Trois Mec, Ludo Lefebvre’s tasting menu restaurant, has closed permanently

One of the city’s most decorated restaurants has announced it will not reopen due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Trois Mec, the Michelin-starred tasting-menu spot owned by chef Ludo Lefebvre, has closed permanently after seven years on Highland Avenue in Hollywood.

“Sadly the restaurant is closing for good,� Trois Mec partner Krissy Lefebvre confirmed via text.

She cited the financial difficulties of operating a fine-dining restaurant with limited seating during the pandemic as the main factor in the decision.

“The reality is that this is not going away any time soon,� she said.

After developing a following for his inventive French-inflected cooking during an extended run of roving pop-up dinners, Ludo Lefebvre opened Trois Mec in 2013 in partnership with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.

The minuscule 26-seat space, a revamped pizzeria that originally offered a five-course tasting menu for $75, was one of the first restaurants in Los Angeles to offer a pre-paid ticketing system for reservations.

Trois Mec quickly emerged as darling of both local and national critics. The restaurant was a regular fixture on The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list and was named one of the best restaurants in the country in 2014 by then-Eater national critic Bill Addison. The restaurant also garnered an award for best new restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, and was awarded its first Michelin star in 2019.

Unlike many restaurants across the city, Trois Mec did not reopen for takeout or outdoor dining after initially closing on March 18 due to pandemic restrictions.

“Unfortunately Trois Mec is not a to-go experience,� Lefebvre said. “Outdoor dining requires a significant investment to be Michelin-star dining and it just didn’t make sense. The resources are not there and the investment is too risky.�

Lefebvre said the Trois Mec space will continue to be used as a resource for World Central Kitchen — the nonprofit organization overseen by chef José Andrés — for “as long as possible.�

Petit Trois, Ludo Lefebvre’s traditional French bistro next door, will continue to offer takeout for now, though Krissy Lefebvre cautioned the future of that restaurant was still uncertain.

“We hope to keep the lights on [at Petit Trois] until the other side of this, but nothing is guaranteed,� she said.

Trois Mec is the latest in a string of prominent L.A. restaurants that have been forced to close permanently this year due to severe economic challenges, along with Auburn, Bon Temps, Lucques, and many others.