momofuku ko

[Diancecht]

David Chang is “pausing operations” at Momofuku Ko next week, according to a post on his company’s Instagram account. It goes on: “we won’t call this a goodbye, but ko will no longer operate in the way it has.”

Just what that means is unclear, but it sure sounds like some kind of a goodbye given that about three weeks ago Mr. Chang turned out the lights for good at Momofuku Ssam Bar. The strange thing about both announcements is how muted the response has been. Maybe the sheer number of restaurants that have gone under since the pandemic began has made us numb to this sort of news.

The reaction would have been different — louder and more apocalyptic — 10 or 15 years ago. Back then, a change in Ko’s no-cameras policy or Ssam Bar’s doomed Korean-burrito menu would light up the food blogs, whose reporters used to chase scraps of Momofuku news like Woodward and Bernstein. If you weren’t living and eating out in New York then, it’s hard to imagine what the early days of those restaurants were like, especially Ko.

Even before its opening on First Avenue in 2008, Ko generated attention like some monstrous union of the Suprême Croissant, ChatGPT and the Eras Tour. Some of the coverage — OK, a lot of it — was hysteria, hype feeding on itself. But Ko also got attention because nobody had seen the like of it anywhere.

——

tempus fugit, indeed. i remember (especially on here) when the place was raging hot. 

click

[MitchW]

Sold out a long time ago. Not that I'm saying selling out was a bad move, but...

[Orik]

Was there that much coverage of the burrito? As I recall that was a total flop 

[Simon]

36 minutes ago, Orik said:

Was there that much coverage of the burrito? As I recall that was a total flop 

If I recall, the flop got a lot of attention at the time.

[Anthony Bonner]

I remember huge media around.

 

Is Fuku successful? I wonder if the Chick-fil-A rollout in the Northeast has hurt that?

[Wilfrid]

The Noodle Bar wll be 20 years old next year. These are long runs by NYC standards. 

[Evelyn]

He's still around Las Vegas-with Fuku Chicken at T-Mobile Arena and Momofuku Restaurant at the Cosmopolitan. A friend who worked at the latter said the company is really going to focus on growing the sports area/stadium concession side of the business around the country. 

[backyardchef]

I forgot Fuku even existed. 

Just realized I have never had it. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by backyardchef

[AaronS]

I read that fuku had to change ghost kitchen operators because the previous operator wasn’t cooking the chicken through.

Edited October 30, 2023 by AaronS

[MitchW]

44 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

I forgot Fuku even existed. 

Just realized I have never had it. 

Nor I. Same with chickfil a.

[backyardchef]

33 minutes ago, AaronS said:

I read that fuku had to change ghost kitchen operators because the previous operator wasn’t cooking the chicken through.

Yes. It was a disastrous rollout of apparently inedible and unsafe food prepared by untrained, unskilled workers in terrible conditions with zero oversight or intentionality. 

 

https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/reef-loses-david-changs-fuku-to-kitchen-united-as-reports-of-food-safety-i/611692/

Edited October 30, 2023 by backyardchef

[MitchW]

2 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

Yes. It was a disastrous rollout of apparently inedible and unsafe food prepared by untrained, unskilled workers in terrible conditions with zero oversight or intentionality. 

 

https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/reef-loses-david-changs-fuku-to-kitchen-united-as-reports-of-food-safety-i/611692/

It's why Dave now sells microwave cookware...

The future is unwritten!!

[backyardchef]

He makes that stuff look good @MitchW

[Wilfrid]

Batali and to a lesser extent Flay headed in this direction. But they kept their flagships going. Puck too, I guess.

[Anthony Bonner]

1 hour ago, MitchW said:

Nor I. Same with chickfil a.

 

 

I mean its fine. All too sweet, but in the canon of fast food not hideous. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Anthony Bonner

[SethG]

Hm. With the two recent closures, there is no longer a Momofuku property in NYC focused on creative, chef-driven cuisine. That feels weird.

 

For a couple years my standard Citi Field pre-game was a Fuku spicy chicken thigh sandwich and a ginger margarita from Floyd Cardoz’ taco stand. Then they switched to white meat, and I haven’t been to a Mets game since. Coincidence? 

I feel like the white meat switch may have been the first sign of the MOR-ification of Momofuku.

A brand can’t remain young and hip forever. But there’s a lot of money to be made on the other side of cool for those that play it right. Perhaps Momofuku is just entering its Clapton: Unplugged era.

[MitchW]

2 minutes ago, SethG said:

Clapton: Unplugged era.

And may someone have mercy on us all.

[backyardchef]

6 minutes ago, SethG said:

Hm. With the two recent closures, there is no longer a Momofuku property in NYC focused on creative, chef-driven cuisine. That feels weird.

 

For a couple years my standard Citi Field pre-game was a Fuku spicy chicken thigh sandwich and a ginger margarita from Floyd Cardoz’ taco stand. Then they switched to white meat, and I haven’t been to a Mets game since. Coincidence? 

I feel like the white meat switch may have been the first sign of the MOR-ification of Momofuku.

A brand can’t remain young and hip forever. But there’s a lot of money to be made on the other side of cool for those that play it right. Perhaps Momofuku is just entering its Clapton: Unplugged era.

Wow. That's almost Pat Boone level contempt. 

[Orik]

4 hours ago, Simon said:

If I recall, the flop got a lot of attention at the time.

I guess I just ignored it until the late night menu started

[Orik]

But I have to say Ko was a ton of fun during the outdoor dining era (will it be Ko tasting menu dishes today? A pizzeria? Both?) And the bar was one of the better values in town until not that long ago. 

[SethG]

4 minutes ago, backyardchef said:

Wow. That's almost Pat Boone level contempt. 

Haha. I honestly don’t begrudge Chang at all. He’s got his hustle, it’s making him money. He probably looked at the financial success happening at Milkbar and figured, might as well go that way too.

The CPG focus I’ve got no problem with. Even if (most of) theirs are uninteresting to me, I’m not the target market. Ramen packs, seasoned salt… the 37th locally produced chili crunch. Eh, okay. I do like some of the specialty-store stuff, like the rye bonji and whatnot.

Momofuku at twenty is no longer trend-setting, but a few steps behind. But that’s fine. 2023 David Chang is a west coast suburban dad. I wouldn’t expect him to represent the zeitgeist. If Momofuku goes from a twelve-seat noodle joint to a ConAgra subsidiary worth a billion dollars, it’ll be a great success story and good for him. 

[Orik]

Yup.

I hear that Blanca is reopening (apropos of trendsetting places from that period)

[MitchW]

32 minutes ago, SethG said:

. But that’s fine. 2023 David Chang is a west coast suburban dad. I wouldn’t expect him to represent the zeitgeist. If Momofuku goes from a twelve-seat noodle joint to a ConAgra subsidiary worth a billion dollars, it’ll be a great success story and good for him. 

But the main problem I have with this is that he was a douche to many employees. And probably a few customers as well.

[GerryOlds2TheReturnofGerry]

6 hours ago, Orik said:

Was there that much coverage of the burrito? As I recall that was a total flop 

i loved those burritos. they were ahead of their time.

[bloviatrix]

57 minutes ago, MitchW said:

But the main problem I have with this is that he was a douche to many employees. And probably a few customers as well.

Speaking of which, didn't he post handful of times on MF? I recall quite a bit of heavy-duty snark.