I stopped at wings.Wings are disgusting unless you're drinking and they're available and cheap on every street corner.Yet the post modern ambiance must cover the charges,which not even a hint was given .
Amazing how people trying to look so self righteous and woke will "boycott" anything that can be connected ever so slightly to a politician they hate. How foolish - would they also stay out of museums, not attend universities or even bypass entire cities and countries using the same criteria? I see the flip side of this as well, usually from uber Progressives - they are boycotting Amazon, Apple, etc due to the evil corporatist mentalities of CEOs they don't even know...
4
The food is unremarkable and one needs ear plugs. So much higher quality for less money in most American cities.
And backless stools force you to sit up straight.
4
It saddens me to have an article ring two things true: we value the young more than older people with experience - given how her ; & while women may be running the show, the face of the franchise is male.
5
I will BOYCOTT this group of restaurants. Just the thought of trump turns my stomach sour...!!!
3
Puff piece. Can’t the New York Times highlight their “sponsored content” like everyone else? Say goodbye to Stephen Ross!!
6
The comments to this piece illustrate why the rest of the country rolls their eyes at the liberal left. A look at the talent behind the operation triggers talk of boycott and avoidance, all because of the political affiliation of an investor. Sure, it's your stomach and wallet; eat and spend where you like. But be wary of juxtaposing the littlest of things with your own political views. Remember, we're talking about soulless trendy millennial food here.
9
Ms Mariscal seems a highly paid interior decorator. Food as design sells big in cities that crave the new look, hot spot ahead of the trend. Odd to see leadership as creation of trend and it flies. What a high wire act. How does one leverage fleeting success into competence in disparate roles? Snippets from Neil Young and Bill Walsh in a guide book for the variables within the organization? Where is the focus in that? How does one cater to a diverse clientele in the free market -- a niche for every imaginary taste profile and dining experience?
2
Growth of food&drink companies is not always easy, the road is covered with various hurdles. Why not portray Momofuku with Jamie Oliver or Brewdog. Especially Brewdog with its rather unusual financing /investment strategy is worth focusing on.
1
I live in Greensboro North Carolina and we opened restaurant Liberty Oak in 1980 (it still exist with different concept) with open kitchen.So, it really makes me laugh when through the years new group opens restaurant with open kitchen and they believe they invented it.
18
No knock on Momofuku, but the author seems to have limited perspective, and as a San Franciscan who spent my teens and 20s working in restaurants here, on the East Coast and in Italy, I can not let this pass. New York thinks it invented the contemporary food scene. It did not. Momofuku was at least 20 years behind Joyce Goldstein at Square One with the open kitchen. That typology started here, unless you consider the traditional diner, roadside or urban.
The kitchen is in the background to the right, on display to the dining room and to passers by on the street.
https://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/05/24/theres-no-going-back-to-square-one/
15
You get to eat good food and donate to the Trump campaign at the same time.
A win-win scenario.
9
Definitely I’d never go to momafuko’s again knowing that the profits go however indirectly into the coffers of Donald Trump.
16
This story seems to be the creation of a PR strategist- with the goal of raising the profile of the company ahead of more fundraising or perhaps an IPO.
20
I've enjoyed Momofuku, but who made the call to push this conveniently-timed piece?? Simple message: dont take money from evil people!
17
Great PR puff article illustrating female empowerment while the real owners funding all this are holding $250K per person fund raisers for Trump, our misogynist in chief. Well done PR person. I guess we do what we have to do have to pay the rent.
23
Oh look a nice cozy article on a company just as it is hit by its association with a big Trump finder.
17
Wow. Not everything needs to be political.
Nice going, Marguerite (and David). Doesn't matter how old someone is if they're doing well. Plus her work related education started much earlier than most. Beats the hell out of people with 20 years of experience - the same year over and over again...
As someone with Le Cirque and Arzak work experience, I'm just looking for simply good food that makes me happy. Not complicated. Just good.
10
The Steve Ross/Trump connection cannot be ignored.
18
I love radicchio. Dave Chang is obsessed with not being snobby, which I guess is admirable, but come on
9
Won’t be going to Momofuko. I’ve no interest in putting money in the pocket of a Trump benefactor.
17
They still did a fund raiser for DT?????? I can do without them.
Ethics and morals and decency are part of of being so called "perfectionists". I think they both miss the mark, bigtime.
