Re-Openings

Bastide to Rise Again in November with Chef Jerome Voltat

Jerome Voltat
Jerome Voltat Photo: Jerome Voltat via Facebook

It’s been a short eternity since chef Ludo Lefebvre handed us a piece of crisp bacon sticking out of a tea cup filled with uncooked rice, introducing us to Bastide’s middle period, which some diners call Bastide’s dark ages. Ludo’s creativity made many weep for chef Alain Giraud’s (now of Anisette) departure and ever since, the restaurant seems to have endured a series of starts, stops, shuffles, and false reports, including a kitchen stint by current Church & State chef Walter Manzke and a closing last November on chef Paul Shoemaker.

Despite, or due to, the drama, we’re happy to hear Bastide will rise from the ashes once again, with a planned opening in November, according to Eater, at the same location with the same beautiful patio. The restaurant’s new recruit is chef Jerome Voltat, who like chef Ludo, exec-chefed at L’Orangerie. Let’s hope he’s treated more kindly by S. Irene Virbila than Ludo, who she accused of being “intent on scribbling over everything with a whole fistful of crayons,” in his efforts to bring extreme cuisine to one of L.A.’s top restaurants. More to come, definitely more to come!

Rumormongering [Eater LA]

Bastide to Rise Again in November with Chef Jerome Voltat