Ludivine

[ookkcc]

[category=]Restaurants[/category]

[category=]Current[/category]

[toc]no[/toc]

Address: 805 N. Hudson Phone: (405) 778-6800 Hours: Tue-Sat 5 pm - 10 pm Development: Status: Opened 2009 Links: Official Website Menu Facebook Page Yelp Urban Spoon Eat Around OKC

Information & Latest News

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[BBatesokc]

Is it going in where there was until recently a deli (sorry, can't remember the name)? Looks interesting.

[Platemaker]

When?

[Doug Loudenback]

It looks to me like it is immediately northwest of the federal building:



I checked out their website ... some of the videos linked there are awesome. Here is one:

[ookkcc]

More info is available on facebook http://www.facebook.com/ludivineokc?ref=ts

[Platemaker]

mmmmmm..... Jonathan Stranger.... mmmmmmm

[ljbab728]

The food may be fresh and local and that is a plus. But from what I saw on the menu on the website, there is little, with a few exceptions, that would appeal to me. Hopefully they will develop a following and be successful though.

[stlokc]

I looked at this menu and thought...this is the kind of urban restaurant that goes gangbusters in St. Louis. Glad to see OKC is moving beyond the tacos and steaks of my childhood...

[ljbab728]

I looked at this menu and thought...this is the kind of urban restaurant that goes gangbusters in St. Louis. Glad to see OKC is moving beyond the tacos and steaks of my childhood...

I've eaten at restaurants all over the world and am far beyond steak and tacos. The menu just looks very limited to specific tastes and tries too hard to be artsy and chic. I'm sure there is an interest in what they serve but think they need to be a little more diverse to succeed.

[blangtang]

I saw something called 'parmesan foam' on the menu. I'll have to try cooking that for my self one day and then try theirs to see whose is better.

[ljbab728]

I saw something called 'parmesan foam' on the menu. I'll have to try cooking that for my self one day and then try theirs to see whose is better.

The online menu actually says "parmesean" instead of "parmesan". I'm assuming that's a typo that they need to correct.

[betts]

I thought to myself: that looks like the kind of menu that my daughters and I would try when I visit them in Chicago. Here, I won't be able to get my husband within a 100 feet of it. Parmesan foam is definitely not in his vocabulary. On the other hand, menus like that seem to do very well in Chicago and so it was only a matter of time until we had something like that here.

[EBAH]

Looks very interesting to me. I should like it a lot if the food is up to the level of quality as claimed. This is an exciting addition to the food scene actually. Small, young, local, fresh, and ambitious. It could really be great. Im curious as to how the decore looks.

[metro]

There is already an old thread on this. Anyhow they expect to open sometime in September. FYI, Jonathan was formerly with Table One, but this will be more of a local based food to table concept. They have tons of videos on youtube about their adventures to visit local farmers they are partnering with.

[soonerguru]

This looks very cool. What a great building as well.

[brianinok]

This looks intriguing. I'll have to try it!

Their concept looks to go with the "slow food" movement. The products are grown locally and their menu will change with the seasons.

[ljbab728]

I thought to myself: that looks like the kind of menu that my daughters and I would try when I visit them in Chicago. Here, I won't be able to get my husband within a 100 feet of it. Parmesan foam is definitely not in his vocabulary. On the other hand, menus like that seem to do very well in Chicago and so it was only a matter of time until we had something like that here.

Betts, that's exactly when I meant when I said I am sure there is a market for their kind of menu but they need to be a little more diverse. I'm sure other families are like yours where one person is adventureous when ordering but the other wants something tried and true.

[metro]

Here is the old thread discussing Ludivine. NW 7th will become the new NE 9th district. Especially if it gets its' own "Steve Mason."

http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=21907&page=1

[yessir69]

I looked at this menu and thought...this is the kind of urban restaurant that goes gangbusters in St. Louis. Glad to see OKC is moving beyond the tacos and steaks of my childhood...

What he said...

[Urban Pioneer]

This is exciting! I can walk to it. And great "viral" marketing.

[warreng88]

From farms to feasts
Midtown restaurant to feature locally grown ingredients
By April Wilkerson
Posted: 07:42 PM Tuesday, August 31, 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY – Farm to table – the concept of using as many locally grown ingredients as possible for a meal – is carving out a spot in Midtown this month.

The restaurant Ludivine is scheduled to open in mid September in the Midtown Village area at Seventh and Hudson. The restaurant’s menu is anything but static – as Ludivine’s chefs scour Oklahoma’s family-owned farms and ranches for ingredients, the meals will vary according to what they find.

