Monday, November 26, 7:00 P.M.
Members $95, guests $120

When Frenchman Ludovic Lefebvre appeared on the L.A. dining scene five years ago, cynics might have been tempted to label him just another pretty face. But today, naysayers are eating their words (trust us, much better to eat his food). Not that he hasn’t maintained his movie-star good looks—but at the lavish, romantic L’Orangerie, Lefebvre has proved himself a serious and sophisticated chef, at home in the top ranks of California’s highly competitive culinary field. Under his exacting hand, dinner at L’Orangerie delivers what Jay Weston’s Restaurant Newsletter has called "some of the most amazing cutting-edge food in memory!"

Gayot concurred—it gave L’Orangerie its highest rating this year, 18 out of a possible 20—and Bon Appétit chose the place as one of its "favorite restaurants," advising readers, "Don’t miss a chance to spend an evening in this grand, dazzling space, with Lefebvre’s dazzling food to match." Last year, we nominated Lefebvre for our coveted Rising Star Chef award.

Lefebvre was trained in the traditional French culinary system, and his résumé reads like a list of restaurants "worth a special journey." He entered the professional kitchen at age 13 with an apprenticeship at Maxim. A year later, Lefebvre secured a second apprenticeship, this one in Marc Meneau’s kitchen at the legendary L’Espérance in Burgundy. Lefebvre was deeply influenced by the culinary leanings of his next mentor, Pierre Gagnaire, who encouraged his protégé to experiment with unusual combinations and spices. From Gagnaire’s kitchen, Lefebvre moved on to Alain Passard’s famed L’Arpège, and followed that experience with a stint at the Michelin three-star Le Grand Véfour. Luckily for American gourmets, when the owners of the Relais & Châteaux–designated L’Orangerie, Gérard and Virginie Ferry, were searching for a chef de partie, Meneau recommended Lefebvre. In five short months, he was promoted to executive chef.

Lefebvre’s cooking at the deluxe, lilly-lined L’Orangerie is grounded in classical French tradition, but in recent years he has tried his hand at some happy experimentation, offering diners terrine of spring vegetables with smoked milk and poppy seeds, for example; daurade carpaccio with broccoli flowers and jalapeño-saffron oil; and roasted prime beef tenderloin with pistachio paste and dark roasted coffee–chocolate sauce. That tradition and innovation can deliciously coexist is clear from the restaurant’s critical success. As Pascale Fortunat wrote in Passions Par Excellence, L’Orangerie is "L.A.’s sublime landmark of excellence."