Kitchen Impresario

Chef Ludo Lefebvre and Fisher & Paykel team up.

Chef Ludo is no stranger to innovation. He is a classically trained French chef who broke into the Los Angeles food scene as the executive chef of L’Orangerie and Bastide, where he created dishes like Poularde Marinated in Pepsi-Cola with Popcorn. After earning a Mobil Travel Guide Five-Star Award at both restaurants, he opened his own place, Petit Trois, in 2014. His “bar-a-la-cart” concept has two locations in LA, and he is considering a new location in Denver. While making news at Petit Trois, he created a pop-up experience during a three-month period in a friend’s bakery that eventually became known as LudoBites, which one critic described as “a transforming moment in the Los Angeles restaurant scene.” A fried chicken food truck became LudoBird at the Staples Center, and Trois Mec, his first fine-dining venture, is one of LA’s hottest reservations. In between all the openings and pop-ups he starred on ABC’s The Taste with Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson, and wrote two books, LudoBites, Recipes and Stories from the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre, and Crave, A Feast of the Five Senses.

Lefebvre has both an induction and gas cooktop, and prefers his ovens to be under the counter instead of wall-mounted.

In the kitchen of his California home, Lefebvre, who loves to cook with his kids, is surrounded by some of Fisher & Paykel’s most innovative and user-friendly appliances. He prefers an induction cooktop, but also has a gas range. The built-in oven with 11 functions is a truly innovative workhorse, and the Activesmart Fridge system easily handles all of his cold storage needs. The kitchen, designed by Ginny Capo, is a mix of rustic textures, along with a modern, clean-lined pro le. “My home kitchen needs to be about space to work in and to enjoy cooking with my family. It’s professional with a family orientation.”

The refrigerator includes a CoolDrawer which goes from refrigerator to freezer with the touch of a button.

Fisher & Paykel’s culture of open innovation and its attention to sustainable design make it perfectly suited to celebrity chefs and everyday humans. Says Pierre Martin, North American Vice President of Marketing, “We partnered on the remodel of Ludo’s kitchen and the build of his outdoor kitchen, working closely to understand his cooking style, creative vision, and needs from the perspective of a professional chef and as a father wanting to teach his children about life around the table and food. Ludo is constantly creating from his home kitchen and displaying it on his social channels and through his cooking show, Ludo À La Maison.”

Copper, wood, limestone, and terra cotta warm up the modern space.