DAVID: I'm David Chang.
We're going to the mean
streets of K-Town.
[LAUGHTER]
DAVID: I got into this
profession because there's
something honest about getting
better every day.
Like, OK, my knife skills aren't
very good here but, use
it every day.
And after a year or two you can
start to see progression.
I spent time at the Mercer
kitchen, worked at a variety
of little establishment
in Tokyo.
Spent some time at Cafe Boulud
under Andrew Carmellini.
There was a variety of things
that led to me leaving.
I was having a hard time keeping
up with the rest of
the crew at Cafe Boulud.
It sort of reminded me that
I wasn't that great.
The cooks around me were
all more talented.
And ultimately I would always
look at Andrew Carmellini and
be like, I'm never going
to be as good as him.
PETER: What's the awareness
of Momofuku among the
Korean-American population
here?
DAVID: Do you see me
hanging out with
Korean Americans much?
SUE: They love you.
Every single day I have like
10 requests from a fucking
Korean newspaper--
the third largest Korean
newspaper.
DAVID: I needed to
challenge myself.
I thought opening a restaurant
would be the ultimate test to
see if I could just do it.
And that was really
the first goal.
Can I open it up?
Didn't really think about the
food I was going to serve.
I knew I wanted to do a noodle
bar, and that was
the extent of it.
This spot was the first
restaurant.
This was the original
noodle bar.
And now this is transformed
to Momofuku Ko.
And we have Ssam Bar on 13th
and Second, and Milk Bar.
And yeah, shit, just a lot.
We are on the corner
of 32nd and 5th.
We're going to Mad
for Chicken.
We're here with our good
friend, Peter Meehan,
co-author of our cookbook.
And Sue Chan works at our
office at Momofuku.
So that's it.
[MUSIC-- THE DIRTY FENCES]
SUE CHAN: Oh my god,
what's this?
What the hell is that?
DAVID: Beer.
SUE: Oh my god.
DAVID: When I lived in Korea,
you could get the mini liter,
or like the huge liter.
You just try to drink it
as fast as possible.
PETER: Wow.
DAVID: That's just
fucking great.
I feel like I'm in Korea.
This is so Korean it's insane.
I am the worst type
of chef, I guess.
I don't like to go out to eat
to fancy restaurant, or
restaurants in general.
Why did they give us the
non-chicken menu?
I can't find any chicken.
Oh, there, on the front page.
I'm dumb.
PETER: Mad for wings, mad for
drums, mad for combo.
DAVID: I think we go combo.
What I want to eat, personally,
is straightforward
stuff, something that's
assuming, and you can go to,
and there's no bullshit.
There's no pretense.
You're just going to eat.
Can we get a mad for combo?
Hot and spicy.
SUE: Notice his nice voice?
DAVID: Sue's leaving soon.
I don't know, Chinese food
sort of hits the spot.
Or Asian food, or Korean Town.
I want to have a successful
restaurant group.
I want our employees
to do well.
I want them to have the creative
freedom to express
themselves.
I want a lot of different
things.
But I'm not necessarily too
thrilled with the baggage that
comes with it.
We were open.
And we didn't get reviewed
for eight months.
I was like, man, we must really
fucking suck, or something.
We did suck.
So it was terrible.
The food was fucking bad.
Because we were just learning
how to run a restaurant.
I was trying to figure how
to run a cash register.
PETER: The first time
I went to Momofuku I
fucking hated it.
I went back later on when
they got better.
I had heard they were
getting better.
And I had a great meal,
and then had three
or four great meals.
And then I wrote the review.
DAVID: And I was trying to
figure out who this fucking
Peter Meehan dude was.
Because you always want
to spot the critics.
PETER: I was eating at Momofuku
every Saturday with
Mark Bittman, who was the
guy I used to work for.
He had written about Dave.
And at some point he was like,
I'm telling Dave who you are.
And I was like, OK, whatever.
You already gone on to such
great heights of fame that I
know I could never sully
your reputation
with my byline again.
And it was very awkward and
fast, how you want if if
you're a restaurant reviewer.
DAVID: You guys ordered
grits and pig tails.
And I think I might have
been hungover.
PETER: Quite possibly.
DAVID: And that was it.
I was like, you're
fucking Meehan?
I was like, you're the guy.
PETER: Then there was a point
at which Dave was getting
bombarded with offers
to do a cookbook
from agents and authors.
We were having dinner at Ssam
Bar, actually with Mark
Bittman again.
