Are Chefs More High Maintenance than Other People?
I know many of you are probably sick of reading about Momofuku chef David Chang (as he himself probably is), but his quote in The New Yorker about his current relationship cracked me up:
"I’m finally dating somebody that I don’t hate her guts,” he says. “We had dinner yesterday and I was like, I don’t hate you at all! You know?” His girlfriend is also Korean-American, and was also raised to be brilliant at something—where he played golf, she played the violin. She now works in the advertising department of Microsoft. She seems to tolerate him amazingly well. “I am the worst boyfriend ever,” he says. “I’m high maintenance. I mean, you have no idea how high maintenance."
The truth is that most talented chefs are high maintenance. Do you think Thomas Keller wouldn't be a high maintenance significant other? Let's face it: We're all high maintenance in one way or another.
One other question: What do you think Chang's girlfriend said in response to "I don't hate you at all. You know?"
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11 Comments:
Haha! I just got my copy of the New Yorker in the mail and that was my favorite line from Chang, too. I totally understand where he's coming from, having dated many high maintenance men myself. A girl like me would totally appreciate a comment like that, particularly because it implies that he doesn't like most women he dates/meets. It probably made her feel extra special.
porkified at 5:37PM on 03/18/08
Ahhh, sweet nothings... always the way to win her heart... a true romantic!
jonfoxx at 6:02PM on 03/18/08
My response would be unprintable.
Barbara Hanson at 6:14PM on 03/18/08
Ba-Ha,
I'll bet I could make a phonetic approximation of your response using the last four letters of the restaurant's name?
srhcb at 7:02PM on 03/18/08
That's funny, I was just thinking the same about you.
mballena at 7:46PM on 03/18/08
Artistic people in general are high-maintenance. I think it's almost a way of keeping score. "Let's see how much they value me by seeing how much they'll put up with from me!"
thepictsie at 2:56AM on 03/19/08
On the other hand, there's even more non-artistic people around that are high-maintenance than there are artistic people.
I have no idea why they do it - it would not be to keep score as the artistic ones do, not to measure their value in terms of being "put up with".
Maybe they just do it to be creative in some way or form, even is that way is only and solely to be a PITA.
Karen Resta at 6:53AM on 03/19/08
I for one, have this to say. On a Friday after work if I came home to a hot meal paired with wine and everything ready to go when I walked in the door would be worth it. My husband (aka The King) surprises me every so often by making dinner or breakfast and that is big with me. Imagine that more often. Heaven I tell you.
If Davis is doing that thing he does she is a happy woman. The food is the love.
JerzeeTomato at 11:01PM on 03/19/08
Oh please folks, you missed it. The correct response would be -
"Thanks! And I don't hate you, much, either!"
ohiogal at 11:30PM on 03/19/08
Wow, another man who really doesn't like women - how unusual - so Spitzer/Paterson like.
Livetotravel at 3:47PM on 03/21/08
i think my response would be something along the lines of "gee thanks, and don't let the door hit you on the way out."
cybercita at 4:04PM on 03/22/08