“Rather than having an idea of the dishes you want to do, then trying to find the ingredients to fulfill that, you just take what’s available from the farms, look and see what you have, then write the menu based on that,” said Russ Johnson, owner and chef.

“The menu will vary a lot from week to week, and dramatically from season to season,” he said. “Knowing where your food comes from and knowing the people who produce it – knowing what goes into it and what doesn’t go into it – is really nice. It’s something we’ve lost nowadays. People don’t know a lot where their food comes from, and it’s fun to try to change it.”

Ludivine – a female’s name in French – is the brainchild of Johnson, Jonathon Stranger, another chef and owner, and Tracey Leird, owner and manager. Joining them is bar manager Kyle Fleischfresser, who promises the same use of fresh, local ingredients in his cocktails.

Johnson and Stranger had farm-to-table experience in other states, and when they each returned home to Oklahoma, they vowed to offer the same. Johnson said they plan to buy from small Oklahoma organic, family-owned farms as much as possible. Seafood and spices may not be in abundance locally, but many other things will, he said. They plan to buy from farms at least twice a week and visit farmers markets daily. Some of their summer has been spent preserving traditional warm-weather foods for the fall and winter.

Oklahoma meat producers like Wichita Buffalo Company in Hinton and Clear Creek Monastery near Tulsa (where Benedictine brothers raise sheep) are among the local meat providers, along with others like Peach Crest Farms in Stratford and Wagon Creek Creamery in Helena.

“I think people will be surprised to see how much product comes from the state of Oklahoma,” Leird said. “People sometimes forget this is an agricultural state.”

Dishes listed on Ludivine’s inaugural menu reflect the state: Clear Creek Monastery Lamb Carpaccio, Wild Arugula, Potato Fondant, Parsnip Puree and balsamic “gum drop.” Other items include Braised Bison Short Ribs on Baguette with Roasted Elephant Garlic and Popcorn Shoots, and Truffle and Herb Potato Salad.

Johnson said the cost of buying local ingredients is comparable to a standard restaurant practice – some items will be less expensive, some will be more, but it probably will even out. But with the labor-intensive effort of obtaining the food, the restaurant’s focus is different. It is open for dinner only Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Leird, who has worked in small restaurants in New York City, said she wants Ludivine’s cuisine and atmosphere to create a neighborhood feel.

“I wanted that neighborhood restaurant that I would walk by every day on my way to the subway, with a husband-and-wife team who owned it,” Leird said. “They knew my name and I came in there every Thursday night for dinner. That’s the feeling I wanted to bring – a little neighborhood restaurant that is community-driven. It’s my job to know what you like and to remember it.”

Ludivine is a cozy area – the dining room will accommodate 44 people at 11 tables and six bar stools at the chef’s bar. The open-kitchen format allows those six people a view of the preparation without paying a chef’s table price. A tunnel takes diners back to the bar, which also has a separate entrance on Seventh Street.

The Ludivine team is leasing the historic building from Scott Smith and R.D. Smith, who have been developing the Midtown Village area in that block.

Ludivine is the latest of several new restaurants to open in Midtown, such as Stella Modern Italian Cuisine. Midtown developer Mickey Clagg said restaurants are a key part of the area’s revitalization.

“What you want when you’re reviving a neighborhood is reasons for people to be there at different times of the day, not just during the working day,” Clagg said. “It’s a place to live, work and have entertainment. We’re especially getting quality restaurants in the Midtown area. Oklahoma City is really blessed with some great restaurateurs.

“What happens is the local restaurants come, then the retail will follow that and you make it place where people want to live,” he said. “The housing is strong, and there already are a lot of strong employers in the area, especially St. Anthony, which employs people 24/7. It’s a tremendous economic engine. You see a lot of businesses thriving within the radius of St. Anthony Hospital.”

For information about Ludivine, visit www.ludivineokc.com.

[okclee]

This sounds awesome! That article makes me hungry.

[metro]

I know there are 2 unofficial threads on Ludivine, but since it's about to open, thought I'd go ahead and start it's own official thread in the Food Court.



