Long over due, the penultimate post
in my Hungry Hoss all time Top Ten is going to be a tough one for a number of
reasons.
Firstly, my wife and I dined at New
York’s two Michelin starred Momofuku Ko
long before I ever contemplated writing a blog, so with no notes or pictures
(thanks to boss David Chang’s no camera policy) I do not have much to jog my
memory with the finer details of what we ate.
I do however have a copy of David
and Peter Meehan’s Momofuku book (which I ordered from the Momofuku toilets along
with another book on they had on the shelf called Ninja: The Shadow Warrior by
Joel Levy).
Explaining his ‘no photos’ stance,
New York’s king of all that is culinary cool says, “It’s only food - eat
it.”
Admittedly, as a blogger, I may be
shooting myself in the foot here but I must admit I do kinda agree with him. He
reputedly goes onto say, ‘the dining experience is being perverted by bloggers
and social media obsessives alike.’
Now, when I went, I wasn’t ‘a
blogger’ and instead of ‘overthinking’ the food, ambience, décor and service I
just got on and enjoyed the whole evening (in fact, nine out of my ‘top ten’
pre-date my blog – food for thought.)
Whilst from Ko, I do not have
pictures of each course to look back on and can’t recall details about most of
the amazing food I ate that night. I do have snapshots in my mind of standout
memories from the evening that I’m sure will stay with me forever.
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| Picture from 'Momofuku' by David Change and Peter Meehan |
Fittingly, MomoFuku translates as
‘lucky peach’ and bagging one of the twelve counter seats at Ko is as peachy a
thing as it is lucky!
The ONLY way go about it is to pre-register
and then log on to their website at 10am precisely (as the places go in
seconds), 7 days prior to your visit - I’d advise you to have prayed to God, be
wearing your lucky pants, have everything crossed, be holding a four leaf
clover in one hand, a lucky rabbit’s foot in the other and wearing horseshoes
on your feet… sitting under a rainbow is also advised.
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| Momofuku pages from the 2010 Michelin red guide to New York City |
The Michelin guide itself regales
the tale of how some geezer called Barack Obama could not even swerve their
‘circus’ of a reservation policy. So how
did I bag a table? Luck, I guess… I so should’ve bought a lottery ticket that
week.
Of course, ‘it may only be food’ –
but it’s David Chang’s food; and I’ll get onto the stand out dishes that linger
in my mind shortly - but one of the strongest images from the night involved a
‘Walk on the Wild Side’.
As the famous bass line kicked in
and Lou Reed’s soothing Brooklyn drawl started to sing about how Holly
hitchhiked her way across the USA, the chefs shared a knowing glace, nodded their
heads and vibed along whilst preparing another plate of phenomenal food - for
me, it was a moment that seemed to capture the essence of Ko and its East
Village location.
In the East Village and other
neighbourhoods surrounding the Bowery, for a long time the rhythm has been set
by artists, writers and musicians. Today, it seems as though it’s the culinary
arts of chefs like Chang and the Lower East Side’s Wylie Dufresne that are at
the forefront of the area’s latest metamorphosis connecting the beat, bohemian and
the blank generations to the current bon vivant gentrification.
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| Picture from 'Momofuku' by David Change and Peter Meehan |
One of the most memorable aspects of
eating at Ko for me was observing and interacting with the chefs. New York laws
mean that restaurant employees who do not deal directly with customers cannot
legally earn tips or share in the tips earned by the waiters.’ At Ko, because
the chefs prepare and present the food to the diner they get a well-deserved
share.
Another non-food memory from the
night that seemed to sum up some sort of New Yorkish attitude was an incident
involving a slightly drunk woman seated along the counter who I dubbed ‘Lamb
lady’.
Upon being presented with the Lamb
Rib dish, she proceeded to tell the chef that she had had far superior lamb in
Vermont. The chef’s polite response amounted to something like, “Lucky you.”
She prodded a bit more; took another bite and again proclaimed the Vermont lamb
to be much more tasty. Personally, I found the lamb excellent (but of course,
I’ve not had the Vermont stuff).
Too thick skinned to back down (or
perhaps just too thick) and despite her partner’s vain attempt to prevent
further embarrassment, she decided that she wasn’t going to eat the lamb and
then spent the next few minutes going through her phone to find the number of
her Vermont butcher. She passed it to the chef who, not too discretely, passed
it straight into the ‘trashcan’ – class! You gotta love New Yorkers!
Food wise, I remember we started
with the signature chicharrón with tōgarashi seasoning followed by several
amuse bouche. Elements of which included a fennel granita; macerated
strawberries and a citrusy Japanese ‘eggplant’ (aubergine) dish.
Other stand out dishes, included: a
sashimi of Long Island fluke, fermented bean paste with beautiful pickled
cherry peppers and baby ginger bulbs; the signature smoked 5:10 boiled egg with
fingerling potato chips and beluga caviar and the excellent was Ko kimchi consommé
with pork belly, Chinese leaf cabbage and an absolutely delightful and dinky ‘Kushi’
oyster.
However, undoubtedly the most
memorable dish had to be the much talked about ‘shaved foie gras with lychee,
Riesling gelée and pine nut brittle.' It featured a ridiculous amount of rich
silky foie. I feel I should say it was too indulgent but I did manage to eat my
own and finish off my wife’s – an exceptional dish that has to be tasted to be
believed.
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| Momofuku Ssäm Bar |
In New York the Momofuku brand is
huge – the Momofuku Noodle bar is packed late into the night, serving up bowl
after bowl of ramen and other goodies to the trendiest of New Yorkers and the Momofuku
Ssäm Bar is considered one of the best restaurants in the world.
Interestingly, when we visited Ko
(October 2010) it had (as it still does) the two Michelin stars but it was the
Ssäm Bar (a Michelin Bib Gourmand) that was ranked higher in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants
list at number 26.
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| Momofuku Ssäm Bar |
We visited Ssäm Bar the following
day (where photography is permitted). Whilst the ‘Spiced honeycomb tripe’
‘Steamed pork buns with hoisin’ ‘Cotechino sausage’ ‘Matsutake Dashi’ ‘Apricot
sorbet’ and ‘Quark ice cream and chocolate dish’ were all outstanding – for me
it was without doubt the Momofuku Ko experience that was far and the way more extraordinary
and deserving of the number two spot in my Hungry Hoss Top Ten.
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| Spiced Honey Comb Tripe / Steamed Pork Buns |
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| Cotechino |
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| Matsutake Dashi |
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| Apricot Sorbet |
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| Quark Ice Cream |
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