Chef Ludo Lefebvre Quarterly Subscription Box Review #LLQ01
Chef Ludo is one of the newest Quarterly curators. A little more about Chef Ludo from Quarterly:
Chef Ludo Lefebvre—one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Chefs” and mastermind behind Trois Mec, the highly rated Los Angeles restaurant—will send you his favorites in food and food preparation.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Chef Ludo Lefebvre for Quarterly
The Cost: $50 a box
The Products: Chef Ludo’s favorite cooking tools and supplies.
Ships to: US and Worldwide.
Each Quarterly Box comes with a letter from the curator detailing the items included. For his first box, Chef Ludo picked out his BBQ essentials.
The last page of his letter included a Herbs of Provence Shrimp recipe.
Hedley & Bennett custom BBQ Mitt – Value $25?
DCS BBQ Spatula with serrated edge – Value $40
This BBQ Mitt is designed by Chef Ludo and exclusive to the box, so I’m estimating on the value.
I didn’t think I could be impressed by a grill spatula, but this one is SO heavy duty and well made! It’s definitely an upgrade for us.
Ludo’s Essential Spices in Meat Seasoning – Value $7
Ludo’s Essential Spices in French Provencal Barbecue Seasoning – Value $7
We have a lot of seasonings in the pantry right now thanks to a summer of subscription boxes, but fortunately these are good through 2016.
Grill Magazine – Value?
This is a cross between a magazine and an advertisement for DCS grills, so I don’t think it has a retail value. There are some recipes and other useful info in the magazine though.
And of course there are tips on how to build your DCS outdoor grill station! 🙂
Verdict: This box has a value of about $79. The items included were all very high-end, and the value is there, but I think I’m just not too excited about this box because I’m a little BBQ-d out thanks to a summer of subscription boxes. This definitely would have been a better box for us to get in June instead of September!
What do you think of #LLQ01?
Written by Liz Cadman
I’ve said it before, but I really think you need to be a big fan of a curator to subscribe to a box on Quarterly and have it be a worthwhile experience. I’m subscribed to Nina Garcia’s box, the My Subscription Addiction box and the GQ box for my husband. I have read all of Nina’s books and even though I know a lot of people hate on the Spanglish items that she includes in her boxes, they really do fit her background and her values as a person. I visit Liz’s blog daily and I have similarly aligned tastes in sub boxes as she does. The GQ box is for my husband since he wears a suit and tie everyday to work. I have yet to be disappointed by a box curated by people who’s professional work I enjoy.
Quarterly is almost like a fan club subscription – so with that in mind, I don’t know who Chef Ludo is so not knowing who he is, I would have been thoroughly disappointed to receive this box. I feel like I could go get all of these things from Target right now for $20 or less. Also, Labor Day is over which typically means the end of BBQ season for me.
I’ve worked as a food writer and now teach writing with a food “theme” to university students. I’m definitely a Ludo fan, so I feel pretty confident that other than the recipe, this box doesn’t seem to have anything to do with him. The spices are just what he shills, but no self-respecting professional chef would use pre-packaged spices full of preservatives!
I meant seasonings, not spices!
I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants, and there is not one in which those spices would have been out of place- they just would have been in much larger containers. Also, just because the spices last until 2016 doesn’t mean they have preservatives.
I totally agree on what you said, also I see it too if you are paying so much for something you want to have your money worth, that is somebody outside this sub world ask you what you got you can tell them and they would see it worth it.
This box, sorry to the ones that liked it, is a joke. Like somebody previously said you can find it at a Cotsco or Sam’s Club and now with deals probably cheap too. The only Quarterly box that I have seen review that is really nice and worth it is Liz’s and not saying it because this is her site but because it truly was. I have seen Nina’s boxes and even though I’m Latina I’m still not thrill by it.
I feel like a lot of these Quarterly boxes are overrated!, I can only think of 4 boxes out of the whole bunch that are worth keeping.
I was so excited and signed up before I even knew it was a grilling box. Felt this was more a Fisher Paykel box (Chef Ludo now a spokesperson). The potholder is embroidered with Fisher Paykel so did not feel special for box. The spatula is part of 5 piece set ($134.00 with apron). Grill book a promo piece and the recipe not even for a grill. I sent back to Quarterly for refund. So disappointed.
I was sooooo looking forward to this box since I love to cook. I live in a apartment so most of the . content of this box is useless for me. So glad I skipped this one.
I was tempted to subscribe even though I’ve never had a good Quarterly experience (I’ve tried six different boxes!). Thank goodness I listed to that little voice inside that reminded me why I quit all Quarterly boxes! You nailed it when you said it didn’t excite you. None of those items are unique or really have anything to do with Lefebvre’s cooking style. He’s a French chef, and is NOT known for barbecue! I’ve gotten a zillion barbecues spices, tongs, etc. from subscription boxes, and would have been furious if I’d gotten this box, expecting something more, well, Ludo.
Those retail values seem REALLY inflated! In the non-subscription box, buy-at-Costco world, that’s $25 worth of stuff. The main reason I gave up on Quarterly boxes completely is the value never came close to matching what I paid. For instance, there was a Mark Freuenfelder box that had a few pieces of Japanese candy that I had gotten many times already from a couple boxes like Skoshbox (and can get in town easily), and one wasabi gum to be used as a prank. I paid $25 and received about a $10 value.
I did complain about that box, and Quarterly apologized by giving me a $50, which I used to subscribe to the Toys & Technology box. That one had a good value (especially since I paid nothing!) for the $39 price, but like the other boxes I received–and like Ludo’s box–it didn’t actually adhere to the theme it was supposed to have, and I ended up swapping two items, kept one (a sticky bomb ball that I gave to the kids), and have one I can’t even give away. Except for the ball, there were no toys, and three items related to old-school video games, and the thing no one wants is some random “art” piece. None of that matched their description of the box, just like Ludo is sort of the opposite of BBQ!