David Chang is the chef and founder of Momofuku, which includes restaurants in New York City, Sydney, and Toronto as well as a best-selling cookbook and print journal called Lucky Peach.
Momofuku originated in New York City, now home to Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko, Momofuku Milk Bar, Momofuku Má Pêche, and Booker and Dax at Ssäm. David opened Momofuku Seiōbo, his first restaurant outside of New York City, at The Star in Sydney in October 2011. In 2012, David opened Momofuku Toronto, located in a three-story glass cube in the heart of downtown Toronto. The building is home to five concepts: Noodle Bar Toronto, Nikai, Milk Bar Toronto, Daishō and Shōtō.
Since opening Noodle Bar in 2004, David has been awarded Time 100 and Fortune’s “40 Under 40” and profiled in the New Yorker and Vogue. He was named a GQ “Man of the Year,” and called one of “the most influential people of the 21st century” by Esquire. He’s taken home four James Beard Foundation Awards and was named one of Observer Food Monthly’s “Chefs of the Decade” with a profile by Bill Buford.
Momofuku Ko has two Michelin stars, which it has retained for five years. Momofuku Ko, Momofuku Ssäm Bar and Momofuku Seiōbo are all featured on the S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list. Momofuku Seiōbo also has three hats from The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide (2013 and 2014 editions) and was the first restaurant to receive this honor in its opening year. Gourmet Traveller selected Momofuku Seiōbo as Restaurant of the Year for 2014 in addition to the #1 restaurant on the Top 100 2014 Restaurant Guide.
David’s first cookbook, Momofuku, a New York Times best seller, came out in the fall of 2009. His quarterly print journal with Peter Meehan, Chris Ying and McSweeney’s called Lucky Peach launched in the summer of 2011. Lucky Peach Issue 2 & Issue 3 are both New York Times best sellers. In the fall of 2012, David was the first chef to be featured on the PBS television show The Mind of a Chef.
David and Momofuku are also collaborating with Dave Arnold to create new equipment for use in the food sciences. The company will be called Booker and Dax, which is also the name of Momofuku’s bar project with Arnold.