Profiles for APAHM: David Chang

Photo by Joe Pugliese for Wired.

David Chang is a Korean-American restaurateur who founded the Momofuku restaurant group and has earned quite a number of laurels in the culinary sphere, including five James Beard Foundation Awards and two Michelin stars at his Momofuku Ko restaurant in New York City.

Chang was born in 1977 and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. His parents were Korean immigrants who had come to the United States in the 1960s and met there. Chang’s father had his mind set on his son becoming a professional golfer, and though Chang became a junior golf champion, he decided to quit the sport at 13. School and desk jobs never particularly interested him either; he was able to stick it out for long enough to graduate from Trinity College with a degree in religion and to hold a couple of jobs in finance, but he was soon driven to pursue an entirely different path.

Inspired by his lifelong love of noodles and the popular British restaurant chain Wagamama, where he had often eaten at when studying abroad in London during his junior year, Chang decided to enroll in the French Culinary Institute. Though his father warned against becoming a chef, as he himself had spent time working in restaurants and learned of their drawbacks, Chang paid little mind to his father’s protests and delved deeper into the world of dining. 

After graduating from FCI, Chang garnered experience cooking in restaurants in New York City and Tokyo. However, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer, he returned to Virginia to look after her; during that time spent at home, he devised a plan to launch his own restaurant. Following his mother’s recovery, Chang returned to New York City with seed money given to him by his father, who had finally warmed up to the idea of Chang making a name for himself in the restaurant business.

In 2004, Chang opened the doors of Momofuku Noodle Bar, and though he drew criticism for his fiery temper, the quality of his food was undeniable. Soon after, in 2006, he established Momofuku Ssäm Bar, which was followed by Momofuku Ko in 2008. Just a year after its opening, Ko received two Michelin stars. Now, Chang has a long list of restaurants scattered across the globe to his name, in addition to the Netflix Original series Ugly Delicious, a couple of cookbooks, and the food journal Lucky Peach. 

A scene from Momofuku Ko, Chang’s fine dining restaurant.

David Chang has, at 42 years old, become a force in the culinary world; his work ethic and strict adherence to self-imposed lofty standards are inarguably admirable. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire restaurant industry has been shaken, with Chang’s Momofuku empire being no exception: two restaurants—Momofuku Nishi and Momofuku CCDC—have been permanently closed. In an interview with The New York Times, Chang urged people to order takeout and “call your representatives. We’re going to need to have our leadership make decisions they might not always represent” to help keep the restaurants they care about afloat.