An artist and a thinker
Time magazine in its The 100 Most Influential People in the World honors two people whose poster would hang on one of my room’s walls if I were still pubescent. Fortunately, this painful time of my life is now a longtime memory.
Strangely, the list is divided in four categories: Leaders, Artists, Thinkers, and Heroes. All the people on the list should be in the Thinkers category because they all think, except Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck who mainly bark. Trust me, Didier Drogba, the soccer player from Ivory Coast, thinks before he kicks the ball and scores. High? Low? Right? Left? Soft kick or strong kick? Strong, always strong, even stronger.
Yes, Michael Pollan thinks but he also makes you act. Even if you won’t change all your eating habits while reading The Omnivore’s dilemma, food will never be the same once you finish the book. For example (one among many), Pollan made me look at hunting differently. What I saw as a macho entertainment for guys who were not over with their childhood dream of becoming a soldier of some sort became another way to interact with nature and the stance that we, human beings, are actors of our world, not just guests. If you speak about cruelty, the way you’re getting your eggs or a burger is 99% of the time much more cruel than killing a deer in the woods. Except of course, fox hunting. But who eats foxes?
Pollan made me understand that eating was going beyond food or agriculture. It’s also about psychology, sociology, history, economics, anthropology, geography…It’s holistic, complex and fascinating.
David Chang is considered an artist. Why not? Ruth Reichl, who has plenty of time now, doesn’t really say why in this eulogy for people who are still alive. She rightfully points out that David Chang has pushed boundaries by combining Asian food an European training. If I were a smartalec, I would write that Napoleon also pushed France’s boundaries at the beginning of the 19th century and was no artist. Is cooking an art? Not really but I’ll come back to this point another day. It doesn’t mean that chefs, starting by David Chang, are not immensely talented. They’re just cooking food. They’re fulfilling with a hint of genius what remains a primal need.
Momofuku Ssam Bar/Noodle Bar -unfortunately, I’ve never been able to get a table at Ko- are part of my Top 10 Restaurant list in New York. I don’t know if they’re the best tables in town but they represent the spirit of the city with their blend of pose, energy, noise, hip, and good food. I go there with my French friends who either read about it in a trendy magazine back there or are looking for the real New York deal. To some extent, at David Chang’s restaurants, all the New York things that irritate me (to say the least) become (nearly) enjoyable as it’s part of the show: the loud music, the long outside waits, the it’s-so-cool-to-sit-on-an-uncomfortable-bench-and-pay-that-much-money and the waiters straight out of the audition for Glee 2, the low-fi edition .
David Chang has this tremendous ability to make you believe that his cooking is easy, obvious but reading his book shows the amount of work he puts behind every plate. There is always a solid amount of preparation. For most of what Momofuku offers, it’s not about buying the best products in the next-door supermarket and making a nice margin by assembling them nicely.
And, of course, the buns are to die for. The ham tastes amazing. The bowls make me want to order a second one even before I started the first one.
Last, Chang is a man of taste. When asked about the most memorable meal in his life, he replies “L’Astrance in Paris”. I tend to agree.
