dishes we ordered. The snails had a good texture. The flan had a robust garlic flavor. Everything eaten together was just ok. Not extraordinary. Just a nice dish.
3. egg, potato mousseline, lobster borage flower - The egg yolk was just cooked enough to not be overly runny. It added a nice richness to the dish. The potatoes and lobster were minor players. The lobster was just luke-warm, having been poached, I believe. Again, nothing extraordinary.
4. foie gras croque-monsieur, lemon turnip chutney - Our neighbors next to us raved about this dish. We're always excited to get a mouthful of liver. But this dish ended up being underwhelming. The consistency of the bread/toast was very nice. Crackling and crispy with every bite. The texture and volume of the bread almost overwhelmed the star, which should have been the foie. Otherwise, the lemon turnip chutney paired well, adding a hit of citrus-y sweetness.
5. poached jidori chicken, crispy skin & hazelnuts, leek salad, black truffle & bacon royale - There's something about Jidori chicken that makes it so tender. Although it lacked flavor on its own, when eaten with the royale, every mouthful was quite delicious. The leek salad had a fruity acidity, almost pickled taste. Not sure what it brought to the table.
6. raspberry religieuse, pistachio parfait - This would have been better were it prepared fresh. But from the tastes of it, the textures came through as having been sitting in the fridge for a while. Although flavor-wise, this was the winner between the two desserts.
7. dark chocolate souffle, black pepper milk chocolate ice cream, hot chococlate cream - This was a decent souffle, although nowhere near the best we've had. The black pepper ice cream was very interesting, having never tasted that spice in the form of a dessert before. The effect was as to be expected, subtle peppery heat which came across akin to raw cinnamon. An interesting take on a classic French dessert.
Ludo's wife, Krissy was very accommodating as she came around to chat and helped serve some of the dishes. The rest of dinner service was very attentive and friendly. Ludo was busy working away in the open area kitchen during our dinner but gave us a warm smile and genuine "thank you!" as we were leaving. We really wanted to like this place. Perhaps all the hype surrounding it compounded with our high expectations didn't bode well for our enjoyment that night. The lack of his fried chicken dish on the menu didn't help either. Depending on whether that chicken appears on 5.0 will probably determine whether or not we return.