9
If this is truly a profile of a young CEO of a dynamic restaurant group, that's great, and to be sure, it's interesting reading. But the connection to Trump donor and supporter Stephen Ross just a week after his high-profile fundraising event (and subsequent backlash from Ross investee consumers) seems too coincidental. Does that mean I expect the NYT to not pursue a story if it was pitched to heal a wound related to politics? I guess I do--if there's a political connection, these days, I expect an editor's note to that effect. Transparency, folks.
14
Nice story, but really, trying to spin this as intern takes over the world is ridiculous. Ms. Mariscal has the restaurant and retail food business deep in her very classy DNA and she has run with it. That's good, but definitely not rags to riches.
22
They got in bed with the wrong guy. It happens. But if they want to survive they need to put this PR strategy on hold and instead focus on getting from Stephen Ross. Then once Ross is out, then they can ramp up the PR/NYTimes articles.
11
Boycott Momofuku and hundreds of its employees will lose their jobs before Stephen Ross loses a wink of sleep.
14
One thing is for sure, NYT letter writers are a bunch of put downers. We should celebrate Mr. David Chang’s accomplishments. How many of you have created 100 or a 1,000 jobs? Kudos to Ms. Zabar for not sitting on her laurels. She works hard. And for the Ross connection, all of you better go through your stock portfolios, 401Ks and pension plans and identify and weed out those entities with whom you might find offensive political contributions or other activities first, before you slam David.
44
Used to be a big fan. Now that I know Stephen Ross is Chang's biggest investor ... I will never eat there again.
12
The introduction to Marguerite Zabar Mariscal was a welcome one. Not sure why all the comments seemed so miffed with your choice of person to highlight, but I for one am intrigued. When will you be coming to California?
4
I guess Millennials don’t like to go out to eat. Seems as though the same tired snark ensues whenever the NYT publishes an article about a popular restaurant. Chang is an interesting personality and his food is inventive and fun. If y’all don’t dig it by all means cook at home, that is if you can stand your own self-critique...
6
Davis Chang is fun and interesting. He loves food without retention, and he has promoted women of talent.
If you don’t want to eat in his places, then don’t.
We in NOVA are proud of him.
10
I had no idea the money behind this company was so tightly interwoven with our truly awful President. If impeachment is off the table because Republicans in Congress can't grow a spine, maybe we are reduced to small acts of protests. Though I'll miss the food, I am not spending a dime in that place ever again. There are plenty of other yummy places to eat.
7
Dear Ms. Mariscal,
Maybe you can do something about the insane sound level at Momofuku. If diners are getting headaches during a thirty-minute meal, how much more your staff on their shift and the occasional overtime?
Thanks.
7
Secret sauce is partnership with Uber eat, stuffy restaurants are dinosaurs.
[[He’ll dress down a chef if items in the walk-in refrigerator aren’t all film-wrapped in a uniform way.]]
He sounds like a delight.
How about you call the person over, point to the problem and say "Fix this" rather than berating someone?
8
It's apparent the one percent of the wealth types who run the show are overcome by their own self importance.Obviously catering only to the top ,maybe ten percent of earners or those who are able to travel into the environs where these places are located,the prices have been discreetly left out of the article. Surely ,if you need to ask ,basis. The antic concerning the President is most annoying,noticing that Planned parent hood coordinates and performs literally millions of abortions for poorer minority persons and that the Sierra club platform has been anti open borders and rampant immigration for decades.
1
Uh oh...could this be the start of another foodie trend? Struggling food establishments rushing out to hire young-guns...all because it works here? Are we gonna be inundated with stories about 30, 28 and 25 yo's and their amazing, ground-breaking, truly innovative food perspectives? All because of this success story? (successful so far)
Are young, brash and "artistic" food Lords the new Kale?
2
The women at the top were all hired to work for men. Am unsure that is the top.
10
For real wide ranging. and in depth insights, into New York and international cuisine have look a Mike Colameco's "Real Food".
Mike is an experienced chef who focuses on the "back of the house" culinary activity and the real sourcing of materials.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mike+colameco
A devout fan.
If this article came out three weeks ago, before the entire Ross/Trump fundraiser thing, I would have read it and thought "How nice".
Unfortunately I can't help but read it now and think " Good work by the crisis management PR firm".
Too bad.
