Crepes And Corks: Trois Mec

Trois Mec had been high on my "restaurants to visit" list since its opening. Ludo Lefebvre is one of my favorite chef personalities and I have been paying attention to him in LA since the conception of his pop-up restaurant, LudoBites. He created Trois Mec with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal, another LA favorite. Trois Mec doesn't accept reservations but rather diners must go on their site to buy "tickets" to dinner. It is a set menu and the $75 price of your ticket includes the base meal of 5 courses. Additional food and beverages will be paid for at the end of the meal. They have two seatings a night and tickets are notoriously hard to get. Trois Mec is located in the back of a gas station and mini-mall parking lot in Hollywood. Nowhere does the name of the restaurant appear. Instead, there is a brightly lit green sign for the last inhabitants of the space, "Raffalo's Pizza" above the whited out door that says "No longer serving pizza". The biggest clue to the restaurant's location might be it's sister restaurant, Petite Trois, next door.

Upon settling into our table, we were quickly brought 5 small snacks, all with different textures and flavors. My favorites were the socca and the egg chaud-froid. We decided to forego the wine pairing, instead ordering a French Pinot Noir as we settled in. Our first course was tuna with beets. I would have never put those two together but the marriage of the two flavors was wonderful. Next was asparagus with sauce gribiche, followed by black cod. Those two were the highlight of the entire meal in my opinion. Around this time we ordered a second bottle of wine, one I really loved. It was an Olga Raffault Chinon from 2006. Our fourth course was an aged, grilled short rib. This was surprisingly my least favorite dish but the friends I dined with said this was their highlight, especially paired with the sourdough bread! We had the option to add a truffle grilled cheese and unfortunately due to my gluten allergy, I had to forego this. But I did sneak a bite of a friend's and it was absolutely amazing. Our last course was a very interesting dessert - ice cream and avocado topped with meringue. I liked the different textures and temperatures, and it had a little kick in the ice cream that rounded out the flavors. The meal was topped off with small sweet bites, as we finally got to look over the menu which we weren't allowed to see before.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. The wait staff was excellent, recommending wines and looking after our table consistently. I liked the food I was eating but I didn't feel the wow factor. I would still go back, as the menu is always changing and may include flavors I might enjoy even more. Regardless, next up on my list is Petite Trois, right next door. I've heard amazing things about the burger and the omelette there!