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... More

"I don't believe in that whole superstar celebrity chef thing. I've worked in too many kitchens where the egos got in the way of the food. I appreciate the honor; it's amazing, but it's also surreal and absurd. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the Truman Show. I always considered myself one of the worst cooks in any kitchen I ever worked at." "I think our stuff is overrated. And now I sort of feel like a hypocrite because I'm doing less and less cooking and more business. I never intended this to happen. People say, 'Oh, he's a genius, he's so talented,' but it's all hype. Who cares about that fluff?" "My last good idea was my worst idea;... More

David Chang of NYC's Momofuku on what excludes tables from the possibility of receiving the money piece, extra-special treatment for otherwise randomly chosen non-VIP diners: "Poor orders were not considered - no sauce on the side people, no special requests, no well-done meats. If they didn’t know how to eat, they weren’t going to appreciate what we were putting on their plates."... More

David Chang was named one of the top ten chefs of 2006 by Food & Wine Magazine and his flagship restaurant Momofuku is one of the shining stars of New York's East Village restaurant scene, so he's no novice when it comes to attention from the press—but waiting for a review of his newest venture from Frank Bruni of the New York Times is a nerve-wracking experience nonetheless. Chang himself handicaps Momofuku Ssam Bar's chances at getting a starred review over at Eater: "Prune has one star – and that places rocks. This is where my money is: a review that says the restaurant is good enough, but not transcendent – a nice one-star. Some witty insights about the food,... More