Good Food
Ludo, Shaya, heirloom grains and Smuggler's Cove
Chef Ludo Lefebvre talks about a warm asparagus salad with foie gras ice cream that helped him find his way. Then Chef Alon Shaya takes us through the modern Israeli fare on his menu at Shaya, and bar owner Martin Cate schools us on the cult of tiki. We close out the show with journalist Larry Olmsted breaking down the differences between real and fake foods. Plus, we're all about heirloom grains at the farmers' market.
By Evan Kleiman • • 56m ListenPhoto: Chef Ludo Lefebvre by Dustin Downing
In this episode
5 storiesChef Ludo Lefebvre makes it in Los Angeles
In 1996, Chef L udo Lefebvre moved from France to LA to work at the legendary L'Orangerie. He trained at Bastide next before launching his wildly successful pop-up dinner series, LudoBites. Ludo then opened his own brick-and-mortar restaurants: Trois Mec, Petit Trois and Trois Familia with business partners Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.
Read the story14 minServing duck matzo ball soup in New Orleans
On a pretty stretch of Magazine Street in New Orleans, Chef Alon Shaya is going back to his roots. Born in Tel Aviv and raised in Philadelphia, he opened Shaya in 2014. There he serves his take on modern Israeli food, from duck matzo ball soup to Jerusalem mixed grill . Last year, Shaya took home a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.
Read the story13 minThe market report: Grains
This week at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, Laura Avery speaks to farmer Larry Kandarian about the 40 different grains and legumes he grows organically at Kandarian Farms in Los Osos, California. Some of the ancient varieties he plants, like the Ethiopian blue tinge farro and the Tibetan black barley, were first cultivated 8,000 years ago.
Read the story8 minSmuggler's Cove
When San Francisco's tiki paradise Smuggler's Cove opened in 2009, its website didn't offer an address. Instead, a series of puzzles and games led to the proverbial "X" marking the spot, and a gauntlet was thrown down for patrons thirsty for all things tiki.
Read the story13 min'Real Food/Fake Food'
The cops busted another Italian crime ring this week for exporting cheap olive pomace oil to the US and reselling it as extra-virgin olive oil. Journalist Larry Olmsted says you might not notice the difference unless you've tasted the real thing. “And then you have it, your eyes light up. It's like an epiphany and you're never fooled again.”
Read the story10 min
