Week in Reviews: Gold Takes on Ludo

An interesting choice this week for the Goldster as he takes his turn at Ludo Bites. Chef Ludovic Lefevbre's "cooking is clearly not aimed toward mass appeal," evidenced by " a charcuterie plate expressed as soup" and " fried sweetbread impaled on a splintery licorice twig...with mustard ice cream and a lozenge of jellied sauerkraut juice." Gold goes off on one of his many tangents explaining Ludo's background from l’Orangerie to Bastide, and mentions his recent Top Chef Masters flop. But Ludo regains credibility with his "thoroughly modern" cooking that produces "precisely" poached eggs, "barely gelled prawns," and a "gooey" version of aligot with "braised oxtail, whose plainness actually accentuates the nutty sharpness of the cheese." Unique food paired with "earnest service and diner-level tableware are part of the package...you will pay perhaps a third of what you may have paid for comparable food at Bastide." [LAW]