Ludovic Lefebvre is a chef, restaurateur and cookbook author who was born and trained in France and has made Southern California his home.

Ludo is the author of Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses, which won second place in the cookbook category in the New York Book Show. He categorizes the recipes by the senses, with chapters called See, Touch, Smell, Hear, and Taste.

When Ludo told his parents he wanted to be a chef, his father took him to a local restaurant in Burgundy called Maxime, believing the menial labor would discourage him from that particular career path. The plan backfired, and Ludo, who was in his early teens at the time, fell in love with restaurant work.

He went on to work at other restaurants in the country of his birth, including 13 years with Chef Marc Meneau at L’Esperance in Vézely. He also worked with Pierre Gagnaire at his eponymous restaurant in Saint-Etienne, with Alain Passard at L’Arpége, and with Guy Martin at Le Grand Vefour.

Ludo moved to Los Angeles when he was in his twenties and worked at L’Orangerie, where he was promoted to head chef at the age of 25. The restaurant won the Mobil Guide five-star award. When he moved to Bastide, he also won the Mobil Guide five-star award. That restaurant closed for renovations and Ludo moved on to create the menu for Lavo, a restaurant in Las Vegas. A year later, he returned to LA and opened Ludobites and Breadbar on West Third Street.

Currently, Ludo is behind the stove at Gram and Papa’s, a downtown, pop-up venture that is open only through the early fall.

He lives in Los Angeles and his website is http://www.ludolefebvre.com/