Momofuku is a culinary brand established by chef David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar. It includes restaurants in New York City, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles (Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Má Pêche (defunct), Seiōbo, Noodle Bar Toronto, Kōjin, Fuku, Fuku+, CCDC, Nishi, Ando, Las Vegas, Fuku Wall St, Kāwi), a bakery established by pastry chef Christina Tosi (Milk Bar), a bar (Nikai), and a quarterly magazine (Lucky Peach). The restaurants are notable for their innovative take on cuisine while supporting local, sustainable and responsible farmers and food purveyors.
Chang has written that the name "Momofuku" is "an indirect nod" to Momofuku Ando, the Japanese-Taiwanese inventor of instant ramen. Chang has suggested it is not an accident that he chose a word that sounds similar to the curse word "motherfucker".
History
With experience in restaurants in New York City, Chef David Chang opened up his first restaurant in 2004, Momofuku Noodle Bar. It was influenced by his time spent working in Japan and visiting ramen shops. After about a year of trials, Noodle Bar took off as a success when the chefs began cooking what they felt like — more adventurous dishes with better ingredients. Growing, Noodle Bar eventually moved up the street, and Momofuku Ko took over the space.
Momofuku Ssäm Bar opened after Noodle Bar and originally had the concept of an Asian-style burrito bar (ssam is Korean for wrap). After experiencing troubles, Chang and his cohorts decided to change the style of the menu, away from the burrito-centered cuisine. This change led Ssäm Bar to success, as it received two stars (eventually three) from The New York Times.
The third restaurant to open was Momofuku Ko. Chang describes the idea behind Ko as a "cook-centric restaurant with just a few stools, a collaborative kitchen, and a constantly changing menu." Má Pêche was the fourth restaurant to open and the first to open outside of the East Village neighborhood.
Momofuku Seiōbo in October 2011 was the first restaurant to open outside of the U.S. In January 2012, Momofuku opened the cocktail bar Booker & Dax in the back of Ssäm Bar in collaboration with Dave Arnold. Momofuku Toronto followed in 2012 alongside the opening of the Shangri-La Hotel. Fuku, a chicken sandwich restaurant, opened in the original Noodle Bar location in June 2015.
Doing office work for Ssäm Bar at the time, pastry chef Christina Tosi began the desserts program at the three Momofuku restaurants, first at Ssäm Bar, then Noodle Bar, and then Ko.
The first Momofuku Milk Bar started in the laundromat next to Ssäm Bar. After a year and a half, a second Milk Bar opened in Midtown, in the Chambers Hotel. In November 2010 the Williamsburg, Brooklyn kitchen opened to accommodate the growth of Milk Bar. On September 24, 2011, Milk Bar opened its fourth location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In March 2012, Milk Bar opened a fifth location in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and its most recent, sixth, location opened in SOHO in September 2014.
In April 2018, Momofuku signed a deal with Kraft Heinz to start selling their chili sauce in American grocery stores.
Restaurants
Momofuku Noodle Bar was the first Momofuku restaurant; it opened in August 2004. It serves ramen, seasonal dishes, and a variety of buns.
Since opening in 2006, Momofuku Ssäm Bar has been listed as one of The World's 50 Best Restaurants for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Weekday lunches feature an all-rotisserie duck menu. Booker and Dax (the bar at Ssäm) is open late serving drinks made with new techniques and technologies.
Momofuku Ko opened in March 2008. At Momofuku Ko (ko means "child of"), guests sit along a kitchen counter and are served by the cooks. Dinner is a set tasting menu devised by the chef, Sean Gray, and his aides-de-cuisine. It is usually about 10 courses long; at lunch the menu stretches out to 16 courses. Since opening in 2008, Momofuku Ko has earned two Michelin stars, which it has retained for eleven years. Ko is No. 70 on the San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants list.
Má Pêche ("mother peach") is in Midtown Manhattan in the Chambers Hotel. Má Pêche opened in 2010 with co-owner and executive chef, Tien Ho, with Chef Paul Carmichael taking the reins in October 2011. This change prompted a shift in Má Pêche's cuisine from French-Vietnamese to American. Má Pêche includes a midtown outpost of Christina Tosi's bakery, Momofuku Milk Bar.