18
I don't usually comment, but my goodness! Are NYT's readers no longer able to see past their political biases? Must everything be colored by hatred for DJT? Yes, he is extremely polarizing and I am in no way a fan, but I am able to read this story without projecting my feelings onto a hard-working 30-year old woman. Feminists should be cheering for a young woman heading a large, successful company. Isn't this what we have been working toward? And the fact that she is from a wealthy family should in no way diminish her accomplishment. In fact, all the more reason to respect her drive and work ethic. Coming from where she did, she could have taken a much easier path. Instead, she is working in an extremely demanding, pressure-filled position that requires a 24/7 commitment to work. I think that's commendable.
33
It’s so refreshing to read about a business partnership that works so beautifully, based on mutual respect and incredibly hard work. Congrats on your success and ingenuity!
12
And where does Colicchio stand on radicchio?
12
the last time i was at momfuku’s east village restaurant, it had become nothing but a mediocre, over-priced ramen place. too bad, it used to be good.
8
Wooo! Some of the harshest commentary I've seen in a while. If you're going to stop frequenting every establishment that has any connection to Trump, you're going to have to give up a lot of things -- and don't think that doesn't include basics of everyday life. Some perspective is needed here.
13
Ms. Mariscal is obviously filling a role that is extraordinarily demanding. Think about your favorite restaurant, what you like about it and then think about the last joint that was horrible? Both had thousands of decisions made to make good or bad yet alone replicate it elsewhere or create new ones every year. I have only seen Chef David Chang on Netflix and I like how he goes about looking at different cuisines and his take on it - refreshingly different and one doesn't need to agree with him. He has the training and chops to have created restaurants that have good comfort foods that completely different and yet that idea would not have translated into a successful without the management and ideas of Ms Mariscal.
13
Capitalism is capitalism, whether in corporate farming, strip mining or cachet dining.
The key to capitalism is that currency is fungible, moral values are laundered out creating markets unencumbered by the identities of buyers and sellers. You do not do business with individuals, you do them with cash flow. So eating dinner with Changs, Zabars, and Rosses is the same as with Communists, Pro Lifers, or Greenpeace members.
If you think such morally blind transactions are not for you, you are looking for social democracy, not pure capitalism.
6
So she runs Trump's benefactor's restaurant chain. How nice for her.
49
Stephen Ross invests in Momofuku. Your patronage supports his support of Trump
47
Ever since a Chang restaurant spawned the idea of cereal milk as dessert I've been left underwhelmed. It's a long time since Julia Child and Alice Waters inspired Americans to look beyond TV dinners but is everybody now too busy or important to prepare meals in their own kitchens with family ?
33
I still dream of the honest joint,where you can fill your face for under ten dollars. All gone now.
19
I am always impressed when a woman is a CEO. I’m always interested in hearing her story. I don’t care if she went to Dalton. I don't dismiss her efforts and achievements because her great grandparent happened to something successful with their lives 80 years ago. That’s part of the narrative, but not the point. Does a women have to face every conceivable obstacle including those that aren’t directly related to her gender, exemplifying the ‘rags to riches’ story for us to care and for her to be worthy of our praise? That’s ridiculous. It’s hard enough just being a women in the workplace, a women in the street, a women in the office, a women in the kitchen and a women under the gaze of your judging eyes. Give her a break.
76
@MP interesting slip: "does a women" - when you speak of "woman" you only use the plural form thinking of all of them . . .
2
@MP Thank you for this comment. It's easy to write off this article and this woman, dismissing the whole idea as bad because the Stephen Ross donated to Trump. But this piece, this woman, and the entire relationship between business and politics deserves way more nuance. All the people poo-pooing Momofuku for Ross's donations probably use products made by companies who's top brass donates to Trump. Thanks for going against the mainstream and supporting a woman who's work deserves appreciation.
10
@NYTimes, you should also have mentioned that RSE Ventures is headed by Stephen Ross (co-founder and chairman). That's a big detail to overlook mentioning.
44
Can she do something about fuku at citifield? The quality is terrible there.
8
Moral of the story: the secret of success is to be born into a wealthy prominent family.
48
@Tim You got that from this one data point?
3
I’m tired of the restaurant empires and those who rule them. Just make really good food and lose the ‘tude and self importance.
41
It’s happening. We are separating from our friends and favorite places due to the other person’s political views. In another 2 years, if Trump wins, this will accelerate into violence - a civil war.
I am not kidding.
34
@Michael Kenny It's unfortunate but we're discovering some of our "friend" are who they purported themselves to be. Not trivial, and Trump is most definitely NOT politics as usual.
4
@Michael Kenny happening in Portland today.
1
Just another oversized restaurant empire.
They come and they go.
Frankly I found the article rather depressing and would never dream of eating in their manufactured establishments.
