The Terrific Chef, David Chang

When it comes to the New York City chef David Chang, Frank Bruni, the restaurant critic of The New York Times, puts it this way:

"David Chang is a terrific cook, a pork-loving, pickle-happy individualist whose integration of Asian flavors and his own unbound sense of what's delectable makes for some deliriously enjoyable meals. At Momofuku Noodle Bar, which he opened in 2004, and at Momofuku Ssam Bar, which came along in 2006, he has proven himself one of this city's brightest culinary talents."

In 2007, Mr. Chang won the James Beard Foundation rising star award for best new chef for his tiny, eclectic and very personal Momofuku restaurants in the East Village.

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Mr. Chang was born in northern Virginia, where his father, an immigrant from South Korea, worked in the restaurant industry, eventually opening a restaurant. His family wanted Mr. Chang to go into law or finance, but he studied religion in college and graduated with no particular goal. In his early 20's, he lived in London, taught English in Japan and had a variety of jobs in New York, from bussing tables to working in the finance industry. Finally, he enrolled in culinary school. He worked at Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan, then got a job in the kitchen at Craft after agreeing to answer phones for a month. After two years at Craft, he returned to Japan and worked at a small soba shop, then at a restaurant in the Tokyo Park Hyatt, followed by a year at Café Boulud in New York. Saying he was ''completely dissatisfied with the whole fine dining scene'' and its pretentiousness, he decided to open his own restaurant -- working with his Momofuku partner and co-chef, Joaquin Baca.

In November 2007, Mr. Chang and Mr. Baca moved Momofuku Noodle Bar a block north, from 10th Street to 11th Street on First Avenue, more than doubling the size of the original. In March 2008, the original became Momofuku Ko (ko means "child" in Japanese; Mr. Chang translates Momofuku as "lucky peach," but it also happens to be the name of the inventor of instant ramen noodles, Momofuku Ando, who died in 2007 at 93).

Mr. Chang "has real imagination," Mr. Bruni wrote, adding that the chef also has a "wicked grasp of flavor and unerring sense of balance" combined with "artistry and professionalism without the formality that often accompanies them."

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