David Chang, a chef in New York City who runs the Momofuku restaurant empire, was born in New York on February 27th, 1980. Chang started his career at the age of 19, working in several restaurants, including the French Laundry, a three-Michelin star restaurant in Napa Valley, California. In 2002, Chang launched the Momofuku restaurants, restaurants specializing in ramen, poached eggs, pork buns, and other Asian street foods.
The name Momofuku was a reference to his mother Ching He Huang, who worked at Kowloon Cafe, a restaurant located in Kowloon, China. The restaurants began to gain popularity and in 2012, Chang left the Momofuku restaurants to. Chef, restaurateur, and author David Chang is one of the most important figures in the culinary world today. His Momofuku restaurants have become a destination for both foodies and regular folks.
He’s written multiple cookbooks that have been praised all over the world. Chang is also a restaurateur, operating eateries that include Momofuku Noodle Bar (NYC), Milk Bar (DC), and Ko, all of which have received rave reviews from the press. David Chang is a professional chef, restaurateur, and founder and CEO of the Momofuku restaurant group. Born in Seoul, Chang grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.
He received a B.A. in Asian American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1996. Chang became the executive chef at the age of twenty-four, and served as the executive chef for the restaurant Naha in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chang then left Naha and became the executive chef at the restaurant Momofuku Ko in New York City. In 2004, Chang became the executive chef at the restaurant Momofuku Noodle Bar. As of 2009, Chang has been the executive chef at Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Milk Bar, Mom
Net income of David Chang
David Chung is an American chef and entrepreneur with a $20 million fortune. Chung is the founder of the Momofuku Restaurant Group, which includes Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ma Peche, Momofuku Ssam Bar, Milk Bar and Momofuku Ko in New York, Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney, Australia, and Momofuku Nikai, Daisho, Shoto and Momofuku Noodle Bar in Toronto. Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars in 2009, which it retains to this day. Chung is known for its poor attitude, including a lack of reservations and vegetarian options.
Early life
David Chung was born in Washington DC in August 1977 and grew up in Arlington, Virginia with two brothers and a sister. Chang’s parents emigrated from Korea in the 1960s, his mother from South Korea and his father from North Korea. His family owned a golf warehouse and two restaurants. As a child, Chung was a competitive golfer and participated in many youth tournaments.
David attended Georgetown Preparatory School and Trinity College and majored in religious studies. After college, Chung held various jobs, including as an English teacher in Japan and a table cleaner in New York. In 2000, he studied at the French Culinary Institute in New York, now known as the International Culinary Center.
Quarry
While at FCI, he worked part-time at Mercer Kitchen Manhattan and also answered the phone at Tom Colicchio’s Craft Restaurant. Change worked at Craft for two years before returning to Japan to work at a small event company. Then he worked in a restaurant at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. Back in the US, he worked at Café Boulud, where his idol, chef Alex Lee, worked.
However, Chung soon became dissatisfied and disillusioned with the field of haute cuisine. In 2004, Chung opened his first restaurant, the famous Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village. The website says momofuku means ‘happy fishing’. The restaurant is also named after Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles.
In August 2006, Chung opened his second restaurant, Momofuku Ssam Bar, a few blocks away. It was just as successful and popular as the first one. In March 2008, he opened the 12-seat restaurant Momofuku Ko (meaning child), which only accepts online orders exactly ten days in advance.
Soon after, Chung expanded Momofuku Ssam Bar into the adjacent space with fellow pastry chef Christina Tosi. The new space was named Momofuku Milk Bar and served soft ice cream, as well as cookies, cakes, pies and other treats, many of which were based on dishes Tosi had eaten as a child.
In 2009, it was reported that Momofuku Milk Bar’s Crack Pie, Grain Milk and Kompot cookies would be trademarked. Change and Peter Meehan, former cookbook editor at the New York Times, published the long-awaited Momofuku cookbook in October 2009. The book included many detailed recipes and photos of Chiang’s restaurants. In May 2010, Chung Ma Peche opened in downtown Manhattan.
In November 2010, Chung went international. In October 2011, he opened Momofuku Seiōbo in the converted Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia. The restaurant has had even more success, winning the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide three times and being named best new restaurant in its first year. Chung’s food magazine, Lucky Peach, was co-founded with Peter Meehan and published by McSweeney’s in 2011.
Building on the success of his new international reputation, Chung announced in March 2011 that he would be bringing Momofuku to Toronto. The restaurant opened in late March 2012 in a three-story glass cube in the heart of downtown Toronto. It originally consisted of three restaurants: Noodle Bar, Daisho and Shoto, and a bar called Nikai. However, at the end of 2017, the Daisho and Shoto sadly closed and the premises were renovated.
A new Momofuku restaurant called Kojin opened in the building in 2019. In June 2015, Chung Fuku was launched, a fast food chain specializing in fried chicken sandwiches. In 2016, Chung opened his first all-digital restaurant, with a menu delivered only in Midtown East and taking orders through an app called Ando. Later, in 2016, Chung took a stake in a Silicon Valley start-up called Impossible Foods.
The dishes he prepared were then added to the menu of one of his restaurants, Momofuku Nishi, as part of a partnership between Chang and Impossible Foods. In May 2017, Chung announced the opening of a new restaurant in New York’s Hudson Yards complex. Chang’s first West Coast restaurant opened in Los Angeles in January 2018. Majordomo. After eight years in business, Ma Peche closed its doors in June 2018. The show he created and produced has received many rave reviews.
In December 2019, Chung Majordomo opened Meat & Fish, a 250-seat restaurant in The Palazzo tower of The Venetian Las Vegas hotel. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2024, the restaurant group Momofuku has decided to temporarily close all its restaurants. Later in the year they merged some restaurants and permanently closed Momofuku Nishi in Chelsea, Manhattan and Momofuku CCDC in Washington DC.
Career in television
In 2010, Chung was featured in the fifth episode of the first season of the HBO series Treme, along with celebrity chefs Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert and Wylie Dufresne. His appearance on the show was extended in the second season when one of the characters, a chef from New Orleans who had moved to New York, took a job at his restaurant.
Chung was a guest judge on Top Chef: All Stars and MasterChef Australia. In 2012, he started the PBS series The Mind of a Chef, produced by Anthony Bourdain. In 2018, David Chung created, produced and starred in the Netflix series Ugly Delicious.
It has been renewed for a second season in 2024. He also starred in another Netflix series called The Chef Show, produced by his friends Roy Choi and Jon Favreau. In 2019, Chung directed the Netflix original film Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with guest stars Kate McKinnon and Seth Rogen.
Honor
He was named one of the 100 most influential people by Time in 2010. He has been awarded and nominated for numerous awards from the James Beard Foundation. In 2007, Chung was named Chef of the Year by Bon Appetit and GQ.
Personal life
Chung has been married to Grace Seo Chung since 2017. In March 2019, the couple had a son, Hugo. Chang was born in New York City, and was the second oldest of three kids.
He attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. During that time he gained a passion for cooking and started working in restaurants. After graduating, he moved to New York City.. Read more about david chang restaurants locations and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many restaurants does David Chang own?
David Chang, the chef and owner of Momofuku restaurants, owns a total of eight restaurants.
How many Michelin stars does David Chang have?
David Chang has two Michelin stars.
How much money is David Chang worth?
David Chang is worth $3.2 billion dollars.
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