47
If she were wanting to succeed on her own, she would have simply taken on her married name, but, having the Zabar surname would certainly open doors- Deservedly or not.
6
Um, you missed the detail in the article that she’s descended from the Zabars’ on her mother’s side. Parents have been known to give a maternal surname as a middle name. Nowhere in the article does it say she’s married. But so what?
Surprised at the level of negativity and nastiness in the comments here. So now we live in a society where someone’s hard work and achievements are invalid because they grew up too privileged for your tastes? Give me a break.
7
@Gdnrbob
Huh?
She kept the name she is born with. That is the right of a nobody like me, and those with more illustrious families.
3
@Gdnrbob It's not her married name; it's her last name.
3
I came here to write a positive comment about how much I enjoyed the article and the insight into a growing company and am amazed at the amount of negativity.
David Chang has always been one of my favorite chefs, I find the way he blends influences and ingredients amazing. The first time I attempted to make ramen it was his recipe.
Since then I’ve gone on to make my own version based on learnings from his but also other chefs and experiences that I’ve had.
Now, thanks to this article I’ve received a far deeper insight into his organization and team than I’ve had before.
Thank you so much, I loved every word of it and wish the Chang team all the best in their growth!!
46
@Kent McGuire I totally agree with you. How can such a positive story generate so much resentment and negativity?
Life is a blessing. Start acting like it.
12
I think we have seen this "is not the young lady a breath a fresh air for the rich old guy" scenario before....
22
One of the very best lines uttered by George Smiley in John Le Carré's counter-espionage classic, Smiley's People, is "Topicality is always suspect," when presented with a too-timely, too-coincidental assessment of Soviet naval capabilities.
This too-timely, too-coincidental puff piece (profile?) -- about an obviously skilled corporate operator (this as a compliment) -- falling right on the heels of the Steve Ross / Trump fundraising story rings that alarm bell: Topicality is always suspect.
It would be nice to be able to trust at least one of society's institutions. Surely the New York Times thinks itself among them.
Keep trying.
62
This is just another corporate, capitalist, forever money making machine.
Because of finance-backers like Ross, and I’ve known this for a while, I have never eaten at any of their “joints” and never will.
Talk eternal-praising diatribes, get stools with backs, more glossy wood in the shed, add more teriyaki mojo, make pizza more Japanese... all this is mere hyperbole to get more money out of your pockets.
That’s the currency; your money.
Think about where you spend it.
And if your own Heath is important to you, also if climate change is a concern for you, cook your own food, conserve the wastage.
56
I thought the secret sauce was a heavy dash of HYPE.
57
This article reminds me of the Milk Bar article not long
ago. As patrons, we fall for the "unique" experience of
a particular favorite spot, and then we watch private equity
cash come in and all the unique original purveyors become
just...regular hacks, with fancy words like "scaling up".
I guess that's just the American way. More, more , more,
more, more, more, more, more, more , more, more
more, more, more, more, more, more , more, more
more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more.
42
As a Korean -Japanese who has been living in America for over a decade, it’s hard to say that he serve authentic asian food. The food is totally catered to westerners. I am glad that it’s working but most Asians wouldn’t approve his style of food to be authentic.
29
Agreed, maybe if they actually visited the countries they are taking their menu ideas from they would know that Japanese cuisine isn't overpriced or exclusive like their chain. Ramen is made to be cheap, and so is every other dish short of some really good cut of Wagyu.
25
@Patrick That is exactly it. Chang always points to his "Japan" experience but then also complains that he cannot charge $30 for ramen. Even the best ramen shops in Japan wouldn't go down that route.
29
@Jungyeon
I know what you mean, and I somewhat agree, but David Chang himself has talked many times about "authenticity" as a trap.
He has said that authenticity is what has made Creole food in my beloved New Orleans so unchanging and, yes, stale. It's why you can't find a decent plate of Italian pasta in San Francisco's North Beach. It's why the best Cuban sandwiches are to be found almost anywhere but Miami.
It's the rules that makes even young chefs fearful of venturing into wild territories, and conforming to the old.
For me, authenticity is my mother making a milk-chocolate brown roux in a heavy iron skillet on the stove. But I don't go to restaurants to order gumbo that will never be as good as she would make.
I go to taste something I've never had before.
________
“I view authenticity like a totalitarian state. It’s not that I hate authenticity, it’s that I hate that people want this singular thing that is authentic.”
