During the last a number of months, there was motion on the area that after housed Momofuku Ko within the East Village, with lights on and bustling inside, regardless of that David Chang’s restaurant closed final October. Whereas it has been serving as a take a look at kitchen, in line with Ryan Healey, VP of brand name and advertising and marketing for Momofuku, it can finally transition to a brand new Momofuku restaurant, run by Paul Carmichael, the corporate’s Australia-based chef, who’s headed again to New York mid-June, in line with the New York Occasions.
Momofuku CEO Marguerite Zabar Mariscal informed the Occasions, “There’s solely two causes to open a brand new restaurant. One is having a extremely nice idea. The opposite, which is far rarer, is a expertise like Paul you can construct round.” Healey informed Eater that Carmichael goes to be targeted on the brand new restaurant within the Ko area after which he’ll lead culinary improvement throughout Momofuku. He couldn’t verify whether or not the brand new restaurant will open this 12 months.
Because the Occasions reported, “The meals will probably be Caribbean, however precisely what type that may take continues to be in flux.” Carmichael mentioned to the Occasions he desires to do one thing consultant of the West Indies — one thing “extraordinarily enjoyable” and “super-tasty.”
Carmichael is the previous chef at Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney, Australia, the place he cooked Caribbean meals celebrated by critics and diners. He took over as Seibo’s chef in 2015; the restaurant, which is situated inside a on line casino, opened in 2011. Seiobo closed in 2021, after which Carmichael started “overseeing operations of the on line casino’s meals venues,” the Occasions reported.
Carmichael was named Connoisseur Traveller journal’s 2020 Chef of the Yr. In an earlier overview, Besha Rodell known as eating at Seiobo, a “profoundly pleasurable expertise.” Her overview notes that when the Barbados-native was a youngster, he “spent his free time writing letters to New York Metropolis eating places” earlier than attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. It was there that he started his life’s work, digging into the historical past of African dishes, “tracing the heritage of flavors and the individuals who introduced them to the Caribbean, and targeted on how these flavors had been melded and reshaped by new elements and new generations of cooks.”
Earlier than he took over Seiobo, Carmichael led the kitchen at Momofuku’s Má Pêche, and previous to that, he cooked for Marcus Samuelsson and Wylie Dufresne. Of his cooking at David Chang’s New York-based restaurant, Eater critic Ryan Sutton wrote, “Chef Paul Carmichael’s refined-global fare … is pretty much as good as or higher than what Momofuku’s extra in style Ssäm Bar has been placing out as of late.”
Chang says he hopes Carmichael will mentor a brand new era of cooks in his new function on the former Ko area and throughout the corporate. “Having him again within the States means extra than simply being nearer to Paul’s meals; we wish him to construct a legacy by means of mentorship,” he informed the Occasions.
Momofuku has been restructuring as of late, having closed the two-Michelin-starred Ko and Ssäm Bar final 12 months. The closings had been a part of a reorganization that started when Mariscal turned CEO in 2019, which incorporates shifts in Momofuku’s restaurant ideas and upcoming places, together with an growth of its pantry merchandise in shops like Entire Meals and Goal. Healey mentioned when Ko closed, “We’re pausing Ko because it presently operates and we hope to have one thing within the new 12 months on this area.”
The transitions have introduced their share of challenges. In April, the Guardian and Eater reported the corporate was embroiled within the chili crunch controversy by which the corporate had trademarked the title “chili crunch” and despatched cease-and-desist letters to small impartial corporations, frightening an uproar. Some thought Momofuku’s actions had been proof that Chang was utilizing his success to field out different Asian entrepreneurs. “Chili crunch has a historical past that lengthy predates Momofuku’s product,” Homiah’s founder Michelle Tew mentioned after receiving a letter in response to her personal chili crunch product. Following the backlash, Chang apologized and responded by saying that Momofuku would not implement the trademark.
Each Chang and Mariscal have famous in previous interviews that Chang is not a part of the day-to-day of the Momofuku eating places. This 12 months marks Momofuku’s twentieth anniversary: The plan is for Carmichael to play a number one function in shaping the corporate’s future.
