Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Lackluster Beginning

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  I spent most of December laying low (thus few blogs).  But now I am ramping up in the new year and trying to stick to a resolution to write more.

For my first blog of 2012, I had hoped to have something to rave about – unfortunately that is not the case.  Today I did a food truck in Century City again, and I generally have positive things to say and good experiences.  While did not have a negative experience with lunch today, I’d have to say it was actually disappointing.

Today Fox Plaza hosted the Ludo Truck (www.ludolefebvre.com/ludotruck), and as I read up on it before heading down the street, I was quite impressed with this guy’s credentials: award winning restaurants, acclaim and fantastic food (I had eaten at L’Orangerie years ago and raved about it).  The owner, Ludo Lefebvre, has now branched out to pop-up restaurants (Ludo Bites) and his own food truck.  I figured I would be in for a real treat.

The Ludo Truck serves fried chicken.  Your options are chicken strips w/dipping sauce (béarnaise, spicy mayo, and a mustard sauce), a chicken sandwich, chicken breast, or chicken wings.  You can add a side of fries (I unfortunately forgot what else was available, but it was a short list).  I decided on the strips w/béarnaise with a side of fries and a soda, which came to just under $10.  The portions are generous without going overboard.

Here’s what disappointed me:  a chef with such high acclaim decides to do a food truck and make fried chicken – that should be among the best chicken I have tasted.  It was rather pedestrian and average.  Mind you, I only had the chicken strips, however, I’m sorry but I feel like I should have been bowled over, or at least left with a positive impression and wanting more.  While the crispy coating was tasty and the chicken juicy and tender, overall the flavor profile was flat. 

Perhaps I should have not gone with high expectations, but it’s hard not to when you know the reputation of the chef.  I think he can do much better, especially with such a mundane item as fried chicken.  I’ve had better tasting chicken from KFC before.  And the béarnaise sauce, which a nice accompaniment to the strips, it couldn’t carry the whole dish.

The fries were also lackluster.  Crispy yes, but they had an odd taste to them.  I’m not sure what he fried them in, but it added a little funky flavor to the fries.

So that’s my start for the new year of blogging:  a bland meal made by a star chef.  Hmmmmm…..hopefully it gets better from here!