How many of us have watched Supermarket Sweep and thought, “I would totally win that”? For the holidays this year, we’re posing a similar challenge to celebrities with Gift Card Sweep, only instead of letting them loose at Wegmans or the Food Emporium, we’re asking them how they’d spend a gift card at their favorite online store. For this installment of Celebrity Shopping, we’ve asked chef Ludo Lefebvre of Trois Mec, who just cooked a Réveillon holiday feast for the launch of the Grey Goose La Fontaine, how he’d spend $500 at Williams Sonoma. Don’t miss all of the Strategist’s holiday gift coverage right here, too.
Everything I would buy with the card would be for cooking the Réveillon, which is something very typical around this time of year. I wouldn’t be surprised if every single household in France had at least one or two Le Creuset products. Their cast-iron terrine is great to use when you need to slowly cook casseroles and breads, but is an absolute MUST when making foie gras terrine. I NEVER use another mold for my foie gras terrine. Since the terrine takes a day-plus to fully prepare, I would stock up on a few of these in preparation for a Réveillon dinner.
I love a good martini, especially paired with food. It’s a simple yet elegant cocktail in which the taste of the ingredients shine, so it’s important to use high-quality vodka and vermouth. But the presentation is equally important. I use these martini glasses at home and would love to have more — they’re vintage and work well for a quiet martini at home with family or when hosting a bunch of people.
Scallops are usually on my Réveillon menu, but it involves a lot of prep work. So in addition, we also have lobster, and these scissors are great as they cut through the lobster tail without slicing into the delicate meat.
The base of French cooking is good ingredients and paying careful attention to each and every step of the process. So if you’re using great ingredients, you don’t have to mask the flavor. But I think that every dish can be enhanced with just a touch of pepper. I like this five-peppercorn blend, as it’s multicolored and definitely adds a bit of spice to the meal.
When you put so much love into your cooking you should make sure the experience is carried all the way through to what flatware your guests will use. The duck apicius I serve at the Réveillon dinner is really tender, but it’s important to ensure that its tenderness is fully realized at the table with a knife like the Global steak knife. One simple slice should cut it so the juices ooze out. [Editor’s note: Chef Ludo is a spokesperson for Global knives, which we’ve written about before.]
Grand Total
Final sum: $529.71
Gift card balance: -$29.71
Ludo’s shopping cart came out to $509.80 before tax and the cost of shipping, but with a Williams-Sonoma Cyber Week promotion code (SAVEMORE), he shaved 25 percent off his order, and shipping and processing was free. With tax, the cart totaled at $29.71 over his (imaginary) gift card. Better luck next time!
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