![]() making that shift in my brain to addressing fellow diasporic asians has informed how i write and changed the tone and shape of my writing. growing up in the west, we’re conditioned to think of the white person as our audience, even if we’re people of color, and i was no different. hearing that was the first time i actually sat down and thought about who i was not only writing for but to whom. nguyen has spoken about how he deliberately crafted that narrative voice, being intentional in the ways that the narrator is speaking to a vietnamese person, not to a white reader. i think always of viet thanh nguyen’s the sympathizer. Who you’re talking to influences the thing you’re creating in subtle but significant ways. momofuku’s hospitality, in general, doesn’t condescend, even if their restaurants occupy expensive real estate that caters to the uber-wealthy and privileged.īut who is the ideal momofuku diner? and why does it matter? it doesn’t bear the marks of elitism and classism, not openly, not in a way that would turn diners away or make them uncomfortable just because they don’t wear brand names or jetset around the world. ko is the same price as atomix, has the same obsessive attention to craft and detail and innovation, but ko is more casual and dressed-down. i’m not being cynical or critical here because i think, to an extent, momofuku does very much succeed in this, and i think that matters. ![]() momofuku itself wants to believe that it is, that it is welcoming of the everyday layman. momofuku isn’t actually accessible, but it wants you to believe that it is. Ko bears the same faux-egalitarianism that is foundational to the momofuku brand. in the case of atomix, that desired clientele is white and wealthy, the kind of people who can drop money without thinking twice and want you to know it. Last week, a friend asked me about my experience at atomix versus my experience at momofuku ko ( which i wrote about in a previous substack ), and i said that i think restaurants attract the kind of diner they want. who is it i picture when i think about the person picking up my book? in connection, who am i writing for? who is the audience i am speaking to? I’m in the midst of writing a book proposal, so i’ve been thinking a lot about my primary and secondary readers. ![]() sure, those of us who grew up in asian immigrant communities eating asian food know that chang did not innovate or invent the pork belly bao - but, then, that led me down the black hole in my brain of, who is momofuku for? who is the primary (and secondary) diner momofuku is trying to attract?īecause i don’t think that diner was ever asian american. i agree with her, but i also don’t think addison is super incorrect in crediting the mass popularization of the pork belly bao in the west to chang. Tseng points out that crediting the pork belly bao to chang is strange, given that the taiwanese (and chinese) have been eating bao long before chang came around. (On the other hand, restaurants attempting to replicate others’ singular triumphs, including the endless Changian pork belly bao rip-offs, rarely electrified.) Chang’s success helped push our dining culture - from the vantages of both liberated cooks and fervent diners - to redefine notions of excellence. In nearly 20 years of reviewing restaurants, my most thrilling meals have come from chefs serving dishes that reflect who they really are, whether it’s the food of their heritage or an unusually astute and respectful melding of cuisines. In a tweet earlier this week, esther tseng called out something bill addison mentioned in his interview with dave chang for eat a peach. at $10 a jar, momofuku’s rendition isn’t super pricey. i can tell you, though, that momofuku’s chili crunch is well-rounded in flavor and has a lot of depth from the shallots and garlic but isn’t anywhere near what i’d consider spicy. ![]() this is where i should be able to tell you if and how chili crunch differs from chili crisp, but, to be honest, i’ve never eaten much chili crisp. I’m not going to go hard on questioning why momofuku chose to merchandise chili crunch, which is a riff of chili crisp, which is a staple in chinese and taiwanese cuisines.
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