The new yorker article on David Chang had a nugget of good news buried
in it for long time fans of the original Momofuku--the dressing down
he gave the cooks on a recent visit to his flagship kitchen. In the
past, the flagship was where the founding chef spent most of his time
(see babbo, Daniel, jean-georges). With momofuku though each new
venture took chang away from the original, and it showed. The last two
times I went dishes were noticeably off. On the last visit my pork
neck ramen was practically flavorless (an easy fix though, given
enough sea salt and soy sauce.) But my girl friend's scallop special
was beyond salty. The service, too was especially inattentive,
unforgiveable given it was a slow, midweek lunch. In any case, I
haven't been back. Given the degradation chang dishes out though, it
looks like its time. Let's hope the cooks took it to heart.