– David Chang, from his show 'Ugly Delicious'
25
Clearly her family name holds value. So many more people work just as hard if not harder and don’t receive the recognition for their job. Try running a company from the ground up with no money, not coming into money or coming from money. This is a complete unrealistic story of things that will never happen to real people who work hard. Just because she can pick out nice leather couches it doesn’t make her CEO material. This article is terrible. Stop shinning light on this undeserved privilege.
88
@Adam Nowicki Seriously, Lets revisit this group in 10 years. And lets not forget, this is just another chain restaurant, just expensive .... oh how the restaurant world has changed, and not for the better.
13
@Adam Nowicki What? Where did that come from? I don’t see anything that remotely suggests that her family name is what's made her a success running a large company at a young age. And implying that as CEO she’s just picking out leather sofas is grossly inaccurate and smacks of sexism.
10
Sounds like a better organized version of the '80's Jeremiah Tower and the '00's Michael Mina. Chang and Mariscal are building the Denny's of the future for Millennials. It'll be an interesting ride, for sure.
13
I don’t know about you, but for me the article was really off putting and mainstream, quick buck and run of the mill stuff, sounds like a fancy or reinvented McDonalds
The way future: vegan, vegetarian, health conscious,organic, farm to table etc , now that is the future - not another meaty fast food place.
34
When you really look at it, we are required- by our very need to survive- to become vegetarians. This meat driven diet is not sustainable and is horrible for human health.
12
Beautiful. They won’t read this but, god bless you both, you worked hard to get where you are. Continue your American dream.
Even if these people are royalty and Cringe at the idea of paying living wages to their employees, undoubtly, god bless and continue on. But for no other reason than life demands the sacrifice of others to keep all alive.
8
@Just surprised
They don’t need your god’s blessing, they have Stephen Ross’s investment dollars.
David Chang has always come off to me as smug and his righteous, stubborn refusal to embrace plant-based menu choices is another turn off. They don’t need my money but I willfully boycott Hudson Yards and any of Ross’s and Chang’s ventures.
8
"Take open kitchens. Mr. Chang’s restaurants were among the first to break down the barrier between cook and diner with kitchens that were visible from the dining room."
This is just silly. This may or may not be true as to America. Japanese restaurants in Japan are usually open kitchen, unless they're very large, and as far as I know always have been. Ramen shops in particular are nearly *always* open kitchen; I am going back through my memory and I can't think of a single one I've been to that wasn't, except Ichiran, which is obviously totally different. So it's hardly a particular innovation that Mr. Chang's Japanese-influenced, initially noodle-heavy offerings are just the same as they are in Japan.
54
New Roma Gardens, where we got our pizzas in NJ in the 1960s, had an open kitchen (or at least you could see the pizza chefs tossing dough). Big whoops.
16
Waffle Houses have open kitchens.
14
@A , So many open kitchens prior to Momofuku - - Jean Georges, Cru, Peasant, Hearth, Barbuto, Washington Park, Mercer Kitchen in New York alone. To Chang's credit though, his places were/are much more casual than others that were doing that.
Still, this article is like third party outsourced content creation for Momo. And yes, the content and timing couldn't be more suspect.
6
Why do all the restaurants have to go down the same path of relentless expansion until they completely lose their soul and die? Momofuku was fresh and innovative say 15 years ago? Understandably the competition has become fierce in the world of pork belly bun and ramen since David Chang activated the trend. Is Stephen Ross inevitable at this point of the game?
Sounds like recruiting a young NYC food business royalty is the latest attempt to revitalize a brand that has lost its compass and now trying too hard.
Remember Nobu?
76
@Ruth
In a word: greed. The second word would be: ego.
Been there, done that. (Hence, I am an ex-cook and sous chef.)
45
It would be great to know exactly when the publicist approached the Times for this canny piece of reputation management.
While it’s possible that it was already in the works, it seems convenient to put this young woman out front as the public face of a company that is majority owned by Mr. Ross. Ross wasn’t content to simply support Mr. Trump on his own. He hosted an event that brought the campaign 12 million dollars.
Sadly, it’s not the fault of the workers and suppliers of the company, but we live in a time where one of the few meaningful acts of protest we have is where we spend our money, and so I won’t be spending mine here.
219
Had a noodle soup recently at the Lincoln Centre noodle bar. SO disappointed. It was a greasy mess. What a comedown from the old days.
18
One whole day's worth of profits?
That's not called "noblesse oblige;"
that's just called "damage control."
Let's stick with the idea of boycott. There are lots and lots of other innovative eateries in NYC!