From farms to feasts

by April Wilkerson

Published: August 31st, 2010

Workers prepare the new Midtown restaurant Ludivine for opening later this month. Restaurant owners are creating an open kitchen and a tunnel leading to the bar. (Maike Sabolich)

Workers prepare the new Midtown restaurant Ludivine for opening later this month. Restaurant owners are creating an open kitchen and a tunnel leading to the bar. (Maike Sabolich)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Farm to table – the concept of using as many locally grown ingredients as possible for a meal – is carving out a spot in Midtown this month.

The restaurant Ludivine is scheduled to open in mid September in the Midtown Village area at Seventh and Hudson. The restaurant’s menu is anything but static – as Ludivine’s chefs scour Oklahoma’s family-owned farms and ranches for ingredients, the meals will vary according to what they find.

“Rather than having an idea of the dishes you want to do, then trying to find the ingredients to fulfill that, you just take what’s available from the farms, look and see what you have, then write the menu based on that,” said Russ Johnson, owner and chef.

“The menu will vary a lot from week to week, and dramatically from season to season,” he said. “Knowing where your food comes from and knowing the people who produce it – knowing what goes into it and what doesn’t go into it – is really nice. It’s something we’ve lost nowadays. People don’t know a lot where their food comes from, and it’s fun to try to change it.”

Ludivine – a female’s name in French – is the brainchild of Johnson, Jonathon Stranger, another chef and owner, and Tracey Leird, owner and manager. Joining them is bar manager Kyle Fleischfresser, who promises the same use of fresh, local ingredients in his cocktails.

Johnson and Stranger had farm-to-table experience in other states, and when they each returned home to Oklahoma, they vowed to offer the same. Johnson said they plan to buy from small Oklahoma organic, family-owned farms as much as possible. Seafood and spices may not be in abundance locally, but many other things will, he said. They plan to buy from farms at least twice a week and visit farmers markets daily. Some of their summer has been spent preserving traditional warm-weather foods for the fall and winter.

Oklahoma meat producers like Wichita Buffalo Company in Hinton and Clear Creek Monastery near Tulsa (where Benedictine brothers raise sheep) are among the local meat providers, along with others like Peach Crest Farms in Stratford and Wagon Creek Creamery in Helena.

“I think people will be surprised to see how much product comes from the state of Oklahoma,” Leird said. “People sometimes forget this is an agricultural state.”

Dishes listed on Ludivine’s inaugural menu reflect the state: Clear Creek Monastery Lamb Carpaccio, Wild Arugula, Potato Fondant, Parsnip Puree and balsamic “gum drop.” Other items include Braised Bison Short Ribs on Baguette with Roasted Elephant Garlic and Popcorn Shoots, and Truffle and Herb Potato Salad.

Johnson said the cost of buying local ingredients is comparable to a standard restaurant practice – some items will be less expensive, some will be more, but it probably will even out. But with the labor-intensive effort of obtaining the food, the restaurant’s focus is different. It is open for dinner only Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Leird, who has worked in small restaurants in New York City, said she wants Ludivine’s cuisine and atmosphere to create a neighborhood feel.

“I wanted that neighborhood restaurant that I would walk by every day on my way to the subway, with a husband-and-wife team who owned it,” Leird said. “They knew my name and I came in there every Thursday night for dinner. That’s the feeling I wanted to bring – a little neighborhood restaurant that is community-driven. It’s my job to know what you like and to remember it.”

Ludivine is a cozy area – the dining room will accommodate 44 people at 11 tables and six bar stools at the chef’s bar. The open-kitchen format allows those six people a view of the preparation without paying a chef’s table price. A tunnel takes diners back to the bar, which also has a separate entrance on Seventh Street.

The Ludivine team is leasing the historic building from Scott Smith and R.D. Smith, who have been developing the Midtown Village area in that block.

Ludivine is the latest of several new restaurants to open in Midtown, such as Stella Modern Italian Cuisine. Midtown developer Mickey Clagg said restaurants are a key part of the area’s revitalization.

“What you want when you’re reviving a neighborhood is reasons for people to be there at different times of the day, not just during the working day,” Clagg said. “It’s a place to live, work and have entertainment. We’re especially getting quality restaurants in the Midtown area. Oklahoma City is really blessed with some great restaurateurs.

“What happens is the local restaurants come, then the retail will follow that and you make it place where people want to live,” he said. “The housing is strong, and there already are a lot of strong employers in the area, especially St. Anthony, which employs people 24/7. It’s a tremendous economic engine. You see a lot of businesses thriving within the radius of St. Anthony Hospital.”

For information about Ludivine, visit Ludivine.

[green meanie]

when is it opening?

[metro]

Mid-Sept last I heard.