David Chang is The Man.

            David Chang is my hero. For those who don’t recognize his name, he is the chef/owner behind the wildly successful Momofuku restaurants in New York (and now Toronto and Sydney). He was named GQ’s Man of the Year and won three coveted James Beard awards (which are basically the Oscars of the culinary world). He’s crass. He’s funny. He can COOK. What I love the most about him, however, is that for all the attention he’s received, he’s uncompromising. He cooks what he wants, how he wants, when he wants. He is doing it for himself, and his chefs. He wasn’t looking to get famous. I think that is absolutely honorable. I follow his career so closely because he accomplished everything that I wanted to do for myself. He dropped everything and moved to Japan to learn to make ramen. When he returned to New York, he started a restaurant with virtually no money. It seated 12 people, had no decorations, and blasted music at all hours. For the first few months, the food sucked. But he fought through it. He improved and people took notice. Now, there are lines from morning to night and it takes months to get a seat. It is regarded as one of the best restaurants in New York (which is no easy feat) yet manages not to be stuffy or serve “haute cuisine”. It is still just a noodle bar, serving high quality food without condescension. This is exactly what I want for my future restaurant. If I ever got called a David Chang ripoff, I will take it as a compliment.