Ludivine refocuses, shows why it shines in OKC fine-dining
For the team at Ludivine, 320 NW 10th St., keying in on quality has long been a basic ingredient in bringing elevated farm-to-table dining to Oklahomans.
The restaurant, open for over a decade and known by many for its original location before opening in its current spot in 2019, has always featured a rotating menu. That’s the nature of farm-to-table cooking.
And Owner Russ Johnson has now entrusted Brad Ackerman with the role of director of operations, and chef Ben Grossman has been tapped to helm the ship as the restaurant dives headfirst into a re-exploration of the chefs tasting menus with a monthly offering.
Add to that a bevvy of new cocktails and the staff isn’t missing a single beat.
Ludivine drops lunch, focuses on bar and dinner offerings
Ludivine’s new hours will see the restaurant forgo lunch service. Dinner service will begin at 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday; with the restaurant closing at 9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
The bar at Ludivine is open for an hour before and after dinner service and you’d be smart to take either of those hours to peruse the new offerings on hand.
Clarified lime juice plays a star role in two top-tier cocktails, margarita and daquiri options brought about from the mind of team member Mo Jerry. The margarita boasts a quiet heat that keeps you coming back for more, while the daquiri is the kind of perfectly sippable cocktail that I can only describe in one word: Dangerous. Why? Because it drinks easily and makes you way too happy while drinking it, but to quote Jerry herself “There’s a lot of alcohol in that.”
For dinner service, the restaurant continues offering up the charcuterie and roasted bone marrow, with or without bone luge people love, while also bringing a new monthly chef ’s tasting menu to the party. The tasting menu will vary between four and five courses, depending on what Grossman creates with the seasonally available ingredients at his fingertips.
Ludivine’s June chef tasting menu is available nightly for $75, with wine pairings for $30. On Sundays, the restaurant offers a special price of $50 for the menu, with $30 wine pairings.
Grossman, who made the move to Ludivine from sister-restaurant R&J Supper Club next door, brings with him an exciting skillset including a deft hand and love for seafood birthed from his upbringing in the Pacific Northwest.
A glimpse at Ludivine’s June chef tasting menu
During the month of June, diners can experience four courses with wine pairings that take them on a journey across land and sea, and into the garden right outside Ludivine.
A starter course features burrata and white peaches delicately layered with the flavors of mint from the Ludivine garden and served with a Harvey Bakery walnut-raisin crostini.
A second course, spaghetti with hickory-smoked salmon belly, perfectly seared scallops and Dungeness crab, bought live by the restaurant, sings of Grossman’s aforementioned love for and skill with seafood. The smoke of the salmon belly giving the comfort of bacon while the scallops and crab melt in your mouth and the perfectly cooked pasta swims in a sauce formed from the crab liquor and a house-crafted tobiko butter. As someone who spent my early life between Japan and Florida’s Atlantic coast, this dish brought back memories of childhood that I don’t get to experience often at restaurants in Oklahoma.
The main course on June’s tasting menu is a rabbit duo — featuring both the rabbit leg and saddle, or the area between the loin and shoulder — served with king trumpet mushrooms, smoked prosciutto and a parmesan crisp. The saddle is served roasted, while the leg is confited and fried to provide a crispy skin.
If you’ve ever enjoyed truly well cooked crispy duck skin, the rabbit leg evokes similar joy, while the meat inside the leg and the roasted saddle remain tender and juicy. The crispy prosciutto and parmesan and the acidity of the house mustard sauce bring everything together.
What tasting menu is complete without dessert? Ludivine does not disappoint, bringing the flavors of late spring and early summer with a rhubarb tartlet. Bringing orange in to play off of the rhubarb in both an orange-rhubarb jam and a pastry cream, the delicate tartlet is the perfect way to end an exceptional meal.
While the plan is for a tasting menu to remain in place for an entire month at Ludivine, Ackerman said there’s always a chance certain items can change based on availability, and farm-to-table cooking demands that kind of flexibility from the staff. Regardless of whether the menu is tweaked from the version I tried, the team at Ludivine will undoubtedly continue putting passion into carefully building every bite and sip.