By the numbers: Ludo Lefebvre’s escargots
216: The number of escargots ordered at both Petit Trois French bistros daily.
That’s individual snails, six per plate, which are imported from chef Ludo Lefebvre’s native Burgundy.
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Lefebvre gets large cans of cooked snail meat and separate packages of empty shells, making it easier to assemble the dish. The chef and his crew pack the empty shells with compound butter made with shallots, garlic, white wine, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper and copious amounts of French butter, add the escargots and more butter, then cook them in a 500-degree oven for four minutes.
“The key to old-school escargot is to fry them,” Lefebvre said. The escargot recipe is from his grandmother, who made them often for special occasions.
“Vinny told me not to put escargot on the menu,” Lefebvre said of co-owner Vinny Dotolo, before pointing out that the buttery-garlicky dish is among his top three sellers.
“I’m from Burgundy — I know escargot,” he said. “I can eat 6 dozen easy.”
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