Ludo Lefebvre facts for kids

Ludovic Lefebvre (born in 1971) is a famous French chef. He is also a restaurateur, which means he owns and manages many restaurants. Ludo, as he is often called, is known for his exciting cooking style and has opened several popular restaurants in Los Angeles, USA.

Becoming a Chef

Ludo Lefebvre was born in Auxerre, a town in Burgundy, France. He grew up nearby in Charbuy. His love for cooking started when he was a child, helping his grandmother in her kitchen. When he was a teenager, he worked at a local restaurant called Maxime.

Ludo began his official chef training at age 14. He worked for three years at the restaurant L’Esperance in Vézelay. There, he learned from a famous chef named Marc Meneau. After that, he trained with other top chefs in France. These included Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Passard, and Guy Martin.

Cooking Career

Opening Restaurants

In 1996, Ludo Lefebvre moved to Los Angeles, California. He started working at a restaurant called L'Orangerie. Later, in 2004, he moved to Bastide restaurant.

Ludo is famous for creating "pop-up" restaurants called LudoBites. These are temporary restaurants that open for a short time in different places. In 2010, he started a food truck named LudoTruc. It became very popular for selling fried chicken.

In 2013, Ludo opened a permanent restaurant called LudoBird. It was inside the STAPLES Center (now Crypto.com Arena). In 2016, a second LudoBird opened at City Walk, Universal Studios Hollywood.

Ludo also partnered with chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. In 2013, they opened Trois Mec. This restaurant was named one of the best new restaurants by Esquire and GQ magazines. One of its dishes, Grilled Baby Corn with Black Garlic, was called one of the best restaurant dishes of 2013 by Food & Wine magazine. In 2014, Ludo opened Petit Trois next to Trois Mec. Petit Trois is a French bistro, a type of small, informal restaurant. It was a finalist for the Best New Restaurant award in 2015.

TV Shows

Ludo Lefebvre has appeared on many cooking shows. In 2006, he was on Iron Chef America. He competed against chef Mario Batali in a cooking challenge.

From 2009, Ludo appeared on the first two seasons of Top Chef Masters. He was also a guest judge on Hell's Kitchen in 2010 and 2020. In 2011, he starred with his wife, Krissy, in a show called Ludo Bites America. In this show, they opened pop-up restaurants in different cities across the USA.

In 2013, Ludo was a judge and mentor on the ABC cooking show The Taste. In 2016, he hosted Season 5 of Mind of a Chef. In 2020, he was a guest chef on the first episode of Selena Gomez's cooking series, Selena + Chef. In 2022, he co-hosted a cooking competition show called Rat in the Kitchen on TBS.

Books

Ludo Lefebvre has also written cookbooks. These books share his recipes and stories from his cooking journey:

• Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses (2005)
• LudoBites: Recipes and Stories from the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre (2012)

Personal Life

Ludo Lefebvre is married to Kristine Lefebvre. They live in Sherman Oaks, California with their children.

Awards and Honors

Ludo Lefebvre has received special recognition for his work:

• In 2015, he was named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. This is a high honor from the French government for people who have made important contributions to arts and literature.
• Relais & Châteaux, a group of luxury hotels and restaurants, named him one of the World's 50 Greatest Chefs.