151
@SRP (cont.) -
How condescending!
Does Ross want to take these Japanese chefs and "send them back"?
I guess not; they'll pass Stephen Miller's wealth test...
Appreciate that a part of each of these $20 noodle bowls is going to support Trump.
19
@SRP And how much is a day's worth of profits? In none of the press have I seen that expressed in actual dollars. What percentage of the $12 million that Ross raised does it equal?
3
Thank you for alerting me to the Momofuku/ Ross connection. Somehow, in the deluge of daily Trump related horror, I missed that. Will be altering my dining plans for my upcoming trip to New York accordingly.
143
Kudos to Ms. Mariscal, but this is no rags-to-riches story. This person is the daughter of two people who own an extremely successful, nearly century-old market that has been a NY staple - not some no-name intern.
190
@Peter H. You make it sound like her background is some kind of horrible curse. Sounds to me like she has worked hard to get where she is; this wasn't just handed to her. And she's savvy and bright enough to know what to do when needed.
10
"Mr. Chang’s restaurants were among the first to break down the barrier between cook and diner with kitchens that were visible from the dining room."
I remember eating in Milan at a restaurant that dated to the 1800s. Guess what? There was a wide open kitchen that you had to walk through to eat.
And didn't Spago have open kitchens since Puck opened it in the early 80s?
Don't get me wrong. I have eaten at a half dozen of Mr. Chang's restaurants and loved every one. My only bad experience was at Ko when they didn't have seat backs. My back was a mess for a week, but the food was spectacular! PB
22
@pbilsky This comment seemed way off to me as well. It seems like the open kitchen concept has been around forever.
28
@pbilsky` Agree. I will never, never, ever sit on a backless stool. Teenagers can manage stools. Adults cannot. Also, why stools at all? As a shortish person, stools are impossible. Once on (itself a challenge), I risk a face plant when dismounting. Chairs! Now there's an innovation to applaud. Just not those ubiquitously trendy metal chairs (uncomfortable, and HOT on sunny patios.)
26
@roane1. I'm with you, no stools. As this boomer moves through the years, my restaurant "no-go" list gets longer -- no booths (poor leg room), no places with loud overhead music; no seating under a drafty ceiling vent (sets off a cough) or at a table with a dangling bare-bulb light fixture (hurts my eyes); no poorly ventilated SE Asian eateries because the yummy-but-powerful spices and onions stink up wool, silk and hair, meaning you should be quarantined until the next shampoo and visit to the dry cleaners. And no huge echo-chamber places with concrete floors and metal sheeting for wall covering (deafening racket makes conversation difficult). Yes, I mostly cook at home these days.
15
Feels like damage control. Isn't paid content supposed to be marked as such, because this very much seems like it...
195
I visited the original Momofuku in Chelsea as a special treat for my birthday approximately 10 years ago and was really impressed. A few years later we returned to a new restaurant, also in Chelsea that was more informal in setting. I was so disappointed - I vowed never again - the menu was very limited, and uninspiring and the food was just overpriced and bland. The place had blonde wood and bench seats. Not sure if this place is still there - but it got bad reviews and I can see why. Now, when I return to NYC, I want to spend my money on other places and I do not want to waste it on what essentially is a "has been" restaurant chain.
21
@thora902 The "original" Momofuko was Noodle Bar on 1st Avenue in the East Village, which opened in 2004. Ssam followed, opening in 2006 on 2nd Avenue also in the East Village. Ko followed in 2008 - perhaps that is where you celebrated your birthday, but it too is in the East Village. The Chelsea restaurant you are thinking of is Nishi, which opened in 2016, had difficulty finding its footing as a mash-up of Italian and Asian influences, but is now quite good (IMHO) as an almost solely Italian restaurant.
12
@thora902 Momofuku ramens are overrated. IMHO Plenty of Mom and Pops ramen places popping up all over NYC. Better ramen dishes and supporting local and small family-run businesses.
15
The orthogonal momofuku is in the east village, not Chelsea.
2
This story sounds like damage control, a positive PR spin piece to counteract the backlash to the Trump donor fiasco. Yeah... no thanks.
219
@Julie But they donated a whole day's profits to charity! That makes it all better and now we can totally forget about where they get their money!
97
@Julie listen to the Dave Chang podcast where he discusses the fact that when people eat out immigrants cook their food, and anti-Trump statements that were bold. Give it a listen.