And he was like, well you're
not going to be
this popular forever.
So you better cash
in quick, and do
this as soon as possible.
And Chang was like, well if
people do it with me.
DAVID: I had no idea.
Everyone wanted to write
a fucking book.
And I was just like,
that's news to me.
PETER: You were less interested
in doing a book of
recipes than in kind of getting
the story down of the
wild and early years
of Momofuku.
And I was more interested in the
recipes, because I have to
pay for food at Momofuku.
So being able to make
it home seemed
like it might be cheaper.
So I get a little bit.
You get a little bit.
In the end, no one's happy?
DAVID: Yeah, basically.
This is amazing.
Look how crispy this
motherfucker is.
SUE: Smells good.
PETER: These fries are
fucking wet bullshit.
But this is good chicken.
SUE: This is spicy.
Woo.
DAVID: Are you Asian, really?
SUE: Are we doing this?
DAVID: Can you handle it?
SUE: Fuck you.
Can Pete Meehan handle this?
DAVID: No, he's Irish.
[MUSIC-- THE DIRTY FENCES]
PETER: We're going to go
down to Second Avenue.
SUE: Oh, Second and
13th, please.
Ssam Bar!
DAVID: Yeah, 13th Street
and Second Avenue.
SUE: Yes, tell him to come.
DAVID: We're going
to Ssam Bar.
SUE: Momofuku Ssam Bar.
DAVID: It's this overrated
fucking restaurant.
[MUSIC-- THE DIRTY FENCES]
SUE: Dave, are you OK with
cooking tonight, by the way?
DAVID: Yeah, that's
not happening.
SUE: No?
JOSE: David Chang.
DAVID: He's the fucking man.
That is Chef Jose Andres.
He's the chef at Jaleo Zaytinya
in Washington, DC.
He also has an award winning
restaurant in Los Angeles
called the Bazaar at the SLS.
He's incredibly influential.
And it's a pleasure
to have him here.
It's a total surprise.
Late night is something
that we're trying
to do at Ssam Bar.
And sometimes it turns
out to be craziness.
It's about time we fucking show
the Spaniard how to make
fucking ham.
MALE SPEAKER: This
is the Benton's.
And the eggs.
DAVID: That's OK.
Thank you, Fanny, for
educating the
Spanish how to make ham.
DAVID: China, whatever?
China makes some of the
best ham in the world.
[GROANS]
JOSE: Can I finish my
statement, please?
And it's unbelievably good.
You are sick.
DAVID: I know.
JOSE: I couldn't believe you
came up with this thing.
DAVID: I was reading the
Jose Andres cookbook.
JOSE: And it's amazing.
DAVID: It inspired me.
JOSE: Before I taste it I was
like, this guy is insane.
He's a nice kid, but--
and then it's good.
DAVID: It works, right?
It works.
Weirdly enough it works.
Looting.
Here's to fucking burning
and looting.
That's a Bob Marley song.
I have no idea.
I'm drunk.
We're at Momofuku Ssam Bar.
And I'm making pork buns.
And this has become a signature
dish at this
restaurant.
I think we probably sell between
all the restaurants
maybe 300, 400 a day.
Even though I haven't made a
pork bun in quite a while, I
will still say I think I make
more pork buns than most
people will on this planet.
You've had Wonder
Bread before.
So imagine Wonder Bread without
it being cooked in an
oven, and it being
steamed instead.
Sauce is Hoisin, which
translates to--
I have no fucking
idea anymore.
SUE: It's got sesame, salt.
DAVID: It's a couple teaspoons
of salt, and some black
pepper, and a couple hours of
don't fucking worry about it.
DAVID: Chef Jose Andres, one
of the greatest chefs in
America is giving me shit.
And I'm cool with that.
Put the belly on
some sea folds.
And that's what you'd have.
Pork buns.
This is not how we
really serve it.
SUE: This is just when Dave is
alone here at Ssam Bar in the
middle of the night at
2:00 in the morning.
This is how he treats
himself right.
DAVID: What's your favorite
thing you eat before you go to
bed while you're fucking
drunk as shit?
What are you going to say?
Ox tail, fucking bone marrow?
Bullshit.
It's that fucking crappy ass
piece of pizza that you ate.
And you don't even fucking
remember that you ate.
Usually it's like,
that's weird.
I just vomited something
this morning that I
don't remember I ate.
[MUSIC-- THE DIRTY FENCES]
