Ludovic Lefebvre

* The French native and 27-year-old executive chef at L’Orangerie was hired away from the top-rated Restaurant Arpege in Paris three years ago.

One Day to Play: Monday is my only day off. The rest of the week, my schedule is very simple. I come in to the restaurant around 11:30 in the morning, and I finish, it depends, 11:30 or 12 at night. The problem is sometimes on Monday I can’t wake up.

Bagels, No Baguette: I wake up and take my coffee at the Coffee Bean on Sunset. I take my coffee to go, my bagels, and that’s it. No baguette. It’s America here, you eat bagels in the morning, I eat bagels. That’s it. Forget baguette.

Surf’s up: Then, I go surfing, but just in the summer--now it’s too cold. I go when I have the time to Manhattan Beach or Huntington Beach or Newport Beach. Nobody stresses me, you know? I’m in the water, in the waves. I’m relaxed. Thinking. I like to spend my day at the beach. Rollerblading, playing volleyball or biking. Go with some friends, have a barbecue. That’s good.

Nothing Cooking: Monday nights, I go eat in the restaurants. For sushi, I go to Matsuhisa down the street on La Cienega. Sometimes, I go to eat in Patina. Spago in Beverly Hills. I’m never cooking at home. I have nothing in the kitchen.

Obsessed With Food: You know what? I think all the time about cooking. I drive, I sleep, I have a dream all the time about food. Or I’m relaxed at the beach, or I’m surfing--all the time I think about cooking, creating a dish, in my head. Always thinking, always, always, always. Every day, I have a new idea. Every day.

To Market: I like to go shopping for food, when I have the time. So impressed here. Like Pavilions, Ralphs, it’s so clean. In France, it’s a mess. Here, it’s huge, clean, organized. You have nice produce, nice vegetable, it’s not like this in France, I promise you. Sometimes, Wednesday or Sunday, I go in Santa Monica to the farmers market.

Day Dream: If I could have Sunday off, I would go to brunch at the Four Seasons. It’s a long time I want to go. The chef invite me. I’ve never tasted brunch. I’ve been here for three years, I’ve never tasted one brunch.