15
That private equity money comes with strings attached. David Chang please work on becoming free of Stephen Ross
137
THANK YOU, Ms. Marical for boycotting backless stools. I see them as a not-so-subtle form of age discrimination whereby those of us more than a certain age just end up avoiding restaurants that only offer backless seating. I'm sure that assures a younger, cooler, mix of customers which restaurateurs may want as part of their vibe. But I will walk out of any restaurant that doesn't offer me a real seating choice - with a back whereby when I leave I don't have a pain in my lower back and feel like a million years old. Ah, age-ism comes in many forms from all sectors!
63
So Ms. Mariscal worked her way up. Was there anything between Dalton and internship? College? Degrees? And I'd like to know if she has a spouse, children, the borough she lives in. Something more about her such that she merits Chang's implicit trust in her mysteriously-acquired (Zabars genes?) acumen.
101
Maybe she just did an extraordinarily good job.
52
Or maybe the piece was not at all about her but a desperate attempt to redeem the brand after the Steve Ross/Trump connection
29
@Suzaan None of those things are important to how she does her job, at least as far as the general public is concerned. The fact that Chang trusts her is really the only thing that matters. Certainly where or if she went to college is irrelevant, as is her marital status (and mention is made of time spent with her child). And by the way, everyone quoted here seems to think she's pretty awesome at her job.
13
Yeah, their approach was original years ago. Upon recent visits, I find the food uninspiring and the atmosphere corporate antiseptic. Now learning their connection to Trump and indirectly to white nationalism, I will definitely boycott.
In fact, there's so much better food elsewhere, so it's a brainier.
Like Trump, David Chang needs to read books. He sounds ignorant when he speaks hamfistedly on topics outside of his wheelhouse
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@CH
Try his podcast sometime....it's a very small wheelhouse.
7
Everyone knows the next place a top-flight chef turns after oversaturating a city with too many of his imprints is re-inventing common condiments!
8
Why all the angst over the menu? They could serve Spaghettios and Ring Dings and the hipster foodies that flock to places like this so they can Instagram their 'experience' would still come and rhapsodize over the food.
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@Peter
It's a business. Thats what they set out to do. Much of the work that is done in the world is to make things seem what they are not.
I do not like eating there, but that's just me. So much hate in these comments.
16
Momofuku's secret isn't the sauce. It's that its profits go to a major Trump donor. Eat there and you are paying, indirectly, to reelect Trump.
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It is my understanding that Momofuku is backed by Trump supporter Stephen Ross. I will never spend my hard-earned money at Momofuku.
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“Ms. Mariscal grew up living, like Zabars across three generations, within a 10-minute walk of the flagship store on 80th and Broadway, and briefly worked there as a cashier while attending high school at Dalton. “
Okay, I see I missed the acknowledgment of the connection to the store: Zabar's. Which of course is really a creation of Murray Klein—a long time part owner.
What's this “flagship store”? There's one Zabar's, which has an apostrophe in the name. It ain't like Starbucks.
Dalton, right normal for a retail cashier in NYC. Well, at least she had to make the count on a register sum up right.
Submitted Aug 16th 2019 1:20 PM
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"Culinary mastermind" for mix-and-matching street food priced for a hipster sit-down place?
"Among the first" to have open kitchens, a design that's been around for decades and decades?
You've gotta be kidding me. Wait until the Times restaurant critics get a load of this article.
I don't know anyone that goes to Momofuku chains for the food, it's all about social media posturing.
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@asdfj I am curious about two things - 1) how many times are you going to post your disdain and 2) how many times have you actually eaten at a Momofuku restaurant?
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@Melpo as many times as it takes for you to get the message, I imagine. I fully support asdfj in his quest to accurately portray a horrible chain of bad restaurants and I definitely support it if it makes you upset
5
What I would suggest is a nice Caesar salad prepared by a waiter in an old fashioned Italian restaurant that has heavy white tablecloths like the ones in The Godfather who really knows what he's doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKBcRU5tPco
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@A Stanton
Funny how pleasing a Mexican salad can be in the right Italian restaurant.
2
@A. Stanton. If you keep in mind that Caesar salad is not Italian, you won't be surprised to find one of the best caesar salads ever is served in the cafeteria on British Columbia's super ferries that run out to Vancouver Island. Enough lemon to bite the tongue, lots of romaine and no iceberg lettuce, plenty of identifiable parmesan. Their other food is great, too.
5
Would appreciate knowing if staff - at all levels - are treated well, paid fairly.
And given the influence that the Momofuku group has, would be nice to see some concern about farm workers in the U.S. After all, Momofuku would not exist if hard working and low paid farm workers were not supplying the food.....
51
I've been eating at Momofuku restaurants regularly since 2006, and I am endlessly taken with their consistency and their creativity. The food is delicious and fun. It's impressive that they've mostly maintained their standards while expanding so widely. The Ross situation was awful and certainly presented a dilemma to patrons, but I thought the company handled it as gracefully as it could have.
Going to a Momofuku restaurant, you know you're going to encounter something you've never had before, whether it's an ingredient, a combination of ingredients, or an eye-opening technique. That's what I'm looking for when I eat out, new stuff to enjoy and maybe even incorporate somehow into my own cooking, if only as inspiration. Kudos to the team.
25
All the best but I can't shake the feeling that all of this is not sustainable.
30
Formulaic corporate restaurants.... they're like a hot stock
way too much hype, not a fan.
We don't need more convenient sauces we need to cook more in our kitchens. Cook more and cut out the sugar while you're at it.
26
... and the salt.
9
I love radicchio, and I despise David Chang’s Hudson Yards landlord, the Trump-supporting Stephen Ross. Hard pass.
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Momofuku's secret sauce is Stephen Ross - the Trump donor. I will never eat there again.
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@NYC
Same. This article was helpful for at least that!
16
"Ms. Mariscal has waged an all-out campaign against backless stools" ... nice to read someone is fighting the good fight
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Well, I love radicchio. And I love the town of Treviso, where, for a couple of weeks a year, all is radicchio. I love the taste, the color, and the sound of its name.
Ye Gods, I'm so sick of these people, with their concepts, and their empires, and their branding and their marketing and overthinking everything. "Stop being a chef!" says one chef to another chef. Would that they were all looking in mirrors at the time. I can't help but imagine that their only real "vision" is a Momofuku TV dinner in every freezer and microwave, and a billion dollars in the bank. Spare me your visions, and your empires; and pass the radicchio.
140
This from someone who lives in the village in 2019...
2
""Mr. Chang’s restaurants were among the first to break down the barrier between cook and diner with kitchens that were visible from the dining room." Maybe in NYC, but not in Chicago.
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@The E-Man
Nope, not in NYC or NJ or PA either.
I have a feeling this author is a 10-year-old or something.
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Good for Ms. Mariscal (and sign me up for her life.)
I would have appreciated more insights into Ms. Mariscal’s business philosophy— her remarks on leavening continuity with new concepts and erecting a competitive moat were wise ones.
27
"Take open kitchens. Mr. Chang’s restaurants were among the first to break down the barrier between cook and diner with kitchens that were visible from the dining room." No sense of history here. Open kitchens have been a feature of many restaurants long before there was Momofuku. Spago's in the '80s had an open kitchen design.
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@BillJ Agreed...Family-run Chinese Takeout restaurants have visible kitchens. I can see the cooks stir-frying my orders.
19
Good luck to Ms. Mariscal and all praise to her experience and acumen, but no matter how good her judgment and sensibilities, there is no glossing over the current reality of Stephen Ross and Related — the same scrutinizing glare should be applied to David Chang, it's about time. I've always felt uncomfortable with the Momofuku brand: Chang's brash, hyper kitchen-bro schick (often unkind firsthand to employees) felt like it was based in something kinda gross. And this is the last straw when his bravado isn't just now edgy codified 'lame textbook' company culture, but undergirded by Mr. Ross's rampant corporate greed with no values. Momofuku Hudson Yards is The Related Companies. Everything feels sinister, be it on a backless stool or not.
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@Michael
Momofuku chains exemplify everything wrong with hipster gentrification. Low-quality food priced sky-high, and interiors designed to draw social media posers taking selfies.
Why anybody would go to one of these places instead of an actual authentic ramen place for half the price is beyond me.
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Why do you need to put 30 year old in the title? She is a talent and her age could/should be part of the main article. In the title, it speaks to ageism.
26
@Krista M.C.
And what exactly is her talent? Hawking overpriced street food for selfie-takers?
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@asdfj Indeed. The whole article was poorly done. I won't pay for overpriced, over hyped food. My local noodle shop is a better choice.
12
@Krista M.C. It is “ageism” of a different kind: implying that the 30-year-old is some kind of wunderkind, but nothing I read in the article confirms this for me. To wit, the writer buried the lede in holding out about the Zabar’s dynasty. I hate to seem “aha” but I suspect not only S. Ross is underwriting Chang; there’s Zabar money in this bills.
2